Bryce Fullwood chases a better qualifying and race pace balance at Bathurst

Fullwood arrives at Bathurst this week determined to hold on to his top 10 finish in the series in a year that's been full of ups and downs.

If there's one area Fullwood and his team are focused on ahead of the Great Race it's getting a better balance between qualifying and race pace in their Camaro.

Qualifying at the previous round at Sandown never came together for Fullwood when he had to start from 25^th position on the grid but surged through to pack to finish 14^th.

Fullwood said it was a round of mixed fortunes but there's elements of that weekend that give him confidence for the 1000.

"For us Sandown wasn't a super ideal run into Bathurst. We didn't get the qualifying car sorted, which was a bummer because we'd showed some good speed prior to that, but we were able to claw our way back into the race," he said.

"We had some great speed, it just would have been nicer to start closer towards the front to show what we could do with it.

"Bathurst is a track I really love and seem to click with it so I can't wait to get stuck into it."

Fullwood's chasing a long awaited second Supercars podium, and Bathurst would be the idyllic location to make it happen.

He's come close on two occasions this season - finishing fifth in the opening race at Hidden Valley and achieving the same result in the final event of the Sydney Motorsport Park round.

Fifth place is also Fullwood's best Bathurst result, which he secured in 2021 when driving for Walkinshaw Andretti United alongside Warren Luff.

He comes back this weekend for a second attempt with co-driver Dean Fiore after the pair finished ninth last year.

The new Gen3 car for 2023 has delivered its share of issues for the team to overcome but Fullwood has been proud of the way that the team have met all of them.

"The new car has posed some challenges for us, like it has for all teams, and I feel that we were up and down a bit to start the season before we found some consistency through the middle of the year," he said.

"The last couple of races haven't quite been as good but Bathurst is a track I've done alright at, and I've got the right team around me. Plus, Bathurst is one of those tracks where some of the fastest cars can be out of contention in the first 20 laps, as we saw last year.

"Last year at Bathurst was another case where we didn't get the qualifying right but we were able to make up a lot of positions, which was really, really good.

"I've got co-driver Dean Fiore and race engineer Phil Keed back from last year and I feel that the team is only stronger from where we were this time last year.

"We've known all year that Dean was going to be our co-driver all year and we've had the opportunity to stick him in the car probably more than what I've had with co-drivers previously. Unfortunately at Sandown we didn't give him the best opportunity because I qualified the car at the back."

A high finish is out of reach for Fullwood - with almost a 200 point gap from the top seven to the rest of the pack - so the rest of the reach is about maintaining his spot and building momentum across Bathurst, the Gold Coast and Adelaide.

"The aim is to stay inside the top 10. Bathurst is worth a lot of points in the championship," he said.

"It is a bit of a moving target though, because with every meeting the Fords are getting updates and they're getting faster and faster and it's tough. It's getting more competitive and that's a really good thing.

"The goal for me is to keep chipping away at those top 10 finishes and if we continue to do that then we'll be up there at the end of the year."