Driving for the Bathurst-based Anderson Motorsport, Vidau climbed to second in a frenetic Race 9 of the Dunlop Series.
Despite suffering from an upset stomach, Vidau was able to hold off a hard-charging Brad Vaughan.
So dire was the situation that Vidau wondered whether he would be able to compete.
He exceeded his own expectations, putting the #17 Ford Mustang sixth on the grid and second in the 17-lap race.
“The day started pretty rough,” said Vidau.
“A 5am start straight into the bathroom and vomiting everything that I had in me up.
“That just didn’t really stop until after qualifying. The medical crew did a great job to get me across the line for the race.
“I got in the car and genuinely didn’t know if I’d make it past two laps. When you’re in third place though, you just need to keep battling and keep on going which we did.
“If you’d told me this morning that we’d be here at the end of the day with a trophy I would have laughed at you, and probably half the medical crew would as well.”
Vidau’s race wasn’t without drama. He slapped the wall with his car at the Metal Grate. Despite the hard hit, he carried on without any damage.
“The car felt pretty good before I found the wall,” said Vidau.
“Decided to just nudge it at the Grate and it bent the right rear wheel a bit.
“It didn’t feel horrible afterwards, we lost a little bit of pace but there was enough tyre in it on the long run to help us hang on.
“I’m sure the boys will get it back in top shape, hopefully I’ll be a little more awake tomorrow for qualifying. We’ll try to qualify a bit closer to the front and go one better.”
INSANE BATTLE WITH VIDAU & VAUGHAN ⚔️#Super2 #Super3 #Bathurst1000 pic.twitter.com/PmzjiZKlNG
— Dunlop Series (@Dunlop_Series) October 11, 2024
Race 9 was won by Image Racing’s Jobe Stewart, who streaked away to a 13-second win.
Vidau will be back in action on Saturday with qualifying at 9:15am AEDT.
Race 10 of the Dunlop Series season gets underway at 4:05pm AEDT.
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