Hour two of the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour has been an entertaining one for Pollicina Motorsports. In conditions that have been still quite damp yet with a dry line emerging, John O’Dowd has been steadily keeping pace and remaining out of trouble.
As he grew in confidence, so too did his lap times and it allowed himself to get a bit adventurous going through some of the corners, particularly at Hell Corner and Forrest Elbow. Around the 80-minute mark, the race leader, Damien White, put down O’Dowd a lap. Meanwhile, back in the pits, the Greg Murphy Racing crew decided to put Simon Middleton in around the 90-minute mark as the conditions were starting to improve.
Suddenly, the direction of the race changed again when the Safety Car was deployed just on 90 minutes after fellow Greg Murphy Racing stable mate Geoff Emery beached his HSV VY GTS into the sand at The Chase. It was perfect timing as it allowed O’Dowd to dive in the pits and conduct the pit stop without losing too much time. The car was refueled and a change of driver occurred, with Middleton jumping in for his first stint. After jumping out of the car, O’Dowd was happy to get the first stanza of the race out of the way.
“That was unfamiliar territory out there, that’s for sure!” O’Dowd said in relief. “It was dark, there was rain, and I’m not used to that. But it was good, I kept it together for the first 90 minutes.” But his stint wasn’t without its dramas. Near the end of his stint, he almost got collided by the Donut King HSV GTS Monaro of Barry Nesbitt as he negotiated the chase. Luckily, he avoided being hit by going onto the grass, which is a fortunate thing to have in an all wheel drive car.
Middleton is now behind the wheel of the Evo VIII Lancer and will stay out for another 90 minutes before handing over to Jim Pollicina. Currently after two hours of racing, they are sitting 14th outright, one lap down on current leader Damien White.
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