TROY BAYLISS:

Troy Bayliss has endured a tough Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 debut with the three-time World Superbike Champion unable to finish the endurance race following a crash on the 59th lap of the 161 lap race at Mount Panorama.

Bayliss showed potential throughout the four-day event and recorded some encouraging laps during his limited time on the grueling circuit.

After qualifying 32nd, Bayliss’ teammate Dean Fiore started the race and completed a double-stint with the regular driver of the #12 Commodore reporting fuel injector problems at the conclusion of his time behind the wheel. Bayliss completed one lap of the circuit before he was forced to return to the pits while the problem was rectified.

Bayliss rejoined the race 30 minutes later before falling victim to the greasy conditions on the top of the Mountain which saw him hit the wall at Forrest Elbow.

Despite today’s result Bayliss said he enjoyed his introduction into V8 Supercars and he is even more determined to look at competing in the world’s most competitive touring car series in the future.

“Bathurst is one of those events which has the potential to catch even the most experienced racer out and bring them undone. Unfortunately I only had limited time in the car over the weekend but Bathurst is an interesting place and given that it is one of the most famous and dangerous race tracks in Australia – it was quite daunting to race around, ” said Bayliss.

“We had a few dramas on Thursday and I was only able to complete three laps of the track and that was just as I started to feel ok.  Then on Saturday I only got 20 minutes before we had some sort of fuel issue which caused a fire which also robbed me of some valuable track time.

“Dean [Fiore] started the race and was at the end of his double stint when he noticed that there was a problem with the fuel injector. He brought the car in and handed over to me and we had a few issues getting out of the box so the following lap I came in.

“Thirty minutes later I went back out again but it had just started raining and it was quite greasy at the top of the Mountain and I unfortunately came unstuck.  There was very little damage to the car but given the problems we had experienced up until that point, we were unable to go on.”

The Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was won by Will Davison and Garth Tander. The event concluded the 2009 V8 Supercar endurance season.

Super Cheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Results

1.  W. Davison/G.Tander
2.  C.McConville/J.Richards
3.  M.Caruso/L.Holdsworth
4.  G.Murphy/M.Skaife
5.  C.Lowndes/J.Whincup
6.  J.Bargwanna/M.Noske
7.  P.Morris/T.Slade
8.  R.Kelly/T.Kelly
9.  D.Besnard/G.Ritter.
10.  T.D’Alberto/A.Thompson

2009 V8 Supercar Series Points

1.  J.  Whincup – 2476 points
2.  W.  Davison – 2383 points
3.  G.  Tander – 2038 points
4.  C.  Lowndes – 1947 points
5.  S.  Johnson – 1656 points
6.  M.  Winterbottom – 1574 points
7.  L.  Holdsworth – 1568 points
8.  R.  Kelly – 1516 points
9.  R.  Ingall – 1484 points
10.  J.  Courtney – 1436 points