Waters’ wild lap nets third in Bathurst Shootout
December 4, 2021
2022 Tickford Racing Memberships NOW AVAILABLE!
December 8, 2021
TICKFORD RACING – BATHURST 1000 SUNDAY REPORT
5 December, 2021
Monster Energy Racing’s Cam Waters and James Moffat (No. 6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang) have finished second in the Bathurst 1000, following an intense 161-lap race at Mount Panorama. It is the second consecutive runner up finish for Waters and also Moffat’s second runner up finish, equalling the result he achieved in 2014. The result nets Waters fifth place in the Supercars drivers’ championship for 2021.
It was an eventful Sunday for James Courtney and Thomas Randle (No. 44 Boost Mobile Ford Mustang), but the duo ended up with a seventh place finish in Australia’s Great Race. The pair’s race went sideways on Lap 16 when Randle ended up in the gravel at Hell Corner and bringing out the race’s first Safety Car. The Boost Mobile Mustang spent nearly 100 laps a lap down to the leaders, but found their way back on the lead lap on Lap 112 with Courtney behind the wheel, who steadily picked up positions through the end of the race. The result scores Courtney 11th in the drivers’ championship, and crucially ensures Tickford Racing finished third in the Supercars teams’ championship for a fifth consecutive season.
Jack Le Brocq and Zak Best’s (No. 5 Truck Assist Ford Mustang) day was affected on multiple occasions by circumstance, with Safety Cars, fuel windows, and other issues masking Car 5’s speed en route to a 15th place finish.
The Bathurst 1000 was the 31st and final race of the 2021 Supercars Championship. After a well-deserved offseason, Tickford Racing will return to the track for the 2022 Supercars season starting at the Newcastle 500, March 4-6, 2022.
| DRIVERS’ VIEW No. 5 Truck Assist Ford Mustang Jack Le Brocq Warm Up: 2m06.67s, 16th Race 31 Start: 8th Race 31 Finish: 15th “Tough day for us, we just kept getting tripped up by things that dropped us down the field. Double stacked on the first stop, had a drama on the rotor change, had to splash for fuel at the end, just wasn’t our day really. It’s a shame because we actually had a pretty good car, pace was good, strategy was working well, Zak drove a great race, we did a lot of good things but the few bad things really hurt us. It’s unfortunate, but that’s Bathurst I guess.” Zak Best “I think in terms of driving Jack and I had a really strong day, we just had some things go against us that kept us from a better result and most of them were out of our control. It’s unfortunate but it is what it is, a huge thanks to the team for giving me the opportunity to race with Jack, I gave it my all and I think I did the best I could. Hopefully it’s the first of many and we’ll have better results in the future.” No. 6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Cam Waters Warm Up: 2m06.04s, 6th Race 31 Start: 3rd Race 31 Finish: 2nd “It’s bittersweet, I guess. To stand on the podium here is pretty special, but coming second two years in a row, it’s tough not being on the top step. It could be worse, we could’ve had a tyre fail with five laps to go and be nowhere, but we come here to win and while it’s great to have a trophy it’s not the one we were after. We didn’t have the fastest car today, so I think we capitalised on the car speed we had and made the most of what we had. Moff did a good job, he’ll say his first stint wasn’t too great but his second stint was mega and really helped, car was fast, pit stops were awesome, everyone just did a great job and I think we maximised what we had today.” James Moffat “I lost the clutch at the start of the race, and obviously went backwards pretty quickly so that made it pretty hard for us in that first stint, it was pretty scrappy. But fortunately Cam was able to get back track position for us in the second stint, and from there the race was pretty straightforward for us, really. The car speed was basically what it was, and nobody was touching the guys in the middle (Car 25) today, their car was incredible. I feel like everybody at Tickford did an amazing job, the pit stops were flawless, and my buddy sitting next to me (Cam) drove the absolute wheels off it and didn’t put a wheel wrong. Second was probably the maximum we could get out of the car, we just couldn’t find that sweet spot with the car the whole weekend, but Cam summed it up pretty well: bittersweet. We’ve finished second twice in this bloody race, so it’s good, but not good.” No. 44 Boost Mobile Ford Mustang James Courtney Warm Up: 2m05.60s, 4th Race 31 Start: 16th Race 31 Finish: 7th “It was a tough day to get to seventh, obviously we had our set back but to come back through the field was awesome. Brad (Wischusen, engineer) did a great job getting us back on the lead lap and then it was just driving through the field and passing people which was a lot of fun and shows how strong a car we actually had. We definitely did it the hard way, but it’s a credit to the team and the boys on my car for sticking with it, and in the end it got us third in the teams’ championship which is really good, so a busy day but a good result in the end.” Thomas Randle “I’m really frustrated with myself for what happened early in the race, but so proud of JC and the Boost Mobile Racing crew for battling back and recovering to a really solid result for us. As for my off, I had a bit of a vibration in the car just before and when I went into Hell Corner the car just wouldn’t turn. In hindsight I should have taken it easy for a bit there, but once I knew I was gone I just did my best to minimise the damage, and fortunately it wasn’t that bad. It’s pretty crazy to think we spent almost the entire race off the lead lap and still ended up seventh, but I guess that’s what this place does. Just a huge credit to JC and the boys for fighting through, I’m gutted to have put us behind but really happy we could get a decent result out of it.” Tim Edwards, Team Principal “There’s only one place that matters in this race and that’s first, so while we didn’t get there this year we have a whole lot to be proud of today. Obviously Cam, Moff, and Car 6 were the head of the spear today, they were in the fight all race and it was great to see them score another podium for the team. JC and Thomas hung in there all day and got a really solid seventh after spending almost the entire race a lap down, and JC’s charge in the last couple of stints ended up saving us third in the teams’ championship which is a big deal, so they deserve a lot of credit for their resilience. And as for Jack and Zak their result is pretty misleading for the performance they put in, they both drove really well today and just didn’t have luck fall their way. In the end it wasn’t the result we were hoping for, but there’s a lot for us to be happy about today, the team did a great job and all in all, it’s a nice way to end a really hard season.” SUPERCARS DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP 1) Shane van Gisbergen – 2930 2) Jamie Whincup – 2719 3) Chaz Mostert – 2494 5) Cam Waters – 2369 11) James Courtney – 1647 16) Jack Le Brocq – 1486 SUPERCARS TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP 1) Triple Eight Race Engineering – 5649 2) Dick Johnson Racing – 4464 3) Tickford Racing – 4016 Ends. |
