Execution key for Randle in maiden solo podium

Thomas Randle says that continued execution on the #55 Tickford Racing entry was key in his maiden solo podium finish in the Supercars Championship.

Randle finished third in the opening race of the OTR SuperSprint event at The Bend, having been fastest and then second-fastest in the morning’s two practice sessions and qualifying on the front row.

According to the 2020 Super2 Series winner, it was about maintaining their performance all day.

“It’s great for morale and I think the biggest thing – not just for myself but the Car #55 crew – is just trying to execute everything,” he explained. “I feel like we did that.

“There’s always some sort of story of how if this hadn’t happened, or this hadn’t happened, whether it was on my end or from a car point of view…

“But, pretty much the whole day ran quite well. We were the top two in all sessions and then obviously third in the race.

“It’s very easy to become complacent after some good running in the practice and then drop your eye off the ball and then you could be out of the [top] 10 in qualifying, then it makes the race really hard.

“So, to finally have a day where it’s all gone probably as well as it could have, it’s nice knowing that can happen, and then it’s just about trying to repeat that.”

Randle is regarded as a talent but has had something of a rocky road in Supercars so far.

Aside from battling testicular cancer, his Super2 title in the heavily COVID-affected year of 2020 was only confirmed a week after the fact.

He then had to wait a year longer than anticipated to become a full-time Supercars Championship driver when a Racing Entitlements Contract was not available in 2021.

Once Randle got that chance, he finished only 23rd in his rookie season, with just two top 10 finishes to his name.

This year has been a struggle across the board for Ford drivers, but the 27-year-old now has a podium of his own after one as Lee Holdsworth’s co-driver in the 2019 Sandown 500.

“It’s just a great way to repay the whole team, all my supporters, people who have stuck by me over so many years,” said Randle.

“It’s just a bit of relief, to be honest.”

Race 20 was a strong showing for Tickford, which not only had Randle finish third but also Cameron Waters in fourth and James Courtney in eighth.

Team Principal Tim Edwards told Speedcafe, “We’ve believed in Tom for a long time, so great for him to get it and great for us to have three guys in the top eight.

“That’s encouraging, from where we’ve been of late, so good to kind of put a bit of a pep in the step for everybody in the team.”

Qualifying for Race 21 starts this morning at 09:45 local time/10:15 AEST.