Rookies rev up for Townsville Supercars

THURSDAY AUGUST 27 2020

CAIRNSPOST.COM.AU

THEY are the rookies of this year’s Supercars championship, and Brad Jones Racing duo Todd Hazelwood and Jack Smith are ready to make their mark.

It has been a rollercoaster start to their careers in Australian racing’s top tier with the COVID-19 pandemic rocking the racing world and forcing changes to operations.

But neither driver would have it any other way, working together to forge their careers on the track.

Both drivers have already proven their credentials on the track with Smith taking out the Super3 title for BJR in 2017, while Hazelwood took out the Super2 title in the same season under the Matt Stone Racing banner.

Hazelwood also displayed he has the mettle to match it with the big boys of Supercars when he qualified fourth at Townsville last year.

The 24-year-old believes that past connection with the Reid Park surface will steer him in good stead for the NTI Townsville Supersprint this weekend.

“For me being back in Townsville it is back at a track I really enjoy,” Hazelwood said.

“Back in my time in the Dunlop Super2 Series we had podiums and wins (at Townsville) and last year we had my personal best qualifying result (in the Supercars).

“Coming to Townsville, it is a street circuit, so there is a lot of different surfaces to manage. There is lots of curves, big bumps compared to Darwin where it is a permanent facility.

“The surface here is very different as well so the way the tyre reacts to the surface is different and the way it degrades as well. They are new challenges and that is where the engineers really come into play. They do their homework and that is why I work closely with them.”