That would be an understatement to describe the blow delivered to Bathurst driver Terry Nightingale when he was forced to shelve plans to drive in next weekend’s Bathurst 12 Hour race at Mount Panorama.

Having worked towards making his debut in the enduro classic, Nightingale was due to line up with the Motorsport Services NZ Team in their Class B Porsche GT3 Cup car.

In the lead-up to the race he was naturally excited about the idea of lining up in a global event on his home track against some of the best drivers on the planet.

But on Thursday it all came to an abrupt halt.

Having spent months organising the required financial arrangements to take his place in the event, an unexpected and unaccounted-for late insurance cost forced his withdrawal, with his seat to be filled by veteran driver Xavier West.

Clearly disappointed, but trying to somehow remain upbeat, Nightingale announced his withdrawal via his Facebook page as he tried to come to terms with the situation.

“Unfortunately I won’t be participating in this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour from a drivers’ point [of view],” he said.

“I’ll still be doing commentary for the support categories on Friday and Saturday though.

“This is extremely disappointing as we were thoroughly looking forward to finally competing on an international stage in front of all you amazing people.

“Luckily this still leaves us with plenty of options to compete in some fantastic categories this year. 

“Thank you all for your continued support. Thanks to everyone who has sent me messages wishing me luck, it all means the world to me and, as heartbreaking as this is, 2015 is still going to be a fantastic year.”

The talented driver had a breakthrough season in 2014 which included a couple of drives in the V8 Utes series and, having begun to make a name for himself, the latest setback won’t be a killer blow to his year.

He also earned plenty of plaudits for two enduro wins at Wakefield Park and another at Winton.

He has a number of engagements already lined up for this year and is set to test drive in a major category in the coming months.

His dad, respected motor sport commentator Brian Nightingale, echoed his son’s disappointment, as much from the standpoint of the wasted effort as anything else.

“I’ve never, ever seen anyone work as hard as what Terry had to, to try and pull all this together,” he said.

“It is obviously pretty disappointing to find out that it isn’t going to happen now, but all he can do is move forward and try to focus on the next challenge.”

The withdrawal leaves Brad Shiels as the sole remaining local entry in the feature event at Australia’s international endurance race beginning next Friday, February 6.