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Perth 'gut-wrenching' for Team 18

01 May 2022
Team 18 facing a major repair job on the #20
2 mins by James Pavey
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Perth was “absolutely gut-wrenching” for Team 18, says team owner Charlie Schwerkolt.

The team leaves Wanneroo Raceway with a severely damaged car after a Race 11 crash for Scott Pye.

A clash with Jack Le Brocq sent Pye’s car heavily into the pit wall, causing a red flag.

Pye was out on the spot; the damage was too great for Pye to compete in Race 12.

It came after Mark Winterbottom was penalised for impeding in qualifying.

Winterbottom was 16th and 20th in Sunday’s two races.

Massive impact for Pye

Schwerkolt and his team were left licking their wounds, with the team now facing a big repair effort.

“One of the worst rounds for many years for us at Team 18,” Schwerkolt said.

"Absolutely gut-wrenching,

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"I think a mistake the other driver Jack Le Brocq made, he could have backed out of it and unfortunately it turned our car in to the wall and it’s damaged the left-rear quite extensively.

"We’ll get back to Melbourne on Wednesday and get it on a jig as soon as we possibly can on Friday morning and we’ll get it back in top shape for Winton.

“We were looking at getting two drivers to help get it back quicker but it’s probably not necessary now, so we’ll get the truck home on Wednesday and get it on the jig.

“At this stage we’re planning to test next Tuesday but we’ll see how the damage comes out on Friday and after the weekend.

"It’s really important for us to test, our speed is lacking in some areas, particularly qualifying, so we’ll push on with our plans and continue to assess it over this week.”

Pye walked away from the crash, and lamented leaving his team with a big turnaround on the #20 Commodore.

“It was a fairly big hit,” he said.

"The boys will have their work come out for them, I feel terrible for them as it’s a massive repair job for the next event.

"I feel for the crew, Charlie and all our partners. It’s not what we want, we’ll rebuild and come back stronger.”

The season will resume at Winton in three weeks’ time.

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