ASH Walsh had hoped this Sunday would mark his fifth start in the Bathurst 1000, but instead of steering a Brad Jones Racing Commodore he will be a spectator.
Walsh was to act as co-driver for Tim Slade, the man he helped to seventh in last year’s Great Race, but was forced to give up his seat due to injury.
He has been replaced by Carrera Cup driver Andre Heimgartner, who drove in last year’s Bathurst 1000 for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.
Walsh crashed during testing at Phillip Island last week. The car he was driving rolled four times and left him with severe bruising around his ribs.
He did three laps in practice on Thursday and while sore, had hoped he would be be able to race on Sunday.
“Getting in and out of the car is probably the worst part because I don’t have good mobility,” Walsh said on Thursday. “I don’t have very good mobility at the moment and obviously it hurts to form yourself into a pretzel and try and get out.”
However, Brad Jones Racing co-owner Kim Jones said Walsh had not pulled up well after that short period behind the wheel.
“He had a very bad night last night; he's quite badly injured, or sore more than injured, and he won't be driving the car,” he said.
“So we’re going to put Andre Heimgartner in the car and roll out the B-plan we’ve sort of had in place since Ash’s accident and move on with that.”
