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Ben Bargwanna’s rookie Macau campaign came to a heartbreaking end of Sunday with a monster crash in the Guia Race.
The Aussie travelled to Macau for the Kumho TCR World Tour finale looking to qualify for the World Ranking Final after losing ground during the local swing with reliability issues.
He made an impressive start to his first Macau weekend as well, making Q2 on Friday before finishing 12th in Saturday’s opening race.
The weekend came to a cruel end in today’s Guia Race, though, Bargwanna crashing his Peugeot heavily on the opening lap.
After making a rapid start to the race he ended up wide in the fast right-hand Mandarin bend, following title contender Yann Ehrlacher into the wall.
But while the Frenchman got away with his brush, Bargwanna’s hit was hard enough to destroy his Peugeot – and leaving him feeling sore and shaken.
“I got an awesome start; there were cars going everywhere and I got a really good run on the outside,” Bargwanna told Speedcafe.
“I tipped it into turn 2 and it didn’t stick, and unfortunately there was no room for error.
“I hit the wall pretty hard, it hurt a bit. But it’s what we do, it’s the game we play.
“Unfortunately I made a mistake. That’s the way it goes, I can’t sit here and blame anything, it’s my fault. At the end of the day I’m okay. Hopefully we can get it fixed.
“It’s bittersweet. The weekend was going so well, but everyone here has been in that position. We’ve all made mistakes this big. It’s the way it is. I can still hold my head high, we did really well.”
The crash cost Bargwanna automatic qualification for the World Ranking Final that will take place in Portugal next March.
However he’s not giving up on finding a slot, which may become possible if others choose not to take part in the one-off event.
“If we can find a way into it, absolutely, we’ll work out arses off to get there,” said Bargwanna.
“But nothing is guaranteed at the moment. Hopefully there is an opening and we’ll work our arses off to find a way to get over there. That’s still the plan.”
