Chris Pither says he has taken confidence that his Super Black team has unlocked the key to continuing a push toward the front of the grid following his defining pole moment at Queensland Raceway.
While Pither surrendered the lead to Jamie Whincup at the Turn 4 left-hander on the opening lap he had shown glimpses of competitiveness against the well entrenched front runners.
Pither previously pushed Prodrive team-mate Chaz Mostert onto the dirt at Turn 2 after his crisp getaway off the line as he held his nerve amidst top flight company.
The Kiwi had then copped buffeting from several runners in the ensuing laps before he finished 11th, three positions short of his personal best in the main game.
“I managed to pull off one of the best starts I’ve done all year,” Pither told Speedcafe.com.
“I was wrapped with that and from that point on it was a bit of a challenge to get back into line really.
“I got bumped and banged numerous times and it cost us a bit of time at the end of the day.
“I’ll be honest. I would have liked to have finished further up than we did. I’d be lying to say I’m happy with 11th.
“I would have been happy with a top five.
“My previous best was eighth in Perth (Race 8 in May). The aim is to go out there and set PBs and if we can consistently improve that’s all we can ask for.”
Pither said he has garnered the confidence to believe he is on the cusp of more consistent top 10 results.
“I was over-the-moon to get the pole. We’ve been a little bit up and down all year but the potential has always been there,” Pither said.
“It was exciting today to string it all together just for everyone from our team to prove we can do it and we’ll take a lot of confidence away from that.
“Starting from the front row was a different scenario to have no cars in front of me so there was a bit of pressure on there.
“Hopefully this is the start of us turning the corner.
“We’ve have glimpses of what we did today through the year. We’ve shown the potential but to actually go out there and put it on pole was a different story.
“It’s exciting and hopefully it is a bit of a turning point and hopefully we can turn it into a bit of race results.”
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