It was a challenging weekend for Jackson Rice in the Trico Trans Am Series at Symmons Plains Raceway. Whilst the results didn’t quite show the #7 Ford Mustang’s true race pace, there are still plenty of positives to take away from the weekend.  

 

Rice got off to an impressive start and placed ninth and tenth respectively for Friday’s two practice sessions. Whilst not for points, the competition was tight, with only four tenths of a second that split the top 13 cars.  

 

“We had a bit of a mixed weekend in Tasmania really,” said Rice. 

 

“In practice we came out strong, which was encouraging. Between (James) Moffat, and (Nash) Morris who topped the practice sessions, there wasn’t much separating the field, so it was super competitive.  

 

“It was really close all weekend.”  

 

Unfortunately, bad luck crept in for the Pedder’s and Brakes backed entry on Saturday; with a mechanical failure interrupting qualifying.   

 

“We went into qualifying and as we went to do our hot lap, unfortunately the diff let go and we broke the jack shaft and the diff. The crew at Dream Racing Australia did a mega job to try and get everything back together in time but, with only an hour and a half turn around to get the car back out for race 1, it just wasn’t to be. 

 

Rice started race 2 from the rear of the grid and did a stellar job to fight his way through the field and crossed the line in 12th 

 

“In race 2 we started off the back row and managed to make up eight positions and fought our way through the field, which we were pretty happy with,” said Rice. 

 

Rice was able to keep levelheaded for the final day of the weekend, with perseverance having paid off, the young gun finished inside the top 10 in P9 for race 3.  

 

Dramas for Rice in the final race made it a challenging end to the weekend.  

 

“In race 3, I was focused on making sure I looked after the car as well as reserving a bit of tyre for the final race. Thankfully, I was able to do this and managed to pick up a few positions to finish 9th,” said Rice.   

 

“I started the final race in a good position and got a good start. I made up a couple of positions and then unfortunately, we had a temperature issue with the engine, where the oil cooler intake ducts had broken off where the front bar sits; which caused a spike in temperature. Once these Trans Am cars get hot, they send a signal to the ECU and from there it starts to take power out of the car, so I really struggled with straight line speed after that. P13 was all I could hang onto.  

 

“There are plenty of positives to take away from the weekend though. We’ll debrief and work make some changes before the next round in Phillip Island and hopefully give it another good crack!”  

 

The Trico Trans Am Series head to Phillip Island for round 3 April 12-14.  

  

Results 

Friday 15th March 

Practice 1 – 9th  

Practice 2 – 10th  

Saturday 16th March 

Qualified – 15th  

Race 1 – DNS 

Race 2 – 12th  

Sunday 17th March 

Race 3 – 9th  

Race 4 – 13th