David Reynolds ‘not too far away’ from race wins

David Reynolds believes he and Grove Racing “aren’t too far away” from race wins after a solid showing in the Perth Supercars event.

Reynolds qualified no worse than fourth for any of the three races at Wanneroo Raceway and stood on the bottom step of the podium at the conclusion of Race 7 of the season.

He was running second initially in Race 8 before letting Brodie Kostecki through on Lap 1 and then getting clattered into by Anton De Pasquale when the Dick Johnson Racing driver attempted a similar Turn 7 pass a lap later.

With damage to the #26 Penrite Mustang, Reynolds struggled to 14th in that encounter before banking a fourth in Race 9.

“I had a pretty good weekend,” said the 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner, who was quickest in the sole practice session held at the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint.

“Rolled out the truck really fast and stayed pretty quick in qualifying. I was one of the highest placed qualifiers over the weekend with an average of three [third, second, fourth], and I was always the dominant force in each.

“In [Race 7], we got a podium which is great; fantastic for the team – small reward.

“[In Race 8], we had a little drama; I got pushed off the track and got some sand in my brake duct and that literally destroyed the front of the car, and it was very difficult to win the race after that.

“The last race, I started fourth and drove the wheels off, flat-out the whole time, and finished fourth, so there was not a lot of pace left in the car, but all in all it was a great weekend from the team.

“Good stops, everything like that was working well, so the wins aren’t too far away we just need to be a little bit better on race day.”

In the other Penrite Mustang, Matt Payne’s promising start to his rookie season in the Repco Supercars Championship continued with his first solo top 10s.

The 20-year-old finished sixth, ninth, and 18th from grid positions of fifth, eighth, and 16th, respectively.

In the drivers’ championship, Reynolds is sixth and Payne 12th, with Grove third in the teams’ standings, ahead of the Ned Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint at Symmons Plains on May 19-21.