TEAM 18 management is sure the Mount Waverley squad has changed for the better but that’s not to say it’s the finished product just yet.
A little more than 12 months ago Team 18 was overhauled, led by the recruitments of manager Bruin Beasley and crew chief Dennis Huijser.
The rebuild has paid dividends, most notably in the form of a breakthrough race win last month at Hidden Valley via Mark Winterbottom.
From the outside, the subsequent round at Townsville appeared a return to the Team 18 of old, with strong race pace helping make up for poor qualifying form.
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A sixth, seventh and two 11ths was the solid outcome, neither car having taken any part in a Top 10 Shootout across the weekend.
“We’re all a bit grumpy and disappointed but the reality is, Frosty passed 13 people on (the Sunday) and Scott (Pye) had heaps of pace,” Beasley told V8 Sleuth.
“I think it’s actually pretty good.
“If we need to get 10 things right, we probably got seven or eight. A year ago or 18 months ago, it was probably three or four.
“So I think we have come a long way, it just feels like now that you’re competitive you want more and more all the time.”
An earlier than customary mid-season test, used prior to the Symmons Plains round in May, had focused on solving a lack of drive out of corners.
Now, there’s another area of attention to help ensure Winterbottom and Pye start further up the grid.
“We have just got to do a better job of turning the car on a bit quicker,” said Beasley.
“I think we have had it for a little while; it’s a bit of a trait where we don’t quite get that right.
“We get the race cars good but it’s something we need to work on. It’s not new.”
Their next chance to check for improvement on that front will come at the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight on July 28-30.
