MISHAP DRIVER ‘ GUTTED’ BY PRACTICE Ute prang crumples Madison’s race hope

TOWNSVILLE Superutes competitor Madison Dunston is hopeful she will take her place on the grid this morning despite missing both the final practice and qualifying yesterday.

Dunston’s Holden Colorado was taken off the track after crashing into the wall in the opening practice session at Townsville 400.

Her Peters Motorsport team is still unsure of what caused the incident, with the car locking up before slamming into the wall on its right side, causing damage to the front and back ends.

The Colorado was taken to an offsite garage for repairs and was not able to make it back in time for the qualifying race, which closed out the opening day at Reid Park.

Dunston’s dad, Dale Dunston, said the team would be working through the night to repair the machine before running a series of tests to ascertain how the incident occurred.

Despite missing the final two races, the 20-year-old Superutes debutante, who sustained general soreness from the accident, is hopeful ahead of racing after she was flooded with support yesterday.

“She is fine; she is just gutted for her sponsors and her supporters,” Dunston said. “She has had overwhelming support from complete strangers. One guy even came up and just handed her $100.

“He said ‘I know I can’t do much but I hope this eases the burden’. It was amazing to see that kind of support from strangers.”

Dunston was on pace with the rest of the Superutes field before the incident, which left her sixth-fastest on the grid, almost six seconds behind early pacesetter Ryal Harris.

“The car was on pace in the first session straight away; she was looking at being in the top five,” Dunston said. “She is just gutted she can’t be on the track and can’t be promoting her sponsors.

“We are just working through one issue after the next so she can be there in time for the first race (today).

“We are just going through the car from top to bottom repairing all the damage and looking at the data from today.

“The whole team is working on it tonight, just making sure we can get it ready and get it back on the track. We are hopeful she will be able to join the grid.”

After missing the qualifying session, Dunston will start from the back of the Superutes grid tomorrow and will have plenty of ground to make up.

It is Duntson’s first round in the Superutes after racing in the Toyota86 and Aussie Touring Cars over the past two seasons.