Superloop 500 2019: Focus on South Australian drivers aiming for higher championship standings

South Australian drivers will be in the spotlight at the Superloop 500 as they all strive to climb even further up the championship standings in 2019.

South Australian Superloop 500 drivers Scott Pye, Nick Percat, Todd Hazelwood and Tim Slade.

A podium finish at the Superloop Adelaide 500 is the first goal Supercars driver Scott Pye hopes to tick off his list as he attempts to climb even further up the championship standings in 2019.

Pye finished the 2018 Supercars season in seventh — a career-best result — in a year in which he achieved his first race win and was runner-up in the Bathurst 1000.

READ BELOW: Flagging fun for kids at the track

The 29-year-old South Australian has improved his ranking in the championship each year since scoring a full-time Supercars drive in 2013.

Now racing at Walkinshaw Andretti United, he has the unofficial title as the lead driver in the garage, having finished the season ahead of teammate James Courtney in both the past two years since joining the team.

“Bathurst was a big highlight for me and getting that first race win — it’s extremely hard and something that you don’t take for granted,” he said of his 2018 season.

“It was a year that had a lot of highlights and more than we’ve had in the past.”

As a past pole-sitter at the Adelaide 500, Pye said a win, or at least to get on the podium, was his focus.

“The way we come out at the start of the year is really important,” he said.

Fellow SA driver Nick Percat, from Brad Jones Racing, is aiming for a top six championship result in season 2019, after a career-best finish in his second year with Brad Jones Racing last year.

“After our results in 2018, I am looking forward to another great year with BJR,” the 30-year-old said.

“We really stepped up and after some consistent results … in the ZB Commodore throughout the season, I think it’s time to solidify that even more.”

Percat’s teammate Tim Slade, meanwhile, is hoping the simple things — more speed, fewer mistakes — will help him forget a “horrendous” end to last season.

Slade, 33, finished the championship in 11th position, equal to his result the previous year, but lamented a horrid run in the second half of the year in which he failed to finish in the top 10 after taking fourth in the second race at The Bend in August.

“We went into (last) year probably hoping for more than what we achieved,” he said.

“We need to chase more outright speed, have that speed consistently there every week, and that’s a hell of a lot easier said than done.”

The newest South Australian to the category, Todd Hazelwood, and his team Matt Stone Racing enter the year keeping a lid on their expectations after completing their rookie years.

“A new team and driver coming into the Supercars championship hasn’t been done for a very long time,” he said.

“I felt it was a huge challenge but I felt ready as I’m ever going to be.”

FLAGGING FUN FOR KIDS AT THE TRACK

By Lara Pacillo

THE Superloop Adelaide 500 will have added fun for the children next Saturday.

The Kids’ Day allows children to have a go at a mini pit stop challenge, where they can drive on a kids’-size track and change the wheels of the mini-karts. The challenge will be timed and there’s a prize for the winner.

Children can also practise their skills in football, tennis, cricket and soccer.

Mini-kart fun at the Adelaide 500 track with Indianah, 7, Tia, 10, driver Nick Percat, Nahla, 7, and Henry, 10. Picture: Keryn Stevens/AAP

Nick Percat, who drives a V8 Supercar for the Brad Jones Racing team, said it was always great to see young people at the track and he likes the extra activities for children.

“The cars keep them pretty interested,” the 2016 Adelaide 500 winner said.

“We see all age groups at the track … which is cool for the sport.”

The Kids’ Day will include signing sessions from Supercar drivers in the Adelaide zone of Tracks of the World. The Superloop Adelaide 500 is free for children 14 and under who enter with a paying adult.

Superloop Adelaide 500’s official program is on sale now. go to advertiser.com.au/competitions for retail outlets