The second round of the Supercars Championship is a local one for me, as we get set to race at the Sandown SuperSprint this weekend.
“The series didn’t race at Sandown Raceway last year, and in previous years it’s traditionally been a co-driver endurance round. This weekend it’s a solo driver event and a two-day race format that involves a short, sharp three-phase qualifying format and three sprint races. Obviously, a two-day race meeting means quite a compact schedule, so it feels like we’re in the car a lot over the weekend which of course I don’t mind at all!
Sandown Raceway is a circuit with a lot of history and it’s a pretty spectacular place to race. One of the keys to Sandown is getting the tyre to turn on quickly, so you can put a quick qualifying lap together and get a good starting position for the race. It is traditionally a difficult track to pass on and this weekend we have three short 26-lap races, so track position will be key.
You definitely need to have a car that’s good in a straight line as the layout is basically two long drag strips with four corners at each end.
I’m hoping to have a better weekend than we had at the opening round at Bathurst, where we fell victim to various mechanical issues. Our main goal is to have cars that perform solidly, keep working on our set up direction and bank some good championship points.
Hopefully, Brad Jones Racing can turn Sandown into a happy hunting ground because in the past it hasn’t been a great place for us results-wise. The last time I raced there I finished 8th with co-driver Tim Blanchard and this time around I’m aiming for a top-5 result.
In other news, the auction of my special Guide dogs designed helmet raised over $7000 for the organisation. It’s cool that the people that won the auction are coming out on the weekend to watch so it’ll be great to have them in the stands cheering us on!”
You can follow Nick on social media for updates across the event.
Twitter- @nickpercat
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