RAIN, rain and more rain - that was the story of day three at Mount Panorama as the Bathurst 1000 top 10 shootout was, for the first time in history, cancelled due to the being track in an unsafe condition.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It meant the grid for the Great Race was determined by the order of Friday qualifying.
So Cameron Waters claimed pole position. The result is Waters' ninth pole of the 2022 Supercars season, 19th of his career, and second Bathurst 1000 pole, the other being 2020.
It is Tickford Racing's 101st pole in team history and seventh pole at the Bathurst 1000.
Check out what Waters, and other drivers, had to say after day three of this year's Bathurst 1000:
Cameron Waters, #6 Monster Energy Racing
"Yesterday was great, being quickest in the wet, that's obviously cool, but [usually] you know you've still got the shootout to come. But yeah, respect to the decision they've made," he said.
"The shootout, for me, is probably one of the highlights of the year, I love getting into it and then putting it all on the line for a lap. I find that pretty exciting and love it, but obviously the water that was on the track was crazy.
"For me, it's not really about the safety as much, the drivers do drive to the conditions, but it's more about the cars. In the shootout you put it all on the line, it's our egos driving it a lot of the time, and if we end up in the fence and tear the car up and are not able to race tomorrow, that's probably the bigger issue for me.
"We've got 28 cars starting the race tomorrow, and tomorrow's probably the bigger thing that we all want to win."
James Moffat, #6 Monster Energy Racing
"Obviously it's a bit of a shame that we didn't get the shootout in today, but it's awesome to be on pole with Cam and the boys," Moffat said.
"Cam put in a ripper lap yesterday, he did all the hard work when it counted, so I'm just glad to be along for the ride. Tomorrow's a long day, we know it doesn't matter where you start here, but it'll be nice to start up front and we definitely aim to finish up there. We'll get a good rest tonight and give it a red hot crack tomorrow."
Lee Holdsworth, #10 Penrite Racing
"It's great to be on the front row, I would have loved to run in my last Bathurst shootout but In the end the officials made the right call to cancel it," he said.
"In practice today we gave Matt Payne a lot of laps in a race simulation to get him comfortable, and he did a good job. We had good speed in the dry which gives me confidence for with mixed conditions expected tomorrow."
"It's going to be a challenging race, starting up the front will help us avoid some carnage in the pack and we just want to settle in and find a groove. It's a long day and there'll be plenty of challenges, if we remain calm we can be there towards the end of the race."
Matt Payne, #10 Penrite Racing
"It was nice to get some wet running in today. We got through all our procedures for the race and I feel more comfortable in the wet but I was focusing on keeping it off the wall."
"I'm pretty excited to make my Bathurst 1000 debut tomorrow. I'll be nervous but I know what my job is and I'm focused on hitting my marks and making it a good day.
"Lee has been great at guiding me through the week and has helped me stay focussed, I want to repay him out on track in the race."
Will Davison, #17 Shell V-Power Racing
"We had a good dry session this afternoon, obviously disappointed for the shootout not to happen today due to the weather. I'm certainly looking forward to trying to improve our position," Davison said.
"We're off P5 tomorrow, it's going to be a long race."
Alex Davison, #17 Shell V-Power Racing
"Today's been good, but ended in an anti-climax with the shootout not going ahead. But apart from that, we've had a nice day. I was happy to do some running in the wet in our first practice and I felt really competitive in that session and comfortable in the car," Davison said.
"I also did some running in semi-dry conditions at the start of P6 and we were very competitive in that session. "I've tasted about every type of condition, so I feel well-prepped for the race tomorrow."
Michael Caruso, #18 IRWIN Racing Team 18
"It was good to get some wet running for the first time this weekend," Caruso said.
"The weather tomorrow looks mixed, so I've now driven the car in the wet and dry so tomorrow is going to bring its challenges with the mixed conditions so we'll have a good rest tonight and energise up for tomorrow."
Scott Pye, #20 Alspec Racing Team 18
"Really excited for the race tomorrow, it's going to be a huge day with plenty of opportunity," Pye said
"If it's dry I'm quite comfortable with our car, if it's wet, we'll have to tune it up a bit in the morning but over the 1000km we'll be in a good spot at the end of it."
Tyler Everingham, #20 Alspec Racing Team 18
"I had a bit of wet running in the additional drivers session, it was more just about keeping the car safe and getting my feet out there so we didn't push it too hard," he said.
"I think it was a pretty successful day, practice 6 when it dried up we were quite fast, I'd say we'd have a top five car if it stays dry.
"It's a long day so we'll do our best to make it happen."
David Reynolds, #26 Penrite Racing
"Matt Campbell did a fantastic job in the wet co-driver practice session earlier today, it's been great having him beside me this weekend," he said.
"For the whole day we just focused on getting ready for the race and I'm feeling good about our chances tomorrow. The worse the conditions are, the better the shot we will have.
"It doesn't matter where you qualifying here at Bathurst, everyone has a chance and I've got a handy co-driver and a solid car in mixed conditions. I can't wait to get stuck into it."
Matt Campbell, #26
"Today was a confidence building day for us. Not being in the shootout allowed us to focus on our race car and we made great progress," Campbell said.
"I was having fun out there in the wet, we've got a strong package if the wet but also we've got some compromise if its dry so regardless of our grid position and the conditions we can make our way forward.
"It's been great being back in the Supercars paddock and this circuit, the fans in the rain at the track are so dedicated. I really want to bring home a good result in the race with Dave."
