Motorsport: Top step matter of time for Andre Heimgartner

Kiwi driver Andre Heimgartner. Photo / Getty

Andre Heimgartner isn’t too bothered that he hasn’t added to his maiden Supercars win of two years ago.

The fact the Kiwi is challenging the leaders more consistently this season is satisfying, with six podium finishes heading into Sunday’s Sandown 500, the first of the enduro rounds.

“It’s been a good season and we’ve had plenty of front-row starts,” the Brad Jones Racing driver said.

“It’s been a great year overall with a few podiums. One thing that has eluded us is the win but I’m not too stressed about that.

“The win will come and we’re concentrating on consistency. We’ve been fighting most weekends for podiums and I’m pleased about how it’s been going.”

The 28-year-old has always shown flashes of good pace. This season, however, it’s been a regular part of his race weekends and he’s seventh overall.

“A lot of it has to do with the new car and it’s opened up a lot of opportunities for a lot more teams. Red Bull doesn’t have so much of an advantage any more.

“The Gen3 car has levelled the playing field a bit, which has allowed us [BJR] to compete more, and we’re only going to keep getting better.”

It’s been a few years since there has been an endurance race as a precursor to the great race, the Bathurst 1000.

Getting an extra hit-out before heading to Mount Panorama in October can only bode well for all teams and in particular the co-drivers.

Last year, a lot of co-drivers tried to take on the Bathurst track with a little too much aggression in an effort to prove a point — not a good idea on a circuit widely known as unforgiving.

“It’s great we have an endurance race before Bathurst. To have the classic [Sandown] back is pretty awesome. There will be, however, a few unknowns with the new car and co-drivers being involved.

“We all saw what happened last year [with lots of crashes] at Bathurst when the co-drivers didn’t have a race beforehand. We got nailed by another car, so the co-drivers being able to have a race before Bathurst will help a lot. Let’s hope it’ll be a bit calmer this year.”

Handing your car’s keys to someone else isn’t an ideal situation during a race but makes for high drama for fans. Getting the car balance right to suit two racers is difficult, as the result is often a compromise that doesn’t perfectly suit either.

However, if the mechanics and engineers get it right, it can make for a formidable combination.

“I don’t have much choice in handing the keys over. It’s good to have another driver to play with and hopefully we’ll get a good result this weekend.

“Sometimes [with the car] you have to find a middle ground. Dale [Wood’s driving style] isn’t that much different to me most of the time, so we should be okay.

“The circuit should suit us and it’s a bit like Pukekohe, being a bit rough and having a lot of curves. I like the track.”