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Mixed Bathurst weekend spurs Cody Burcher on
Turtle Wax Trans Am Series rookie Cody Burcher’s Bathurst weekend can be best described as a tale of perseverance.
In what was a tough weekend already after missing his set-up in qualifying and being baulked on a few occasions, Race 1 didn’t go to plan either for Burcher as clutch failure occurred at the start.
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“It was a difficult weekend,” Burcher summarised.
“In the opening race, as soon as it started, I pulled second gear and had no drive.
“I guess if it was going to happen, down the bottom of the Mountain was the best place for it to do it, so I came straight back into the pits and the boys got working on the car for Race 2.”
What occurred next was rapid work from Burcher’s crew to complete a change as it had added pressure due to the unique scheduling at the Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour splitting Races 1 and 2 by two hours.
With limited experience his crew completed the repairs just prior to the pre-grid for Race 2.
“We discovered it was a clutch failure, so that was frustrating,” Burcher reflected.
“Once we figured it out, the boys did an unreal job to diagnose the issue straight away as we hadn’t done a clutch change with a Trans Am before.
“A lot of the stuff was new to them, but we did a full clutch change in an hour and a half. I just got to the pre-grid of Race 2 with a bout 10-minutes to spare.
“It was a tight timeframe, but to do complete it was just exceptional and couldn’t ask for a better crew to get me out there.”
Climbing to 11th from the back in Race 2 proved Burcher’s pace as he now turns his focus to Sydney Motorsport Park where limiting degradation will play a big factor.
“It was a fun weekend, with plenty to take into Sydney Motorsport Park,” he said.
“I’m really excited for Sydney Motorsport Park, once again it’s a circuit I’ve been to and familiar with so I can focus on chasing the car a little bit to get the best out of the package.
“It’s going to be very dependent on how the tyres are looked after and I think the philosophies of how we drive these will change again.
“It’s about making the best of both worlds.”
The Turtle Wax Trans Am Series features as part of the third round of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships at Sydney Motorsport Park on May 27-29, which is headlined by fellow Australian Racing Category the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series in addition to the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship and Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters s part of the SpeedSeries.
Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge, the Australian Production Car Series, Radical Cup and the Australian Prototype Series complete a stacked program of categories.
CLICK HERE to secure your tickets.