Waters: Officials made the right call

Cam Waters has backed the call to abandon the Bathurst Shootout amid heavy rain.

Heavy rain set in on Saturday afternoon at Mount Panorama.

The Porsche Carrera Cup and Super2 races scheduled before the Shootout were both cancelled.

Motorsport Australia and Supercars representatives inspected the circuit at 4:30pm local time.

At 4:55pm, officials confirmed the Shootout had been cancelled.

It ensures Waters, with co-driver James Moffat, will start from pole position for Sunday’s race.

Waters scored provisional pole on Friday, with qualifying also held in wet conditions.

“As soon as you hit a river, you aquaplane, you have no control of the car,” Waters explained.

“You don’t want to be writing cars off the day before the big race.

“Yesterday, it was pretty wild in the wet, there were rivers across The Chase and Turn 1.

“Yesterday we were lucky, because once you got past the rivers, the track was actually pretty good.

“Today, everything’s just drenched. I’m disappointed, but the officials have made the right call.

“We want to have all the cars running tomorrow.”

Motorsport Australia Race Director James Taylor later said Sunday’s schedule will remain unchanged.

Works will be undertaken on Saturday evening to help reduce the amount of standing water.

The race will commence at 11:15am local time on Sunday, with a 20-minute warm-up scheduled for 8:00am.

“Exactly the same, nothing’s changing,” Taylor told media.

“Tomorrow should remain unchanged is what we’re planning on.

"Just making sure the drains are still functional, don’t get clogged.

“More preventative; any residual, clean them out, make sure they can function.

“That’s all we’re trying to achieve with the [Bathurst Regional] Council.”

Waters took pole for the race in 2020, and finished second in the 2020 and 2021 races.

While disappointed not to have a chance at the circuit on his own, Waters was delighted to score the best possible starting position.

“I’m disappointed, I love the Shootout around here,” Waters said.

“It’s pretty special to get the place to yourself for a lap, but the rain was crazy.

“You saw the rivers going on… it was a safety thing.

“Disappointed, but awesome to be starting on pole for tomorrow.

“So far, there’s been five cars that have been speedy, so it’s going to be full-on.

“The weather looks good for tomorrow. I’m pumped.

“Very special. Biggest race of the year, you want to be starting up front."