FABIAN Coulthard’s bid for his maiden Sandown 500 podium earlier this month may have fallen short, but the DJR Team Penske driver is still feeling optimistic as he looks towards the Bathurst 1000.
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Along with co-driver Luke Youlden, Coulthard placed sixth in the first race of the Supercars’ Enduro Cup.
They spent 20 of the 143 laps of a rain-affected race in the lead and made the bold move of having Coluthard drive on slicks when the track was still wet.
It was a tactic which did not quite pay off as Coulthard would have liked, but he was satisfied with the result.
“You are always hoping for more, but I think with the circumstances and things like that, we should be relatively happy with sixth,” he said.
“At the time it felt like ‘Why are we slipping and sliding around out here’ [on slick tyres], but the boys did a great job and moved us right back up the field.
“The worst part was around turns two, three and four. It was like and ice rink. But as the track dried it came back to us.
“Finishing sixth after starting 11th - moving forward I think that it is important for us, for our confidence and for the team’s confidence that we can run up there.”
Coulthard said the weather conditions made getting read on the car’s performance and how to improve the set up of the Ford Falcon FGX in preparation for the Bathurst 1000 a little difficult.
But he added that the speed he did find in the rain was promising.
“In the morning warm-up on Sunday the car was very fast in the rain, so that is a good gauge I feel,” he said.
“During the race I was on a slick tyre while everyone else was on wets, so in that sense it was hard to get a gauge.
“But there was a point, a crossover point, where the slicks were faster than the wets. If that had come a little bit sooner, then I think our result would have been a lot better.”
Youlden echoed Coulthard’s thoughts about the race pace of their entry.
“The car was quick in the rain and as fast as anyone out there,” he said. “I was comfortable in the car for the double stint and made sure we passed a few, particularly in the early laps.”
The other positive to come out of the wet weather at Sandown was that it will help both Coulthard and Youlden should it rain at Mount Panorama next week. At this stage the forecast is a medium chance of rain on Saturday and low for Sunday’s 161-lap race, but there is the potential for that to be upgraded.
“The last time it rained I think it was in Perth, so we did get a little bit of information there, but obviously that was a long time ago now,” Coulthard said.
“I got to drive in the wet at Perth, but for Luke to get a drive in the wet and the dry [at Sandown], I think it has prepared him a lot better for Bathurst if it does rain up there.”