Eleven top ten finishes from 16 races has Dave Reynolds sitting eighth in the 2017 Supercars Championship.
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It’s a far cry from last year where he finished 16th.
“Last year was our first year at everything,” Reynolds said.
“First year with a Commodore, first year based in Melbourne, first year for all the crew and me as the driver.
“We would arrive at a track with absolutely no data from previous races.
“It was always going to take time.”
It hasn’t been too often that he hasn’t been near the front of the pack this year.
Four top-five finishes puts Reynolds up there with series front runners DJR Team Penske and Red Bull Racing.
He puts the vast improvement down to a number of factors.
“A big plus is having guidance and leadership from Barry and Al (team manager Barry Ryan and engineer Al McVean),” Reynolds said.
“They have designed an improvement program that is giving us new parts at most races and set ups that are giving us good speed at most tracks.
“We are just evolving so quickly, but you have to get a gain on the others.
“You have to move forward to stay the same in this category, as everyone is improving all the time.
“If you stand still you go backwards.
“To go past others, you have to improve quicker than they are – it’s very tough – but our team is doing it. I was 16th in last year’s championship and I’m now 8th”
Reynolds is a genuine character in pit lane, his class on the track being matched by his wit off it.
He seems to have found a place where he is appreciated for who is, as well as for what can achieve.
“I thoroughly enjoy being a part of this team.
“There is really good comradery between all the guys and girls. We all work really well together and have fun doing it.
“It’s great that we are seeing some success for the hard work, it’s just a great team,’ he said.”
Supercars head to Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend for a 31 lap race on Saturday and a longer 52 lap event on Sunday.
“We learnt a lot at the last round in Queensland,” Reynolds said.
“We didn’t focus on our weaknesses there quickly enough and it cost us, so we are improving what we do all the time, but it’s hard to read what SMP will be like this year, especially how it will react to the new tyre.
“We were awful there last year because we just didn’t understand the car.
“This weekend should be 10 times better.
“This year we have been rolling the car out of the truck and it’s been fast, or we have been able to work through issues quickly and get on the pace.
“I’m hopeful that it will be the same this weekend.”