Benalla product Zak Best endured a tough Sunday during the AirTouch 500 at The Bend. Photos: Supercars Championship.
A promising start to the weekend at the first round of the Repco Supercars Ryco Enduro Cup at Tailem Bend didn’t extend to the race for Benalla product Zak Best, with a poor start to the AirTouch 500 main event proving costly.
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Appearing in his first Supercars outing in over year as a co-driver for Blanchard Racing Team’s Aaron Cameron in the #3 Adventure Industries Ford Mustang, Best looked set for a solid weekend after first practice, with Cameron showcasing some pace to clock the fastest time in a rain-affected session, while Best banked plenty of laps in the co-driver-only second practice, finishing 13th quickest of the 27 drivers.
While Friday looked encouraging, Saturday brought more of a challenge, with Best 25th of 27 in the co-driver practice, although Cameron improved to 17th in the final practice before qualifying, one spot behind the fellow BRT car driven by 2010 champion James Courtney.
It was exactly where Best and Cameron would qualify, too, with Cameron putting down a best time of 1:50.109, just 0.004 behind Courtney, to line up 18th on the grid for Sunday’s race, the first ever V8 enduro event in South Australia.
The Aaron Cameron/Zak Best #3 Ford Mustang completes a lap during practice one on Friday, September 12 at The Bend.
Photo by
Jack Martin
Taking advantage of a rule change for the enduro series that allowed teams to decide which driver would start in the car, as opposed to the main driver previously being mandated to drive the first stint, Best was behind the wheel as the lights went out, although a tricky opening phase combined with a failed overtaking attempt at turn six left the #3 at the back of the field on lap one.
“The race was pretty average,” Best said when speaking on BRT’s social media channels post-race.
“The start from me was horrendous, (I) didn’t get a good launch and was pretty conservative through the first few corners, then had a crack down at turn six to try and regain what I lost, and it didn’t end up going very well, and I went back a little bit.
“So it wasn’t great, and then the pace was pretty awful, so we’ve got a bit of homework to do between now and Bathurst.
“But we got on a better tyre, made up a few spots, and then handed it over to ‘Camo’ (Cameron) to do the best he could.”
The start consigned the pair to an aggressive four-stop strategy across the remainder of the 101 laps, which ultimately didn’t pay off, with the pair crossing the line 24th of 27 after nearly three and a half hours of racing.
Team Shell V-Power Racing pair Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazlewood won from third on the grid ahead of Monster Castrol Racing duo Cam Waters and Mark Winterbottom, while Penrite Racing’s Matthew Payne and Garth Tander rounded out the podium.
The Bathurst 1000 will present an opportunity to rebound, however, with Best set to line up alongside Cameron once more to take on Mount Panorama in ‘The Great Race’ from October 9 to 12.
