Former Supercars champion Mark Winterbottom says Prodrive Racing Australia have taken a major step forward in Townsville after his second podium finish for the season.
Winterbottom finished third behind new championship leader Scott McLaughlin in Saturday's 200km race at the Reid Park street circuit, with Jamie Whincup second.
It was a welcome return to form for Prodrive, who had three cars in the top five with Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters finishing fourth and fifth respectively, after tough rounds in Darwin and Winton.
"It's obviously a big move forward. Once you qualify in the top three rows, you're half a chance," Winterbottom said.
After three consecutive races without finishing in the top 10 across Winton and Darwin, Winterbottom was desperate for a form reversal.
"We went back to basics a bit," he said.
"After the test day we got a lot of development going on.
"We probably got a false read at Winton with the car a little bit and then went to Darwin and it didn't work."
While the improved result was a confidence boost for Winterbottom, he is still chasing an elusive race win.
"You're not quick enough but we were good enough for third," he said.
"You've got to win races, you can't just putter around."
But any talk of returning to a position to challenge DJR Team Penske's McLaughlin and Triple Eight Racing's Whincup is premature, Winterbottom said.
"You don't worry about the championship," he said.
"You've got to win races to win the championship and that's got to be our main focus.
"But in four weeks we've come a long way, so we'll crawl before we walk and see what happens."
McLaughlin remains the man to beat after his fifth race victory for the year and eighth start from pole position.
"The pace Scott has got is amazing at the moment," Winterbottom said.
"He's in the box seat at the moment because raw speed and stuff like that; there's no substitute for it."
Sunday's qualifying starts at 10.55am AEST before a top-10 shootout decides the final grid positions for the weekend's second 70-lap race.
