Despite a promising start to the Supercars season, the Grove Racing crew are scratching their heads after it’s speed went missing at Tasmania.
Both the David Reynolds and Matthew Payne Fords battled for pace at the short Symmons Plains circuit with just one top 10 result across the eight on-track sessions.
This was achieved by Reynolds in Race 11 qualifying when he set the ninth fastest time, but he was unable to make good use of it after a first-lap tangle with Shane van Gisbergen.
The #26 Grove Racing driver was also involved in a scary near miss with James Courtney during Saturday morning practice at Turn 6.
Despite the disappointing Race 11, Reynolds was able to work his way up the order from 18th to 12th in the final race to salvage some points.
But it was not enough to stop him from sliding from sixth to eighth in the championship.
The lack of one-lap speed was a far cry from the pace shown at Newcastle and Perth where the 2017 Bathurst winner qualified in the top five in all five of those races.
Reynolds said it was a weekend long battle behind the wheel of his Mustang with the Grove Racing car “really hard” to drive at times.
“We pretty much struggled from the moment we rolled out the truck and have not had much pace to show this weekend,” the two-time Symmons Plains podium finisher said.
“I had a drama in qualifying; locked a few brakes where I shouldn’t have and made a few mistakes. The car was really hard to drive.
Matt Payne battling with Andre Heimgartner for 17th in the closing stages of Race 12 at Symmons Plains. Image: Mark Horsburgh
“I had contact with Shane van Gisbergen and that sort of ruined my race and I went a lap down.
“The next race we started 18th and all I could manage was 12th, so we moved forward but we sort of struggled in key areas you need to make the cars fast.
“So we need to sit down and think about it.”
Grove Racing rookie Payne’s best result was 12th occurred in qualifying for the final race, but he also battled and lost nine places before the chequered flag.
After showing impressive composure and consistency across his first three rounds as a Supercars rookie, Tasmania marked the biggest hurdle of the Kiwi’s short career.
Like his teammate, Payne lost valuable ground in the championship dropping from 12th to 16th in the standings, but is still well ahead of the other rookies.
Payne described his first trip to Tasmania as a “tricky” one.
“It was a pretty tricky weekend; not the greatest weekend I’ve had racing,” he said.
“I definitely like driving around this track, but we struggled for pace pretty much the whole weekend.
“I just got a shocking start (in Race 12) and things did not go our way.
“We just need to figure out what happened and try to find a little bit more car speed.
“I am looking forward to the next round where hopefully we can show some better results.”
Having battled the likes of Jack Smith towards the back, Grove Racing hopes it can shoot up towards the front at Hidden Valley, a track where Reynolds has had plenty of success at, next month.
