Reynolds third place as good as a win to Erebus

The focus may have been on the new 2016 Supercars Champion Shane van Gisbergen on Sunday afternoon after he took the final victory of 2016, his first as the newly crowned champion, but for David Reynolds and his Erebus team, his third place was as good as a victory as they celebrated their first podium appearance in 18 months.

What made the third place even more enjoyable was the fact that David held of the charging Red Bull of six time world champion Jamie Whincup, who was extremely eager to claim the final podium spot of 2016 for himself.

Reynolds held Whincup off right up until the chequered flag bringing home Erebus' first podium finish under the Holden banner.

This result, their best of the season, brings 2016 to a close, and the team feel confident ahead of next year's fight.

“We did a good job all weekend and made all the right steps forward. We qualified well and had a really fast car in the race yesterday so it's no surprise to end up at the front. I had an amazing result, but I didn't have the best race with heaps of stuff going wrong though; my radio plug kept falling out, I ran out of water, I smashed the fence a couple of times and the cars a little bit bent so it wasn't performing as well to the end.”

“Though my car was really nice to drive and I could drive it to its limit every lap, and we qualified strong, got a good start ended up third, so it's been a really good day. I'm feeling really good heading into next season, we are going to continue to grow as a team. We're constantly learning together and that's what teamwork is about.”

Betty Klimenko, Team Owner, was thrilled by the result, especially as it was done in front of her home crowd…

“Everyone said we would never do it this year, that we would just be the rookies, the little team at the end of pit lane; so to keep to a six-year Champion at bay and do what we did, the third to me was like three first's, and it was in my home town and once again we proved that as a team we may leave it to the last minute, but we do things and we do them well,” she said.

“I have a lot of confidence in next year; we have data and everything else that we need. It was putting the puzzle together and I think we have done it well.”