Penrite Racing Team Principal David Cauchi says there are no co-drivers he would rather have than their own Garth Tander and Kevin Estre.
The Grove squad heads into this weekend’s Repco Bathurst 1000 with both the most and least experienced driver pairings on the grid, with the #26 Mustang of David Reynolds/Tander boasting a combined 39 Great Race starts and six victories, while Matt Payne and Estre collectively lay claim to just the one appearance.
However, it was championship rookie Payne and his Supercars debutant co-driver who were the best Ford duo at Sandown, taking the #19 Mustang to sixth at the chequered flag.
Roland Dane had high praise for Estre in his post-Sandown 500 column and Cauchi, a former employee of his, also hailed the factory Porsche sportscar driver’s performance along with that of the Supercars-proven Tander.
“There’s no other two co-drivers right now that I wish I had,” he told Speedcafe.
“The two co-drivers I have, I’m very happy with both of them. They both did an incredible job all weekend, they’re great to have around, everybody’s sort of learning, and they just integrated so well into the team.
“We actually had a really fun weekend with them, so they’re absolutely outstanding.”
Reynolds/Tander might have bettered Payne/Estre if not for a bizarre incident on Lap 19 when Car #26 spun into the fence after losing a wheel which landed on top of the rear wing of Tickford Racing’s #6 Ford Mustang, after which Supercars issued a new spec of wheel nut ahead of the Great Race.
Nevertheless, the Grove Mustangs have been noticeably more competitive since a test at Winton in August, with Payne also scoring two tops 10s subsequently at The Bend.
“Matt, in his first Sandown 500, drove like he’d done 10 of them, and pretty much Kevin, the same,” declared Cauchi.
“A guy who’s done barely a day’s testing in a Gen3 car, to come out and drive like that, and perform like that in a race, I don’t think there’s many guys in the world that could do that.
“So, very happy and proud of both of those guys, but then also for the entire team.
“It’s been a tough year for the team and the results haven’t been as coming as much as we would have liked, or certainly haven’t represented the effort that’s going in from all these guys and girls in this team.
“So, very happy for them to get that sort of that result – best Ford [at Sandown] – and we’re really proud of that.”
Practice 1 for the Bathurst 1000 starts on Thursday at 13:20 local time/AEDT.
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