Winterbottom looking for ‘kick start’ in Darwin

The Prodrive Racing Australia star is coming off the back of what he described as a much-needed test day during the break between the Winton and Darwin rounds, as his side of the PRA garage looked to find a base set-up on the new-for-2017 tyres.

He’s now looking to turn the progress made at the Winton test into results, and hopes the series’s annual trip to the Top End will set some good form in motion.

“Darwin is great. It’s been the kick-starter for us quite a few times in the past and historically has been quite good for us,” said Winterbottom.

“Hopefully we can go up there, have a good weekend and get back on track a bit.

“It’s a good event to go to as well. It’s one I often take the family to and spend a bit of extra time up there if we can because it’s just such an awesome place.

“I’m keen to get back and see what we can put together after the test day.”

While Winterbottom is keen to see how the test translates into real-world speed, PRA boss Tim Edwards warned that even if his squad has taken a step forward, it has to assume that Triple Eight and DJR Team Penske have done the same after their own test days.

“The test day was very important for us and thankfully there were a lot of positives to take from it,” he said.

“Surface-wise Winton and Darwin are quite similar but temperature-wise they’re polar opposites.

“We believe we have made improvements but we have to remember that the two main teams that we’re competing against also had their test days over the break so there are no guarantees.

“As a team Darwin is always a good event to go to, the atmosphere is always fantastic so hopefully we can put on a good performance for our fans.”