Matthew White heads to the Bathurst 1000 next month buoyed by another solid endurance race performance in the Sandown 500 where he just missed out on a top ten finish.
White underscored the reasons he is one of the drivers snapped up by level one teams for endurance races with a flawless performance when he teamed up with Marcus Marshall in the second PWR Racing car to finish eleventh in the first endurance race of the year.
White feels the Sandown 500 is a solid form guide heading into the Mount Panorama classic.
"The best thing about Sandown was that neither Marcus nor I had done a lot of laps in the car prior to Sandown,” he said. “I'd done about twelve laps in the car and Marcus hadn't done any this year. So for both of us to get that race under our belts and get totally familiar with the car means that we should head to Bathurst with a lot more confidence."
This was the first time White had teamed with PWR and the experience has left him feeling upbeat about the future prospects of the combination.
"Certainly everyone else will be stronger,” he said, “but I think we went into the Sandown race particularly vulnerable in that our experience with the team and the car was at a minimum. It would have been less than just about any other team up and down pit lane."
White is now ready to concentrate on his twin commitments over the Bathurst weekend as he will combine driving the PWR Commodore in the 1000, with a drive in the Gulf Western Oils/Jayco Caravans Ford in the 25-lap support race.
"The Konica Minolta race at Bathurst often takes second priority to the main commitment,” he said. “But even with that attitude we've proven to be pretty competitive in the Konica Minolta race there year after year. I'll let the team manage everything whist I spend most of my time with the PWR team."
The Gulf Western Oils/Jayco Caravans team is preparing the Ford for what they are confident will be another solid performance on one of the world's great circuits where White narrowly missed out on a victory last season.
