A DREAM third and final Peter Brock Trophy as Tickford Racing CEO was not to be for Tim Edwards.
Edwards last week spoke of how one more Bathurst 1000 win would be the ultimate parting gift as his 19-year Tickford tenure wraps up at season’s end.
The Ford Supercars squad conquered Mount Panorama in both 2013 and 2014, via Mark Winterbottom/Steven Richards and then Chaz Mostert/Paul Morris.
As usual, its best hope in this year’s edition was the #6 Monster pairing of Cam Waters and James Moffat, starting out of third place.
Having already been set back by a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release in pitlane, their race met an abrupt end before mid-distance, when Moffat crunched the concrete at the Dipper on Lap 71.
That left James Courtney/Zak Best to fly the Tickford flag, finishing sixth in the #5 Snowy River Caravans entry.
Rounding out a rough enduro campaign was Thomas Randle/Garry Jacobson in 12th and Declan Fraser/Tyler Everingham in 18th – their car having been rebuilt on Friday night following a 56G qualifying crash for Fraser.
All of that came after a taxing week off-track filled with politics, Ford and its teams having had an aero upgrade request knocked back.
“What a tough weekend. A tough week, actually,” said Edwards.
“We knew the race was doing to be our biggest challenge and our fears were warranted.
“Our one-lap speed has been fine all year but Bathurst is an enduro.
“It was a great effort by all the drivers in the team and it was unfortunate that Moff made an uncharacteristic mistake.
“They kept fighting all the way through even though they knew we were on the back foot.”
There could yet be a post-Bathurst parity tweak, with suggestions that the formal review process might now have been triggered.
Waters has now sunk to ninth in the championship while Courtney has risen to 13th. Randle and Fraser are 18th and 23rd, respectively.
