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Campbell: I've never had an impact that big

09 Oct 2022
Wood ’spewing’, Heimgartner slams ‘absolute losers’
2 mins by James Pavey

Matt Campbell says his dramatic impact with Zane Goddard's car was the biggest of his career.

Campbell and Dale Wood careened into the out of control Goddard, who fired off at The Chase.

A botched overtake attempt on Greg Murphy on lap 5 saw Goddard run off into the infield.

Goddard kept his foot in the throttle and lost control on the rejoin.

He speared into the path of Wood and Campbell; Wood was sent airborne and spinning.

Campbell, meanwhile, speared into Goddard’s #5 Snowy Rivers Ford at pace.

All three cars were out on the spot, with Campbell checking Goddard before being taken to the medical centre.

Campbell only arrived in Australia on Wednesday after scoring an IMSA title last weekend.

“I’m a little bit sore, it’s a shame to end our race like that,” Campbell said.

“I’ve never had an impact that big before, either.

“I feel for all the guys, luckily we’ve got car 10 up the front.

“But I think I’ll be sore in the morning.”

In commentary, Mark Skaife labelled Goddard’s actions as “out of order”.

Campbell saw Goddard go off, but didn’t expect such an aggressive rejoin.

It was the first of several incidents at The Chase in the first half of the race.

Heavy rain in the lead-in saw grass become slippery; notably, Alex Davison slid all the way into the barriers.

“Coming out of The Chase, I saw Goddard going off,” Campbell recounted.

“When you see a car go off, you expect him to rejoin a lot later, closer to the wall.

“He came straight across, I couldn’t see anything, I was close to the cars in front.

“I had nowhere to go. I was hard on the brake. You can’t do anything in that situation.

“It’s a big shame.”

Wood was inconsolable once he returned to the Brad Jones Racing garage.

Co-driver Andre Heimgartner slammed the driving standards, saying drivers were racing like "absolute losers”.

Wood was merely “spewing” to see a strong opportunity go begging.

This weekend's event was Wood's 14th Bathurst start.

“This whole build-up is about this one moment,” the 2013 Super2 champion said.

“It’s about going racing. I felt like we had a very good opportunity.

“For it to be over so soon, it’s gutting.

“I’m absolutely spewing."

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