Max Vidau will enter the fourth round of the 2024 Dunlop Series with a focused mindset as he dedicates all his focus to building on his position as the leading rookie in the standings.
The Porsche racing convert has taken quickly to the challenges of competing in Supercars machinery, sitting fourth in the Drivers’ Championship and 72 points clear of his closest rival in the fight for Rookie of the Year.
Driving for Anderson Motorsport, Vidau claimed his maiden podium finish in an outstanding drive in Race 2 at Wanneroo Raceway before backing up his efforts in Race 1 on the streets of Townsville. Vidau is one of just four drivers, and the only rookie, to claim a podium finish in at least two rounds so far in 2024.
Vidau’s past experience at Sandown will serve the 23-year-old well with the venue playing host to a number of stunning performances in Carrera Cup, including a 2022 podium and a sensational charge from the back to a top five in 2023.
Anderson Motorsport’s Ford Mustang was fast at Sandown 12 months ago, where Zak Best steered the car to dual top five qualifying performances and a runner-up finish in Race 1 of the weekend.
Tailoring the #17 to complement Vidau’s driving style was a focused objective over the first three rounds of the season, and now the attention turns to gentle refinement in key areas as the South Australian hunts for even more consistency in his performances.
A hallmark of Vidau’s season has been his ability to bounce back from adversity, which started at Bathurst. A storming qualifying lap on Sunday at the opening round was halted with a power steering failure, which left Vidau outside the top 10 on the grid before he charged back to a seventh-place finish.
After missing the setup window over Friday and Saturday in Perth, Vidau turned his weekend around with his season-best day so far delivering third in qualifying and second in Race 2.
In Townsville, Vidau’s learning curve was greatly increased after a stuck throttle ended his Practice 1 in the opening minutes. Nevertheless, Vidau dodged early chaos to record third place in the opening race of the weekend.
Round four of the 2024 Dunlop Series takes place from September 13-15 at Sandown Raceway as part of the Penrite Oil Sandown 500.
Quotes:
Max Vidau – Anderson Motorsport #17
“I feel we have the advantage this weekend, in putting all of our focus into one objective,” said Vidau.
“Double duty is great and all, and the cars are meant to be similar but they certainly have different styles when it comes to how they drive. In particular being able to jump in and instantly do that one lap in qualifying, it’ll be in our favour this weekend. All those guys pulling the double are elite drivers though, and it’s not like they’re going to forget how to drive.
“Sandown is mainly just a couple of drag strips, and our drive off corners has been one of our most consistent areas all year. Looking back to Bathurst we were exceptional around the bottom leading on to Conrod and Mountain Straight.
“Our main focus is going to be on getting it in to the corner and rotated on the brakes, it’s all about the way you apply the pressure and the efficiency you can extract from the braking package. That has a knock-on effect through to corner exit, because if you miss your entry you’ll be chasing the car all the way around the corner and up the straight.
“It’s cool to be fourth in points, my pace hasn’t quite been at the level I’m looking for yet but we’ve been able to consistently bank points and we’ve been fast at a certain point in all three rounds.
“We’re just looking to bring in that pace on a consistent basis and then see how high we can go in the fight,” concluded Vidau.