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V8 Supercar driver Mark Winterbottom says his fiery exit from
Sunday's Bathurst 1000 has cost him his best chance to win the
great race.
The rear of Winterbottom's Ford Performance Racing Falcon burst
into flames on the 50th lap of the 1,000km endurance event, ending
he and co-driver Steven Richards' race while they were sitting in
third position.
The 28-year-old, who finished fourth at Bathurst last year, was
understandably frustrated by the incident, caused by the battery in
the rear of the car coming loose and rupturing a fuel
line.
But he was also relieved to escape a car which became a fireball
by the time it reached pit lane - rival team crews having to
extinguish his burning Ford and usher Winterbottom to safety.
"I think this was our best chance of winning Bathurst over the last
four years. We've had some strong performances here," Winterbottom
told AAP.
"It's pretty disappointing for everyone when you're in good shape
and things happen and everyone sort of feels it.
"That's the first in-car fire I've had. I just drove to the
marshal's post where they had the extinguishers and got out as fast
as I could.
"That's the first time it's ever happened actually and it's pretty
scary when you see the flames out the back. You're not sure if it's
going to come into the car but the guys put it out really quickly
so that took the fear away a bit."
Runner-up in last year's championship, Winterbottom has had a
frustrating 2009, failing to win a race so far this
season.
His problems have continued at Bathurst this weekend, an accident
involving rookie Sam Winter on Saturday costing him a $5,000 fine
after he was found guilty of careless driving before Sunday's
disaster.
Winterbottom was also caught up in separate incidents with Rick
Kelly in Friday's practice session and Holden Racing Team star
Garth Tander in Saturday's qualifying leg.
"This has hurt our championship a little bit because we get zero
points," he said.
"I thought third was achievable but that's even harder now when
other cars get points.
"The set-up changes we made for today were really good and
hopefully will give us direction for the rest of the
season.
"We'll try and dominate the last four rounds and if we can do that
we'll build momentum for next year and write this year off."
