Jesus Popular on Top of the Mountain
Driving into the track before the sun had risen, the fans were already thickly outlining the track, getting their prized position to watch the day’s action.
First out on track on the last day of the Bathurst 1000 event was the 28 strong field of Touring Car Masters. Fishtail had worked his way up to start from 16th after weaving through the field in yesterdays race from 26th to12th.
The Jesus XYGT felt good and Fishtail began to pick off cars one by one down through ‘The Chase’ working his way up to 8th place. Then coming into the last corner with one lap to go the rear wheels locked under braking stepping out the back of the car. Thankfully Fishtail was able to modulate the brake and keep the car from ending up in the sand trap, but lost 4 spots. Not one to give up, Fisher set off in pursuit of those who had gotten by him, he managed to get back past two of them and finished in 10th.
It was then a quick turn around as the V8 Ute race was due to start with one race in between. Just enough time for Fishtail to grab a drink and reset the brain to drive the Jesus Racing V8 Ute and roll into grid slot number 10. A great start from Fishtail saw him come out of turn 1 side by side with Kim Jane, who had also done double duty in the TCM class, and began a Holden – Ford drag race up Mountain Straight. Just as they turned into turn 2, Ryall Harris who had 2 wheels on the grass drove into the rear of Fisher sending him sideways across the track sliding towards both Kim Jane who was on his outside and the barriers. Skill and experience kept both cars from what could have been a horrific accident but they had dropped a lot of spots.
The car’s pace was good and Fishtail managed to go two wide through the chase taking another position back however as they fired back up Mountain straight once more, Fishtail went to snatch another gear when the end of the shifter broke off. With no way to select gears the Jesus Racing V8 Ute entry was out of the race and pulled off into a safe position.
With the team now 9th in the Ute championship and 2 TCM rounds under his belt I asked him what he would take away from Bathurst 2014.
“Funnily enough, the best memory will be when we were stuck in the sand at the top of the Mountain. The two cars had come together and I had avoided the incident but ended up stuck in the sand as soon as I climbed out of the car the crowd erupted into cheering! It just floored me, someone even called out from the crowd, “Jesus loves you”, when we first started Jesus Racing we used to receive death threats……It’s just a great testament to the Team and the impact that we have had in the racing community and it’s a moment that I will cherish”.
Fishtail also picked up the Masters award for the 6th time this season.
While most of the other race car drivers will be recovering after a hard weekend of racing (and that is just the ones that raced in one car) Fishtail heads off to present the Life Choices program to schools in the district, and a men’s event in Parkes on Thursday night, but first up on Monday morning he will be talking to around 200 inmates of the Bathurst Gaol. Next racing stop will be Surfers Paradise for round 7 of the V8 Ute championship
