Andre Heimgartner has likened his 2016 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 experience to that of a rollercoaster ride, and unfortunately it did not end on a high.
Instead, a failed input shaft saw the #3 Plus Fitness Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Holden the 21 year old Kiwi is sharing with co-driver Aaren Russell become stranded on the run to The Cutting on lap 113. The entry would be able to take no further part.
The heart-breaking finish to a race full of heart for the young pairing came just when it seemed to be turning in their favour after a weekend of challenges. They were 14th on the road at the time the issue struck, after having started 25th.
“Our whole Bathurst experience has been much like a rollercoaster,” said Heimgartner, who in 2014 experienced a break-through debut at the Mountain which lead to his full-time signing, before last year’s 1000 ended in a DNF when his co-driver Ant Pedersen suffered contact from another driver.
“We had some real lows throughout practice and qualifying trying to nail the set-up and just not getting it done, and then came the boost of finding improvements ahead of the warm-up that saw us set the sixth fastest time when we were really just out there getting the feel for the road.
“We didn’t have the race pace early but we were staying with them, and then we struggled to stay on the lead lap.
“However, we were able to get that gap back and we were in 14th position as the race closed in on its final quarter.
“(Engineer) Campbell Little had set the car up to be fast at the end, our speed was up and we felt like it was really coming together for us – a good result and possibly a top ten result was in sight.
“And then, it all went away again. It has certainly been a character-building weekend and we feel that another good result has gone begging. Hopefully we are storing up some good luck to come for the end of the season!” laughed Heimgartner.
“On the plus side, we were making improvements, we were feeling good, the car was feeling fast, and Aaren did a great job out there today. We are very much looking forward to getting on-track on the Gold Coast and hopefully coming away with a good result.”
Next up for Andre Heimgartner is the Castrol Gold Coast 600, to be held at Surfers Paradise in Queensland across October 21-23.
Comments