Heimgartner Finishes Seventh in Red-Flagged Opening Race in Adelaide
A dramatic swing in fortunes saw Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner come home seventh in the first race of the Adelaide Grand Final weekend.
The R&J Batteries Camaro showed strong pace all day, with Heimgartner finishing second in the opening part of qualifying.
The Kiwi was on another quick lap in the closing moments of the second stanza, but a mechanical failure caused him to lose drive and drop oil at the final corner, forcing him to abandon the lap.
As a result, the #8 Camaro lined up 10th on the grid.
Torrential rain drenched the circuit an hour before the race, turning the afternoon on its head.
The downpour delayed the start, and although conditions briefly appeared to improve as cars formed up, they deteriorated rapidly once the race began.
Scheduled for 32 laps, the race was eventually red-flagged after 22 laps following a late incident.
Jaxon Evans and the SCT Motorsport crew capitalised on the chaotic conditions with clever strategy, allowing the #12 Camaro to rise from 19th to 13th in the shortened race.
Macauley Jones had been running with Evans inside the early teens but was caught out by the slippery conditions, brushing the wall at the infamous Turn 8. He was able to continue, but the resulting damage hindered his pace.
Bryce Fullwood, aboard the TRG Racing Camaro, spent much of the opening phase stuck in traffic and was unable to make progress in the wet conditions but felt like he had more speed in the car.
After his first stop, the car’s balance deteriorated and he couldn’t match his earlier pace. The team will analyse the data overnight in search of answers.
Two longer-format races remain this weekend, with qualifying for Race 33 set for 10:05 ACDT tomorrow morning.
Super2
A wet day has resulted in Brad Vaughan receiving Pole position for Race 2 on Sunday in the Super2 Series after the Qualifying session was cancelled.
The grid has been set by Thursday's Practice 2 session results, meaning Vaughan lines up on Pole with Cody Gillis 13th.
The quick South Australian set a lap good enough for 2nd in tomorrow's race.
Gillis starts out of 10th after a thorough review of the data sheets overnight.
Race 1 for the weekend gets underway tomorrow at 13:55 ACDT.
SUPERCARS RESULTS
Practice 2
P.9 - Andre Heimgartner #8 R&J Batteries Camaro
P.13 - Macauley Jones #96 Pizza Hut Racing Camaro
P.14 - Bryce Fullwood #14 TRG Racing Camaro
P.23 - Jaxon Evans #12 SCT Motorsport Camaro
Qualifying Race 32
P.10 - Andre Heimgartner #8 R&J Batteries Camaro
P.18 - Bryce Fullwood #14 TRG Racing Camaro
P.19 - Jaxon Evans #12 SCT Motorsport Camaro
P.21 - Macauley Jones #96 Pizza Hut Racing Camaro
Race 32
P.7 - Andre Heimgartner #8 R&J Batteries Camaro
P.13 - Jaxon Evans #12 SCT Motorsport Camaro
P.17 - Macauley Jones #96 Pizza Hut Racing Camaro
P.22 - Bryce Fullwood #14 TRG Racing Camaro
SUPERCARS QUOTEBOARD
Andre Heimgartner
Supercars driver, #8 R&J Batteries Camaro
“An interesting race. It was pretty wet to start with, then it dried up and got really wet again. I struggled at the start with pressures and a few other things, but managed to keep it clean and come home in a decent spot by making a few places. An interesting way to do your 300th race. It would have been cool if it was a proper race, but at least it’s kind of fun being something different. It’s cool out there racing with nothing to lose whiist a lot of the guys around me have a lot to lose. I’m looking forward to the next couple of days and hopefully a bit of dry weather.”
Bryce Fullwood
Supercars driver, #14 TRG Racing Camaro
"That’s Friday done. We didn’t quite get it sorted in qualifying and it was an odd race for us. The car was really fast in the first part of the race and then we pitted to put some tyres on. I’m not really sure what happened from there where it all turned pretty bad. A lot to understand and work through, but hopefully we have some dry weather for the next couple of days and can make some improvements and see how we go."
Macauley Jones
Supercars driver, #96 Pizza Hut Racing Camaro
“Was pretty disappointed with qualifying. I got a curb strike which was annoying because it felt like the car was pretty strong. The race was then wet. I felt pretty speedy, but as it was only half a race it was hard to make ground. Made some good moves and was happy with the car. Onto tomorrow.”
Jaxon Evans
Supercars driver, #12 SCT Motorsport Camaro
“ An interesting day. We were struggling a little bit after practice. Qualifying then wasn’t ideal, with us not being where we wanted to be. I did feel that we got a bit more understanding of our car though. Then the rain opened up for the race. The guys did a great pit stop and made some good calls on when to pit and we found ourselves in 13th. I would have liked to have restarted the race, as we were on hot tyres while some other guys were pitting and would have been on colder wets. We’ll try to retune our car for the dry tomorrow."
SUPER2 RESULTS
Qualifying Race 1
2 - Brad Vaughan, #80 Dare Racing ZB Commodore
10 - Cody Gillis, #9 Perrys Fuel Distributors ZB Commodore
Qualifying Race 2
1 - Brad Vaughan, #80 Dare Racing ZB Commodore
13 - Cody Gillis, #9 Perrys Fuel Distributors ZB Commodore
SUPER2 QUOTEBOARD
Brad Vaughan
Super2 driver, #80 Dare Racing ZB Commodore
“Awesome day. Two qualifying sessions got second in the first session. The car was pretty good, just lost a little bit of time at the staircase but, pretty happy with that. Then the second session got rained out and has gone back to practice times from yesterday, which means we're on Pole. So, two front rows is a good start to the weekend.”
Cody Gillis
Super2 driver, #80 Perrys Fuel Distributors ZB Commodore
"Decent day here in Adelaide, turned it around from last night and made some gains! Unfortunately didn’t get to do Quali 2 because of the weather but keen for some racing tomorrow!"