Scott Pye hopes his Supercars season turns around at The Bend
The Bend is a tough track for Supercars drivers to get their head around but it cannot be tougher for SA driver Scott Pye than the year he has had in 2019.
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Scott Pye may be entering this weekend’s Supercars round at The Bend placed in 16th in the championship standings but is optimistic his season is about to turn around.
The Mobil 1 Mega Racing driver at Walkinshaw Andretti United finished seventh in the Supercars championship last season — his best career result — and had thought the momentum would roll into this year.
However his team has struggled to find pace with both Pye’s Holden ZB Commodore and that of his teammate James Courtney, who is currently 12th in the championship.
Pye said it had been a tough year.
“For me, it’s been a bit disappointing not to continue where we finished last year,” he said.
“That’s the sport, it’s continually moving forward.
“We’ve had a limited amount of testing so we’ve had to do that on race weekend, and that’s costing us a bit.”
Pye is out of contract at the end of this season but it is at this time of year that the 29-year-old has typically shone.
He and enduro co-driver Warren Luff have finished runner-up at Bathurst at both of the past two events, and last year he finished the back half of the season with a string of top-10 finishes, including sixth in the second race on Sunday at The Bend Motorsport Park, near Tailem Bend.
“The endurance events is where we’ve bounced back,” he said.
“I’m confident in going to Bathurst and Sandown in particular.
“I’ll be with (Luff) for the third time in a row, it’s the longest driver pairing I’ve had, and the most successful as well.
“The team usually thrives at those events.
“The longer events are good for us, so there’s a good feeling going into the enduros.”
This weekend’s OTR SuperSprint is where the resurgence may begin.
Pye said it had been tricky for teams to prepare a set-up that worked for the inaugural race at the new venue last year but would take many learnings into Friday’s first practice session.
“We’re much more confident with the package we’re going with than last year,” he said.
“All the teams struggled to find a bit of a balance (last year), the surface of the track was different to what we expected and it took us until Sunday to get on top of the car.
“Sunday we bounced back.”
Pye said Australia was fortunate to have a track like it, which offers plenty of passing opportunities and technical aspects that test drivers.
“Certainly for overtaking, it’s a good track,” he said.
“It’s a tricky track and long lap.
“The last couple of corners were difficult not to overstep the mark, it’s a fine line between finding the limit and going past it.”