BRT endured a shocker at the previous round in Taupo, where its Mustangs driven by James Courtney and Aaron Cameron locked out the back row of the grid for all three races.
Courtney labelled the weekend the worst of a full-time 20-year Supercars career that is in its final season.
Symmons Plains provided an immediate turnaround as Courtney qualified and finished ninth in the opener, marking BRT’s first top 10 finish of the campaign.
While that was as good as it got across the three races, with Courtney 13th and 15th in the subsequent two, it was welcome progress for team principal Tim Blanchard.
“What a turnaround from where we were three weeks ago in New Zealand. It was a much better weekend,” said Blanchard.
“We leaned into our relationship with WAU a lot more than in the past and that helped. It was a smoother weekend, and the results showed it.
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“James was pretty excited to get some results on the board, to get his elbows out and race properly with a few people.”
BRT began a “formal but informal” technical alliance with WAU midway through 2024. That ramped up at Symmons Plains, which Courtney said included guidance between sessions.
The event followed the departure from BRT of engineering manager Matthew Saunders, who had also been Courtney’s race engineer, and the recruitment of Dennis Huijser as crew chief.
“We had to have a change, we had to have a little bit of a shift around,” said Courtney after Saturday’s result, which he described as “like winning the championship”.
“We’re working a lot closer with WAU now, which has been a huge help. I think that’s really where a lot of the performance has come from, working closely with them.
“We were often in the wilderness with the setup, so that’s been a big thing.
“Dennis has come on board as well, so it’s bringing a bit of control in here and calm with that experience. It’s positive signs and it’s definitely a calmer environment.”
Courtney’s progress did not translate to the CoolDrive side of the garage and rookie Aaron Cameron, with 19th in Sunday’s race his best for the weekend.
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