Brad Jones Racing’s Bathurst 1000 campaign couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start with Tim Slade hitting the wall at The Esses on lap nine of the first practice session on Thursday.
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Slade was fast from the first flying laps, setting the quickest time before he lost control of the rear of the car and smacked the concrete fence, causing significant damage.
He escaped uninjured.
“We made a (set-up) change to the front, went out, the car was awesome, really comfortable and I just lost the rear, couldn’t collect it and collected the fence pretty hard,” Slade said.
“I’m not sure what the extent of the damage is.
“I guess the guys will have a look at it and go from there.
“Obviously it was too (fast on entry) because I ended up in the fence, but it didn’t feel that much different to any other laps.
“We just made a change to the front, I’m not sure if it makes the car a little bit more nervous in that that spot or what.”
It’s a huge blow for Brad and Kim Jones who have had a horror run this year with numerous big crashes culminating in Tim Blanchard’s co-driver, Todd Hazelwood, writing off the Cool Drive car two weeks ago at Sandown.
It has been a huge effort to get another car built for Blanchard to be able to compete this weekend.
Before Slade’s car had been recovered, team co-owner Brad Jones expressed hope that it could be repaired for the co-driver session starting at 12:30pm.
But it wasn’t to be, the car had sustained major damage requiring one of the team’s fabricators to make a dash from Albury to help repair it.
With significant structural work needed, Slade won’t be back on track until Saturday, meaning he will miss the rest of practice and Friday’s vital qualifying session, meaning he will start last in the big race on Sunday.
“It got away from him at the rear a little bit, the car was a bit oversteery, obviously,” Jones said.
“It’s taken quite a hard lick on the left-side rear, and, unfortunately, the damage is structural.
“We just need to make sure we don’t lose any more track time than we need to.”
Slade’s teammate Nick Percat fared better, finishing just outside the top 10 in 12th, only six tenths of a second away from pacesetter Chaz Mostert.
Albury’s other entrant, Dave Reynolds, was right on the pace all day and inside the top five for most of the session before eventually ending up eighth.
It was another consistent performance from Reynolds, who is now a regular face in the top 10 at most events.
He didn’t quite get in the laps he wanted as the team changed the car’s setup, but he was pleased with his progress.
“It’s a long week here, but if you are behind the eight ball on day one, you can spend it chasing the others who have pace; so it’s good to be in the mix,” Reynolds said.
“There is a long way to go until 5pm Sunday.”
