MILESTONE WEEKEND AWAITS: PETER PREVIEWS THE PERTH SUPER 440.
The Perth Super 440 will bring an important milestone for PremiAir Racing, and also for the venue itself.
Saturday’s race will mark our team’s 100th Supercars Championship race, with that count having started back in 2022 with our debut at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Over the 99 races completed so far, it sure has been a rollercoaster of a journey, but today I am more confident than ever in what we can achieve, and I am excited about what lies ahead for us.
On the Sunday, Wanneroo will become the first circuit to host 100 ATCC/ Supercars Championship races, which is pretty cool as well.
Personally, I like racing in Perth. The last time I competed there – albeit at the Perth Motorplex drag strip, not at Wanneroo – I took out an event win in the national Top Fuel championship, so I guess you could say the old boss has set the benchmark for WA!
Ludo keeps telling us he loves Perth as well, so he is feeling very strong heading into this event.
We all are honestly – our Sunday form at Taupō and Symmons Plains has given the whole team a real boost in confidence as we head West, with the crew – new faces and old – starting to gel and work well together.
Speaking of Symmons Plains, the Supercars Championship does travel to some truly beautiful places around this great country of ours! Carmen and I were lucky enough to stay a few days after the event and do some touristy things, including checking out the Truganini Lookout on Bruny Island.
As always, qualifying will be a key focus in Perth, with a two-part knock-out format in place for Saturday and a two-part knock-out plus a Top Ten Shootout for Sunday.
Ten of this year’s 12 completed Supercars Championship races have been won by a car that started on the front row of the grid, and we all know the risk we put ourselves at when we qualify further down the field as well.
There is no doubt that qualifying is more crucial than ever in this championship, and as such, one that we are devoting a significant amount of our resources and concentration to currently.
Pit stops will also be under scrutiny, with the team putting in plenty of practice back at the workshop.
Of course, pit stops are always a crucial part of any race, but on a short 2.42 km circuit like Perth, where lap times are under a minute, they become even more critical to maintaining track position and strategy.
As far as past form here, Jimmy’s personal best result is two 11th places, both set at the 2023 event, with a best qualifying result of 9th, set in qualifying for race one last year. Richie, meanwhile, has a best race finish of 12th and a qualifying position of 11th, both run in 2024.
Both drivers are full of vigour to break through for new milestones this weekend, and how fantastic would it be to secure another podium, and our first for 2025, on this milestone weekend for our team?! You can rest assured, we will be throwing the kitchen sink at it to make this happen.
Our truck driver, Mick, also has a big task ahead of him. Getting to and from Perth is never a small journey as a 10,000km round trip, but this time, with the next round only two weeks away and in Darwin, we will instead be servicing the cars in Perth and then Mick will take them straight to Darwin. There is not enough time to return to the Gold Coast before making the journey north to the NT.
This means an extended time on the road away from home for Mick, so I want to give him a shout out today for his efforts and to all of our team who are putting in the hard yards to make sure we can be the best we can be at every event we head to.
Before I go, I also wanted to mention a very cool promotion currently being run by our partners, Nulon. They are going to reward someone with the ultimate VIP experience at the 2025 Singapore GP, and there are a number of weekly giveaways up for grabs as well. To go in the running, you need to purchase any Nulon APEX+ engine oil before August 3, 2025 – for all the details on how to enter, Ts and Cs, and so on, head to www.nulon.com.au/win
Bring on Perth!
Peter Xiberras
PremiAir Racing Team Owner
The Perth Super 440 will be heldat Wanneroo Raceway across June 6-8, featuring races 14, 15 and 16 of theSupercars Championship. For event information, visit www.supercars.com
PremiAir Racing will carry live race coverage and team updates on its website across the weekend – stay up to date at www.premiairracing.com/track-updates/
For more information on PremiAir Racing, please visit www.premiairracing.com or follow the team on its social media platforms at www.facebook.com/PremiAirRacing/, www.instagram.com/premiair_racing/, www.linkedin.com/company/premiairracing/ and www.twitter.com/premiairracing
