Heimgartner: 10th overall should've been sixth

Andre Heimgartner believes he should’ve finished sixth in the championship had luck gone his way.

Heimgartner finished 10th overall in his first season with Brad Jones Racing.

His first season with BJR featured four podiums at three different tracks, but was also littered with poor luck and incidents.

The Kiwi had five DNFs and a DNS after crashes (Tasmania, Albert Park, The Bend and Bathurst) and an engine failure (Gold Coast).

He ended the year an even 500 points behind sixth-placed Broc Feeney.

Had the poor days gone his way, Heimgartner could have matched BJR’s best championship result.

In 2013, Fabian Coulthard finished sixth, which remains BJR’s best series finish.

Nick Percat finished seventh in 2020 and 2021.

“We managed to scrabble 10th in the championship,” Heimgartner told Supercars’ Cool Down Lap podcast.

“I’m pretty disappointed, we should’ve been sixth or seventh.

“We had rounds there where we got taken out at Bathurst, and the engine blew up [on the Gold Coast].

“We lost 400, 500 points. It’s disappointing, but as a whole, I’ve really enjoyed this year with Brad Jones Racing.

Four podiums in 2022

“We got lots of podiums, and should’ve been one more [in Race 33] if wasn’t for a bit of bad doing.

“It’s been a fun year, and I’m looking forward the next few with this team.”

Heimgartner broke through with a podium in Perth, before backing it up at Winton.

He was an innocent bystander in the shocking Tailem Bend startline crash with Thomas Randle, forcing him out of both Sunday races and into a new car.

It came after clashes with Jack Le Brocq (Tasmania) and Will Brown (Albert Park).

Bathurst was the hardest pill to swallow, Heimgartner watching on as co-driver Dale Wood was caught up in the scary lap 5 crash.

He then didn’t finish the Gold Coast opener due to an engine drama.

He was otherwise a constant at the front — in the 28 times he saw the chequered flag, he finished in the top 10 on 21 occasions.

That included a run of 12 straight top 10 finishes between Perth and The Bend.

It bodes well for a big 2023, wth BJR to run four Chevrolet Camaros for the first season of Gen3.

BJR was a race-winning contender the last time the regulations were overhauled in 2013 — the year Coulthard, a fellow Kiwi, finished sixth.

“It’s better to have performance than be struggling to get 10th,” said Heimgartner, who will race a charity stockcar in New Zealand this weekend.

“There’s definitely some positives to come out of this year. As a group, we were working better as the rounds went on.

“These new cars are going to be a lot of work — a lot of testing involved. It’s hard to predict what [Gen3] is going to be like.

"This generation of car has been good, I’m glad I’ve been able to finish off in a good car that was able to get results.

“What we’ve been working on this year set-up-wise will hopefully translate into that car with less downforce.

“They’ll do as good a job as anyone, and if I can improve myself in the off-season, we’ll be in a good spot."

The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will commence in Newcastle next March.

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