GC600 HOPEFUL HAS HIS TAIL UP
TIM Slade has warned the Gold Coast 600 could be another weekend of Triple Eight dominance when Supercars hit the streets of Surfers Paradise in nine days’ time.
Triple Eight fields an allstar line-up of Jamie Whincup, Shane van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes, who between them have won the past six races and more than half of this year’s 25 starts.
Slade conceded he had not in years seen a team be as far ahead of the pack as Triple Eight were at Sandown last month.
Given the Surfers Paradise circuit has some similar characteristics to Sandown, the Gold Coast-based driver fears the Holden trio may be hard to topple.
“If you look at any track this year where there are bumps and kerbs, like Adelaide, Townsville, Sandown, they have been super-fast – like a different planet – so I would expect to see that at the Gold Coast as well,” Slade said.
The 33-year-old himself had a tough outing at Bathurst and isn’t overly optimistic of an easier weekend at his adopted home track.
His Brad Jones Racing team have traditionally struggled at the Gold Coast, although Slade did manage a podium there last year in extremely wet conditions.
“Gold Coast is not one of BJR’s stronger tracks,” he said. “Tracks like Bathurst, Winton, Darwin, Tailem Bend tend to suit our car more for whatever reason than a track like the Gold Coast or Sandown where it is a different surface and is not as grippy as some other places and there are bumps and kerbs and whatever else.”
Slade and his co-driver Ash Walsh finished the Bathurst 1000 a lap down in 17th place on Sunday after enduring a troubled event. His teammate Nick Percat defied power steering problems to give BJR a seventh place finish.
Slade is again the team’s highest-ranked driver this season however, sitting 10th in the overall standings.