Brad Jones Racing has worked another miracle to get the #96 Holden ZB Commodore of Macauley Jones and Jordan Boys ready for Saturday’s first session.
Whether or not the car would hit the track for the crucial pre-race session was unclear last night after Jones suffered a heavy crash at the Esses following contact with Shane van Gisbergen at the end of qualifying.
Van Gisbergen was handed a three-place grid penalty, while the BJR crew were on the tools deep into the night to repair the significant damage, especially on the left-hand rear.
But Jones revealed to AUTO ACTION his car is “brand new” and will be ready for an important fifth practice session this morning.
“They worked until about 1am this morning to get it done and it is looking brand new,” he said.
“They hustled into it last night with the grinders and welders out and away they went.
“It is definitely crucial for practice because Jordan did not get much of a run yesterday, so it will be good for him to get that
“Today we will work on the racing items we have on our plans like pit stop practice which will be vital for tomorrow.”
The incident itself was one of the big talking points from Friday’s qualifying session, with championship leader and pre-race favourite van Gisbergen getting tangled up with Jones, and sending the #96 hard into the outside barrier.
The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver took to social media to express himself believing Jones was not on a push lap and was going to allow him through.
“Bizarre ending to quali making contact with the 96 car,” van Gisbergen said on Facebook.
“From my end I saw a big mistake at T1 and go wide, so knew his lap was ruined.
“At Skyline he braked super early and out of line, so thought he was letting me past.
“Once I committed over Skyline that was it.”
However, Jones said he was still pushing hard with a chance of setting his fastest time and believed it was a too risky part of the track for a pass.
“He (Shane) was not going to pass me there, it is a bit of an awkward spot. I think I was only a tenth down from my fastest lap,” Jones said.
“In qualifying we all missed the mark a little bit with pressures and everything, it was a bit of a tricky car to be driving in qualifying
“The car was very loose at that time and we were battling a little bit, but that is how it rolls.”
One positive from the weekend for the #96 has been the pace of co-driver Boys, who finished P4 in the ultra-fast second Thursday practice session.
Boys told AUTO ACTION he felt comfortable in the car as soon as it hit the tracks and this gives Jones hope they can move up the grid come Raceday.
“We definitely have a better race car than what we are showing,” he said.
“We did not get the best green lap in the dry practice and then in the wet we were going along pretty well.
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