A strong showing from Nissan Motorsport topping the two opening practice sessions at the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 has been a highlight on the first day for Garry Jacobson, who is sharing the #15 Castrol Nissan with Rick Kelly.
Kelly topped the opening session in the #15 before handing over to Jacobson.
The young Sheppartonian was getting up to speed in just his second Vodafone Gold Coast 600 event when a slight miscue at the end of the back straight saw him graze the tyre barrier. Whilst the damage was incredibly light, the Nissan Motorsport team didn’t complete the session.
Jacobson – Australia’s fastest School Bus Driver – got back into the car for the first half of this afternoon’s final practice session before handing the car over to Kelly, who brought it home in seventh position – the best of the Nissan runners.
Overall, the team were happy with Jacobson’s performance throughout the day and despite not getting a full program in, the 26-year-old Dunlop Super2 Series regular feels comfortable ahead of tomorrow’s 300km opening race.
Tomorrow, Qualifying will get things underway, before the top 10 Shootout and the 102-lap race at 2:25pm local time.
Jacobson feels comfortable with the car and the support that he has been receiving throughout the course of the day from the team and the fans that have yet again turned out in their thousands to the Supercars’ annual Gold Coast visit.
Coming into this year’s PIRTEK Enduro Cup, Jacobson has picked up support from a number of local businesses in the Shepparton area including Shepparton Motor Museum, Greater Shepparton City Council, along with Challenger Valves, MGA Insurance, FIX Muscle Performance, Thompson Motors and Varapodio Orchards.
In 2018, Garry Jacobson’s program is supported by MEGA Fuels, RABBLE.club, Exedy, Challenger Valves and Actuators, McQuinn Electrical and MGA Insurance Brokers.
“SURF” BOARD – GARRY JACOBSON:
“Going into the weekend, we were confident as the Gold Coast suits us the most with the Nissan Altima. Rick came out of the box quite strong with top time in practice one. I was just starting to get my rhythm and challenge the car a bit more and I come unstuck.
“Gold Coast is just one of those tracks – it’s probably the first time in six years in Supercars that I would have put a car in the fence. I was challenging myself and the car and that’s what happened, there wasn’t a lot of damage thankfully and the guys got it turned around fairly quickly.
“I have to focus on my job as a driver to continue to move forward and do what is asked of me by the team.
“It was great to see Rick get the Castrol car back out there this afternoon and finish inside the top seven.
“I feel like we are moving in the right direction and we’ll be in a good place come tomorrow.”
VODAFONE GOLD COAST 600 SCHEDULE (All times QLD – add 1 Hour for Sydney/Melbourne/Shepparton):
Saturday
10:05-10:25am – Qualifying
11:25-11:50am – Top 10 Shootout
2:25pm-4:50pm – Race 1 – 102 Laps
Sunday
10:20-10:40am – Qualifying
11:40am-12:05pm – Top 10 Shootout
2:25pm-4:50pm – Race 2 – 102 Laps
FURTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION:
www.garryjacobson.com
www.megaltd.com.au
http://rabble.club
www.mwmotorsport.com.au
www.facebook.com/garryjacobsonmotorsport/
www.facebook.com/MEGARacing
www.facebook.com/mwmotorsport
https://www.instagram.com/garryjacobson/
https://www.instagram.com/megaracingau/
https://www.instagram.com/mwmotorsport/
