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Thomas Randle has marked qualifying as key to a stronger weekend in Round 3 of the Dunlop Super2 Series at Barbagallo Raceway.
The new Tickford Racing recruit was 10th-fastest in Armor All Qualifying in Adelaide, with his starting berth for the first race of the season bumped up to ninth when Alex Rullo was excluded for a parc ferme infringement.
At Symmons Plains, he qualified 12th and 11th in the two 10-minute qualifying sessions and went on to finish the three races in 10th, 12th, and eighth.
With racing in the Super2 midfield having been particularly hard fought so far this season, Randle believes that his weekend hinges on qualifying well.
“I think my qualifying speed needs work, which is still a lot in me just trying to understand the new tyre,” the 22-year-old admitted.
“Perth’s going to be sort of a similar strategy as the start of Tassie, where I’ve just got to get in line with the circuit, learn all the little tricks and trades.
“Once we get to qualifying it’s going to be full focus, obviously, and I’ll try to get the car up as high as I can because on a small track like Perth, the higher up you can qualify the easier the race is.
“We don’t have pit stops or any real strategy that comes into it, so if I can improve my qualifying it will certainly make for a smoother weekend.”
Randle sits 21st in the points after his maiden round at Adelaide came to a jarring end due to a power steering failure early in Race 1.
Symmons Plains therefore represented his first significant seat time in race conditions, where he largely flew under the radar during the dramatic round but was the highest-finishing rookie in all three races.
“I’m looking to start where we left off,” said Randle.
“I think we had a good base run at Tassie, it was nice to get my first full round in the books in the Skye Sands Falcon (and) I was fairly happy with how the weekend ended.”
The Super2 Series supports the Perth SuperSprint, starting with two practice sessions on Friday.
