That's what Scott Pye wants in this Sunday's Bathurst 1000 as he looks to go one step better than what he and co-driver Warren Luff have done in the past two editions.

Pye has been happy with the performances he, Luff and his crew have put in to achieve back-to-back runner-up finishes but he knows that extra bit of oomph is needed in the crucial moments.

"It's all those one percenters. To come second, the effort is no different than what's required to win. Sometimes it's your day and sometimes it's not," he said.

"We've come very close but we haven't had the ultimate car speed at the end of the day. We've been beaten by a faster team on each day.

"Dave Reynolds that first year was extremely quick after that last safety car and then Craig [Lowndes] last year, even against Reynolds, was just in a league of his own.

"Hopefully we have a little bit more speed at the end of the day but I'm not disappointed at all with our performances there over the last couple of years."

Pye credited Luff's quick starts in both years as a major reason he's visited the Bathurst podium for two straight years.

Luff has proven himself one of the most dependable co-drivers on the grid.

He's been on the podium at Bathurst five times in his career, with third place finishes in 2012, 2013 and 2015 adding to his tally.

He's still on the hunt for that top step of the podium but believes the Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore has what it takes to get there.

"Any time you can finish on the podium at Bathurst you can call that a good weekend," he said.

"You do look back now and think about what you can do to go that one step higher. The last two years have been a fantastic result but it's about improving that little bit right across the day.

"We've had a great team the last couple of years and our strategy has been on point as well. That little bit of car speed is what we need and we had a really good test day last week so fingers crossed we can have a car which can put Scott in contention at the end of the day."

If the engineers do everything in their power to bring the car to its full potential then there's another element that could come into play to help the team: The weather.

"When the cloud cover comes over and the track temperature cools down those conditions really allow our car to come into its own," Pye said.

"This year it's predicted to be a slightly cooler race than in the past but it's hard. You roll out with a new package each time as the engineers come up with the best setup they believe in.

"We're fortunate to have one of the best crews in pit lane."

Pye currently sits 16^th in the championship.