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Jamie Whincup admitted he expected the damage to Shane van Gisbergen’s Red Bull Camaro to be more extensive following his practice crash in Albert Park.
The New Zealander lost the back end of his Camaro after dropping a wheel in the grass at Turn 7, slowing him sideways across the track.
He ultimately tagged the barrier with the rear of the #97 and ended up facing the Turn 8 wall to draw an end to the opening practice for the Melbourne SuperSprint.
“I think the vision’s pretty self-explanatory; he just dropped a wheel coming out of Turn 7 – did a good job actually to keep it pirouetting down the road,” Whincup said.
“He came on the radio and said ‘I’ve had a big crash’, but I expected a lot worse than actually what it was.
“The guys are here to push hard, find the limits – practice is what it’s all about, so we’ll repair the car and get back out there for the next one.”
Today’s running in Albert Park is especially busy for Supercars teams, with two practice sessions following by two rapid-fire qualifying outings and the opening race of the event.
It leaves the squad little time to repair the car – the first time it has had to do so with Gen3 machinery.
Upon the car’s return to the garage, Speedcafe observed damage to the left-rear corner, wing, front bar and chassis rail extensions.
“Obviously the whole pit lane’s pretty tight with parts,” Whincup confessed.
“I reckon there’ll be a bit of camaraderie between sharing parts in between cars as well.
“We’re fine for now – we can’t have two or three of those.
“Of course, the other car in the fence, Tim Slade [PremiAir Racing], is a customer car as well, so we’re supplying parts there also so.
“Hopefully we’ve used our bikkies up on Thursday and it’s clean from here on in, but who knows, it’s motorsport.”
Supercars’ second practice session is slated for 13:15 local time, a little more than an hour after the conclusion of Practice 1.
Should that prove too great a stretch, the first Qualifying session begins at 14:45.