Broc Feeney, #88 Red Bull Ampol Racing
"I wasn't in the car for much of today, and was only in for the one hour session this afternoon. JDub (Jamie Whincup) went out in the co-driver session and was pretty quick out of the gate, but then he had a mistake and got into the fence at turn two," Feeney said.
"The team did an amazing job and got the car back to brand new for Practice 6. We had a dry session and tried to work on our race car and procedures for tomorrow and it all went really well. The car is now fine, there was nothing major and it was basically back to brand new thanks to the guys and girls in the garage.
"We got stuck into some setup changes and some driver change practice and it all went really well. Tomorrow is going to be good - we're starting P14 so we have a few cars to pass but I think we got the car a bit better in that last practice and we'll have a final tune up in the morning, but we're there or there abouts with the race car, and I have a quick co-driver so we should be fine."
Jamie Whincup, #88 Red Bull Ampol Racing
"I had a bingle today, unfortunately. I was pushing hard in the rain and unfortunately I just locked the wheel at the top of mountain straight and went into the fence. It's obviously not ideal because it creates a bit of work for the team and there's already a massive work load to get the car on track for tomorrow, but all in all the car was quite quick in the wet," Whincup said.
"Broc was reasonably happy in the dry conditions, but we have some work to do overnight to get the car more competitive to where we'd like it in the dry. We're all going to take a guess on what the weather's going to do tomorrow afternoon and hopefully we guess right and fingers crossed we have a good car at the end of the day."
Shane van Gisbergen, #97 Red Bull Ampol Racing
"It was really good to get a dry session in today. We expected it to be wet all day so to get the dry session was nice. We made some tweaks to the car and we both got a bit of a run which was good. We'll start P7 tomorrow with our penalty due to the top ten shootout being cancelled, so our focus is now on tomorrow's race," van Gisbergen said.
"Our driver changes throughout the day were good, and it's good to do them hot to get the process going and make sure everything is up to scratch. It would have been silly for the top ten shootout to go ahead in these conditions and the right call was definitely made. All eyes on tomorrow's race now."
Garth Tander, #97 Red Bull Ampol Racing
"I got some wet running in this morning which was good because I didn't do any wet running on Friday, so it's definitely good to have that in the bank in case it's wet on Sunday," Tander said.
"That all went well and there were zero risks because we took it very cautiously. We then did some pit stop practices and bits-and-pieces at the start of practice six and then gave the car to Shane (van Gisbergen). It ended up being a dry session so we did a fair bit of dry running and it looks like the car is pretty speedy in the dry which is obviously a good sign. It's forecasted to be dry for the race tomorrow so that's going to be handy. I think we're well placed to have a decent crack for the race tomorrow."
Anton De Pasquale, #100 Shell V-Power Racing
"We made some changes overnight and we were able to learn a lot about the car ahead of tomorrow," he said.
"We've run in all conditions over the last few days, which is going to make it easier to know which direction to go with based on what the weather throws at us."
Tony D'Alberto, #100 Shell V-Power Racing
"We learnt a lot today in our sessions, which is going to be really good for tomorrow. We're well equipped for any conditions tomorrow, whatever the weather throws at us, we're going to know which direction to head in," D'Alberto said.
Matt Chahda, #118 Caltex Young Stars
"Today went all right, it was good just to get some actual hot brake change practice for the crew and sift through any issues we're going to have there," Chahda said.
"The car is good, we don't have too much to work on there, I know the weather conditions are going to be the question mark, but it's the same for everyone.
"Originally, the team suggested I would take the start, but that's really down to the engineer, that's his call, but we're good with whoever is in the car for the first stint."
Jaylyn Robotham, #118 Caltex Young Stars
"Today went well, this morning I went out in the wet which was good, it was good to get some practice in. The second session was a little bit damp, so I went out on wets, but then we swapped drivers and Matt did the rest of the session," he said.
"After doing the wet session I am much more confident if it is a wet race. It would have been bad if I didn't get any practice and it was wet in the race, so it's good to get that ticked off and have that experience in both conditions.
"The car is really good. It's set up well for a race car, as we didn't try too much to tune it for qualifying, so we've rolled out with a solid race set-up, so it should be nice for the race tomorrow."
Craig Lowndes, #888 Supercheap Auto
"The final day was quite productive, I think that we had a good session, we were actually quite lucky that we had some more dry running in practice six. Declan's co-driver session in the wet was really fantastic to be honest, not only was he fast but he kept it clean," Lowndes said.
"My running in practice six was really good, really positive - we made some adjustments to the car and set up changes which is always positive. With all of this rain it's actually cleaned away the rubber that we've been trying to put down, so really it's almost like we start from zero tomorrow because of the rubber side of it, but again I think we're going to have to try and predict it.
"The team is working really well, our pit stop practice this morning went extremely well so I'm really confident heading into tomorrow's race."
Declan Fraser, #888 Supercheap Auto
"What a day. I had the co-driver session all to myself but it was really tricky out there. There was a lot of water lying around, and ended up sitting on top for most of the session, then came in P4 with a couple of purple sectors so for me it was a massive confidence boost moving forward that I'm finally fully comfortable with the car," Fraser said
"Later in the day, Craig [Lowndes] and I jumped in and did a few race run set ups and got the car in a window where we feel like it's going to be comfortable for the big one tomorrow. I'm super excited for tomorrow - I can't wait."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.westernadvocate.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
