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The carparks around Mount Panorama might be closed after the wild weather of recent days, but the action on track has already heated up on Saturday.
One fan I spoke to outside the track was bogged four times trying to leave the course on Friday night. He opted to trek on foot on Saturday morning, and was lucky to arrive before the rain struck again at 9.30am.
But the co-drivers-only practice session on Saturday morning took less than 10 minutes to deliver a crash in the wet conditions – and there two more red flags followed in another hectic session.
RACE CENTRE: LIVE TIMES AND FULL SESSION RESULTS
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Tickford Racing’s Kurt Kostecki needed to use the safety road on Murray’s Corner inside the opening five minutes, and his nightmare session continued as he found the wall at Turn 2 soon afterwards on his way up the Mountain. Racing with brother Jake Kostecki, the pair are hoping to improve on their 13th-place finish in 2021.
Four-time Bathurst 1000 winner Jamie Whincup had gone top of the timesheets after the session resumed with a 2:27.266s only to slide into the wall at Turn 2 (Griffins Bend).
He was able to drive on after the car bounced out from the barriers but was unable to return to the track during the session, despite Whincup himself helping to repair the car.
It follows the shock decision for Whincup, now team principal at Red Bull Ampol Racing, to qualify instead of full-time driver Broc Feeney. Whincup managed just 14th (MORE BELOW).
The third – and worst – major incident of the session saw Matt Stone Racing’s Aaron Seton (co-driving for Jack le Brocq) slam into the wall on the top of the Mountain, earning another red flag.
Bathurst veteran Michael Caruso, co-driving for Mark Winterbottom for Team 18, also locked up at The Chase and beached himself in the sodden dirt, another red flag ending the session early.
There were a number of other minor incidents.
Young rookie Declan Fraser, driving with Craig Lowndes in a wildcard entry this weekend, required the escape road on the final corner as the slippery conditions tested the men on track. Alex Davison also copped rear brake locking on Murray’s Corner and took the escape road.
And Zane Goddard, co-driver for James Courtney at Tickford Racing, sent his car crashing through the mud after sliding off at The Chase but managed to regain the track.
Dale Wood finished fastest with a 2:26.222s (co-driving for Andre Heimgartner, who missed out on the top 10 shootout by one hundredth of a second). Fabian Coulthard was second, just 0.065s behind. Coulthard is co-driving for reigning Bathurst 1000 winner Chaz Mostert in the WAU entry.
Youngster Jordan Boys was an impressive third, rewarding the hard work of BJR’s mechanics to repair the car of Macauley Jones until the early hours of the morning after a crash with van Gisbergen.
There was another impressive young gun in the form of debutant Declan Fraser in fourth, the rookie partnering with veteran Craig Lowndes in the Supercheap Auto/Triple Eight wildcard.
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FRIDAY RE-WIND
Friday saw the rain arrive and cause chaos among the field. Cameron Waters – aptly named, perhaps – rode out the storm to qualify for provisional pole.
Meanwhile, reigning Supercars champion and runaway series leader Shane van Gisbergen copped a three place grid penalty for crashing into Macauley Jones in the final seconds of qualifying, the latest setback in a series of blows to his campaign to climb the most famous mountain in Australian sport.
He wasn’t the only star to be hit with a penalty following Friday’s drama. Jake Kostecki’s own stuttering weekend got worse on Friday night when it was revealed he had earned a $10,000 fine from stewards for speeding in Practice Four under red flag conditions.
The session was red flagged for a third time on Friday when Will Brown crashed, but Kostecki still clocked 220km/h and even overtook Chaz Mostert down Conrod Straight. Half of the fine is suspended until December 31 2023.
Qualifying Highlights – Bathurst | 01:35
VAN GISBERGEN SLAMMED
Reigning Supercars champion and runaway series leader Shane van Gisbergen earned a three-place grid penalty for crashing into Macauley Jones on his final timed lap.
There was no room for van Gisbergen to overtake at Turn 13, the hard shunt sending Jones into the wall and requiring plenty of repairs before Saturday’s action.
Brad Jones Racing worked until 1.30am on the damaged car, but successfully completed the repairs in full.
Team owner Brad Jones said: “Here you can win the race from last place … it’s just disappointing.
“Even in the dry, you can’t get two cars through that part of the track. So, I think Shane, I’m a little unsure what he was thinking. Clearly, he was committed and he was trying to pass.
“It was just maybe a bit of rush of blood from his side, I’m not sure. Look, the penalty is the penalty, it has done so much damage to the car, but we will sort it out and get it going again for tomorrow.
“The stewards said that he (van Gisbergen) was apologetic about it, it’s just unfortunate.”
Van Gisbergen took to social media to defend his actions.
“Bizarre ending to quali making contact with the 96 car,” he wrote.
“From my end I saw him make a big mistake at T1 and go wide so knew his lap was ruined.
“At Skyline he braked super early and out of the line so I thought he was letting me past.
“Once I committed over Skyline that was it.”
Rain causes CHAOS at Mount Panorama | 01:07
WHINCUP: ‘I DIDN’T PULL RANK’
Four-time Bathurst 1000 winner Jamie Whincup has defended his team’s decision to have him take to the track in qualifying – despite him being co-driver to his full-time replacement at Red Bull Ampol Racing, teen Broc Feeney.
Whincup was the only co-driver on track, but managed to qualify a disappointing 14th.
The legend, who is now the team principal, said it wasn’t his decision to drive instead of Feeney.
“It completely wasn’t my decision, it was the engineers’ decision,” Whincup said.
“They said ‘Mate, you’re in for qualifying’. So, I do what they say and put my suit on and in I went.
“Broc was comfortable with that, for sure. We try to get the best result for the team.
“The last thing I want is people thinking I called rank and said ‘I’m in for qualifying’. That certainly wasn’t the case.
“I’m here as a co-driver, I’m here to support Broc and the team and the decision from ‘Dutto’ (team manager Mark Dutton) and the engineers was for me to qualify. I put my helmet on and got in the car.”
Feeney said he wasn’t upset at the move. “I struggled quite a bit out there myself at the start of P4, but I’m still building up my confidence in a Supercar at this track in the wet,” Feeney said.
“It’s a good thing for me – I was happy to sit back and was well and truly happy for him to qualify today.”
WEATHER REPORT
After plenty of rain on Friday, things are likely to get even worse on Saturday. The rain arrived at 9.30am Saturday morning, with around 40mm expected to fall through the day.
The Bureau of Meteorology reports: “The chance of a thunderstorm, possibly severe with heavy rain which may lead to flash flooding during this afternoon and evening.”
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Wet and Wild scenes in Practice Four! | 01:38
FULL SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES AEDT)
SATURDAY
10.20am – 11.20am: Practice 5 (co-drivers)
1pm – 2pm: Supercars Practice 6 (all drivers)
5.05pm: Top-10 Shootout
SUNDAY
8am – 8.20am: Supercars warm-up
8.40am – 9am: Drivers’ Parade
11.15am: Race start (161 laps)
LIVE BLOG
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