PCR and Tasman go down fighting

Two of the V8 Supercar teams that competed at the Sydney Telstra 500 have, effectively, closed their doors, but they both went down fighting.

Paul Cruickshank Racing and Tasman Motorsport have both sold their respective V8 Supercar Racing Entitlements Contracts and will not take part in next year’s championship, although both teams proved to be very competitive on teh Sydney streets.

PCR’s Wilson Security-back team finished Sunday’s second race in fifth and 12^th (Fabian Coulthard and Michael Patrizi respectively). Team owner Cruickshank told Speedcafe.com.au that it was a credit to his team of guys who never dropped their heads.

“I was so grateful to my guys to working hard to the end, They never rolled over. Everyone did a good job,” he said.

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“After the highs of our mid-season, it was good to form back on the board.

“We showed integrity right to the end, getting two cars into the top 12 and from my point of view, it’s a reflection of the calibre of the guys that I had in my team.

“We had a pretty open forum with the guys about the whole thing. At the start of the weekend, everyone was keen to get it over, but as it went on, everyone could see that we were competitive.

“The most difficult part was at the end of the race yesterday. Quite a few of the long-standing guys were pretty emotional. It was quite a difficult 10 minutes.

“Fabian said something really nice to them all over the radio at the end of the race. It was a rollercoaster weekend.”

The PCR team will have one final hit-out at Oran Park tomorrow (Tuesday) for a ride day for sponsors and supporters.

For Tasman, it was a case of speed didn’t equal results. Greg Murphy was rubbed out of the first race when he copped a penalty before a collision with Jack Perkins. He finished seventh in Sunday’s race.

For Murphy’s team-mate Jason Bargwanna, he took seventh in Saturday’s race before a heavy incident with Dean Fiore in the last race of the year.

The Tasman Motorsport Commodores will be taken over by sister team Greg Murphy Racing to compete in next year’s Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.