Luck saves Jones from heavy crash

Macauley Jones admits it was more luck than skill that saved him from a high-speed crash early in Race 11 at Hidden Valley.

The wildcard driver spun wildly on the front straight three laps into the race, narrowly missing first the right and then the left-hand fence as he wrestled for control.

The moment occurred after contact with James Courtney, who left the youngster little room on the exit when he followed Scott Pye through on the BJR Holden for 19th place.

“It was definitely a very loose moment for us,” Jones told Supercars.com.

“Courtney didn’t give me any room on the exit and I thought I was going in the wall on the right and just managed to save it and then thought I was going in the wall on the left.

“Then sitting in the middle of the straight is never a comfortable feeling when you’ve got cars coming past at 150km/h.

“It was a bit of luck. I want to say skill but I don’t know about that. There were a lot of arms and legs waving all over the place.

“The right-hand wall was the one I was really worried about. Staying off the brake definitely helped me to miss it. 

“If I had of locked the tyres I think I would have ploughed into it, but trying to manoeuvre in that kind of moment is tough.”

The incident left Jones with a damaged left-front rim. The tyre dropped pressure and stabilised for several laps before going completely flat, sending him off the road at Turn 5. 

While an eventual 24th place finish was disappointing, BJR star Nick Percat paid tribute to Jones after scoring the team’s first podium in 12 months.

CLICK HERE for more from Percat after his podium.

“We had a Super2 test the other day and we’re closely tied in with the main series cars there,” said Jones of his role helping the team’s full-time main series entries.

“Whenever we can get on track we try and learn as much as we can and get that information forward to these guys. 

“It’s pretty vital. The main series don’t get many test days so we try and utilise every moment we’ve got as a team.”

Jones has meanwhile received a four-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race after opening lap contact with Michael Caruso that spun the Nissan to the back of the field. 

CLICK HERE for the full stewards summary.