This year’s edition of the Bathurst 1000 will be start number 13 for Blanchard Racing Team driver, Tim Slade – and he’d like to see a key change introduced to the iconic Mt. Panaroma race to make it even more compelling in future.
Reflecting on his previous runs at the Bathurst 1000, Slade highlights the rich history of the event, the familiar feeling he gets when he arrives at the circuit and the incredible atmosphere. However, that’s not to say that the Great Race hasn’t changed with time.
“The intensity of the races has got higher and higher, especially with the co-drivers,” he told Wide World of Sports.
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“You have a lot of ex-full-time drivers who should still be driving full-time essentially.
“But in my time – it wasn’t like back in the old days where you had to look after the car – it has always been go as hard as you can from start to finish, but somehow that bar has just been raised gradually over the years.”
With the progressive move to a minimum of seven compulsory pit stops across the 161 laps, Slade would like to see a greater degree of team strategy be introduced into the race with a greater emphasis on balancing the cars at their limit.
“It’d be cool to see the minimum fuel stops or pit stops be taken away so it becomes more of a pure endurance event,” he said.
“Then it’s more up to the teams as to how they go about getting to the finish as fast as they can.”
After a disastrous start to the Supercars Championship in February, which saw Slade’s CoolDrive Ford Mustang slam into the concrete wall late in the season opener, the driver has returned to Mount Panorama seeking reclamation.
“I’m going into the weekend pretty clear in the head,” Slade said.
“Everyone comes here to win it, but I guess for me realistically, if our car is fast like it was at the start of the year, I’d love to be in the Top 10 Shootout after qualifying.
“There are lots that the race throws at you and given it’s our first 1000 as a relatively small, little team, we’d love to stand on the podium, but I’d be pretty happy if we can come away with a fairly solid top 10 and then anything better than that would be a bonus.”
Finding himself without a full-time drive in 2020, Slade took on a different role at Bathurst, teaming up with three-time series champion Scott McLaughlin for his best finish at the event.
“We went into the race last year expecting to win so fifth felt disappointing, yet it was my best result, so it was a bit of a strange one, but I learned a lot from being with Penske and alongside Scotty,” he said.
“It was cool to do it with Scotty. He and I have been mates for a long time. If you can manage to pair up with someone else at Bathurst that’s also a mate, it makes it more enjoyable and that’s the case this year with my pairing with Tim Blanchard.”
Despite number 13 carrying a numerical superstition for misfortune, Slade will be hoping to keep his car in good shape and towards the front of the pack for Blanchard Racing Team’s first Bathurst 1000.
“The key to it is a fast car that is reliable over the 1000k and a little bit of luck never goes astray.”
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