SATURDAY at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 was no ordinary day at the races for Tickford Racing boss Tim Edwards.
It started with a seat in the drivers’ parade – thrust somewhat reluctantly alongside Cam Waters for the slow lap of the track – and finished with champagne on the podium.
In between, Edwards watched on as Waters paced qualifying, the Top 10 Shootout, and then held off Shane van Gisbergen by 0.2s in a thrilling finish.
Regardless of what happens today, the penultimate event of Tim Edwards’ 19-season tenure as Tickford chief has been one to remember.
“The last time I had the euphoria of a win like that was Perth 2012, the ‘have them or have them off’ race,” Edwards told V8 Sleuth post-race, still wearing his Dunlop podium cap.
“We went into the last lap with Will (Davison) in first, Jamie (Whincup) in second, and Frosty (Mark Winterbottom) in third and obviously finished first and second.
“The Bathursts (wins in 2013 and ’14) were special, obviously, but this one (on Saturday) is pretty cool because it’s been a tough year.”
Tough year is one of the great understatements to describe Tickford’s 2023 season.
It’s been a rough run for all Ford teams amid a fight to get the Mustang competitive against its fellow new Gen3 counterpart, the Chevrolet Camaro.
Everything from a fire, to a flying wheel and a heavy Bathurst crash have meanwhile conspired to quell the efforts of Waters and car #6.
Then there have been the internal rumblings at Tickford that have resulted in a cutback from four to two cars for next season, and the impending exit of Edwards.
“The team has just kept fighting and fighting, and Cam drove the wheels off that thing,” Edwards continued.
“A lot of hard work has gone into that, so it feels so special for the whole team.
“It’s been the hardest year in the last decade.
“Hard in a way of, politics and all the other stuff, that’s the bit you don’t really like about motorsport.
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“We come here to go racing. Some people love the politics, I hate the politics.”
Politics is of course used here as a synonym for the other dreaded p-word, parity.
Waters’ win came in the first race since an aerodynamic change for the Mustang that Ford had lobbied unsuccessfully to have approved for the previous event at Bathurst.
So, is that what made the difference on Saturday? Waters suggested post-race that he felt it was, but Edwards isn’t convinced.
“I honestly don’t think it’s the aero, because this is not an aero track, really,” he said.
“We’ve been working hard all year. In some ways, you’d probably argue we’ve been working harder than some of the other teams because we have been on the back foot.
“It’s a real driver’s track this one as well. It’s probably a track that has more driver influence over the outcome than your engine or aero and all that.
“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, but someone smarter than me will do that analysis!”
While Edwards laments the politics of motorsport, what he will miss next year is the feeling he had during that final lap on Saturday as Waters raced towards the chequered flag.
“I’ll still be celebrating,” he counters, “sitting in my deckchair, drinking a beer, watching it on Kayo. I still bleed blue!”
Edwards has publicly declared that his post-Tickford plans are to take a caravan around Australia with wife Trudie, who is also leaving the team at year’s end.
But it’s hard to believe that Edwards, whose life in motorsport included a 15-year tenure in Formula 1 prior to Supercars, won’t wander back to the racing business in some capacity.
“I’m not even thinking about what life after this is,” he insists.
“The only thing I’m thinking about is exploring Australia and then at some point either I’ll have an epiphany of what I want to do, or someone will ring me.
“But at the moment, I’m not even contemplating it and it’ll be at least eight months before I entertain anything.”
