Photo by: Chris Von Wieldt
Bargs: I Still Love Bathurst
Misfortunes like those experienced by Jana Living Racing at Bathurst this weekend would put most people off a place, but not Jason Bargwanna.
Bathurst is still his first love, even though it delivered a crushing blow this morning, with Co-Driver Shane Price hitting the wall on lap 32 of The Great Race and going five laps down.
The pair managed to make up two laps before the chequered flag, but finishing 23rd is a far cry from the potential the car displayed.
Other trials the pair endured include a crash in qualifying, after Bargs got only two laps during Thursday and Friday's running, thanks to an engine change and lack of wet-weather tyres.
The next race is the Gold Coast 600 from October 21-23.
Jason Bargwanna
Jana Living Racing
"Bathurst is the most important event of the year and everyone, right 'til the last minute, believes they've got a shot at winning it. As soon as you realise you don't it's really disappointing.
"I love the place; I love walking into the joint at 6am down pit lane, seeing the campfires at the top of the mountain and then going to race against the best blokes in the country. It's just fantastic.
"Looking at today's top ten finishers, we were out in front of most of them in the first stint before Shane had the problem. We fought all day, got two laps back and the car was fast enough to be in the top five but it certainly hasn't been our lucky weekend to say the least."
Shane Price
Jana Living Racing
"I'm pretty hard on myself. The biggest thing is it's a big business and there are 45-odd employees here and they are all working towards one goal. It only takes a little mistake like that to cost them all a decent result and I feel pretty bad.
"The corner before the elbow, I just grabbed the wall and it's hit the front steering, which shook the wheel out of my hands and I hit the wall. Something was bent in the front and the team wasn't prepared to take the risk of not stopping after touching the wall. We didn't want to cause an even bigger shunt if something was bent. That put us a few laps down."
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