TICKFORD Racing will be forced into yet another chassis swap for the next round of the Repco Supercars Championship on the Gold Coast at the end of the month.
The damage to the #5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang sustained in yesterday’s Lap 5 multi-car crash will mean James Courtney will be moved into another of the team’s chassis for his home event.
Courtney’s co-driver Zane Goddard was at the wheel when he speared off the road at the Chase while passing Greg Murphy and fired through the muddy outfield.
That set off a multi-car crash that wiped out the R&J Batteries Commodore of Dale Wood and the Penrite Mustang driven by Matt Campbell.
Courtney will step into the chassis formerly used by Thomas Randle that was damaged in the massive start line accident at The Bend Motorsport Park in July.
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Tickford Racing’s Tim Edwards confirmed to V8 Sleuth in the Bathurst paddock last night that the ex-Randle chassis came off the jig on Friday last week in Melbourne and will be pressed back into action for the 2010 Supercars Champion to drive at the Queensland street event.
Of the two other cars damaged in the accident, Grove Racing is expected to repair the #26 car for David Reynolds to drive on the Gold Coast.
It does have a spare Mustang chassis at its disposal, which was at Bathurst for race week, serving as the partly undressed Penrite car in the Hino Hub in the event’s TV coverage.
Brad Jones Racing’s #8 Commodore is the chassis it was forced to press into action for Andre Heimgartner to drive from Sandown onwards after his regular chassis was heavily damaged in the start line accident involving Randle at The Bend.
“We didn’t have the chance to have much of a look (at the track),” team owner Brad Jones told V8 Sleuth last night.
“We’ll pull it apart once it gets back to the workshop, but the initial suggestion is that it’s repairable (for the Gold Coast). It will have to go onto the jig, but we’ll have a better idea on Tuesday.”
The Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500, the first Supercars event on the streets of Surfers Paradise since 2019, will be held on October 28-30.
