Harri Jones (#4) races Will Davison (#19) after the first downpour at he Bend 500. Image: InSyde Media
Jones started Jack Le Brocq’s #4 Matt Stone Racing Camaro in 15th position, however a tricky start saw him enter Turn 1 in 23rd.
Battling through spinning cars and enormous amounts of spray, the two-time Porsche Carrera Cup Australia champion found himself back inside the top 10 after just four laps.
“It was pretty fun to be honest, those sorts of races are really enjoyable,” Jones told Speedcafe.
“I knew the start was going to be difficult because even when we rocked up to the grid after the first out lap and I hopped out of the car, I had three different painted lines within the grid box.
“So I was so tentative on the start, just trying to pull it away like I’m at the traffic lights, but no matter how much throttle I put in the car, it just burst into wheelspin straight away.
“I saw that being a possibility, and when you’re in a situation, it sucks because you just feel like you’re going nowhere and getting swamped left, right, and centre.
“It was a pretty incredible first few laps.
“There were things going on everywhere and a few cars firing off, but I was pretty comfortable and confident in the car that was underneath me and just able to move forward and make some cool passes and also just learn where the grip is on the circuit.”
Jones was fourth on the restart when Tim Slade’s Grove Racing Mustang broke into wheelspin in the lead and almost spun off the road.
However, even with only three cars in front, Jones was unaware of just how close of a call the leader had.
How did Tim Slade save that?!?!
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“Even though I was still only P4, the mist just from those first three cars was enough to basically blind me at that point already,” Jones said.
“I saw Tim as he was recovering and he was slower, and I was also aquaplaning on that front straight.
“When you see a slow car just appear from the mist, your natural instinct is to react and swerve.
“But that can send you into a spin at that point, so you sort of have to panic slowly in those sort of situations and just gently move the car aside, make the move and roll out of the throttle instead of releasing the throttle instantly.
“We actually battled for those first opening corners and it was only really put into place heading into Turn 4 where I slotted in front of him.
“It was pretty wild and it was just such a fun race, every single restart there were things going on.”
Jones’ performance was made all the more special due to being a late addition to the Enduro Cup field, earning the call-up in August to replace Cameron Crick due to illness.
The Porsche champion also entered the 500 with limited on-track running after a brake failure ended his Queensland Raceway pre-enduro test prematurely.
Harri Jones during the Supercars pre-enduro test day at Queensland Raceway. Image: Richard Gresham
“The weekend was pretty unbelievable to be honest,” Jones said.
“It was a late call-up for me to come into the enduro seat this year with Matt Stone, and we were on the back foot at the test day with a brake failure and limited laps.
“Straight after the brake failure I was at home on the simulator trying to do as much as I could to replicate what I missed out on in the real thing.
“I was in the factory a lot with the team, getting close to the engineers, working with the mechanics, getting a seat position sorted, making sure that when we did rock up to The Bend, I’d put every possible thing into the preparation that I could.
“It does make it more difficult, but you can’t dwell on setbacks like that. You just have to grab it with both hands and see what you can do with it.
“When we rocked up to The Bend, I was very comfortable from Lap 1 and felt really embedded within the team straight away.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with Jack and already after The Bend I think we’ve developed so much and we’re looking really good going into Bathurst.”
Le Brocq crossed the line 11th, but he and Jones were elevated to 10th when James Golding was disqualified for not meeting the minimum driver laps.
Entering the Bathurst 1000, Le Brocq sits in a prime position to take the last spot in the Finals.