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David Reynolds feels his Erebus Motorsport Commodore was not ‘normal’ during Sunday’s Race 18 at the Watpac Townsville 400.
After running second early on courtesy of a rapid start from the second row of the grid, Reynolds was passed by Jamie Whincup on Lap 5, dropping to third.
Once the final pit stop sequence cycled through, the Darwin race winner emerged fifth behind Craig Lowndes before being passed by Chaz Mostert on Lap 67 following the late safety car restart, demoting him to sixth where he ultimately finished.
Speaking after the race, Reynolds had no explanation for his fade from the front of the order and believed there was an oddity with his car.
However, Speedcafe.com understands that Reynolds’ Commodore suffered a rear suspension issue during the race.
“I am a little bit (disappointed),” Reynolds told Supercars Trackside.
“We finished sixth, which is not a bad result, but anytime you have a better result going and then you go backwards you’re a little bit disappointed.
“It’s all about perspective – if I had started 10th and finished sixth I’d be like ‘yay’, but I got to second and finished sixth and I was disappointed.
“I don’t know whether it was the transaxle…when I was getting on the throttle trying to get away from the corner the car was like wheel spinning and it wasn’t doing it’s normal thing.
“I’m not an engineer, I’m not a mechanic, so don’t talk to me about parts. It just didn’t feel one-hundred percent.”
Despite the disheartening result, Reynolds still sits third in the championship, albeit 387 points behind Scott McLaughlin who leads the standings.
The gap to Shane van Gisbergen in second has however increased to 256 points.
“We’re still third (in the championship),” added Reynolds.
“Lucky to be third, but those Triple Eight cars were just untouchable this weekend, they had pace on everyone.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do with our cars and dampers and stuff. Other than that, looking forward to the rest of the year.”
The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship will remain in Queensland for the Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint in a fortnight’s time (July 20-22).
