Thomas Randle was left scratching his head after “unnecessary” contact at high speed with Andre Heimgarter during Race 1 at the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight.
At the time of the incident, the Castrol Racing Ford Mustang was already a lap down relative to Heimgartner in the R&J Batteries Holden ZB Commodore, albeit fitted with newer tyres.
Randle was in the process of getting by Heimgartner when the incident occurred.
Television replays showed the pair heading side-by-side down the straight when Heimgartner appeared to swerve into the side of Randle.
Speaking with Speedcafe.com, the first year full-timer explained the incident kicked off earlier than replays showed.
“Well, I had a significant tyre advantage and he was defending pretty hard on me which I didn’t think was necessary,” said Randle.
“Into the last corner, I went for a move and then backed out of of it, and then I just tapped him in the rear and he just got sideways a little bit.
“Then I tried to counter to not get too much of an advantage but I just already had so much of a tyre advantage.
“I just went up the inside and got the drive and as we went down the straight, tried to get out into the side draft and then all of a sudden there was just a massive whack, I don’t know why.
“We did a three-stopper, so whenever we were near him we had – I mean I finished a lap down – but we had tyre pace on him, so I don’t know why he didn’t just let me through.
“But anyway, he finished well off the road. To me, it was just unnecessary. It’s a dangerous part of the track to do those sorts of things.
Randle said he hadn’t spoken to Heimgartner post-race about the incident, citing bigger issues – notably Tickford Racing’s lack of outright pace.
The #55 pilot wound up finishing a lap down in 20th, one place lower than where he started.
The Randle incident wasn’t the only incident involving Heimgartner.
On Lap 49, it appeared he and Brad Jones Racing team-mate Jack Smith had gotten together, resulting in the latter ending up cast wide and off the road at the final corner.
Heimgartner would go on to finish 14th after he was forced to pit on Lap 76 of Lap 77 from eighth.
The Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight resumes today with Qualifying for Race 2 at 10:50 local time/AEDT.
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