This is the first time the class will compete at The Bend and Dream Racing Australia expands its operation to three cars. Stibbs will link with regular drivers Jackson Rice and Josh Webster as part of a renewed three-car attack on the West configuration of The Bend.
Stibbs previously contested the Sandown Trans Am round last year and The Bend marks his second start for Dream Racing Australia after he competed in TA2 at Sydney Motorsport Park last month.
“I’m looking forward to it and to stay in your own bed when going racing is awesome. The family can come watch me race, which is nice, so I’m thoroughly looking forward to it,” Stibbs said.
“Glenn’s influence was duly noted at the meeting last month and certainly helped. We all gelled well during the event. Working with the team was great and all the one percent items, which will be important as the category continues to evolve forward.
“If I can have a good home race, stay out of trouble within reason and do my best to keep up with the pack, it’ll be a good weekend. I’ve raced on the West layout once, it’s going to be short, sharp and really, really busy.”
Meanwhile it will be Rice’s first start at The Bend, and he is excited to race at a new circuit on the back of a strong testing program. Rice will also have major backing from Pedders Suspension.
Buy tickets
“The West layout will be elbows out particularly at Turns 1 and 6 in addition to the last segment, but I think it will make for some good pack racing as well,” said Rice.
“Qualifying has probably not been one of our strengths this year, so we continue to work really hard on it even with our testing in between rounds for The Bend.
“We started the year off pretty strong on the podium, but we’ve had some bad luck at Symmons Plains and Sandown, so I’m hoping we’ve got that all out of the way to allow us to focus on getting good results in the rounds to come.
“Glenn is a legend in the sport in his own right, but he was also successful in this category as a car preparer and engineer in its early days. To work alongside Glenn, watch how he works and pick his brain about some of our ideas is really cool. It’s exciting for me in my personal development and building a set-up.
Webster has built a competitive campaign in Pro-Am although Phillip Island proved a frustrating meeting, and his advantage was eaten into at the top of the class standings
“We ran the Hyundai Excel there in 2019 and it was a heap of fun, so add in plenty more horsepower it’s guaranteed to be a ball.
“It’s going to be our first round working with Glenn and it’s going to be awesome working with a Supercars legend. We’ve had a couple of phone calls since Phillip Island, but The Bend will be the first time physically working together, which hopefully we can find some pace.
“Glenn has earmarked some driver technique changes on Friday making practice more important and I’ll fine tune these across the weekend.”
Round 4 of the Trico Trans Am Series at The Bend on May 31-June 2 is part of the Shannons SpeedSeries and will be broadcast on 7mate and 7plus.
Discussion about this post