FOR the second year of the Supercars Championship running to the Finals format, emphasis will be placed on the mid-season NTI Townsville 500, with the street circuit hit-out providing an important form guide for the season-ending races.
While a total of seven events will be contested prior to the Bathurst Ryco Enduro Cup cut-off, the Reid Park Circuit is set to give prospective finalists a yardstick with regard to Surfers Paradise, the opening event in the finals series, plus the Adelaide Grand Final.
Reigning champion Chaz Mostert now admits that his Walkinshaw TWG Racing squad used Townsville last year as a test bed for the team’s successful title tilt.
“It’s unique here, especially for us in mid-year, being a street circuit and thinking about the last three races and how they form our final series,” Mostert said in Townsville for the event’s launch.
“It is a key track to really try and make sure we nail a good setup… a lot goes into those last three rounds of the base car we would run.
“Yeah, there were points we were testing stuff this time last year here (in Towsville), which definitely helped us at the end of the year.
“It’s all roundabouts. We definitely learned some stuff from here to take it at the end of the year.”
Last year in North Queensland, Mostert went home with results of sixth, second and third, while on the Gold Coast, he won both races, before a trio of second-place finishes in Adelaide sealed the title.
“I wish I’d learnt how to qualify (in Townsville last year), it would have made my life a bit easier,” said Mostert.
“Obviously, our race car was amazing last year, and it really shows this style of track, how cool it is for racing, the opportunities to pass around here.
“The degradation, all that kind of stuff, and trying to find different grooves at different points over the other drivers.
“There’s a lot of scope here for this track.
“I’ve still never been able to win here at the Townsville Circuit, so if I gave myself half a shot to start a bit forward in the race, maybe I might have been able to stand on the top step.”
Supercars return to Townsville from July 10-12.
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