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Motorsport
Motorsport
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Andrew van Leeuwen

Infamous Mustang returns to Bathurst

News of a third wildcard for the 2022 running of the Great Race, a 28th entry in total, broke earlier this week.

Anderson Motorsport, which regularly competes in the third-tier Super3 Series, will tie up with Dick Johnson Racing to run the one-off entry.

Team owner Michael Anderson, a Bathurst local, has agreed to buy one of the powerhouse squad's spare Mustangs.

The car will be used for the Bathurst 1000 wildcard before running in Super2 next season as the Gen2 cars filter down to the second tier.

Anderson, 37, will be one of the drivers for the Bathurst 1000 wildcard with the second driver yet to be formally confirmed.

The three-time Super3 race winner has already had the wildcard entry, as well as his Superlicence exemption, signed off by the Supercars Commission.

“[Racing in the Bathurst 1000 is] something I’ve had in my head for a few years and I’ve looked into it moreso since it was announced that the Mustang would move into Super2 next year,” Anderson told the V8 Sleuth website.

“Then I got talking to [DJR co-owner] Ryan [Story] and he asked me what my goals were, and I said I’d love to race in the 1000. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and I was getting the car I wanted to buy anyway, so it’s a bit of a case of two birds, one stone.

“My Superlicence has been approved. Competing in the Bathurst 1000 has been my biggest dream in motorsport and I’m getting to make it happen.”

The car Anderson has purchased comes with a checkered history at the 1000.

From the DJR Team Penske era, the car was Fabian Coulthard's regular steed for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

That means it was the car Coulthard was driving when he was infamously delivered the "debriss" radio message that ultimately led to DJR copping a record $250,000 fine for an Obligation of Fairness breach.

Coulthard was told to exercise "extreme caution" and warned of debris, mispronounced as "debriss" by his engineer while teammate Scott McLaughlin was leading the Bathurst 1000 less than 30 laps from home in 2019.

The Kiwi slowed dramatically based on the instruction, holding up cars with fuel in hand and ensuring McLaughlin could pit without ceding track position.

McLaughlin and co-driver Alex Premat were allowed to keep their race win but the team was slapped with the $250,000 fine, $100,000 of which was suspended, along with a 300-point deduction in the teams' standings.

Coulthard and Tony D'Alberto, who finished sixth on the road, were also demoted to 21st in the final Bathurst results.

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