In 2009 it was Gene Rollinson’s first appearance at Bathurst competing in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Development Series (now know as the Dunlop Super2 Series). Here’s Ross MacKay’s race report from October 2009:
Impressive Bathurst debut for Rollinson
Kiwi V8 Supercar driver Gene Rollinson impressed at last weekend’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 meeting in Australia, competing in the sixth round of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Development Series.
Driving the ESET Antivirus/Race Image Ford Falcon BF, 24-year-old Rollinson finished eighth overall in his first-ever run at the famous Mt Panorama circuit.
The weekend began on a chilly Thursday morning, and Rollinson quickly appreciated the aura that surrounds the iconic circuit when he took to the track for the first time, spending the first 40-minute session becoming familiar with 6.2km of blind corners, steep hills and 290+km/h straights.
An electrical problem in the second practice session saw a failure of the in-car Motec data acquisition and dash system, but Rollinson continued on to complete as many valuable laps as possible, picking up time with every lap.
However, unbeknown to him, the electrical failure also shut down an auxiliary oil pump causing oil to leak onto the tyres leading to a half-spin halfway through the session. The resulting contact with the wall broke a part in the car’s rear suspension and caused some cosmetic damage, however the efficient Race Image Motorsport crew got to work and had the ESET Falcon repaired within a few hours and ready to go for qualifying on Friday morning.
“This place is pretty daunting” Rollinson said after his first day at the mountain. “And it’s bitten me already! It’s unfortunate we had that problem today as it’s cost me valuable track time, not to mention we haven’t been able to collect any data from the session to analyze mine and the car’s performance. We’ll have to guess the setup for qualifying tomorrow, but the boys have worked tremendously hard to get the car repaired for tomorrow, so hopefully I can put in a performance to match their efforts! But regardless, it’s definitely awesome to finally be racing at Bathurst!”
Although affected by an ill-timed red flag in the 30-minute qualifying session, Rollinson squeezed out a lap time good enough to put him 13th on the grid for Race 1. Not being used to the tall diff ratio and heavy fuel load, he made a great launch off the start line as the lights went out for the race start but then bogged the car down, losing two places in the process. A good exit out of turn 1 saw him make up one of those positions on the run up Mountain Straight, then he risked an outside pass at turn 2 and hung on to take the inside line for turn 3. As the 14-lap race wore on he made up several more positions to move inside the top-ten, finishing in eight position as the chequered flag fell.
The renowned changeable Bathurst weather made an appearance for Race 2 on Saturday, with rain falling at the top of the mountain as the field left the start line. The safety car was called immediately, and after a couple of sighting laps the race was red-flagged to allow the field to change to wet-weather tyres. Starting from position 8, Rollinson made a great start on the slippery track and made it up to fifth by the first corner, with the cars disappearing up Mountain Straight in a wall of water, visibility near zero. He fought hard with the front runners for a couple of laps before making a small mistake and locking a wheel into turn 1, losing a couple of spots as he ran wide. Rollinson then settled into a rhythm and brought the car home in a slip-sliding eighth place, his second top-ten finish for the weekend.
“I’m stoked with that!” Rollinson commented after the race. “I could hardly see a thing at the start, I was hoping to run with the front guys for a bit longer but a small mistake cost me. Nevertheless I’m happy with my results this weekend, considering I’ve never been here before and some of the cars we’re up against are top-notch! Understandably I didn’t get a lot of laps around here all weekend due to the length of the circuit and limited track-time, so it would’ve been good to have a dry second race as I probably would’ve done my fastest lap of the weekend towards the end. But that’s Bathurst I guess! I certainly have a healthy respect for the place now, and have learned a lot. I’m counting down the days until I can do it all again!”
“The Race Image Motorsport team have been great this weekend, and Rod from ESET Antivirus has been fantastic with his support. I also want to thank my supporters from NZ, I definitely couldn’t be here without them.”
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