Chris Pither’s gamble to run wet tyres in the first race of the day set the scene for Race 3 as well.

In Race 2 the track didn’t dry as the young Kanga Loaders steerer thought it would, leaving him with work to do in Race 3. But a first corner ‘off’ in the last race of the weekend just about ended his chances. But from their maiden outing the team and Chris take away many positives from the weekend, particularly 7th in Race 1.  And, again for a first outing, 14^th for the weekend isn’t too shabby in a 37-car field.

Race 2:

(14 laps) Grid Position: 5

A wet morning at Winton left a wet track but with a promise of the weather clearing. The dilemma: wets or slicks?

Pither: ‘I saw what happened in yesterday’s main game V8 Supercar race [which started in wet, but with a drying track], and I saw the guys on slicks really come on strong at the end of that race when a dry race line developed. I thought the same would happen today.

‘I decided the track was going to dry and put slicks on, but it didn’t work out. The weather was quite cool and there was no wind, so the water flicked up by the cars just went back down onto the track. ‘I couldn’t get any temperature in the tyres, so I ended up cruising around. Basically, I took a gamble and it didn’t pay off.’

After starting in 5^th, by the end of lap 1 the Kanga Loaders Commodore was in 14^th; lap 2, 22^nd; and lap 3, 27^th, which was Pither’s finishing position at race end.

Results: 1 Youlden, 2 Zukanovic, 3 D’Alberto, 4 Jones, 5 Scott, 6 Caruso, 7 Wyhoon, 8 D. White, 9 M. White, 10 Wood, 27 Pither

Race 3:

(25 laps) Grid Position: 12

On cold tyres combined with cold tarmac ‘The Kud’ was brave and went down the outside on the first corner of the race – and might have got a bit of a bump on the way in to help him along – and ran wide onto the wet, slippery grass. By the time he got back on the black stuff the Kanga Loaders Commodore had lost six spots, leaving him 18^th.  When you’re that far down in the pack, a pretty uneventful race can be the result – and so it happened, with a finishing result of 15^th.

Chris was happy with the handling and braking in the car, but felt it was lacking top-end speed down the straights, where he came under attack. Capitalising on his strengths, Pither worked the car hard under brakes and through Winton’s 12 corners.

But, as in life, there’s a price to pay when you work some things too hard, and the tyres cried ‘enough’ in the last few laps, so Chris played it safe and brought the Kanga Loaders Commodore home in 15^th.

Results: 1 Thompson, 2 D’Alberto, 3 Scott, 4 Zukanovic, 5 Caruso, 6 O’Brien, 7 Jones, 8 Rollinson, 9 M. White, 10 McNally, 15 Pither