Bathurst Hero Loses Battle To Have Car Ready
8/11/2004 18:51 (Press Release) -
Bathurst podium hero Brad Jones has lost the battle to have his #21 OzEmail
Falcon ready for the Indy 300 V8 Supercar contest on the Gold Coast this
weekend. After a week of frantic work, Jones and his Albury based BJR team
have conceded defeat on the Ford that suffered major damage after ending up
on its roof on lap 30 at the Bathurst 1000.
The team will now prepare the spare OzEmail car for the event, a decision
that brings some disappointment for Jones – “The #21 car was very badly
damaged at Bathurst and at the time we didn’t hold much hope. When we got
the car back to Albury, the crew were determined to give me my regular car
to drive for Indy but in the end, there was just too much to do.”
“We only have two days to get the spare car ready to go. It needs a full
driveline fitted and some internals but it shouldn’t cause too many dramas
for the guys,” Jones added.
“The car that I will now be driving is JB’s [John Bowe’s] Falcon from last
year, so it’s heritage isn’t bad but it will mean getting used to a whole
new car for just one race meet. The only time I have spent in the old #888
Falcon was at Bathurst and Sandown last year, so it’s going to be a tough
transition.”
Questioned on the extent of the damage to the #21 OzEmail Falcon, Jones
added – “It’s big, bloody big. I would hate to think of the cost but it
will be the biggest repair bill that we have ever had.”
After BJR’s enormous effort at Bathurst, coming so close to winning the holy
grail of motorsport, coupled with a hectic week of car preparations, the
team has had absolutely no rest. A fact that is not lost on the #12 OzEmail
Falcon driver, John Bowe.
“Brad [Jones] and I really want to do well at Indy this weekend because it’s
the only way that we can repay the crew for their amazing efforts over the
past few weeks. They really have worked themselves into the ground to not
only prepare a car, a week or so ago, that was capable of winning at
Bathurst but now also trying to get Brad’s car ready. It’s been a
super-human effort.”
At Indy in 2002, the BJR duo were in contention to record the first double
podium result for the team, with Bowe in 2nd and Jones in 3rd with just a
handful of laps remaining. The infamous kerbs at the Surfers Paradise
street circuit catching them out, with simultaneous kerb-hopping
infringements handed to the pair. A result that, according to Bowe, will
not be repeated;
“The officials have done a good job in getting the kerb situation at Indy
fixed up. Up until last year, it was a joke and an embarrassment. If we
have the same common sense approach this year, the drivers will be able
concentrate on driving fast and then the fans will get what they want,” Bowe
concluded.
Release Date: 18/10/2004
Brad Jones Racing
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