Nick Percat says his showing in Armor All Qualifying for Races 3 and 4 of the Supercars Championship was one of his strongest days with Brad Jones Racing.
Percat qualified seventh and fifth respectively for the first two races of the Coates Hire Supercars Melbourne 400 weekend, the latter his best qualification for BJR.
The South Australian had in fact not finished a session outside the top 10 all day, with results of second in Practice 1 and fourth in Practice 2.
“Practice was really positive today,” said Percat.
“We’ve rolled out the cars and they’ve been fast from the get go which is always a positive start to a weekend at Albert Park.
“BJR has always had good pace here, and to be around the top of the times has been really good. It’s one of the strongest days I’ve had with BJR since I’ve been here.
“The Tempur Commodore is by far the best car I’ve ever had at the Grand Prix circuit, and it’s my best qualifying result so far with BJR.”
The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship field will return to the track at 1350 for the first of another two 10-minute qualifying sessions which will set the grid for Races 5 and 6 of the season.
Percat likened the rapid-fire process on the second-longest circuit on the Supercars calendar to a shootout and said that phasing the tyres was critical for setting a competitive lap time.
“The two back to back 10-minute qualifying sessions is almost like a top 26 shootout,” he explained.
“The warm up lap here is crucial and you really need to walk the car around at 60km/h or so to make sure you take no energy or grip out of the car and then hope you arrive at Turn 1 with enough tyre temp to get through there and push for a flying lap.”
The 29-year-old is currently 14th in the championship after the Adelaide 500, with 100 points on offer to the winner of each of the 25-lap races this weekend (Races 3, 5) and 50 points for the 13-lap races (Races 4, 6).
Race 3 takes place this evening at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit.
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