The Supaglass Racing team showed the true spirit of endurance in a brutal and bruising Bathurst 12 Hour race today to finish third in class.
In the span of two hours the Matt Stone Racing crew completed two mega repair efforts after separate unfortunate incidents.
Having worked their way to a comfortable lead in the Invitational Class, with a strong opening stint from Nick Percat, John Holinger was unloaded into the wall by another competitor at the top of the Mountain.
It caused heavy damage to the left-rear corner of the #10 Supaglass Racing entry, however, the crew wasted no time in getting to work on the repairs.
An hour later the car was back out on track, but when Cameron Hill reached Turn 2, broken steering caused him to spear into the wall.
That was despite Cam slowing to walking pace after noting something was a-miss heading up Mountain Straight as he tested the feel of the car.
The car returned to the garage on the back of a flatbed for a second time, and for a second time the MSR crew cracked into repairs.
Percat rejoined the race within half-an-hour and the Supaglass Racing team pushed on to the chequered flag, despite being many laps down.
At the end of 12 hours, MSR wound up third in the Invitational Class.
Matt Stone Racing will now prepare for the opening round of the Repco Supercars Championship, also at Bathurst, next weekend.
Cameron Hill – Driver:
“It’s great to walk away with a class podium after a roller-coaster day at Bathurst. We were having a great race and leading by quite a few laps until we were taken out. It could have been day over but the team got the car fixed and we headed back out. Unfortunately the car still had an issue with the steering and it was another trip on the tilt tray. Feel for the boys who had to do back-to-back repair jobs, but happy to finish third after a roller-coaster day. We had tonnes of quality seat time this weekend, so all eyes on Round 1 of Supercars now.”
Nick Percat – Driver:
“It was an interesting day at the 12 Hour. We started off well in the first quarter of the race, the team was awesome and we led by a few laps. It was all looking good until we got run into by a GT3 car; unfortunate for John for that to happen. It showed the great work ethic within the team to get the car fixed and back out twice and circulating in the wet to try and get the podium position back, which we did. Great to stand on the podium with John, but also good for Cam and I to get ready for next weekend in Supercars.”
John Holinger – Driver:
“Very happy to finish on the podium at the Bathurst 12 Hour. I want to say thank you to the whole Matt Stone Racing team, they put in a tremendous effort all weekend and were very welcoming. I enjoyed the experience and very happy with the result.”
