Tickford rues 'one-in-a-million' incident

Tickford Racing boss Tim Edwards has labelled the rear wing incident that wiped Cam Waters and James Moffat out of Sandown contention a "one-in-a-million thing”.

The #6 Monster Energy Mustang was a wounded force all day in the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 after a freakish incident when Moffat was behind the wheel.

Starting third, Moffat ran fifth behind Garth Tander when the #26 Penrite Mustang was sent into a spin when the left rear wheel came loose.

As Tander spun into the barrier, the errant wheel bounced in the path of Moffat, hitting the rear wing off the Monster Ford.

Such was the shock of the incident for the team, that Moffat was serviced and sent back out before being returned to the lane for repairs.

With a wounded Ford, Waters took over and slumped to 21st, which became 20th when Mustang rival and former teammate Chaz Mostert was penalised over a late clash with Tickford rookie Declan Fraser.

Tickford’s best finisher was down in 12th — James Courtney/Zak Best (#5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang) — with Fraser/Tyler Everingham (#56 TRADIE Mustang) 13th.

Thomas Randle/Garry Jacobson (#55 Castrol Mustang) dropped 13 laps thanks to a steering issue.

"Today was frustrating. Unlucky is the understatement of the day,” said Edwards, who oversaw Sandown 500 wins in 2006 and 2015.

"To draw some positives, Tyler Everingham and Garry Jacobson did a terrific job. To come in as co-drivers and perform like they did is great.

"We had good car speed and better tyre life than we expected, so some good things to take to Bathurst.”

The lowly finish, coupled with Triple Eight and Erebus owning the top four spots, saw Waters drop to seventh in the standings, and is now 621 points behind series leader Brodie Kostecki.

Tickford now turns its attention to the Repco Bathurst 1000, where Waters has taken two of the last three pole positions and three straight podiums, two with Moffat.

The 60th anniversary running of the Great Race will be held on October 5-8. Tickets are on sale now.