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BARGWANNA’S ‘ROCK’ AROUND THE CLOCK TO BE READY FOR SANDOWN

After his spectacular 160km/h meeting with the concrete wall at the Dunlop Townsville 400, Scott Bargwanna and the ROCK Energy Drinks MINI Challenge team have been working flat out to repair the $30,000 worth of damage to their racecar ahead of Sandown this weekend.

The huge shunt at Townsville has set the team working around the clock since getting the car back to Sydney – and they’ll continue to work up until it is pushed on the trailer to make it to Sandown.

“Physically, I’m fighting fit. I was a little sore on the Monday after, which gave me a couple of days to get right before the car arrived in the workshop – but now I’m fine,” said Scott Bargwanna. “I haven’t had any time to dwell on the incident, which is good in a way. Thank God our major sponsor is ROCK Energy Drinks, it’s keeping us all going at the moment!”

After the large frontal and passenger side impact, the team estimated the damage to be in the region of $30,000. They’ve been working non-stop since the car was returned to the MINI Challenge compound in Townsville to get the parts together and the damage repaired.

“We basically began as soon as the car was returned to the pit area,” Scott continued. “The boys assessed it and were instantly on it trying to get the parts together. It’s involved a huge effort from the MINI Challenge parts team, as well as our crew to source the required components – but we’ll be there, no question.”

The Bargwanna family have been around the sport a long time and have experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows – now all are focused on Sandown and an onwards and upwards MINI Challenge battle.

“That’s our bad round done, from here on in we get the assault back on track and look out – we’re really wanting to win at Sandown,” said Bargwanna.

“We started this team at Sandown last year and Jason took the clean sweep that weekend. We have a perfect record in MINI Challenge there and I’m telling you, I’ll be doing everything in my power to keep that record alive!”

Scott’s team-mate, BJ Cook, will be making his first visit to Sandown and after strong finishes in the last two events, he comes in with a degree of confidence.

“I am really happy with how the season is panning out from a personal perspective,” BJ said. “After Townsville, looking at the times, I was quicker than some of the guys with V8 Supercar experience in the field, which is pleasing to know, particularly with all the cars being identical.

“Sandown will once again be a new challenge. It’s one of the real traditional circuits on the Australian racing scene and I can’t wait to attack it! I’m really hoping to nail a couple more top 10 finishes as the year winds on.”

Team Principal and Sprint Gas Racing V8 Supercar pilot, Jason Bargwanna, was in Sydney last weekend lending another set of hands to the re-build and is proud of the effort the team has put in.

“They haven’t stopped since the accident happened,” Jason beamed. “It’s been flat out since the beginning, there’s people running everywhere and the boys have done a super job. To get the car from where it was in Townsville to being ready for Sandown is awesome.

“At Sandown, we have an extra incentive when for the first time, we’ll have the crew from ROCK Energy Drinks joining us at the track. It’s manufactured in Melbourne –  just up the road from Sandown – so it’s truly a home race for them. Naturally, we want to bounce back and put in a big effort for all the ROCK Energy Drinks team – and keep the Sandown unbeaten streak alive!”

Sandown marks the halfway point for MINI Challenge this season and will feature three races across the weekend. A 30 minute television highlights package will air on the Seven Network in the weeks following the event.