Alll three BJR drivers finished inside the top 10 of Sunday’s race – Cam Hill seventh, Andre Heimgartner ninth and Macauley Jones 10th.
While they all came from deep in the field during a 200km contest that included rain and a safety car intervention, it was a huge reward for BJR’s hard-working crew.
The weekend had begun with Heimgartner leading the Toyota charge with eighth on Friday night, before the R&J Batteries entry suffered engine failure in Saturday’s race.
Back at base following the Sydney 500, Jones reported his three Supras “stood up pretty well” to the rough-and-tumble Supercars action.
“Obviously we had the engine issue in Andre’s car, and that engine’s back at Walkinshaw, but the rest of the car, the panels and such, really happy with all that stuff,” he said.
“First race, [it’s] baby steps, but to end up with three cars in the top 10 in the last race, Andre in the top 10 in the first race, exceeded my expectations for the weekend.
“I think there’s still a lot for us to learn and grow into. We’re three years behind really with the development, but very, very positive signs.
“It’ll be interesting to see what happens when we get to the Grand Prix, but I’m certainly excited to be going and doing another race in a week and a half.”
Toyota homologation team Walkinshaw TWG led the way for the Supras on Sunday, with Chaz Mostert fourth and Ryan Wood fifth.
Wood left Sydney as the top Toyota in the standings in sixth ahead of Hill (ninth), Mostert (14th), Heimgartner (17th) and Jones (19th).
Jones was also encouraged by the performance of his team’s Super2 Series Holden Commodores across the weekend.
Brad Vaughan won the Saturday race and sits equal first in the standings with Sunday winner Lochie Dalton, while Matt Hillyer is ninth in points following his first outing with the team.
“We were right in amongst a pile of Fords and Brad won us a race, second overall for the weekend,” Jones said.
“Matt’s new to the team and did an excellent job, so two very exciting young guys and great results.
“I’d like to think as a team, we’re gonna fight for the championship this year.”
The Supercars Championship continues at Albert Park on March 5-8, while the Super2 Series is on hiatus until the trip to Hidden Valley on June 19-21.
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