Heimgartner/Fullwood surge to ninth in wild Enduro race
Andre Heimgartner and Bryce Fullwood put together an incredible recovery drive in the opening Enduro Cup race to finish inside the top ten.
Race 29
147 laps (141 raced)
Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries GR Supra), qualified 19th
Cameron Hill (#14 Farmers Union Iced Coffee GR Supra), qualified 26th
Macauley Jones (#96 AlphaTheta Racing GR Supra), qualified 23rd
Car #8 had an incredible run after starting in 19th. Bryce Fullwood opened the race with a strong stint; however, he was dealt a blow after making contact with another car and receiving a 15-second penalty. Both he and Heimgartner fought hard for the remainder of the race and remarkably finished in ninth.
The race started in treacherous conditions, which only worsened over the next few hours. With all three co-drivers taking the wheel, the BJR cars were kept relatively clean during the opening stints.
There were three Safety Car periods due to the conditions, accounting for 16 laps of the eventual 141 raced. The race was called at time certain.
Just over halfway through the race, the field began moving to slick tyres as the track dried.
Car #96 also received a five-second penalty for an unsafe release during its first pit stop, which meant that the AlphaTheta Racing team lost time in the lane.
The crew in Car #14 were battling some overheating issues late in the race, that saw Cam lose some pace.
Brad Jones Racing now prepares for the Bathurst 1000, which takes place in just over a month’s time, from 8–11 October.
QUOTEBOARD
SUPERCARS
Andre Heimgartner, #8 R&J Batteries Toyota GR Supra
“Solid day. We had a penalty, which sort of took a bit of the edge off. But overall, some good progress with the car, including coming away with the top 10. I think solid. Looking forward to Bathurst and hopefully we can continue it on.”
Co-driver Bryce Fullwood, #8 R&J Batteries Toyota GR Supra
“Our day was a little bit up and down and all over the place. Don't know that we were super confident going into today so we weren't really sure what to expect. I felt reasonably strong in the car. Was a shame to get a penalty. Obviously, I turned Craig around. The touch was so small but obviously just in a really bad spot there. So really sorry to all the team for that. Without that, I think we probably would’ve been fifth or somewhere there. So, pace was good in the wet. Andre was really fast there at the end in the dry too. I think, to be honest, we've learned a lot out of this weekend and hopefully we can take it to Bathurst and have a good weekend there.”
Cameron Hill, #14 Farmers Union Iced Coffee Racing Toyota GR Supra
“Today it was pretty crazy out there. The weather really made the race quite exciting. Bradley did a really good job. He probably struggled a little bit in that second stint when it was torrential. We probably didn't have the pressures in the tyres for him and then just a bad timed safety car where we had to double stack really put us back in the field and from there it was a real track position race. So, I felt like the car was better today, that's positive, but there's a lot to go over. A lot that we can improve on.”
Co-driver | Brad Vaughan, #14 Farmers Union Iced Coffee Racing Toyota GR Supra
“500km race, hectic, crazy conditions. The rain really spiced things up. Got turned around on the first lap, but then the recovery from there was good. Made 16 spots, I think it was, up to around P10 before I jumped out of the car which I thought was really good considering where we started. Bring on Bathurst.”
Macauley Jones, #96 AlphaTheta Racing Toyota GR Supra
“I've had a really tough day, to be honest. I'm really disappointed with the way I drove today. I made a lot of mistakes. Obviously, tricky conditions out there but just didn't do a good job today. So, I'm pretty frustrated. Feel like we struggled a little bit in the wet. It was pretty chaotic out there, but just having a few offs at the end there I think hurt our day which was not great, but we had some progress.”
Co-driver | Jordan Boys, #96 AlphaTheta Racing Toyota GR Supra
“Pretty average day today. Had a lot of crashes. Our pace was okay at times, but also pretty average at times. So, I don't know. Feels like a day we could have had a top 15 but just sort of didn't nail our performance.”