Rookie's monster stint delivers Chahdas' Sandown goal
Chahda wildcard delivers lead-lap Sandown goal
Brad Vaughan turns in 93-lap stint on Supercars debut
Chahda car got lead lap back after carrying debris
A staggering 93-lap stint by debutant Brad Vaughan has helped Matt Chahda Motorsport achieve its lead-lap goal at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500.
After a highly-publicised last-minute dash to get sponsors for the race, Chahda and Vaughan took the weekend in their stride and brought home a straight car.
Critically, Chahda and Vaughan delivered on the team’s goal, which was to finish on the lead lap in an effort to prepare for the upcoming Repco Bathurst 1000.
Chahda started the race and stayed in the car when the Safety Car was called for Richie Stanaway’s engine failure on lap 24. When Cameron McLeod and Jordan Boys collided, triggering a Safety Car, Chahda finally handed over to Vaughan on lap 44.
Remarkably, Vaughan — who won the Super2 race just two hours earlier — went to lap 137, before Chahda brought the Boost Mobile-backed Chevrolet home in 19th.
Chahda and Vaughan delivered on the goal of Matt's father Amin, who wanted to get home on the lead lap, something six cars were unable to do amid a carnage-filled race.
"That's a very good day at the track. To finally get that win in the Super2, it's almost a relief, because we've been trying to do it for a while and finally got it,” Vaughan told the Schick Cool Down Lap podcast.
"And then to make a main game debut, I did 90 laps straight. I feel physically fine and against most of the main game drivers, it was quite competitive. So, I finished on the lead lap and [19th], so can't complain.
"Our car's hardly got a scratch on it, you know, a lot of other guys can't say that, so that's pretty good, and hopefully it helps with some talks for next year and all that, and have a strong Bathurst as well.”
The Chahda squad didn’t have it all their own way, with debris from Cameron Hill’s car getting lodged in the front air dam. With engine temperatures rising, the team had no option but to pit.
“We didn't know what had happened,” Amin Chahda said of the bodywork drama.
"We just watched the engine temp go red and thought, 'What's going on?' Then Brian [Cottee, engineer] said, ‘It's got something lodged in it’.
"And we couldn't quite see it, and Paul [Martin, Team Manager] ran to the wall and saw it. But, anyway. We were trying to get it out, he's trying to do a slide job, but it was in there, it wasn't coming out."
When asked what the next steps were for Bathurst, Amin added: “To do it a bit better. We made a couple mistakes today, and that's why we went down that lap, but we got it back. Thank God we got it back, to finish on the lead lap.
"So yeah, just minimise those mistakes, and get those one-percenters, and I reckon we'll do really well at Bathurst."
Chahda and Vaughan will return at October's Repco Bathurst 1000.
