Kernow Sports Round 1 Report - Australia

Melbourne had never been kind to Kernow Sport. In four previous season-openers at the parkland street circuit the team had only ever scored one top-10 finish. Points finishes in general had been rare here.
So it was a mighty relief last night to watch our cars, driven by Bart De Vos and Sven de Vries, come home 10th and 12th. A rare double-points finish and 10 valuable points are a welcome boost for the team at the beginning of the season. It took quite a few races last year before any points were scored so to get off the mark instantly was very satisfying. And seeing almost half our previous campaigns total scored in the very first race, with 17 to go, fills us with hope and excitement.

Both drivers were sensible through the first turn and came out unscathed whilst others caused issues around them. They settled into a long race fight with several other cars, at times both attacking or defending (sometimes concurrently!), and, by running longer on their stints then most around them, managed to emerge ahead come the end. Let's hear the views:

TM Wicks: "It was great to watch the guys out there, and doing so well. A tricky qualifying session saw them both starting in the bottom half of the field (14th and 20th). But these two guys are fighters and committed. They both experienced moments of pressure in the race and used their heads sensibly when involved in fights; and when assisting each other on track to make the most of their strategies. I'm proud of the result but no doubt the two of them, being talented, eager racers, still wanted more from it."

#12 De Vos: "Definitely a better season start compared to last year! 10th and 12th is a decent team result. There was plenty of preparation for this race, but in the end we made some wrong directions with the setup. Qualifying was ok, I was able to avoid trouble at the start, which was the first goal. Racepace wasn't great, because of a nervous setup. But apart from one little moment I managed to stay out of trouble, which was key to get up to 10th. It was good to see where we are with equal cars. We can now head into the development race from a comfortable position."

#83 De Vries: "Going into Melbourne I was expecting big things to happen considering how well the car felt during the preseason test and the ability to fight for the win here in Supercup. Unfortunately I was unable to get the car to feel right for me and I'm still clueless as to why, but we can't always win them all. Starting 20th was definitely interesting but after a long race in which I focused on consistency and staying out of trouble, we managed to grab P12 whilst Bart finished 10th, meaning we had a double points finish in the first race of the season. That's definitely something to be pleased with and to build on that for more success during the following races."

A good start to the season, and introduction to RF2. Let's hope the team can keep this momentum rolling forwards and keep adding to the points total. Next stop Bahrain, with Bart and Dan in the cars.