'A bit rich coming from him': Waters, Heimgartner dispute clashes
Cam Waters, Andre Heimgartner dispute clashes in Taupō opener
Waters and Heimgartner came to blows either side of pit stops
Tickford driver loses ground in championship after torrid run to 21st
Cam Waters and Andre Heimgartner have traded sides to a dramatic story that was headlined by a series of clashes between the duo in Saturday’s Taupō opener.
Heimgartner and Waters came home 12th and 21st in Race 8, which was dominated by championship leader Brodie Kostecki.
The Tickford Racing star qualified down the order for the race, and after charging through, battled with Brad Jones Racing spearhead Heimgartner.
A wild battle into the chicane saw Waters fall behind Heimgartner and Anton De Pasquale. After the stops, Waters and Heimgartner made wheel-to-wheel contact at Turn 5, with the former later claiming he had rear damper damage.
The ailing Waters was then turned around by Jayden Ojeda at Turn 11, ensuring Waters missed the top 10 for the first time this season.
Waters sought out Heimgartner post-race, later telling the broadcast: “When you qualify bad, you race with the people who aren't at the top level.
"Disappointing to get damage when there was three to go with a pretty stupid move.
"I was just a bit disappointed with not leaving enough room really. I'm all for hard racing and leaning on each other, but he did it at the end of the first stint, and then he just drove into my left rear at Turn 5 and broke my damper.
"Just kinda stupid. The pass is already done and I don't really know why he did it. Probably a question for him.
"We'll move on, and make the car a bit faster, and hopefully we don't have to race the B-grade drivers."
Heimgartner shrugged off the run-in and post-race confrontation, saying: "I don't have any problem with it, we were just debriefing and he came in a bit upset which I understand. He got taken out, but it wasn't from me.
"He was just saying something about something, I don't know, but a bit rich coming from him.
"That's not our problem at the moment, I thought it was some good racing. Everyone races hard, and there was some contact, but with these wheels and different things it's easy to snap dampers.
"Our problem is our car speed, so that's what we've got to focus on, and just ignore all the other stuff."
Waters is set to start 10th in Race 9 this afternoon, with Heimgartner 16th, the 200km race starting at 3:30pm NZST/1:30pm AEST.
