Rod Nash is optimistic that his Bottle-O Falcon will return to the circuit in as-new condition for Practice 6 following an all-night rebuild.
Lead driver David Reynolds crashed heavily at Sulman Park during qualifying, sliding into the concrete wall while attempting to pass a slow Todd Kelly around the outside.
The Falcon suffered front and rear damage in the crash which, although leaving the main roll-cage and floor intact, will require extensive repairs.
Nash estimates that the fabrication work alone will take eight hours, before fit-out and final alignments are undertaken.
“It’s damaged the front rail and there are a few little bends in the pipes in the (front-right shock) tower, but they should be able to get that all aligned,” Nash told Speedcafe.com.
“In the rear, it’s damaged all the mounting points of all the suspension as well and moved the fuel tank a little bit.
“The way it has squeezed the back of the car, I’d say there’ll be some difficulty in squaring up the rear to get it perfect.
“It’ll be really important to get it out for practice so we can get feedback on where we need to make further tweaks.”
FPR, which is running its four main entries, a Dunlop Series car and the Super Black wildcard this weekend, has 65 staff at the track from which it can draw on.
Nash admits, however, that the lack of a full chassis jig at the circuit means the repairs will be somewhat temporary in nature, and not guaranteed to return the car to perfect condition.
“We should be ok, but it’ll only be fixed to a point before we can freshen it up between the Gold Coast and Phillip Island,” he said.
“We all know that we operate in very small set-up windows, so until we get it out on track again we won’t know (if it’s good as new).
“But we’re reasonably confident because the guys have done it before.
“Jack (Perkins’) car was damaged on Thursday and will probably end up on the jig for more permanent repairs, but he was able to put his car in the Shootout.”
The team could elect to put Reynolds in one of its two spare cars for the Castrol Edge Gold Coast 600, pending how the rest of this weekend pans out.
Reynolds described himself as “emotionally a bit destroyed” in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
Nash admits that his driver’s confidence is another key reason why the team will push to ensure the car makes it out for final practice.
“When he arrived back here after the accident he was calmer than what he was after Sandown, where he was really shattered about the mistake he made (letting the rear wheels spin in a pitstop, resulting in a drive-through penalty,” he said.
“This is just one of those things that happens but, at the same time, it’s another big reason why we need to get the car out tomorrow, just to get him ‘back on the bike’.”
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