Racing driver Tim Edgell has slammed race start rules and says officials allowed today’s first NZ V8s heat to start at too slow a speed.
He says that triggered a massive crash that left his car a mangled wreck and saw two cars smash through the Armco safety barrier.
Seven cars were left damaged by the incident which appeared to break out after mid-grid starter Cam Hardy’s Holden Commodore and another car touched soon after the start and Hardy’s car was sent sideways.
A furious Edgell, surveying the damage to his Chesters BNT Ford Falcon just metres after the Pukekohe startline, slammed changes to the starting rules which allow backmarkers to overtake before they reach the startline.
The NZ V8s use a rolling start with the pole-starting driver dictating the pace. Front-runners can’t pass before the startline.
In this morning’s start, the cars came down to the startline in good order with race one winner Paul Manuell controlling the pace in his Orix Holden Commodore.
Manuell and new series points leader and defending champion John McIntyre accelerated at the green and Manuell got into the first corner, the Jennian Homes sweeper, in the lead.
The lead bunch was on the way to the back straight when Hardy got tapped and all hell broke loose.
In the mayhem, Chris Adams (Commodore) and Boyd Norwood (Falcon) went up over and through the Armco steel barrier. Dave Stewart’s Commodore was turned around, went up in the air and landed nose first facing up the track the wrong way.
Edgell had been hit in the side and was up against the outer barrier when the Falcon took another big hit from the rear.
Angus Fogg’s Falcon also ended up in the barrier, though he later got the car going and drove back to the pits for repairs. Fogg and Edgell had started from the back of the grid after dropping out of yesterday’s raced with accident damag
Fogg was tight-lipped as he check the damage to his car, but Edgell was making his point forcefully.
“The new start rules caused his,” he yelled. “(Rule makers) should pay for all this damage,” he said gesturing to the carpark of wrecked racers.
Chesters team manager Randell Edgell echoed Tim’s point of view, saying the rules and today’ s Pukekohe race start were “ridiculous.”
“Whoever starts these races… I’ve been to Robbo (event director Graeme Robertson) about this. That start was massively too slow. They need to have a good look at (the start rules).
“They’ve just got no idea of what they’re doing. They were way too slow. The lead driver controls the start pace at 80 to100km/h but that was massively slow and then they were late with the green light.
Walking around the battered Falcon and looking at the damage there and under the bonnet, Edgell said: ‘there’s no way we’ll be going south in two weeks, that’s for sure.” The series’ next round is at Ruapuna Park, Christchurch, on November 28-29.
Officials called an early lunch break while course workers repaired the broken Armco. The race will re-start around 2pm. No drivers were hurt in the crash.
