JAMES Moffat has admitted to being caught off-guard by an aggressive move by Tickford Racing stablemate Mark Winterbottom in the Ryco Enduro Cup opener.
Having this year switched across to Thomas Randle’s side of the garage to accommodate Winterbottom’s return, Moffat made a blistering start to vault the #55 Castrol Ford from fifth to third by the first corner of The Bend 500.
But in his own words, that was as good as it got.
Eventual co-winner Todd Hazelwood swiftly passed both of Tickford’s lead Mustangs, before Winterbottom lunged Moffat – complete with light contact – at the penultimate corner on Lap 5 to snatch fourth.
“Based on the pre-race conversations, a little bit by surprise, but that’s part of racing,” Moffat said of that moment via the latest episode of The Undercut.
“So you live and you learn and it’s in the back of the memory bank for Bathurst in a couple of weeks’ time.”
James Moffat with Thomas Randle. Pic: Supplied/Mark Horsburgh
Winterbottom and Cam Waters went on to finish second, while Moffat was critical of his own performance as the #55 wound up ninth.
“Speed-wise very promising, but the fact is a costly error by myself in the race hurt us in terms of our track position,” said the two-time race winner.
“So ultimately ninth at the end of the race, but our speed was probably better than that.”
Moffat’s The Undercut co-host Jack Perkins is similarly looking within for more come next month’s Repco Bathurst 1000.
“I sort of got beaten around a bit at the start of the race and struggled with the aggression levels, so I need to pick up my game, and the pace wasn’t strong either,” said Perkins.
“James (Courtney) got his head around the car really good in the last stint and the pace was quite strong for JC, so we just need to take the positives to Bathurst now and hopefully have a better result.
“Because I think the ingredients are all there, we’re working closely with Walkinshaws in the deal that the Blanchards have, and hopefully we can improve from there.”
Perkins had gone in better prepared than ever on the back of three races in the US (including two in the NASCAR Xfinity Series) and a stack of simulator work.
“It just didn’t translate for me unfortunately. So not back to the drawing board, but working incredibly between The Bend and Bathurst just to get on top of my own game and I know the team are working pretty hard as well,” Perkins added.
The Bathurst 1000 will take place across October 9-12.
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