Alex Davison will get to use his brand-new Ford Falcon FG a little earlier than expected after the car’s huge crash at Surfers Paradise last weekend.
With co-driver David Brabham at the wheel, the IRWIN Tools Ford was involved in an incident with Toll HRT driver Cameron McConville. The shunt saw Brabham slam the concrete wall on the exit of the back chicane.
According to team boss Ross Stone, the damage is almost the worst he has seen in his race team’s history.
For the next round of the V8 Supercars Championship Series at Symmons Plains, Davison will get the brand-new car that has been in construction for most of the year.
“We’ve been running cars since 1998 and outside of the accident at Bathurst in 2002 (when Wayne Gardner crashed his Caltex Racing Ford in practice) this is the worst accident we’ve had,” said Stone.
“We knew the IRWIN Falcon was going to be pretty bad because you don’t move one of those concrete barriers, weighing two and-a-half tonnes, a metre or more and expect to get away with it.
“I don’t want to put a price on the damage, let’s just say it’s going to be expensive.”
IRWIN Racing engineer David Stuart confirmed he will not repair the old car for competition, instead putting his team’s energies into the completion of the new car.
“It’s quite a big job to do; we wouldn’t be able to get this done in time to make the ferry for Tasmania so we are focussing on the new chassis,” he said.
“The old car suffered damage to the floor, the outer chassis rail and tubes in the roll cage.
“In order to make it a safe and effective repair it all needs to be cut out and renewed.”
The new chassis is the fourth Falcon FG that the team has made. The team started building the car earlier in the year, and before the weekend’s racing, Stone told Speedcafe.com.au that the new car was going to be held off until next year, but the incident has made the team re-evaluate its plans.
“We have the new IRWIN FG4 chassis painted, plumbed and wired, so it’s going to be more effective and beneficial to build that chassis and have Alex (Davison) in that for the remainder of this year and next year,” said Stuart.
“It’s always nice to have a new car, (but) I’m probably more upset surrounding the circumstances around why we have to use it.
“A new chassis is a new chassis; it doesn’t need that much bedding in. I’m sure we’ll be able to hit the track running when we get to Tasmania in a fortnight’s time.”
Stone Brothers Racing has planned a test day next Tuesday but if the build of the new car is not complete by then, the car will most likely get a shakedown at Queensland Raceway just before the car leaves for the next round of the V8 Supercars Championship at Tasmania’s Symmons Plains Raceway on November 12-14.
Below is the footage of Brabham’s hard hit with the Surfers Paradise concrete …
