Bathurst 1000 Jamie Whincup crash: Holden’s fairytale over in heartbreaking fashion
Shattered seven-time Supercars champion Jamie Whincup has broken his silence after his bid to send the factory Holden team out on a high with Craig Lowndes ended in heartbreak.
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A devastated Jamie Whincup says his team “deserves better” as his bid to send the factory Holden team out on a high with Craig Lowndes ended in heartbreak after a big smash in the Bathurst 1000.
The seven-time Supercars champion’s race was over on lap 33 after he slammed his Red Bull Holden Commodore in the wall at The Cutting.
Whincup hit trouble trying to make an overtaking move around the outside on Brodie Kostecki while battling for fourth place and smashed into the concrete at high speed.
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A four-time winner at Mount Panorama, Whincup shook his head as he got out of the car and surveyed the damage to his car.
The crash came not long after Whincup had jumped into the car after a strong opening stint from seven-time Bathurst champion Lowndes.
It continues Whincup’s recent run of heartache at Mount Panorama where he last won in 2012 with Paul Dumbrell.
Whincup owned up to his mistake and said he should have waited until another point at the track to try and make a passing move on Kostecki, Anton De Pasquale’s co-driver.
“Obviously Brodie was making it pretty difficult out there, but it’s not his fault he’s entitled to go as fast as he possibly can,” Whincup said.
“It was nothing untoward. I was pushing hard to get through and to try and get up the road.
“On reflection I reckon I smoked the rears pretty heavily down at The Chase trying to get through and I probably underestimated the surface temp going up into The Cutting.
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“In hindsight, I probably should have just waited another lap. I probably would have got him back down at the Conrod on the next lap.
“Disappointed for everyone, I’m fine. But obviously everyone has put in a lot of effort here inside this garage and engineers in particular and they deserve better.”
Whincup has endured a string of bad luck in the Bathurst 1000 in recent years.
He infamously ran out of fuel when leading in 2014; was hit with a drive-through penalty for passing the safety car in 2015, copped a win-denying penalty in 2016, suffered an engine fault in 2017 and then a wheel flew off his car when his co-driver Dumbrell was in the seat in 2018.
Lowndes, reunited with Whincup as a co-driver last year, said his teammate.
“I spoke to Jamie and he is disappointed with himself,” Lowndes said.
“We came here this weekend with obviously a good chance … the car was feeling really nice, but you have to be patient around here.
“We all know this is motor racing and you have got to have the respect of this place otherwise it’s going to bite you and for Jamie unfortunately it has done it today.”
Whincup and Lowndes finished fourth in the Great Race last year – 10 years after they had last raced together following their famous Bathurst 1000 three-peat in 2006-08.