Fightback to the Grand Final at the Sandown 500 🏁

G'day guys,

Two big races at Sandown, and we had to fight tooth and nail to do everything we could to get to the Grand Final. It came all the way down to the last lap, and we made it pretty hard for ourselves with a couple of tough qualifying sessions. But somehow, we're going to Adelaide!

Qualifying didn't go our way on either day. On Saturday morning it was really tough with no track temp and no tyre temp, and with the streaming water the balance shifted too much for me. I got caught out in the Top Ten Shootout and ended up in the gravel, but I didn't want to put the Mobil 1 Optus Toyota Supra in the fence – live to fight another day. We ended up 10th on the grid. On Sunday we missed the Shootout by a whisker and lined up 11th.

Race 33 on Saturday was a ripper. I think starting 10th probably saved me from a few battles out there, and the racing at the front was some of the most world-class, action-packed racing you'll see. If anyone says Supercars is boring, they need to be kicked in the shin! I'll be honest, I didn't quite feel like I had the pace in the first two stints, so I had to tune myself up in the last one and really look after the tyres, and that got me in a position to fight for a trophy. I gave a spot back on the penultimate lap to keep things clean, and we finished fourth – enough points to keep us in a good position for Sunday. We still need to make the car a little bit better and execute.

Race 34 on Sunday was the big one. With the Finals on the line, we ran a longer opening stint and then shorter stints on fresher tyres. I was 11th after the first round of stops, but the Supra was flying, and with 35 laps to go we were up to seventh. After the last stop I rejoined sixth, got past the Tickford Car and then the next car for fifth – exactly what we needed.

I'm just super honoured to go there in the Mobil 1 Optus Toyota GR Supra, and to be Toyota's first year in the category with a car in the Grand Final is a massive achievement for this team and the brand. We're going to give it our best shot to defend our title. We know the task is going to be almighty, but that gives us freedom, and our team loves being the underdog. Bring it on – although I'm definitely going to need five or six days off first!

Thanks for all the support – see you in Adelaide!