Reynolds made an impressive start to life as a Team 18 driver in Bathurst, making the Top 10 Shootout on both days and finishing the weekend fifth in the points.

Winterbottom, meanwhile, struggled for single-lap pace, and despite moving forward in both races still left Bathurst 16th in the standings.

While it was a clear early win for Reynolds in what is a fascinating intra-team battle, Reynolds himself played down its significance.

Speaking to The Hard Card with Authentic Collectables podcast, he outlined that both drivers are capable of not letting egos get in the way – and even admitted he felt bad being the faster of the two by such a margin.

“We’re both older,” he said of the dynamic. “We don’t have egos to satisfy, we’re just trying to do the best job for our team and our sponsors.

“I didn’t like that he was back there. I actually feel quite bad to be at the front and him down the back, because I want both cars up the front, scoring points for the team and racing each other hard and pushing each other further up the grid.

“Everyone always talks about having a teammate close to you, [and] does that push you? It doesn’t really push me at all.

“It doesn’t really do anything to me, it is what it is. If they’re first, I’ll try and be second, and if I’m first, I’ll hope they’re second.

“I don’t really care. I don’t have that internal battle within the team.

“People say it does push the team forward, I don’t believe that at all. I go out there and maximise everything I get, regardless of if it’s a single-car team, a four-car team, whatever, I don’t care.

“But hopefully we can get his car up the field. It’s only Round 1, we’ve still got many different types of tracks to go to. The Grand Prix is the next one, which I know he does very well at.”

Reynolds added that Winterbottom was the major motivating factor for him making the off-season switch from Grove Racing to Team 18.

“Mark is pretty much the reason why I’m at this team,” he said.

“He told me how good it is and what Charlie’s like to work for and, and everything they’re trying to do here. And I was like, ‘yeah, that’s cool. That sounds great’.

“I joined based on his recommendation, so I’m thankful that he told me such a good story.”

For more with David Reynolds, watch the full episode of The Hard Card with Authentic Collectables.

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