The Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour has claimed its first scalp today, with the #48 Interlloy Lamborghini being officially withdrawn from any further proceedings.
Heavy backwards contact into the wall at Hells Corner (turn one) with eight minutes remaining in the fifth and final practice session this morning has seen the entry incur too much damage to continue.
New Zealander John McIntyre was at the wheel and is understandably devastated at the outcome for the Interlloy team.
“It is hugely disappointing following all the effort everyone has put in,” said McIntyre. “We had put on the second set of tyres and they were still cold, so I was weaving them up pit straight and it just pinched the rears at turn one and has gone round instantly. The safety of the car is at a very high standard so I am fine, with just a bruised ego and feeling very sorry for the guys.
“The first time I drove this car was yesterday, so when it goes (around), it is absolutely gone and there is no catching it – it is very surprising to me that it didn’t slow down any more than it did I guess, but that is the way it is. It was my mistake, I have to cop it on the chin and obviously I am just gutted for the whole team and all of our sponsors. “
Team boss Justin McMillan elaborated.
“(John) was putting some temperature into the tyres and has put a wheel off on the grass which is a bit unfortunate, so we won’t be in the race – the shell is quite damaged, and the roll cage is damaged which means the body is not repairable,” said McMillan, who as well as being the team boss was also driving in the entry this weekend alongside McIntyre, Dale Wood and Glen Wood.
“We had a bad start yesterday where we had to change the gearbox, but we slowly got up to the pace we needed. This morning John did a 2m 04.0s which was second fastest in the Amateur rankings, so we were happy with how he was going and looking forward to a good race.”
A disappointed Dale Wood says the car was feeling very comfortable and building pace ahead of this morning’s incident.
“After being a bit behind the eight ball yesterday we were just going quicker and quicker and the car was feeling so comfortable, so it is a shame that it has all come to an end early,” said Wood.
“It was comfortably running around in the 2m 04s and if one of us could have got a nice long run in it we thought there were ‘threes’ in it too – I don’t think it would have had ‘twos’, but we were definitely going to have a really an nice comfortable car to drive at good pace tomorrow.
“With it going backwards really hard, it has pushed the engine across, and there is just way too much to be done in too little of an amount of time to get it back in the race.”
The action for the remainder of the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour field continues this afternoon with qualifying from 12.55pm to 1.55pm AEDT for all entrants, followed by a Class A only 20 minute qualifying shootout at 2.05pm AEDT. All qualifying will be shown online live and free – please go to http://bit.ly/1NSVhFx for the full info.
Tickets remain on sale via ticketek and are also available at the gate this weekend.
