Murray reveals 'silly' error, De Pasquale 'absolutely T-boned'
"Silly little driver error" caused multi-car crash, says Cooper Murray
Erebus rookie reveals triggered chaotic collision at start of Sunday’s race
Murray took out Anton De Pasquale, was hit by Kai Allen
Erebus Motorsport rookie Cooper Murray says a “silly little driver error” was the cause of his costly clash in the opening corners of Sunday’s Tasmania finale.
Murray impressed on Sunday, putting his Snap-On Tools Chevrolet into the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout and earning a ninth-place grid slot for the 78-lapper.
However, it came undone in the opening corners as Murray locked up over the Turn 1 hump, speared straight on and hit Team 18 driver Anton De Pasquale.
De Pasquale surfed through the gravel and sustained a crushed exhaust outlet, while Murray spun around and was collected by Penrite Racing rookie Kai Allen.
Murray and Allen limped back to the pits for repairs and were out of contention, while De Pasquale also finished down the order.
It was a tough moment to take for both drivers; De Pasquale dropped from eighth to 12th in the points across the weekend, while Murray left Symmons Plains 23rd in the championship.
Speaking on Supercars’ Cool Down Lap podcast, Murray revealed “hitting both pedals” led to the clash, which also earned him a 15-second penalty.
“I just made a silly little driver error,” Murray said.
“Hitting both pedals at the same time doesn’t really work out. I’ll just work hard from now to Perth to make sure these mistakes don’t happen again and repay the team.”
De Pasquale was frustrated by the clash, which was a footnote on a horror weekend that continued a tough run. After finishing the first seven races no lower than eighth, De Pasquale has finished no better than 16th in the last five.
“I started 10th and from there got absolutely T-boned at Turn 1," De Pasquale said.
"It closed all the exhaust up so we had no horsepower and that sort of derailed our whole day."
Murray's teammate Jack Le Brocq qualified 18th and was spun early in the race, with Chaz Mostert penalised over the concertina. Le Brocq finished 16th, losing a lap during the Safety Car pit cycle.
David Reynolds finished sixth in the finale, marking his best result of the season.
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