Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint Wrap Up

Wet conditions hampered drivers over the course of the weekend at the Tasmanian round of the championship. Australian Clutch Services sponsored Nissan Motorsport were able to keep out of trouble to record strong results for the weekend.

The Saturday race was cut short after a dramatic 12 car pile-up in wet conditions which resulted in several badly damaged cars. Nissan driver Rick Kelly was forced to retire from the weekend after the car was too badly damaged to race on the Sunday. ACS driver Michael Caruso was able to avoid the majority of the carnage, however the race has since been classified as a no points finish.

The Sunday race saw Michael Caruso starting in 13th place and keen to move through the field. The #23 driver was sadly the innocent bystander of a spin by James Moffat at the hairpin and the resulting contact damaged the Altima’s steering. Caruso was able to continue and finished the race in 16th place.

The Sunday race was the first full wet race for ACS driver Simona De Silvestro in the Supercars championship. The #78 driver started the race in 20th place and briefly led the entire field. After 84 laps De Silvestro lead home the Nissan team in 15th place.

“This weekend was definitely interesting for us. This was the first time we had to deal with wet conditions and changing conditions in the race.” Says De Silvestro, “The positive of the weekend is that we learned a whole lot because there are so many things that happen during changeable conditions. The first stint wasn’t too good, and then we improved as the race went on. We just need to find a bit more speed to get by some people. So that’s what we’ll be working on.”

The Nissan Motorsport team will return to the track for the WD-40 Phillip Island 500 from the 21st to 23rd of April.