Kiwi Pither delighted with fourth placing at Bathurst
"To finish fourth in the Bathurst 1000 is something we can all be proud of."
Chris Pither
The honours went to David Reynolds at this year’s Bathurst 1000, while Fabian Coulthard was the big winner when it comes to the championship, but there was another success story.
Kiwi Chris Pither and it partner Dale Wood managed to finish fourth in their Erebus Holden Motorsport, benefitting from a steady and consistent day, where they managed to stay out of trouble.
It was an outstanding result for the 30-year-old Pither from Palmerston North, who lost his main game seat in category this year because of the collapse of Super Black Racing.
‘‘To finish fourth in the Bathurst 1000 is something we can all be proud of,’’ Pither said.
‘‘Coming into the weekend we had a few battles through practice, but we kept focused on the race, rather than our qualifying speed.
‘‘I think that paid dividends, at the end of the race Dale did an awesome job and didn’t put a foot wrong, with the car looking strong when the track started to dry.
‘‘Throughout the day we kept it straight and on the lead lap so we had something we could fight with at the end and to get that result was awesome.’’
Pither is looking for a full time drive in Supercars again next year and his performance at Bathurst certainly wouldn’t have hindered those prospects.
Unlike some of the other codrivers, he coped will with the rain, not only keeping position, but also looking to work his way through the field.
‘‘Most of the time when we started to get momentum we moved forward during the stints and we were constantly popping into the top 10,’’ he said.
‘‘The key for Bathurst is to stay on the lead lap and the guys got it right with the strategy.
‘‘There are a number of things that have to come together to get a result and they managed to make that happen.
‘‘Keeping it straight was the main thing in those conditions, especially as the second driver jumping into the car, because you’re jumping in blind and with- out any laps in the wet, those who started got to have a transition in the rain.’’
Erebus Motorsport have one of the smallest budgets in Supercars team, Luke Youlden, who was Reynolds’ co-driver, described them as a team of misfits, full of people who weren’t wanted elsewhere.
So to pick up first and fourth at the Bathurst 1000 is a magnificent result.
‘‘It’s massive, Erebus Motorsport has done an amazing job,’’ Pither said. ’’It’s a tight knit team, but everyone’s passionate within it and this is massive reward for that hard work.
‘‘But this is the goal we all strive for and to know it’s achievable and that the hard work is paying off, is amazing. Everyone in the team deserves these results.’’
Meanwhile, compatriot Shane van Gisbergen was left disappointed with his day, believing he threw away he opportunity to win the race, eventually finishing fifth.
‘‘We were pretty happy with our race car today,’’ van Gisbergen said.
‘‘We did a good job the last few days to make it good and we had a pretty good opportunity to win today.
‘‘Matty (Campbell, his codriver) made a couple of mistakes, but rebounded really well every time and his pace was exceptional.
Our car was very hard to drive and that caught him out a couple of times, but otherwise he did a really good job.
‘‘At various stages we were competitive, then when we weren’t we still fought back from it, but I just made too many mistakes at the end there, misjudging the conditions, being the pioneer at the end there and we threw it away.’’