MOTOR SPORT
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BATHURST’S Terry Nightingale had a round to forget in the V8 Utes series at the Gold Coast last weekend, but he is happy to laugh off his misfortune as something that might have been overdue in his racing career.
After crashing in Friday’s first practice session, he copped a grid penalty for incorrect camber on his fixed right-hand side.
Nightingale then got caught up in someone else’s mess on the first lap of race one, ending his round early.
It was the first time in over a decade of racing that Nightingale has been involved in a significant crash.
“I knew we weren’t going to get through it without any damage at all, but to come away with two reasonably-sized incidents is pretty heartbreaking really, especially when we had the pace to be running around the top 10,” he said.
“I haven’t been involved in any sort of incident ever in 12 years of motor sport. When you’re running with the big boys it’s bound to happen. Now that’s out of the way, hopefully we can have another 12 years with no accidents.”
Nightingale confirmed that the ute would be repaired in time for the next round of the series at Sydney Olympic Park, starting December 5.
If there was a positive to take away from the damage report, it is that things could have been a lot worse for the Bathurst driver.
His Ford FG ute is now at West End Auto for repairs.
“The front radiator housing is bent, I need a new bonnet, the front bar will need to be replaced and it needs to be straightened out at the top. I’m not a panel beater though, so I don’t know the extent of it,” Nightingale said.
“The oil cooler will obviously need to be replaced. I don’t think the radiator is too badly damaged ... the car will be good for Homebush. It’s just a case now of trying to find a budget again to run it.
“That’s what happens when you haven’t got a major sponsor like the other guys. They’ve got the budget for the year whereas I’ve got to find one for each round. To be able to run at this level though is amazing. To be the under card to V8 Supercars it’s a bit of a buzz.”
Nightingale has contested the last two rounds of the 2014 V8 Utes series, his highest-tier stint in motor sport to date. They provided him with very different experiences.
His debut at Mount Panorama saw him finish as high as 14th in the third and final race of the round. That good run didn’t roll on in Queensland.
At the Gold Coast Leigh Nicolaou put on the brakes to avoid an incident just moments into the start of the round’s first race which saw Nightingale trapped with nowhere to go.
“It was such a shock because I saw everyone hitting each other and I thought I gave enough room to brake. When he [Nicolaou] hit the car in front of him, there was nowhere for me to go. At first I didn’t think it would be that bad, but it popped the oil cooler off and sprayed oil over the back of the tyres,” Nightingale said.