BMW star 'would have waited a bit longer' in Bathurst crash
Bathurst 12 Hour
19 Feb
Charles Weerts "would have waited a bit longer" in passing backmarker
Weerts crashed #32 BMW out in spectacular fashion in Bathurst 12 Hour
BMW missed Bathurst podium altogether, with sister car fifth
Team WRT BMW driver Charles Weerts has admitted he “would have waited a bit longer” had he had his chance again following his dramatic crash in the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour.
Weerts crashed out in spectacular fashion in the pole-sitting #32 WRT BMW after colliding with the GT4 Ginetta piloted by Colin White at the Cutting.
The Belgian driver followed the sister #46 car, which ended up finishing fifth, into the Cutting before clipping the Ginetta and hitting the concrete wall rearwards.
A wheel parted company with the car in the impact, which ended the #32’s day on the spot — an abrupt end after Sheldon van der Linde led from pole.
Weerts was despondent over the incident, slamming the door in anger as he got out of the damaged BMW under his own steam.
For Weerts, the incident could have been avoided — but said he saw and a gap, and went for it.
"At the start of the race, everything went according to plan, we were always in the mix to fight for the lead,” Weerts said in official BMW communications.
"Then I unfortunately had this contact with a backmarker. It was quite unlucky to get that traffic at that exact spot.
"Looking back now for sure I would have waited a bit longer, but at the end of the day we are racers and if we see a gap we go for it.
"It was very unfortunate for our car and I feel sorry for my teammates, my team, BMW M Motorsport and also for myself because that was not the goal after the everybody’s great work.
"This only fuels our motivation more for the rest of the season and I can’t wait to go back racing again.”
Team Principal Vincent Vosse suggested it was a race that got away, given the team had two strong cars.
“We started with a pole position, which was a good thing. Of course, it is a difficult one to swallow because we had two strong cars,” Vosse said.
"There were some mistakes — it is a difficult race on a difficult track. Finishing fifth is of course not what we are looking for, especially as at one stage, ten minutes from the end, we were fighting for P2.
"There are some strong cars out there. Now we need to analyse where we lost it. This is not a race that you win but one that you lose. And that is what happened.”
The race was eventually won by the #912 Manthey EMA Porsche of Matt Campbell/Laurens Vanthoor/Ayhancan Guvan, with rain arriving following Weert’s crash.
