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Race against the clock

03/Feb/2012

By Mark Donaldson, Wanneroo Times

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Dean Fiore, Karl Reindler, Will Davison and Garth Tander at Barbagallo Raceway, with the new pit lane in the background. Dean Fiore, Karl Reindler, Will Davison and Garth Tander at Barbagallo Raceway, with the new pit lane in the background.

ONLY three months to go until the V8 Supercar Series hits Perth and Barbagallo Raceway’s new pit lane looks more like a sandpit.

But stakeholders have given their assurance it will be ready.

WA Sports Minister Terry Waldron was at Barbagallo on Tuesday to officially launch ticket sales for the May 4–6 event, the first to feature the track’s multimillion-dollar upgrade.

The State Government has pumped $15 million into the revamp.

“A lot of the basic underground work, like the power, has already been done… all those involved are very confident that it’s all under control,” Mr Waldron said.

“The pit lane area, the bridge over the track, the administration and media area… we are very confident it will be ready in time.”

One V8 driver itching to get back on the WA track is Perth’s Karl Reindler.

The 26-year-old suffered serious burns to his hands and face after his car exploded during a crash at the 2011 event.

“They were pretty terrifying memories from May last year, but I’ve had a lot of time to deal with that; it did dent my confidence a lot,” he said.

“In the late part of last season, I started to get back to where I needed to be. I’m looking forward to competing at Barbagallo on my home turf and the new developments just look fantastic.”

Holden’s Garth Tander, who joined Reindler, West Aussie Dean Fiore and Victorian Will Davison at the launch, said the track’s facilities would be as good as any in Australia this season.

The three-time Bathurst winner said the Perth track was great for spectators.

“The good thing about it is that it’s a short lap so we’re going past the fans more often and they see plenty of action,” Tander said.

Fiore, the face of the Perth campaign, said he was confident for the season after joining the Dick Johnson Racing team.

“I’ve been running my own single car operation for the last two years with limited results,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to coming back to Perth.”

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