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Neil Crompton dusted off his helmet to get behind the wheel of a Supercar today, punctuated by an ”authentic experience” with Anton De Pasquale.
The Supercars stalwart was invited by Walkinshaw Andretti United to drive one of its Holden ZB Commodores as part of a ride day at Sandown International Motor Raceway.
Full-timers Chaz Mostert and Bryce Fullwood were out in the #25 and #2 entries respectively with co-drivers Lee Holdsworth and Warren Luff sharing driving duties.
Kurt Kostecki was also on hand for the ride day, sharing the team’s spare ZB Commodore with Crompton. It is believed Kostecki could make a wildcard cameo with the team later this year.
It was a full-on return for Crompton, who was given a cheeky dust-up by Shell V-Power Racing Team driver De Pasquale.
“It was a ball, I totally loved it,” Crompton told Speedcafe.com.
“I got a touch up from Anton, which made it even more fun. I thought it was Will [Davison] in the car in #17.
“I looked away as we were bowling down the straight and started to figure out where I was going to brake. I figured he was going to sail on by.
“I obviously started to think about where I was turning and I didn’t realise he’d actually poked the nose. The next minute I’m full opposite lock and he’s tagged me.
“There’s a big witness mark in the left rear door and it’s folded a bit of the exhaust over. I thought, ‘Jesus, we’ve got contact on a ride day!’ So it was a totally authentic experience.
“I went down to apologise to Wilbur, I sent him a text and said I was the moron, then I went down and Will said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’, so I asked who was in #17 and he said, ‘ADP’ so I went down there and he said, ‘Yeah! That was me. That was fun, wasn’t it?’
“It was a gag. It was good.
“I’m sure that I’ll get an invoice from Ryan Story,” he joked.
The ride day marked the first time in over 12 months that some teams were able to conduct hot laps in Victoria.
Crompton said the atmosphere in the pit lane was buzzing. For Crompton, most passengers he took for hot laps were first-timers.
The Hall of Famer also took Supercars media colleague Chad Neylon for a ride.
“It was fantastic, I absolutely loved it,” said Crompton.
“It’s been 12 months since I’ve been in one, but any time you get in one, as you’re getting older it’s a privilege.
“I said to the team a few moments ago, I thanked them for the faith and trust because it’s a lot of expensive equipment. Just to be able to do it, I’m pleased.
“I did three or four chunky stints today, so I feel like I’ve done a bit. The camaraderie was great. It was great to see everybody on a day like that where you’re able to share the love for the game with so many people.
“It was like a race meeting. There was traffic out there. When you’re not on the money, it felt like I was in a class car. I had to just be very careful of whose way I was getting in.
“It was busy out there.”
Crompton is anticipating he’ll be back out in a Supercar later this year.
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