Crashed Nissan repaired in time for Bathurst qualifying

Former Bathurst winner Florian Strauss hit the wall during yesterday’s early afternoon practice session, the impact damaging the car’s chassis. The team had some luck in the form of a chassis jig being delivered by a local mechanic, and after working through the night the car hit the track during final practice, ahead of qualifying. 

“It’s a challenge – somebody says it can’t be done, they say yes it will be,” said Nissan team boss Bob Neville. 

“But you can’t push water uphill. We’ve got all the pieces, but we won’t know until it rolls whether we’ve cracked it or not. 

“My team are really experienced, and they know how much money and effort goes into the whole thing. It’s not a case of, ‘Oh well, we’ll come back next year.' It’s, ‘We’ve got to get this car going if humanly possible.'”

Strauss was on hand for the majority of the fix, helping the crew repair the car so that he, Jann Mardenborough and Todd Kelly can get back on track.

“For him, it probably helps seeing it come together,” added Neville. “Imagine if he’d gone to the hotel, he wouldn’t have slept, he would have been wondering, ‘Can they fix it? Will they fix it?’

“So I’m impressed that he’s here. He’s had some sleep, I insisted he went and had some sleep. But when he left around midnight, we had a feeling it was going to get done.”