DICK Johnson Racing’s gamble to throw a teenager in the deep end is starting to pay dividends according to James Moffat, and the numbers back it up.
Moffat knows all about the pressure that Rylan Gray is facing, having himself been a rookie at DJR in 2011 – slotting in for none other than reigning champion James Courtney at the time.
Through 28 races, Gray is the only Supercars full-timer yet to outqualify a teammate this season.
As grim as that sounds, the trajectory is very much heading in the right direction as the below graph (complete with trend line) shows.
Note that Race 5 is omitted as Gray was disqualified pertaining to a technical breach
Gray has qualified inside the top 10 for five of the past eight races, with one of those exceptions being an 11th.
His points hauls have been improving too, up from 74.2 per round through the opening five events to 97.75 in the past four.
“For a rookie season, it’s very, very hard for Rylan to come in against a high-profile teammate in Brodie Kostecki,” Moffat began on The Undercut in awarding his Castrol Performer of the Week to Gray.
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“And that has been well spoken about in maybe his lack of performances throughout the year, but I think he’s really starting to find where he needs to be with how he needs to set the car up, how he needs to drive the car, how he needs to execute his race weekends.
“He was quick in Perth, had a couple of good results over there, but to back it up at Queensland Raceway, I think he is really starting to hit his straps.”
Gray will pair up with veteran Tony D’Alberto for the upcoming enduros, starting with next weekend’s AirTouch 500 at The Bend.
Rylan Gray (right). Pic: Matthew Paul Photography