REYNOLDS FINISHES DARWIN WEEKEND WITH A TOP 10 RESULT

David Reynolds and Team 18 have finished the betr Darwin Triple Crown on a positive note, with the #20 Snowy River Racing Chevrolet Camaro charging through the field to secure a 10th-place finish in Sunday’s finale at Hidden Valley Raceway.

After a challenging start to the weekend, Reynolds and the team continued to improve the car across the three days, culminating in a strong race performance in Sunday’s 70-lap encounter.

The weekend began with disappointment on Friday after Reynolds qualified eighth and was on track for a top-10 finish before contact from another competitor late in the race saw him spin and tumble down the order, eventually finishing 23rd.

“It wasn’t the result our day deserved,” said Reynolds.

“The start of the day was okay, we qualified eighth and were racing reasonably well.

“The car balance wasn’t too bad at the start and we were sitting around ninth for most of the race. We probably pitted a bit too early and that hurt us a little bit, but it wasn’t the whole story.

“I got turned around by another car with a few laps to go, which ruined our day. Up until then we were on track for a top 10 finish.

“We should have finished around ninth, but instead we ended up 23rd, so that’s obviously disappointing.”

Saturday proved another difficult day for the Snowy River Racing driver, who battled tyre performance and balance issues throughout the 70-lap race.

“It was hot. I was in a battle all the time. It was a couple of steps forward, a couple of steps back, a couple of steps forward, a couple of steps back, and that was 70 laps of pain and misery,” Reynolds said.

“I still had the longevity in my car, so it looked after its tyres pretty well, but I just had no peak performance. When I had to go, I couldn’t go.

“But I could do a good job of looking after my car and looking after the tyres, and had reasonable pace at the end of the stints, but I’d lost too much time at the start.”

Some overnight changes paid dividends on Sunday, with Reynolds producing one of his strongest race performances of the season.

Starting from 16th on the grid, the Team 18 driver steadily worked his way through the field to secure a hard-fought 10th-place finish and collect valuable championship points.

The result was particularly encouraging given the strong race pace displayed throughout the final race.

“Sunday race at Darwin. Pretty hot. Seventy laps again,” Reynolds said.

“I think I started 16th or something and we ended up 10th, so it’s not too bad.

“My car was actually pretty good. It was much better than it was on the Saturday and I was able to race forward. I think we lost a little time in the pits due to our fuel flow, but overall, it was a much better race car than it was a qualifying car.

“I believe if we qualified at the front, I would’ve stayed at the front because it felt like a much better car.

“There’s positives and negatives to take from the weekend. I’m looking forward to Townsville. It’s a really fun track and we’ll see how we go.”

While the final results sheet may not fully reflect the pace shown throughout the weekend, Reynolds leaves Darwin encouraged by the improvements made across the three days and the progress shown by the #20 Snowy River Racing Chevrolet Camaro.

The Repco Supercars Championship now heads to Townsville for the NTI Townsville 500, where Reynolds will look to build on the positives from Darwin and continue his recent run of improved form following his podium finish in Tasmania.

RESULTS

Friday 19th June
Practice 1: P10
Qualifying: P8
Race 17: P23

Saturday 20th June
Qualifying Race 18: P18
Race 18: P17

Sunday 21st June
Qualifying Race 19: P17
Race 19: P10