Walden's Bathurst plans come crashing down the mountain
10/10/2004 22:28 (Press Release) -
Despite running to their plans throughout the week, Walden Motorsport has had an unfortunate early retirement on lap 18 of the 2004 Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 after their vehicle lost rear traction and spun into the wall at the top of the mountain.
With 22-year-old Garth Walden behind the wheel for the start of his debut race in the 1000 kilometre event, things had been progressing well until he contacted the wall at around 200km/h at McPhillamy Park, before continuing down along the wall backwards to the entrance into The Dipper where the #16 PWR Commodore was also forced out of competition earlier in the week.
“We’re still not exactly sure what has happened at this stage; whether that it was due to debris, fluid, or even if something has just snapped, we just don’t know,” said Team Manager Brian Walden.
“The vision showed the rear of the car stepping out and lock up, but the damage had already been done before that when he hit the wall at McPhillamy Park.”
Garth was taken to hospital after the incident for routine checks, but has since been released with no injuries.
“The car hit the wall pretty hard, but apart from some shock, Garth appears to be ok”.
The damage sustained today follows on from an array of challenges that the team has faced all week - a result of entering a Dick Johnson built AU Falcon, under their co-driver agreement, instead of running their usual ex-Ford Performance Vehicle.
“Thursday was the first time either driver had a chance to get a run in the car we used this week, and it took its toll on both the crew and the drivers who all had to learn the ins and outs of it in such a short time,” said Brian.
“The experience that Grant has, has probably allowed him to make a relatively smooth transition here like he did at Sandown, and despite some early problems Garth has also shown that he has great potential.”
Heading in to today’s race the team was hoping to implement a simple strategy to be there at the end.
“It was important for us to get both drivers feeling comfortable at the 2:13 [minute] pace for Sunday…we did that and the two were on the same pace today. It is obviously a disheartening to go home early at any race, but everyone has done their best here this week and should be proud of their efforts.”
After finishing the Betta Electrical Sandown 500 in 24th, to be only one position behind the Holden Racing Team pairing of Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly despite early mechanical problems, the Walden Motorsport team was hoping for a strong performance at Mount Panorama.
“We worked out that without the 30 lap pit stop we should have been at around 18th, to do that here would be great, but at the end of the day we really just wanted to pass that checked flag,” said Brian.
Although the team’s goal was to simply finish the race, there is no doubt that a Top 15 finish would have made it a much sweeter victory, especially for the debutant.
“The last time I raced in this event was in 1997 where I teamed up with Steven Williams to finish in 15th position,” said Brian, “I don’t doubt that Garth would have been hoping to go one better than my best result”.
“But this was his first year and he’s done a great job out there. I guess he’ll just have to wait until next time.”
With entry into the next two rounds of the V8 Supercar Championship Series based upon points on the competition ladder, Walden Motorsport will now have to play a waiting game of a different sort to see if they will be able to go.
“Coming into this race we were outside the 32nd position on the Championship ladder by 111 points, so now we’ll have to see if the adjourned decision from the Team Dynamik inquiry will deduct any points and catapult us on to the entry list for Indy.”
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