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Jamie Whincup believes that Triple Eight Race Engineering has made a ‘big step’ after setting the fastest time in Practice 1 at the Pirtek Perth SuperNight.
Whincup pipped Chaz Mostert by 0.0246s in the only practice session which will be run under lights this weekend at Barbagallo Wanneroo Raceway, making for a significant turnaround after his Phillip Island horror show.
The seven-time Virgin Australia Supercars Championship winner was not only a failure to finish in the first race of the preceding event, he genuinely lacked pace as demonstrated by missing the cut in the first part of Armor All Qualifying on the Saturday and finishing 12th from 10th on the grid on the Sunday.
Team owner Roland Dane even stated that Whincup and his crew “need(ed) a long hard look at itself” after that showing, while Car #88 also struggled at times a week earlier at Symmons Plains.
“I’m much happier,” said Whincup regarding his set-up at Barbagallo.
“We were genuinely 20-plus (20th position or worse on pace) at Phillip Island when we rolled out of the truck and we made a few little steps forward but not much, so to be genuinely in the (top) 10 at this stage is very, very positive.
When asked about the vibe within Triple Eight since that outing, he responded, “It hasn’t been flash.
“When you don’t have a good result, the morale’s certainly down, for sure, so we need some good results, the only way to do that is to have a fast car, and we’ve made a big step this weekend.”
The Pirtek Perth SuperNight is an unusual event on the calendar not only due to night time track activity but also for being the first Supercars Championship event on Barbagallo’s new surface, which replaced a 15-year-old tarmac that was notoriously harsh on tyres.
Drivers up and down the field were still shocked by the amount of grip at their disposal but Whincup denied suggestions that the condition of the circuit was masking any deficiencies which might still be present in the Red Bull Holden Racing Team Commodores and therefore providing a false impression of their general pace.
“The grip’s consistent for everybody so it’s all relative,” he noted.
“At Phillip Island, we were genuinely P20 plus, and it didn’t matter, we changed pretty much everything and couldn’t get anywhere close to the front.
“Hey, it’s only Thursday, it’s a long way to go, who knows who put what tyres on, but at least through most of that session we were somewhat competitive, whereas in all of P1 at Phillip Island we weren’t competitive at all.
“It could be track-orientated but we won’t know that until we move on to another one.”
Indeed, Whincup was inside the top 10 for the duration of the first practice session and ultimately set what now stands as the practice lap record for the Supercars Championship at Barbagallo of 53.4430s.
Team-mate Shane van Gisbergen was 11th fastest with a personal best lap 0.3585s slower than Whincup’s and 0.0583s off the quickest effort from championship leader Scott McLaughlin, who was eighth on the timesheet.
Practice 2, which will determine the starting order for knockout Armor All Qualifying, is set to be run in daylight tomorrow at 1245 local time/1445 AEST.
