Last lap crash explained
01 Mar 2015
Chaz Mostert has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Stewards, after a last lap clash with Jamie Whincup and James Moffat.
Mostert's PRA Falcon FG X is severely damaged, and the young gun described the eventual hit from Moffat on par with the biggest of his career at Bathurst in 2013.
The accident may have come across as if defending champ Whincup nudged Mostert, who was then tee-boned hard by James Moffat - but Whincup explained the closing laps, when attention was focused on the front-runners, as James Courtney took a nail-biting win over Shane van Gisbergen.
"I came down the last straight - actually, I had a few big moments through turn five, six and seven on the last lap and then I realised when I came on the back straight thatcar 111 [Andre Heimgartner] was pumping oil out," Whincup told v8supercars.com.au.
"It was going slow down the back straight, on the inside, pumping oil out and I was trying to get it before turn eight.
"But no, it pulled in and went through turn eight on the racing line so I backed it right off because there was oil everywhere and Chaz obviously had no idea and he went through there flat out.
"He [Mostert] actually gained hugely on me. I went to cover down at the hairpin, he gave me a bit of a tap, pushed me wide, he then tried to pass me and go up the inside of me at the next one.
"I did the best I could to stay as far left and he didn't give me enough room and he ended up turning around over the front of me.
"I don't like to see cars wrecked at the best of times. I'm disappointed how it all panned out but for me, I don't feel like I could have done anything, I was the innocent bystander... We were racing hard but I think he thought he was clear of me, so he has come across hard - but he wasn't clear.
"A bit of misjudgment on his behalf.
"[But] no stress, he is a good guy, a good mate and we'll chat it out later on and I'm sure there'll be nothing going on."
Mostert was unsure of how the incident played out after returning from the medical centre, but did say: "I came out of eight, Jamie was slowing heaps, like he had an issue or something. He blocked into nine, I went to the outside and did the over and under on him, we rubbed a little bit on the exit there and I tried getting off him.
"I felt like I might have gapped him or he might have had an issue and stopped or something because I couldn't hear him anymore, the engine noise, my mirror was faulty from previous laps before.
"I thought I'd leave a bit of room in case he was still there and I don't know, I don't know if I've left enough or how far up he was - I really have no idea.
"I'm really gutted for the guys that have put in all their hard work to get these cars here. To DNF in a big points race on Sunday, also with a race yesterday from my mistake. I'm really gutted ... I don't want to start like that."
Moffat, who was running in the top 10 and qualified for the top 10 Shootout this morning, had nowhere to go when he ploughed into the Pepsi Max Crew Falcon.
"That's the way it goes sometimes," Moffat said.
"It seemed like had reasonable speed at various stages of the race, but the day didn't end how it should have.
"We were in a train of cars, four of five of us, for the last few laps. I saw Chaz and Jamie going at it at the hairpin. They were banging and crashing and carrying on the exit. Inevitably, one of them ended in the fence and I had nowhere to go when I arrived on the scene. I tee-boned Chaz pretty hard, and it's very disappointing we ended the race with no points and a damaged car."
While PRA hadn't fully assessed the damage to Mostert's FG X -a brand new chassis for the season -team boss Tim Edwards said every new panel was damaged and it will set back the progress of the other two FG X Falcons still to be built for David Reynolds and Heimgartner.
