James Courtney's ultimatum from wife ahead of Bathurst 1000
It's been a whirlwind few weeks for Supercars driver James Courtney ahead of the Bathurst 1000.
The veteran driver eloped with newlywed wife Tegan (nee Woodford) just last week, marrying at the Brisbane registry before Courtney headed to Mt Panorama for the biggest race on the Australian calendar.
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While Courtney is preparing to partner with Zane Goddard for Tickford in the 161-lap endurance race, Tegan will be watching from the Gold Coast, where she is expecting to give birth to the couple's first child within the next two weeks.
After a beautiful and small ceremony with family and close friends last week, she's now hoping Courtney simply makes it back in time for the birth.
Her stress levels, understandably, are a little bit higher than usual thanks to the wet and wild conditions that have battered Bathurst this week.
Tegan told the Daily Telegraph she was 'spewing' not to be in Bathurst this year, but admitted the Gold Coast was a bit more comfortable than Bathurst this time around.
“It sucks that I am not down there this time, I’m spewing,” Tegan said.
“But it’s OK. I would rather give birth on the Gold Coast than in Bathurst, so I have just got to choose that over going to Bathurst.”
“But I will be pretty upset if he does come when James is in Bathurst,” she added.
“I joke with him and say: ‘Don’t bother coming home’ if I’ve had the baby while he’s in Bathurst.”
Importantly, Tegan wants to see Courtney and Goddard finish the race in one piece on the notoriously tricky Mt Panorama circuit.
Conditions have been so bad that the Saturday top 10 shootout was cancelled for the first time in Supercars history, due to flooding on the track.
“I’m like: ‘You better be bloody careful’,” Tegan said.
“I keep telling him to drive safely and don’t do anything stupid. It doesn’t help with all the rain that is predicted either.”
Wild weather at Bathurst 1000 forces cancellation of top 10 shootout
Cam Waters says he feels like he's done "half the job" after securing pole for the Bathurst 1000 with the top ten shootout cancelled due to unsafe track conditions.
Waters will start from the front in the Great Race with torrential rain at Mount Panorama cancelling the shootout for the first time since it was introduced in 1978.
Motorsport Australia officials spent over an hour deliberating whether to let the top 10 drivers from Friday's first qualifying session take to the track to decide their starting order for Sunday's race.
But it was deemed unsafe after the final Super2 and Toyota 86 series races were also canned, with rivers of water running on the track at times.
"I feel like I've done half the job ... but respect the decision they've made," Waters said.
"If we end up in the fence, tear the car up and then not be able to race it tomorrow, that's probably the bigger issue for me."
Supercars CEO Shane Howard said the amount of water that flooded the track was unsafe for driving, with all teams in agreement.
"Obviously disappointed that that's occurred but at the end of the day, you can't compromise safety and we'll have 28 cars on the grid for tomorrow," he said.
The full starting grid was instead decided on the results from Friday's first qualifying.
It means Tickford Racing's Waters will start from pole for a second time, having also secured the spot in 2020.
Waters will be flanked on the front row by 2021 champion co-driver Lee Holdsworth, who is participating in his final race around the mountain.
With AAP
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