Percat thanks hard-working WAU crew for post-fire rebuild

Nick Percat has praised the Walkinshaw Andretti United crew for its efforts in repairing his Ford Mustang Supercar after its fire in Race 4.

The #2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang was ablaze in its left-front corner on the opening lap of the Friday race at the Beaurepaires Melbourne SuperSprint.

Percat was able to get it back to pit lane and pull up next to the first bay, where the Blanchard Racing Team crew duly rushed to help extinguish the fire.

However, it still left WAU with a mammoth job overnight to strip the affected parts of the car and install replacements.

Percat himself stayed to help until late at night when he was told to leave the circuit and get some sleep, while crew members continued to work into the early hours of the next morning.

They returned a small number of hours later to complete the job, with only a minute to spare before Qualifying for Race 5 started.

Percat was quickly back into the lane to check a power steering drama, and then a red flag trapped him in last spot on the starting grid, before he qualified 16th for Race 6.

Still, the South Australian was left with nothing but praise for his team.

“A massive thank you goes out to all the boys and girls who worked until the early hours of the morning fixing the Mobil 1 NTI Racing #2 car so we could get it out for qualifying and the race today,” he said after climbing from 25th to 16th in race 5.

“We had a few little gremlins in qualifying so to be starting 16th for Race 6 is pretty awesome.

“As for the race today, not even sure where to start – there was plenty happening – but in the end, we moved forward nine spots in a short amount of laps… we will take it.

“Eyes forward on tomorrow.”

A second Ford Mustang fire, this time for the Tickford Racing entry of James Courtney, would occur in Race 5.

That entry has already been ruled out of tomorrow morning’s Race 6 of the Repco Supercars Championship, but the bigger concern is the repeat of the issue, which has prompted a snap meeting of the Gen3 Technical Working Group at Albert Park tonight.

Meanwhile, WAU’s other driver, Chaz Mostert, still leads the drivers’ championship by a single point after the #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang was classified fourth in Race 5.