Pye’s ‘control-alt-delete’ reset

Scott Pye has vowed to erase his first event for Team 18 from memory after a weekend of misfortune.

Pye was a key player in the silly season, switching from Walkinshaw Andretti United to join 2015 champion Mark Winterbottom in an expanded Team 18 set-up.

Running in DEWALT colours, Pye’s Adelaide race preparations were hindered by a suspension failure in Friday practice that speared him into the Turn 7 wall.

That prevented the #20 Commodore from running in Practice 3, with repair works taking until almost 4am on Saturday.

Pye did a solid job amid communication issues to take 15th in the opening race but there would be more bad luck to come.

The 30-year-old was an innocent victim in a Sunday lap 1 melee, collecting the spun Commodore of Anton De Pasquale at Turn 9.

Pye’s car ultimately finished stranded two corners later, unable to make it back to the pits, and with another repair job for his crew.

“I just got down to the Turn 9 hairpin on the first lap and there was a car spun,” Pye recalled.

“I came around and was almost on the exit of the corner but clipped the front wheel and it pulled the suspension out of our car.

“It’s really unlucky for the whole crew.

“Most crews have had a tough week in pitlane, but for us in particular we had a lot of bad luck with the component failure on Friday and to not score any points on Sunday was disappointing after an unavoidable incident.

“We’ll control, alt, delete this weekend and reset for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.”

The Albert Park circuit, which will also play host to the 2020 Formula 1 season-opener, holds special significance to Pye as the site of his maiden Supercars win.

That came in a 2018 thriller – WAU’s only victory in the past three years.

While Pye sits 21st in the championship, Winterbottom is equal eighth in a fine start for the IRWIN Racing entry.

Featuring a four-race format, the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400 will take place across March 12-15.