Fantastic Fullwood/Fiore bittersweet for BJR

The efforts of Bryce Fullwood and Dean Fiore proved a bright spark on what was a damaging Bathurst for Brad Jones Racing.

Fullwood and Fiore crossed the line ninth, having started 24th.

Fiore avoided the Mountain Straight carnage on lap 1, and handed over to Fullwood.

Fiore greeted Fullwood with a smile when the 2019 Super2 champion brought the Middy’s Commodore home.

It was a stark contrast to the rest of BJR’s fleet, with the #8 and #4 cars both failing to finish.

The #8 didn’t even see the sixth lap after Dale Wood was wiped out in the chaotic Chase incident.

Jack Smith later hit the wall across the top, and with fire emanating from the #4, his day was cut short.

Macauley Jones/Jordan Boys were 13th and on the lead lap despite Jones beaching himself early on at pit entry.

It came after the #96 was involved in three crashes in the lead-in, none bigger than Jones’s qualifying clash with Shane van Gisbergen.

Race engineer of the #8, Tony Woodward, couldn’t hide his disappointment about his car’s result.

However, he was pleased the #14 was able to provide a highlight on an otherwise difficult day.

“Pretty devastating on the car 8 side of the garage, for sure,” Woodward told Supercars’ Cool Down Lap podcast.

“It felt like we’d prepped well, and we were feeling pretty pacey off the back of Saturday.

“Confidence was high, but to have it go that way early was shattering.

“But good to salvage a top 10 on the other side of the garage.”

It’s the second time in four rounds that BJR will be forced to repair the #8.

A start-line shunt at The Bend for Andre Heimgartner forced BJR to write-off that particular chassis.

However, Woodward allayed fears that BJR will be forced into another major repair job.

When asked about the damage to the #8, Woodward said: “The boys don’t think it’s too bad.

“They should be able to repair it and wheel it out for Gold Coast, fingers crossed."