Wilson experiences ups and down in Pukekohe.

Max Wilson showed a little of what is to come from the newly-formed Tony Longhurst race team this season, displaying his determination during qualifying and race one without being rewarded with the result his efforts deserved.

The Brazilian recorded excellent times during the early stages of the timed session, only to drop away in the closing minutes of the session.

"The entire field is so close now, with only a half second between the 34-car field, it doesn't get anymore competitive than that," he exclaimed, "It's full-on, make no mistake about it. You just can't afford to make one error, so to keep your foot flat to the floor takes 100 per cent concentration for the duration.

Driving the WOW Racing Holden Commodore, Wilson made an excellent start and had soon pushed his way up to eleventh spot in the 36-lap race. From there , he pressed on, choosing to pit later than his rivals, on lap 24. Although he dropped two positions before re-joining the circuit in 13th, Wilson continued his charge for the remaining twelve laps.

With two laps remaining, he was back into eleventh spot when he encountered dirt and debris in turn seven, which saw him battling to keep control of the car, before drifting sideways off the edge of the circuit and dropping several places to cross the line in 15th position.

"I'm very happy with the way the car handles, but I just have to fined that extra two tenths of a second we need to be with the leading cars," Wilson said, "The team have done a magic job with the preparation, so we just have to keep looking for where we can gain that extra little bit of speed to catapult us to the front of the bunch. I know we can do it."