The Australian Grand Prix may be a non-official round of the Supercars championship, but it’s one that all the drivers look forward to and make sure that they give it their all. Now, as the curtains draw firmly closed and the Albert Park Circuit goes quiet once again, it’s time to reflect on the positives that came out of the four races contested over the four day period.
For Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport, drivers Alex Rullo and Taz Douglas started their weekend in a positive fashion adapting to the Albert Park Circuit with only a single 20 minute practice session.
Four back-to-back qualifying sessions on Thursday afternoon tested both drivers and crew with only ten minutes separating each session.
In typical rookie fashion young 16 year old Alex attempted to extract more grip from the tyre under braking than then the Dunlop compound was capable of, suffering a couple of large brake lock ups which ultimately preventing him from posting a competitive lap time.
But throughout the four sprint races, Rullo managed to stay out of trouble and finish in front of his starting grid position, in fact, a highlight for Rullo, was the last race on Sunday, in which he managed to finish six spots higher than his qualifying position.
“What was a mixed weekend, I definitely learnt a lot and feel that Tim (Newton – Race Engineer) and I are beginning to understand how each other work,” said Rullo.
“I definitely feel as though there was more speed left in the car, overall I’m happy with our performance along with bringing back a straight car. I’m continually learning new things and with the amount of track time I get this year I have no doubts that I’ll be able to improve on my weaknesses.”
With a short break for the Virgin Australia Supercars Series, the teams can catch their breath before they attack the Symmons plains circuit in the Apple Isle from April 7 to 9.
