It was a mixed return to the V8 Supercar circuit for Shepparton export Garry Jacobson in Sydney at the weekend, registering an 18th-placed finish in race one on Saturday before registering the first DNF of his career in the second race on Sunday.
In what was his first appearance for new team PremiAir Racing, Jacobson looked a treat rounding the Sydney Supernight bends in his Subway-branded car sporting the cherished number 76.
Jacobson said it was a thrill to make his debut for PremiAir and get back out on the track.
“The first weekend in my father’s #76 was pretty cool to represent that in the Subway car and run the Jacobson number for the first time,” Jacobson said.
“In terms of our performance on Saturday, that was probably our highlight for the weekend. After the race we were in the top five quickest on the track.”
Starting in P20 for Saturday’s race one, Jacobson worked his way up the field nicely to settle around the middle of the field.
An exciting race from start to finish, the Shepparton export ended up improving on his starting position, finishing 18th in what was a positive start to his weekend.
Returning on Sunday, it was a strong start to the day for Jacobson in the qualifying session, securing P17 heading into the weekend’s main event.
Negotiating tough conditions on a wet Sydney day, he held firm around 20th spot for the majority of the first half of the race before disaster struck.
On lap 33, the Subway whip was unable to continue with the car displaying no oil pressure, bringing Jacobson’s day to an early end and giving him the first DNF of his career.
Speaking post-race, he explained how the malfunction unfolded.
“In terms of Sunday, it probably just wasn’t our day as we had a cool suit failure, some power steering issues and an alarm that came on alerting me of no oil pressure, so the natural response to that is to turn the engine off, so we don’t have to sacrifice an engine so early in the season,” he said.
“It’s still a little inconclusive of what the actual cause was for that issue, so we’ll check through our system and the car tonight. Obviously, some things that we need to fix from my end with the car, but we’ll get rid of all the teething issue before Tassie.”
Jacobson will continue his V8 Supercar campaign on March 26-27 when the competition hits Launceston for the Tasmania SuperSprint.