The Gold Coast cameo that revived Heimgartner's career
Andre Heimgartner is ready to “come out swinging” at what will be a full circle weekend at Surfers Paradise.
Heimgartner arrives on the Gold Coast in the wake of a shattering lap 5 crash in Bathurst.
Co-driver Dale Wood was the innocent bystander in an incident triggered by a Chase off for Zane Goddard.
The season now heads to the Gold Coast, a venue which holds dear for Heimgartner.
The then 22-year-old had missed out on a 2017 seat, and prior to the enduros, looked set to leave racing behind for a finance career.
However, Brad Jones Racing came calling after Tim Slade’s co-driver Ash Walsh was forced to sit out the Great Race.
Walsh suffered four fractured ribs an a contusion on his right lung following a testing crash at Phillip Island.
'I was getting ready to transition into finance'
Slade and Heimgartner finished ninth in Bathurst, but Walsh appeared set to return for the Gold Coast.
At that time, Heimgartner was set on finishing his Porsche Carrera Cup season, and quitting racing.
“I’d been in contact with Brad [Jones], and it looked like Ash was nearly good to go,” Heimgartner told Supercars.com.
“One day while laying in bed, I got the phone call saying I was going to do Bathurst with Tim.
“I was pumped, but I was also keen to win the Porsche title, I didn’t want to be too distracted.
“Bathurst went well, and Gold Coast wasn’t long after, and Ash still wasn’t right.
“I was lucky enough to get another call-up, and the rest is history.”
Remarkably, Heimgartner will race the same BJR chassis next weekend as the one he and Slade shared five years ago.
That chassis, BJR 007, carries the nickname ‘Jinx’. Last month, Heimgartner scored dual podiums at Pukekohe.
Slade carried the Commodore to third for the 2017 Surfers race behind pole man Chaz Mostert and Jamie Whincup.
The co-drivers took the start, with Heimgartner launching from the second row in the rain.
The Kiwi passed Whincup’s co-driver Paul Dumbrell before passing Mostert’s co-driver Steve Owen.
Dumbrell later turned Owen, helping Heimgartner skip away into a big lead.
Then, poor luck intervened.
“I was in the lead by over 20 seconds, and that should’ve been a fight for the win at the end,” Heimgartner recounted.
“The jack got stuck in the ground, and we lost the lead. It sucked, but it’s just one of those things.
“Everything was thrown at us in that race, but everyone was quite relaxed.
“Still, as a co-driver, I had a job to do. Don’t stuff up the start, hand it back straight, all that stuff.
“I thought, ‘Just hang with these guys’. But the car was good, and I took every opportunity I had to pass them.
“It was calm and under control, and I pulled away. But the team backed me, Brad and everyone was calm.
“It allowed me to flourish back then, and it allowed me to do my job. It’s the same now.”
Heimgartner went from Supercars scrapheap to podium in a matter of weeks.
It could have been victory, but a slow wheel change - due to the air jack finding a gap in the concrete - cost the #14 time.
Still, Heimgartner’s performance caught the attention of Todd Kelly, who handed the young Kiwi a lifeline for 2018.
“That was going to be my last weekend of racing, full-stop,” Heimgartner said.
“My Porsche season was done, and I was getting ready to transition into finance. I had my degree.
“For it to turn around and get that result, and then get the call from Todd… it’s crazy to see how things happen.
“It’s a hundred per cent because of that race. Any team owner is looking for an X-factor, and that race opened up Todd’s eyes.
Five years on, Heimgartner is now BJR's leader
“I was already talking to Matt White about a possible Super2 drive, and all of a sudden I had a full-time drive.
“I’m so grateful to the Jones and Kelly families, they saw what I could do.”
Heimgartner was 17th overall in 2018, and 16th in 2019. He was retained by the Kellys when the team switched to two Fords for 2020.
The now 27-year-old scored a memorable maiden win at The Bend last May before sealing the BJR move.
The 2022 season has featured high peaks and shattering troughs, none lower than the devastating Bend start-line crash.
It forced BJR to wheel out ‘Jinx’, which according to Heimgartner, needed a “bum lift” and a "boob lift” after Bathurst.
With the car now repaired, Heimgartner is desperate to repay BJR’s efforts, and do so in the car which saved his career.
“We’re all pretty fired up after Bathurst, no doubt,” he said.
“I was into my training straight after I got back, it’s been non-stop ever since.
“The BJR guys have worked so hard, the car has been fast, so to be taken out on lap 5 in Bathurst was heart-wrenching.
“To see everyone go through it all again, and for Brad… he’s so passionate. I wanted to give him a good Bathurst.
“It was very disappointing, so much effort went into that weekend. We’re going to come out swinging on the Gold Coast.
“And for it to be in Jinxy… if there was ever a full circle story, it’s being back in that car, with BJR, at that track."
