TICKFORD Racing has conquered the Mountain twice before under Tim Edwards’ watch. He’s hoping a third Peter Brock Trophy can come this weekend in his final Repco Bathurst 1000 at the helm of the Ford squad.
Edwards is finishing up in his position as CEO/team principal at season’s end after 19 years with Tickford.
He’s got four shots at Bathurst glory this weekend, namely Cam Waters/James Moffat, James Courtney/Zak Best, Thomas Randle/Garry Jacobson and Declan Fraser/Tyler Everingham.
“Well, the exact words that I used to the team when I told them my news about departing was, ‘for my parting gift I want you lot to win me Bathurst!’ It would be nice for my last Bathurst to go out on a high,” Edwards told V8 Sleuth.
“It’s my 19th year and I’ve been there twice before I went to the UK. I actually went as a spectator in 1986 and ’87, I think it was.
MORE: Tim Edwards’ Dad competed in the Great Race!
“We’ve won it twice; even if we don’t win it this year, I’ll still take that to my grave.
“Not many people get to do that. It’s pretty special to have won it twice.
“To finish with another in my last season here, that would be fantastic.”
Tickford has been perennial contenders before and after its Bathurst 1000 victories in 2013 (Mark Winterbottom/Steven Richards) and 2014 (Chaz Mostert/Paul Morris).
It has picked up four Great Race podiums in the subsequent years, including Cam Waters being on a current three-year streak.
Edwards is tempering expectations about their 2023 chances though, especially amid the never-ending parity saga.
“The reality is, Gen3 is just a very different beast. It’s so different (to the previous generation car),” he said.
“We know we’re on the back foot with some of the dreaded ‘P’ issues so that doesn’t instil confidence in you.
“If you know you’re going to be slower down the straight, it doesn’t matter whether you’re Ayrton Senna or a five-year-old, when you’re on the straight there’s only one input that goes into the car and that’s what your right foot does. No skill at all.
“So if the skill-less part of the track doesn’t play into our hands, then you know you’re in for a difficult weekend.”
Tickford is already coming off a treacherous Sandown 500.
“When random wheels bounce down the track and hit the one part of the car that’s fragile – it could have hit any other part of the car and would have left a battle scar – but it hits the one fragile bit and takes the wing out, you know that lady luck is not on your side!” Edwards chuckled.
“And then we think it’s a ball of rubber that has got into the front of the #55 and snapped the belt on the front, so more bad luck. Things that you have got absolutely zero control over.
“So yes, we certainly had our fair share of bad luck there so hopefully we have got it all out of the way now.”
As for whether the prospect of not being with Tickford for the 2024 Great Race seems odd, Edwards said: “Absolutely. We’ll see how far we have got on our lap of Australia by that point.”
