Well, what a weekend. It was the first race for the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series as well as my first race with the Howard Racing Team and my first time back in a Ford in two years. Clipsal is definitely one of my favourite tracks to race at and it’s always a great atmosphere. I have had previous success at the track so I was looking forward to the weekend.

Our first practice session was held on the Thursday morning and it couldn’t have gone better when I posted the fastest time for the session 7 tenths faster than the next car.

Second practice was held on Thursday afternoon but was marred by several red flags due to accidents around the circuit. Because of this I was unable to get a really good lap in so I ended up third for the session. I was still happy with the result and was looking forward to qualifying.

Qualifying was held on Friday afternoon. Normally qualifying is split into two sessions. The lower 50% off the field go out first and the upper 50% after. However, due to intermittent rain throughout the day, the decision was made to join the two groups into one longer session. On my third lap I managed a 1:23.0604 which broke the practice lap record and secured me the poll position. It was a great start.

The first race was a twilight race on Friday, starting at 6:30pm. I got a great start and had maintained first place into the first corner. I started to pull away from the field but during lap 4 I suffered a fuel pressure failure which put me out of the race. It was very disappointing after such a great start and also meant that I would be starting from the back of the field in Race 2.

The second and final race was held on Saturday morning. The crew at Howards had work extremely hard over night to do an engine change before the second race. Because of my DNF in race one I was starting at the back of the field in position 28. I had an awesome start and by the end of the first lap I had made my way to position 19. I continued to move up the field until I was in position 10 by lap 9. The next person if front of me was David Reynolds but he had a considerable gap. I had to make up a lot of ground and a safety car would have helped. The safety car came out but certainly not the way anyone would have wished for. Ashley Cooper had made contact in the infamous turn eight. The impact was extremely hard and sent him spearing across the track and into the concrete barrier on the other side of the track. Ashley’s injuries were severe and due to this and the damage to the barriers, the race was ended. Ashley was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital but unfortunately at 1:00pm on Monday he passed away.

My sincere condolences go out to the entire Cooper family. Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this difficult time.

It was an extremely sad end to what was supposed to be an exciting start to the year.

The next round is at Wakefield Park in Goulburn, NSW on April 4-6.

Dean Canto