Tickford Racing driver Cameron Waters ended his unbeaten drought in Townsville last July and explained how much victory means to the team after a difficult start to the season.
Prior to yesterday’s victory, Waters had only twice finished on the podium in the first twelve races and finished seventh in the standings, his closest teammate James Courtney is only in the top 10.
Waters described how much effort the team has put in recent months to keep up with the pace of Triple Eight Race Engineering and Dick Johnson Racing, and is pleased that in the last few rounds he has been at the forefront.
“It’s great for our entire team and all of our sponsors,” Waters said at a news conference that included AUTO ACTION.
“It was a very difficult start to the year for us and a very difficult one for the team.
“They dug deep and were able to turn it all around and give me a car that is capable of winning races and being ahead.”
The former Sandown 500 winner has been grateful to everyone at Tickford Racing for their efforts over the past few months and dedicated the victory to his late Nan.
“The last two rounds our cars have been very fast, so thank you very much to them and this win is really special.
“I want to dedicate the victory to my Nana, which I lost around the Easter weekend, and I think of Mattie (Roberts), the manager of our team, who is going through this, so my thoughts are with him and all his family.”
Waters qualified for second position, but dazzlingly started to get ahead of Shane van Gisbergen before the first turn.
From there, he led the race, although he explained that he was not as fast as the Triple Eight racer, who was late.
“I got a very good start, obviously got a position on the track and the car was very good at the first time, but Shane came back to me when I was losing the rear (tires),” he said.
“I knew that in the second half of the race I would have the same battle when we put on new tires.
“I just needed to maintain a position on the track, take care of the tires and try to have enough aside to keep Shane at the end, he was pretty fast at the end”
Waters ran a little wider on the last lap and gave van Gisbergen a chance to make his way on the last turn.
The couple made contact, but Waters held out.
“I just had to keep trying, I kind of missed one, which gave him a little look at the end, but we did it,” Waters said.
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https://autoaction.com.au/2022/05/22/tickford-dug-deep-to-bounce-back
