JAMES Moffat has heaped praise on his Garry Rogers Motorsport crew after they rescued him from potential disaster in the National Trans Am finale.
A dramatic start to Race 3 saw Lochie Dalton bumped wide before Edan Thornburrow and Cody Gillis collided heavily on the run out of Griffins Bend.
Smoke then began to billow from the rear of Moffat’s Mustang, forcing the 39-year-old to pit. Rapid repairs allowed him to return to the track to finish a lap down in 14th.
That was crucial, with Moffat limping home to collect 81 points – without which, the title would have gone to Dalton (who finished 76 points adrift in the end).
“I knew I had the best team in pitlane and they were going to do anything they could to get me back out. I’m just fortunate that they were able to do that,” said Moffat.
To finally be crowned champion in a major motorsport series after several near misses in his younger years sat well with the second-generation driver.
“To do it up here at Bathurst is probably extra special, we’ll look back at that one day and be very happy with that,” he said.
“I thought it was all in trouble there: it was under control and then it wasn’t pretty quickly, so it was a big scare.
“Also I have got to remember my Mum, I lost her in February so I hope she’s looking down today and proud.”
Tom Hayman won Race 3 and the round as a whole.
Moffat had won Race 1, while the middle encounter was declared a non-event after an early crash for Joshua Thomas.
