THOMAS Randle says an open-minded and frank approach between himself and engineer Raymond Lau is helping the #55 Castrol Mustang move up the Gen3 pecking order.
Randle and Lau have now worked together for several years, including a 2021 wildcard campaign and the subsequent transition into Tickford Racing’s full-time fleet.
MORE: Tickford branching out with new engineering arm
It was a somewhat slow start to the season for the duo but they have found their feet of late, most obviously seen with a second-row start in Townsville.
Randle, who owns Dream Simulation in Melbourne, did not shy away from crediting Lau and their working relationship in explaining the progress.
“Ray and I do sim sessions before every round, he comes around to my place and we do quite a few hours of sim work, just getting my head around the track and trying out different approaches for corners or quali runs, race runs,” he told V8 Sleuth.
MORE: Long-awaited Winton test ‘like Christmas’ for Randle
“All sorts of things so when I get to the round you can just be straight on it and there might be stuff we talk about over the race weekend that’s relevant to the sim stuff that we do.
“We both have a pretty open mind with stuff, whether it’s car set-up or whether it’s something I need to work.
“There were times over the (Townsville) weekend that I needed to up my game in terms of performance at certain corners and I think we do that quite well, Ray and I, where we can give each other constructive criticism and I think that helps us move forward.”
That particularly applied with a blunt review of Randle’s tyre management in Race 1 of the Townsville 500, which led to a far better showing the following day.
NEWS: Mustang-only racing series launched
Qualifying too has been a focus.
“Our qualifying has certainly stepped up,” said the 2020 Super2 champion.
“There is a lot of pressure on that one flying lap and I think having that year under my belt now in the main series, I just go into these race meetings with a more clear approach and I think that’s certainly helping.”
Repco Supercars Championship action at the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight gets underway today, starting with Practice 1 from 12:15pm AEST.
