It was a rollercoaster weekend at the Darwin Triple Crown event for Shepparton export Garry Jacobson.
Celebrating his 50th race start, Jacobson slogged out back-to-back 19th finishes and a superb 13th in the fourth round of the Supercars Championship.
The Mooroopna product's efforts at the Hidden Valley Raceway keep him locked in 21st position in the championship.
After dealing with some "mechanical gremlins" on the opening day, Jacobson was able to finish off the weekend in style.
Jacobson finished 19th in races 13 and 14, before storming home to claim 13th in race 15 after he started from 16th on the grid.
The Matt Stone Racing driver said he spent a fair chunk of the weekend learning about his car.
“For me, this weekend was all about trying to learn the car as much as possible,” Jacobson said.
“We had a couple of mechanical gremlins that we needed to get on top of on Saturday, so the learning really started for me on Sunday.”
Jacobson won't have long to rest before stepping back out on the Hidden Valley Raceway this weekend for the Darwin SuperSprint.
He said he still had plenty of work to do in qualifying and mastering the top-end circuit.
“Qualifying I think is our biggest area we can gain especially on the soft tyre, and also with me understanding the car at this particular track,” he said.
“I’ve just got to get on top of the qualifying lap time a little bit earlier throughout the weekend.
“Wes and all the engineering department have a lot of data now and I have a lot of onboard footage that I can watch and study.
“We get a second chance with being in Darwin again next weekend and I guarantee I can get a bit further up the field.”
● Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri is close to reclaiming the lead in the Formula 3 World Championship after he clinched his second win of the season on Sunday.
Piastri — who has strong family ties to Shepparton — saluted in race two at Spain's Barcelona circuit and now sits one point behind his teammate Logan Sargeant.
Piastri sits on 130 points after six rounds and 12 races.
It was a timely win for Piastri, after the Australian teenager coughed up his championship lead in recent weeks.
And the rising star returned to the winner's podium in style, blitzing the field with an exciting opening lap.
When the lights went out, the 19-year-old flew out from fifth place and manoeuvred his way to first position which he held for the remaining 22 laps.
“It was a really good race,” Piastri told fiaformula3.com
“Obviously, my start and my first lap made all the difference.
“I was really happy with that, it's where I've been struggling a bit so far this year — starts and first laps — so to have a start like that, where I went from fifth to first in three corners, was very positive.”
Piastri will be back in action on August 28-30 when the championship heads to Belgium.