Nissan Motorsport has battled through a challenging afternoon at the Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint today.
Rick Kelly was the leading Nissan home at the conclusion of today’s 50 lap event. The #15 Castrol Racing driver started from 14th on the grid and battled with a number of drivers in the early stages of the race. However, contact with Cam Waters bent the steering on the Altima and effectively brought an end to his charge. Kelly finished in 15th but with promising pace for tomorrow.
Michael Caruso got the elbows out and made up a number of positions throughout the 120km race. Starting from 21st on the grid, the #23 Drive Racing entry continued his recent form of charging through the field, as he crossed the line just behind Kelly in 16th.
Andre Heimgartner lined up 16th on the grid today after making it into Qualifying Part 2. However, the #7 Plus Fitness entry struggled for drive out of the circuit’s tight hairpin. Racing behind Kelly also ensured that Heimgartner was forced to take an alternate strategy to avoid a possible double stack. After taking an early service, Andre would go on to greet the chequered flag in 17th.
Simona De Silvestro had made a number of changes to her Altima overnight, and she was unable to find the balance that produced the 11th fastest time in yesterday’s practice. Starting from 25th on the grid, the #78 Team Harvey Norman driver kept out of trouble and made up two positions to finish in 23rd. The team will look over the data tonight ahead of tomorrow’s race.
DRIVER QUOTES RICK KELLY #15 CASTROL RACING QUALIFYING: P14 RACE 7: P15 “We had good pace but couldn’t get the result today. I got next to Waters after he had a bit of a slide out of turn 7. It was a bit tight heading into turn 2 and we were being squeezed to the curb a little. I bounced off the curb and ran into him. It ruined our race and his. That’s something you don’t want to see. He’s a fierce competitor and so were we. That bent our steering, so we just managed it to the end. »
MICHAEL CARUSO #23 DRIVE RACING QUALIFYING: P21 RACE 7: P16 « We had a good recovery. We didn’t qualify where we wanted to today and that shaped our afternoon. But we had good pace and passed a few cars through the race. Our focus is to make our qualifying car a better package. We’re just struggling with a bit of understeer. So if we can maximise a bit more front grip, then we’ll be a fair way further up the grid. »
ANDRE HEIMGARTNER #7 PLUS FITNESS RACING QUALIFYING: P16 RACE 7: P17 « We did what we could. That’s all we could do today. Leaving with a straight car is always a positive. The strategy opens up tomorrow, so hopefully we aren’t backed into the position we were in today. We’re still fighting a lack of drive in the car, so we’ll look over that tonight. »
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO #78 TEAM HARVEY NORMAN QUALIFYING: P25 RACE 7: P23 « We had a good start and passed a few cars. Our pace was okay but we’ve got something funny with the car at the moment. We changed the brakes today and that changed the way the car behaved a fair bit. We need to reset for tomorrow and hopefully have a better outcome. Yesterday we were quite quick so we need to get to the bottom of it. »
Press release Nissan Motorsport
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