WEEKEND RECAP
Matt Stone Racing has wrapped up a largely successful weekend at the NTI Townsville 500, with strong performances across both sides of the garage delivering valuable Championship points. The team’s consistent results saw MSR climb from 9th to 7th in the Teams Championship, while Jack Le Brocq returned to the Top Ten in the Drivers Championship at a pivotal stage of the season. With just three rounds remaining before the Finals commence, every point is becoming increasingly significant, and Townsville provided an important boost as the battle for contention continues to intensify.
Jack Le Brocq and the No.4 Sherrin Rentals Camaro enjoyed a consistently strong weekend, opening proceedings with an impressive 8th place qualifying effort before battling in the highly competitive midfield to finish Race 20 in 11th. The team opted for a more ambitious qualifying setup in Race 21, which unfortunately didn’t deliver the desired one-lap result, however they recovered superbly during the race itself. Strong race pace and excellent car management around the challenging Reid Park circuit allowed Jack to charge through the field to 9th, while also setting the fastest lap of the race. He backed that performance up on Sunday with another hard-fought 9th place finish, capping off a consistent weekend that delivered crucial Championship points and lifted him to 10th in the Drivers Championship. With only three rounds remaining before the Finals, the Sherrin Rentals Racing crew have placed themselves back in the fight for a coveted Finals position.
Zach Bates continued his impressive rookie campaign in the No.10 Bendix Racing Camaro, continuing to gain experience while demonstrating encouraging race pace throughout the weekend. After a challenging start to the weekend, Zach and the team continued to make gains across each session, converting improved race speed into a pair of 14th-place finishes across the final two races of the weekend. Those results made an important contribution to the team’s overall points haul, helping Matt Stone Racing leapfrog two rivals in the Teams Championship and providing further confidence in the package heading into the second half of the season.
With plenty of positives to take away from Townsville, the team’s focus now shifts to the Perth Super440. The race pace shown across both Camaros throughout the weekend proved the underlying speed of the package, and the objective will now be to pair that long-run performance with improved one-lap qualifying pace. If the team can unlock stronger starting positions while maintaining its race-day speed, Matt Stone Racing will be well placed to continue its climb in both the Teams and Drivers Championships as the Finals battle reaches its most critical stage. All eyes are certainly on Perth in a few short weeks time…
QUOTES
Matt Stone
Team Owner, Matt Stone Racing
“Overall, Townsville was a really positive weekend for our team. To jump a few garages in pit lane and come away with 7th in the Teams Championship and Jack back into the Drivers Championship top ten is a great reward for the effort everyone has been putting in back at the workshop. We know we’ve got some work to do to improve our one-lap qualifying pace, but our race pace was genuinely encouraging, so we’ll take the positives and keep building as we head to Perth.”
Jack Le Brocq
Driver, No.4 Sherrin Rentals Camaro
“It was a really solid weekend for our side of the garage, and it feels good to be back inside the Top Ten in the Drivers Championship. The car really came alive during the races, especially on Saturday where we nailed our pit stop strategy and were able to fight our way past 11 cars, and came away with the fastest lap of the race – which shows the pace we’ve got when everything comes together. I’m really happy with back to back P9s in Race 21 & 22, and we’re confident that we can keep fighting towards the front of the grid as the we cross over into the second half of the season. There’s still plenty to improve in qualifying, but if we can tidy that up and keep our race speed where it is, we’ll give ourselves a great opportunity over the next few rounds before the crucial cutoff for Finals contention.”
Zach Bates
Driver, No.10 Bendix Racing Camaro
“I learned a lot over the course of the weekend and it was nice to finish on a stronger note after a difficult start. The team did a great job improving the car across each session, and we showed we had good race pace to fight our way forward and come away with a pair of 14th-place finishes. Every lap in the car is valuable for me, and I’m looking forward to taking what we’ve learned into Perth and continuing to build momentum. Huge thanks to the team and our partners as always for their support”
