No Bathurst wow for Longhurst, Wilson..

WOW Racing experienced mixed results at this year's Super Cheap Auto Bathurst 1000, in what was one of the most action-packed races in the Mountain's history, but emerged with an eleventh place despite the misfortune that befell team boss Tony Longhurst and regular pilot Max Wilson.

Friday's qualifying session saw both drivers off to a promising start with car #44 finishing in 18th position and #45 completing the race in 30th position, but cooler conditions when race day arrived saw all four drivers struggling to get their cars and tyres up to temperatures for the start of the 161-lap event. To the surprise of many, however, the endurance test began at an extremely fast pace, with all competitors refusing to give an inch to any other.

"I couldn't believe how some of the drivers were attacking the race in the early stages, they were just crazy," Wilson said, having watched the opening exchanges from the sanctuary of the pits, "It was more like a stock car race than a touring car event."

Longhurst agreed with his Brazilian co-driver, and said that he had never before experienced such intense conditions so early in the race.

"Anyone could be excused for thinking that what they were viewing was a sprint race and not a 161-lap enduro event," the veteran said, "I was truly amazed with what was going on so early in the event."

Both WOW entries enjoyed a clean start to the initial lap, but the #44, with Longhurst behind the wheel, soon found itself in the middle of an incident on the second lap which ultimately created a chain reaction with four other cars. Longhurst was forced to pit on the next lap to repair the front end and eventually rejoined two laps down.

Despite the repairs, however, the #44 car's handling continued to worsen with each lap, and caused growing problems for Wilson once he had taken over from his team-mate. The Brazilian eventually found himself unable to retain control and hit the wall whilst negotiating The Chase on lap 58, effectively putting the car out of the race.

"I was disappointed with the outcome, as I thought both Tony and I had the car and the experience to really come home within the top ten," Wilson opined, "but that's racing I guess. The fact that 13 cars did not finish the race says a lot. I am now looking forward to the next round at Indy in just two weeks, as I always enjoy that race."

The second WOW car, with Mark Porter and Kayne Scott behind the wheel, experienced a much smoother run, completing the race in eleventh position.