Gold Coast 500 - Day One
FRIDAY 25TH OCTOBER
MAIN GAME
Tickford Racing kicked off the Gold Coast 500 with a solid display of performance and pace across both practice sessions on Friday. Cam Waters set the tone early in Practice 1, pushing the limits to secure the fastest time of the session, while teammate Thomas Randle put in steady laps to end P11. The team further showcased its strength in Practice 2, with Randle topping the session as the fastest of the day, closely followed by Waters in P2, just 0.029 seconds behind. The team is pleased with this initial success and sees room for improvement as they head into Saturday's schedule, featuring qualifying, the Top Ten Shootout, and Race 21—a challenging 85-lap, 250 km race around the unforgiving streets of the Gold Coast.
Waters, reflecting on a circuit where he’s had success before, shared his confidence coming into this weekend. "Last year was good, getting the win on Saturday, holding off Shane. Sunday, we had the pace but started too far back. I love coming to the GC and ripping around the streets.” The quick turnaround after Bathurst wasn’t easy, he admitted, explaining, “You’re pretty buggered after that race; it’s really hard on the crew. We debriefed Bathurst straight away, and then it was all eyes forward to this weekend.” On the Gold Coast’s notoriously tight walls, Waters added, “Around here, you’ve got to build up to it—you don’t want to be putting it all on the line lap one, but to go fast, you kind of have to. Hopefully, I tear a few mirrors off but not too many!”
For Randle, ending the day as the fastest in Practice 2 felt like a positive start, though he’s quick to temper expectations. “It’s great to end Friday as the quickest, but it’s still only practice. Being fastest today is a nice way to go to sleep tonight, but it really means nothing until tomorrow,” he noted. Randle found confidence in the car’s setup from the first session, though he struggled with kerb strikes early on, especially at the Beach Chicane. "The car’s rolled out really strong; just tuning it a bit across both sessions made a difference. We finally put some greens on, and it felt really good—can’t thank the Tickford team enough, the Castrol crew, and Cam’s as well. We were both up the front, which is great.”
Randle also looked ahead to Saturday’s sessions, confident in his ability to pull a quick lap out of the car for qualifying and the Top Ten Shootout. “With the soft tyre, usually it’s lap one and done, but even on the used set I actually went quicker on lap three. It seems the tyres are holding up pretty well here. I’ve spent a lot of time in the simulator for this circuit, working on the best way to tackle it, and hopefully, that effort will pay off.” Asked if there’s more speed left to find, Randle said, “There’s probably more in me, honestly. We’ll look over the data tonight and see where I can fine-tune things, always chasing that little bit more. But when you’ve got a fast car, you don’t want to take away from its strengths.”
With both cars showing pace and consistency, the team is focused on building from this strong Friday into a successful Saturday. The team is determined to keep progressing and put themselves in an optimal position for the 250 km race.
TOYOTA 86 SERIES
Tickford Racing’s Charlie Nash has wrapped up his first day on the Gold Coast Street Circuit with positive progress, quickly finding his footing on this iconic track. In Practice 1, Nash enjoyed his initial laps, calling it a “bloody sick track” and expressing confidence in the car’s feel. The session was all about familiarising himself with the circuit’s unique demands—especially the kerbs and overall layout.
Practice 2 saw Nash continue to push his learning curve, working to identify the limits and optimise his line. Although he lightly brushed the wall at Turn 4, he came out of the session without any issues. Reflecting on the day, Nash commented, “I’m still finding the limits of the track, but I’m ready for quali tomorrow.” With qualifying and Race 1 on the schedule for Saturday, Charlie is ready to take his experience from today and turn it into a strong start to his weekend. The team looks forward to seeing how he performs in his first races at the Gold Coast.
HOW TO WATCH
Catch all the action of the 2024 Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 across various platforms with the following schedule:
Saturday, 26 October
- 9:30 AM AEDT / 9:30 AM AEST / 11:30 AM NZDTsome text
- Foxtel | Kayo (Australia): Live coverage of Boost Mobile Qualifying (Race 21), Top Ten Shootout, Race 21, and Support Categories
- Sky (New Zealand): Live coverage on Sky Sports 5 - Channel 055
- Superview: Live coverage available outside Australia and New Zealand
- 1:30 PM AEDT / 1:30 PM AEST some text
- Channel 7 | 7plus: Live coverage of Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout, Race 21, and Support Categories
