Winterbottom: Podium lost in Turn 1 incident

Mark Winterbottom believes he would have finished on the Race 4 podium had he not been caught up in the Turn 1 melee at Albert Park.

Winterbottom was an innocent bystander in the incident triggered by James Courtney hitting Tickford Racing teammate Cam Waters.

Waters was pushed into David Reynolds, whose Penrite Ford slid into the gravel trap, triggering the Safety Car.

Winterbottom took to the grass and tumbled down the order, and after a chaotic restart, eventually finished 11th.

That became ninth after Courtney was penalised, as was James Golding over a pit lane breach.

“It was a bit of a shambles, Courtney hit Waters and hit Reynolds and there was nowhere to go for me at Turn 1,” Winterbottom said.

"I think if we just got through Turn 1 we’d finish on the podium in that one.

Winterbottom started fifth

“Thankfully the car is straight, but we missed an opportunity there. It was unavoidable but at least we got back to ninth from the back.

"The guys did a great job with strategy. That was really good, but when you're fifth you don't wanna finish any further back.

“We’ve got two more days and I think we're making gains. I think we're pretty unlucky at the moment, so hopefully it turns a bit and we can maximise when we qualify well."

It ensured Winterbottom’s podium drought — which stretches back to 2018 — continued for another day at least.

For Reynolds, it was another nightmare outing after finishing 19th on Thursday.

“Not a great day again; wasn’t my fault at all — got a reasonable start which ended at Turn 1,” Reynolds said.

"I was trying to manage the bloke beside me and beat him into turn 1 and all of a sudden, I got drilled from behind and sent into the sand trap and that was my race over.

“We have two qualifying sessions tomorrow and a race, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can achieve through the rest of the weekend."

Reynolds and Winterbottom are seventh and eighth in the points heading into Saturday.