Night job gets car over line

WORKING through the night to create a “fundamentally changed” car has helped Paul Dumbrell undo Cameron Waters’ V8 Supercars Dunlop Series dominance.

The Eggleston Motorsport driver overturned a fifthplaced finish in the Townsville 400 race one on Saturday by making a “back- to- basics” approach with the car overnight to find the speed needed to get him back to the top.

The 32- year- old has been less than satisfied with his car in the past three rounds, but his team are finally finding the right mix to tackle Waters.

It was the defending champion’s first race win since the season opener in Adelaide and ended a purple patch of form with Waters winning eight races in nine starts.

“We fundamentally changed a few things in the car overnight with the setup and a few other things,” Dumbrell said. “We were comfortable enough that the car felt strong ( yesterday) morning and the race pace was certainly a lot better.

“My fastest lap in the race was probably a second and a half quicker than my fastest lap ( on Saturday) so fundamentally different.”

Waters said he wasn’t able to find the right changes to suit the track and help him back up after a win in race one on Saturday. With 145 points separating the frontrunners in the championship, Waters said he couldn’t get complacent.

“I’m always thinking championship, but you’ve always got to finish,” he said.

Dumbrell finished strongly to win the championship last year and was hoping for the same in 2015.

“We’re getting the car closer to where we want it to be,” he said.

“We’ve had one win since the start of the year, so the racing is definitely still in Cam’s domain, but hopefully we can have a bit of close racing up the front the next few rounds.”