Heimgartner on ending BJR’s drought
Wet races produce opportunities and the flawless Andre Heimgartner made the most of a treacherous Taupo to give BJR a long-awaited win.
In the first ever race at Taupo, Auckland’s own Heimgartner walked on water to the delight of the home crowd.
As a result the 28-year-old joins the likes of Greg Murphy, Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin as New Zealanders to win a Supercars Championship race on home soil.
But there were many more reasons why it was so significant.
It was Heimgartner’s first win in three years since The Bend 2021, 90 races ago and first in four for BJR since Sydney Motorsport Park in 2020, 118 races ago.
To make the win even more unlikely, BJR was fresh from a tough time at the previous round in Albert Park where the four-car team could only manage a best result of 14th across the four races.
Then the Taupo rain came and produced chaos, but Heimgartner remained calm behind the wheel and produced a faultless drive.
He admitted it was still hard to comprehend post race.
“It is pretty unreal and I am still speechless,” Heimgartner told Fox Sports.
“It has been a really hard start to the year for us so to come here with a speedy car all weekend and especially to win this race means a lot to me.
“I have spent a lot of time in this area and I get a bit chocked up just thinking about it all
“Obviously I am racing the #8 and that is not something I take for granted , especially as a Kiwi.
“Coming here with that (Jason Richards) Trophy up for grabs everyone lifts a little bit.”
Heimgartner started third and just avoided the crashing Tim Slade and Cam Waters in front of him to sit second behind Will Brown.
When a second early Safety Car arrived for the stranded teammate of Bryce Fullwood, the BJR pit crew then stepped up, getting the #8 in front of the #87 in the lane.
However, the race was far from over as Heimgartner had to shake off challenges from Chaz Mostert and Will Davison.
Heimgartner revealed strong corner exit speed of the #8 Camaro helped him control the race in docile conditions.
“I got a good start and luckily decided not to go to the left of Cam and then the seas parted,” he said.
“I knew my car was fast, maybe not as fast as the guys around us, but I had really good drive out of the corners and could look after the tyre.
Chaz had it on me in the entries but I could get out there which saved my bacon
“I knew we had to do a long stint and could see he was struggling on exits so (saving tyres) was something to be conscious of.
“Especially in the mid part of the lap where it is so easy to blow those rears and we couldn’t even search for water.
“I was hoping to be a bit more relaxed about it (the finish) but Will was catching me so I had to throw all caution out the wind and really go for it and managed to keep it on the black stuff.
“It is probably a bit ironic that both of my wins have been in the wet.”
Reflecting on BJR’s impressive turnaround from battling at Albert Park to winning at Taupo, Heimgartner said Jaxon Evans’ rookie test at Queensland Raceway made a big difference.
“On the Sunday of the AGP we knew what the issue was, which is half the battle sometimes,” the Kiwi reflected.
“We then went to a test day for Jaxon Evans at Queensland Raceway where we addressed the issues and put facts behind that.
“Coming out of that test day and into this weekend there was some procedural stuff that meant I could drive the car how I wanted again.
“Heading into this round we were not too sure if we were going to be in the fight and as a Kiwi all you want to do is go out there and do the burnout in front of the crowd which was awesome.”
Image: Peter Norton EPIC Sports Photography
Taupo Super400 schedule (all times AEST)
Friday, April 19
Practice: 1: C. Mostert 1:26.4937 2: M. Payne +0.0318 3: W. Davison +0.0508
Saturday, April 20
Qualifying Race 7: 1: M. Payne 1:27.9684 2: A. De Pasquale +0.0940 3: C. Mostert +0.1669
Top 10 Shootout: 1: C. Waters 1:34.7415 2: W. Brown +0.5011 3: A. Heimgartner +0.5374
Race 7 (60 laps): 1: A. Heimgartner 2: W. Davison +1.1012 3: A. De Pasquale +2.5641
Sunday, April 21
Qualifying Race 8: 08.45
Top 10 Shootout: 10.25
Race 7 (60 laps): 13.05
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Podcast: We’re going to Taupo… Tow Paw… Whatever. Supercars is back!
After a break that feels like months, the Supercars Championship is back and headed across the ditch to Taupo in the middle of the North Island. And yes, Brodie Kostecki will be there! As will the rain.
Somehow, the rain will also be in China for F1’s return to 中国. Philip Island was stunning on the weekend, just gone, if a little cold, but we chatted about whether Supercars should return to the land of penguins.
Plus, there’s more… all the news in the way only the Auto Action RevLimiter can deliver.
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