Crick the wrong man for the job: Stone
3/9/2001 14:34 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
The Stone Brothers will “take a new direction” for Bathurst, opting for a new driver to partner Marcos Ambrose in the Pirtek Falcon.
Greg Crick, Ambrose’s co-driver for the Queensland 500, offered to step aside after a disappointing weekend with the team.
A new co-driver has not yet been named.
While Ambrose put the car on pole during Saturday’s qualifying shootout, Crick lost his way in the opening stint on Sunday. The car fell back through the order, before an accident forced the car into retirement mid-way through the race.
"I just never got to grips with the car," Crick conceded.
"With only limited time in practice, the car had to be qualified by Marcos. He clearly knows the car better and did a great job, but the down-side was that I started the race with his set-up and very little track time.
"It just did not suit me and I felt it better to bring the car back in one piece rather than risk an incident.”
Ross Stone, who insists Crick jumped rather than be pushed, said the Tasmanian was the wrong man for the job.
"The fact is that we need the very best driver combination in the car that suits Marcos's style, as he is the team's regular driver,” Stone said. “It's extremely disappointing for everyone that Greg didn't turn out to be that driver.
"It's a very difficult situation as we now have to go out and find a replacement with just over a month to the biggest race of the year.”
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