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HRT cars tangle again

20 Jun 2015
Van Gisbergen also involved in the late race incident - and no one is taking the blame.
2 mins by James Pavey
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The Holden Racing Team Commodores have again been caught up in the same incident, both James Courtney and Garth Tander off the road in the closing stages of the opener at the SKYCITY Triple Crown.

Courtney qualified on ARMOR ALL Pole Position on hard Dunlop tyres while Tander was back in the pack, but restarting with two laps to go, the two were side by side into turn one.

Shane van Gisbergen was looking to sneak up the inside and it went haywire, the three Championship contenders spearing off and finishing down the order.

No one was taking the blame post race, van Gisbergen calling the incident "not very nice" before eventually finishing 12th.

He was the highest finisher of the three though, with Tander 20th and Courtney 23rd.

"The end was not great," the Darrell Lea STIX driver said.

"It certainly wasn't our fault but ruined a pretty good points race. These [Saturday] races aren't as much points [as Sunday] but we still want to get them."

The Holden Racing Team garage seemed tense when both Courtney and Tander faced the TV cameras.

"We were running side by side, then we all went into [turn] one, got hit from behind and then..." Courtney said. He had qualified on pole position and was running in fourth.

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"I was pulling up and got hit again and then hit into him. So I wasn't trying to pass him or anything...

"I could see him there on the restart, then we got the jump and I couldn't see him anymore - then he just hit me in the rear and it was all over."

Tander was the innocent bystander of the three, on the outside into turn one, after having made a huge gain from 15th to sixth.

"It's just how our weekends going at the moment," the #2 driver said wryly.

"Had a lot of dramas with the car yesterday and again this morning in qualy and qualified out of position.

"But the car was really good in the race, raced up and got in front of the guy that qualified on pole in 15 laps and then got caught up in someone else's accident."

After winning the day's first race, Mostert has jumped both van Gisbergen and Tander in the Championship, the Prodrive racer now sixth.

Mostert and van Gisbergen start side by side in this afternoon's second race on sift tyres on the second row, with Courtney seventh and Tander 18th.

Rick Kelly starts from ARMOR ALL Pole Position for this race, after finishing third in the first at the SKYCITY Triple Crown.

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