Bright: Turn eight will bite
Jason Bright returns to the scene of the biggest accident of his career - but he's not worried about that part of the track at this weekend's Clipsal 500.
The Team BOC driver experienced an incredible rollover last year in Sunday's race, as a tight pack battled to get through the first chicane - but it's turn eight the 41-year old is more worried about this weekend.
"It was a pretty unique crash - it wasn't because I'd spun and hit the wall myself, it was because we all came together," Bright told v8supercars.com.au. "So that sort of crash doesn't really play on your mind.
"But hitting the wall at turn eight plays on your mind a lot.
"It's still the most daunting corner in our series I reckon, especially with the guard rail right on the edge of the track on the inside.
"That's the corner that when it bites you, you remember it every time."
Many drivers in the field have felt the wrath of the high-speed turn eight, which is a hot spot every year at the Adelaide street circuit as the V8 Supercars head through the sweeper around 245km/h.
"It's a pretty wild corner," Bright said.
"It cost me the race back in 2002 - I bumped the wallwith five laps to go when leading, but it was more a disappointing memory that one, and then in 2006 I had a crash in practice that was quite a big one.
"That's certainly one of the most challenging corners in the series, I reckon."
While Bright and his BJR team had front-running pace at the start of the 2014 season, failing to earn points after his rollover cost him in the Championship, leaving Adelaide in 21st while teammate Fabian Coulthard was second after three top five finishes.
In the previous two years, the BJR Commodores had set the pace out of the pre-season test, and while Bright admits they don't have that same edge this year, he is confident of finishing at the pointy end of the field.
"I'm looking forward to it," he said of the Clipsal 500, which kicks off for the V8 Supercars tomorrow.
"Even though we haven't had the advantage we had at the start of 2013 ... we're a top eight contender. There's at least eight guys that mix it up in the top eight regularly and I feel like we can do that.
"And that means, if we're consistent and scoring the odd podium it should be a good year ... I feel like we are going into the year with much better grounding."
Bright is conscious of how tight the competition will be this season.
"I felt in Sydney that it was all really close and all the manufacturers were pretty even. So it should be very interesting year."
The 41-year old driver continues to pilot the Team BOC Holden Commodore, which this year runs a brighter colour scheme than in past seasons.
This weekend, Coulthard'sBJR Freightliner car pays tribute to the late Geoff Paradise, killed in a car accident in recent weeks.
Motoring industry professional Paradise was a big fan of V8 Supercars and supporter of the Freightliner sponsorship BJR secured for Coulthard for the 2015 season.
"It was a terrible tragedy that Geoff passed away, and being an important cog in the Freightliner wheel - and a great bloke - we felt it appropriate to put a memorial on the car," Team boss Brad Jones told v8supercars.com.au. "When someone dies in an accident like this it is a terrible loss and out of respect we chose to run a memorial."
It's a busy weekend at the Clipsal 500 for Brad Jones Racing, which also runs Dale Wood's Championship car and three entries in the V8 Supercars Dunlop Series, which are on-track today.
