Winterbottom annoyed with damage from 'dumb' incident

Mark Winterbottom cut a frustrated figure following a post-race incident with Todd Hazelwood in Sydney.

Winterbottom crossed the line 12th in the rain-affected race, which was won by Chaz Mostert.

Just behind was Hazelwood, who made contact with Winterbottom heading into Turn 1 at speed.

Both cars came to a rest in the gravel trap; there, Hazelwood appeared to apologise to Winterbottom as he alighted from his car.

Hazelwood explained his account of the incident to the broadcast after the race, as did Winterbottom.

With his #18 IRWIN Commodore in pit lane, Winterbottom lamented the work required by his mechanics to fix his car.

Hazelwood chases Winterbottom

“Shit happens,” Winterbottom told Supercars.com.

“It was dumb… what can you say? It was stupid.

“When you’re flat out after the chequered flag… it’s as bad as a dangerous reentry or passing under yellows.

“The hardest part is seeing the damage; we have a ride day tomorrow and the guys have to fix the car. It’s behind me in pieces.

“I feel for them; I drive the car, but I don’t want to bring it back like this.”

Ironically, Winterbottom and Hazelwood will leave Sydney equal on points in the championship.

The 2015 champion was otherwise pleased with the year-on-year gains in Sydney with his car.

Across the four Sydney events in 2021, Winterbottom’s average finish was 13.2, with just three top 10s from 10 starts.

While this weekend’s results didn’t show for it, Winterbottom felt he had made major gains, something he initially felt in pre-season testing.

“Our race pace was pretty good. We ran around with the fast guys which is nice,” he said.

“The tyre life was better than last year. We’ve definitely made inroads.

“We’re not at the pace we want to be, so there’s work to do.”

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