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Mark McNally


Wakefield Park has been known to occassionally create chaos but this time there was no escape for a number of competitors in the second round of the Fujitsu Series. A red flag had to be brought out to stop the race but one of those unable to take the restart was Mark McNally. Conrod had a quick chat in the lead-up to Sandown.

Michael Shaw: Talk us through what happened at the start of that third race?

Mark McNally: I got a pretty slow start and got passed by a couple of cars of the start. As we went through turn 1 Trimble and Canto went around me. Trimble made it passed with no trouble however Canto pulled across too soon to take my line without giving me any room. I pulled right to try and avoid contact however we rubbed and I got spun. After that all hell broke loose due to no one being able to see through the dust. I got t-boned by Sieders and then everyone else joined in.

Michael Shaw: Did you sustain any injuries?

Mark McNally: No I came away without any injuries.

Michael Shaw: What is the damage to the car?

Mark McNally: The car suffered quite a bit of structural damage with the cage being pushed in on the drivers door area. Apart from the chassis damage we didn't suffer too much other damage i.e. suspension components etc.

Michael Shaw: Is the car written off?

Mark McNally: No it's currently being fixed and should be back on track for Sandown.

Michael Shaw: What's next for you? Will you be back this season?

Mark McNally: Back on track for Sandown and looking to continue the strong form from Wakefield!

Michael Shaw: Have Walkinshaw Performance helped out?

Mark McNally: Yes WP are always very keen to help out where ever they can.

Michael Shaw: Your results have improved this year, do you feel this momentum will continue?

Mark McNally: Yes I think that the momentum will continue. Working with the team at BJR has been great. They are really professional and very supportive. I've fitted in to the team really well and with their back up my confidence is going from strength to strength.

Michael Shaw: To give a little background, how did you get to the Fujitsu Series?

Mark McNally: I stepped into the Fujitsu Series after a couple of years in the Australian Formula Ford Championship. I had a some solid results, the best being 2nd place at Barbagallo in 05, and then moved up to V8's during the 06 season. Straight away I had some strong pace with good results at Mallala and Phillip Island in 06 however I struggled a bit and went backwards in 07. 2008 has been a good turn around and will hopefully continue to improve.

Michael Shaw: Where are you aiming to go after this year?

Mark McNally: I have my sights set firmly on the main game and it all depends on my progress and results this year. I'm not opposed to another year in the Fujitsu Series however if you can get your foot into the main game your learning and skill level accelerates due to the level of drivers and also the amount of time you get in the car. It'd be great to get into the main game and try to step up like other guys, such as Lee Holdsworth have done.


Since this took place Mark has sent around an update on progress.

Hi Everyone,

I just thought I'd give you a quick update as to how things have progressed since the dramas I had at Wakefield.

The boys at BJR (in conjunction with Race Craft) have done a fantastic job in getting my car back together, and it looks as good as new!

There was major structural damage therefore the guys at Race Craft had to replace a section of the roll cage and restraighten the whole chassis. Fortunately they worked hard and got the car fixed ahead of schedule and returned it to BJR for the crew to put the huge jigsaw puzzle back together.

As we had a test scheduled for the 26th of May the boys were under pressure to have the car completed in a really short timeframe.

Once again they didn't let me down and I was back on track with out any dramas, and I mean not one! We hit the track at Winton in the morning and had a trouble free 112 lap test day, that's a huge effort from the team to have a complete rebuild (in a rush) and not one little problem.

So we're now off to Sandown this weekend and I'm really looking forward to getting back out there and hopefully continuing my strong form (minus the crash) from Wakefield.

As far as the costs are concerned I'm still waiting on some of the bills but trust me, it's not pretty. The total should come in at around $50k, so I'll be doing my best to stay out of trouble from here on!

Mark McNally
West Coast Racing