Wilson Security Holden Commodore VF driver David Wall is hitting the reset button for the second half of the 2013 after some promising pace has failed to achieve concrete results.
The lanky 30-year old from Sydney runs only 23rd in the V8 Supercars Championship heading into the Winton 360 at Brad Jones Racing’s home track. But that doesn’t tell the true story of his season.
There have been mechanical failures and collisions that have stopped him from posting strong results, including a controversial run-in with factory Nissan driver Todd Kelly at the Sucrogen Townsville 400 that ended his chances of pushing into the top eight in Race 21.
“Unfortunately it has been a little bit up and down,” Wall told v8supercars.com.au. “That’s the best way to look at it. For whatever reason just too many DNFs this year and our Championship results don’t show where we should be.
“I think we should be running around 14th or 15th in the Championship not outside the 20.”
Which is exactly the goal he set himself at the start of his second season in the main game. But he is confident if he can get a good run then his improving pace will be on show for everyone, especially if he can qualify better.
“Our qualifying has improved since last year but it still has a little bit of consistency to go. We can make that better,” he said.
“We have got a lot more car speed in my car and the other two cars at BJR this year. It is shame that we have given away so many top 10s this year. But we are only halfway through the year and we have some very important races coming up which I am hoping to do well at.”
Unfortunately for Wall and his teammates Fabian Coulthard and Jason Bright – who run fifth and sixth in the Championship – BJR’s last two attempts to test at Winton have been rained out.
That’s a significant blow considering the gains most teams are making as they come to grips with their new Car of the Future V8 Supercars.
“I don’t think we go there with any more opportunity than anyone else,” Wall said. “A lot of teams are based in Melbourne and test at Winton and a lot of the time the Queensland teams come down and they are just as quick anyway.
Beyond Winton the PIRTEK Enduro Cup kicks off, with Kiwi Chris Pither confirmed to join Wall after the untimely death of Allan Simonsen at the Le Mans 24 Hour.
Wall and Pither will team up for the Wilson Security Sandown 500, the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and the Armor All Gold Coast 600. It is a swing Wall is looking forward to.
“I’ve got some goals I’d like to achieve in the PIRTEK Enduro Cup but I think the way the Championship is this year there is a lot of guys who are up and down so it’s very hard to pick how things are going to go because it is so much more of a level playing field.”
For next year Wall is hoping to continue as now, racing for BJR in a car backed by Wilson Security. Neither deal has been renewed as yet but he is working toward that goal.
Wilson Security has just expanded its support for V8 Supercars further, but Wall doesn’t believe that will impact on him.
“Wilson Security have been unbelievable to me over the last four or five years and especially the last couple of years … we are talking about next year and it usually gets finalised around Bathurst time.”
