Andre Heimgartner made a strong start to the 2022 Supercar season with his new team Brad Jones Racing, running comfortably inside the top ten in both races at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Heimgartner took a fifth palace finish in his second race with the team, the Kiwi crossing the line 14th in the first race after a fuel drama dropped him back in the pack with a handful of laps remaining.
The weekend also saw a strong qualifying result for Hemgartener on Saturday, starting on the second row of the grid, though he would qualify slightly further back for the Sunday race starting from 12th.
Heimgartner spoke to Supercars.com about his weekend.
“As far as first weekends go, it was pretty solid,” he said.
“It was really tricky today but we were in the mix all day and racing the top guys.
“It’s good because yesterday was unfortunate, we were at the front and I felt we were on for a podium.
“A top five today is nice, but when you look at it, we were running in podium positions both days.
“So yeah, pretty happy but it could have been more.”
Over the offseason, Heimgartner moved from Kelly Grove Racing where he had been since 2018 to BJR.
Heimgartner secured his first race win in the championship last May at Tailem Bend.
Despite SMP being his first round with the team he brought home solid results through the races to leave the opening round eighth in the championship.
“It’s a really good atmosphere,” he said.
“It’s a family-owned team, and you do feel that energy, everyone’s really close.
“I feel pretty comfortable here and we had a good test day so we came here feeling good.
“We’ve got some work to do still to make the car a bit more consistent.”
Team owner Brad Jones was pleased by the results though he admitted the Sunday race could have been better, as he suspected the car may have sustained slight damage in an incident with Anton de Pasquale.
“Andre was in a position where we thought he could fight for a podium,” Jones said.
“The contact with Anton might have bent a steering arm or something.
“High position in qualifying, good car pace on the Super Soft.
“I’m happy with where we are.”
The season will get back underway at Tasmania March 25-27.
Main image: Brad Jones Racing