Supercars star Andre Heimgartner, from Dannemora, claimed a hard-fought third place finish in Perth at the weekend in the Repco Supercars Championship.
Heimgartner, based in Melbourne, drives the No 8 Holden Commodore ZB for Brad Jones Racing (BJR).
His podium – the first for his new BJR team – in race 2 was helped enormously by his taking four tyres at his stop and then closing up on the leaders behind the safety car.
Autosport reported that the Kiwi then had superior grip to work his way into fourth on the road and to within the magic five seconds of long-time leader Cam Waters who was hit with a controversial time penalty, eventually finishing fourth.
Heimgartner said in a social media post, “We may not have had the fastest car throughout the weekend but we sure did maximise what we had! Top 10 every qually sesh and race. Stoked to grab my first podium with @bjrsupercars.”
Will Davison won the race, his first in six years. Anton De Pasquale clinched second place and series leader Shane van Gisbergen, another Kiwi, finished fifth.
Brodie Kostecki finished sixth ahead of James Courtney, Broc Feeney, Jake Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood.