THE Shell V-Power Racing Team salvaged a top-10 finish from a tough run in The Bend 500, a race that threw the team numerous curveballs.
Rylan Gray and Tony D’Alberto brought Car 38 home in ninth place, while polesitters Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood finished 15th.
After two days of perfect weather, rain blighted the Sunday morning warm-up session and returned in earnest prior to the start of the race. Further heavy downpours arrived in waves during the first half of the race before conditions finally cleared, allowing the track to dry out.
Todd started the race from pole in Car 17 but bogged down off the line in the slick conditions. He then struggled for grip with his first set of wet-weather tyres and fell back as low as 20th.
A pit stop on lap 26 during the first Safety Car period allowed a change to a different set of wets tyres with higher starting pressures, but he was then handed a 15-second time penalty for speeding at pit entry – which was served immediately prior to a later Safety Car period.
Brodie took over the car on lap 55 during that Safety Car period and sat in 23rd place on the restart.
He made quick progress through the field to move as high as 13th only for high engine temperatures, caused by a blocked radiator grille, to force an unscheduled stop on lap 70. The stop dropped Car 17 off the lead lap and back down to 23rd.
Despite no further Safety Cars amid the drying conditions, Brodie was able to bring the car back up to 17th place at the chequered flag, but disqualifications and penalties elevated the duo to 15th by a mere 0.0134s.
Car 38’s run to ninth resembled a rollercoaster, starting with the opening lap.
From 20th on the grid, Tony carved through the field to briefly sit 13th, before the mid-pack scrum left him 17th at the end of the first tour.
He again moved forward to sit as high as 11th prior to lap 25, when he became a victim of one of the subsequent cloud bursts.
Tony was one of several cars to aquaplane and spin on the approach to Turn 1 amid the torrential rain. The car sustained minor front-end damage against the wall but emerged otherwise unscathed, albeit down in 24th.
TD launched an impressive recovery drive to sit 12th on lap 55 when he handed the car over to Rylan, who was able to navigate the tricky drying conditions well.
A strong final stint saw Rylan pass a pair of cars in the closing laps to take the chequered flag in 10th, which was elevated to ninth when a car ahead of him was disqualified.
Brodie remains fourth in the Repco Supercars Championship standings, while Rylan moves up a spot to 17th.
The Shell V-Power Racing Team also maintains its fifth placing in the Teams Championship with an increased margin of 16 points over its nearest pursuer.
All eyes now turn to Supercars’ crown jewel: practice for the Repco Bathurst 1000 gets underway at Mount Panorama on October 8.
