How Miedecke escaped big scare
George Miedecke was thrilled to walk away from the GT4 Australia season opener with a podium after surviving a wild 195km/h moment at the final turn.
Miedecke and co-driver Rylan Gray were in the thick of the fight for victory and ended up with third, but they came so close to losing everything.
After Gray sat solid in second across the first stint, the #100 Ford Mustang GT4 was a victory contender.
However, Miedecke got caught in traffic on the out lap behind the #24 McLaren of Nathan Morcom and Lochlan Hennock.
Things came to a head at the final corner where Miedecke got out of shape on exit and speared through the outside gravel.
The experienced operator used his nouse and a bit of luck to ensure it was just the lightest of taps with the outside tyres and he could carry on.
The scare saw Miedecke lose over 10 spots and fall down to 19th, but this did not stop him charging all the way to an impressive third.
Miedecke was thrilled to secure some silverware from the eventful opening race and was amazed with the minimal damage he sustained.
“I am a bit hard on myself and did not need to make that mistake, but felt the balance of the car was pretty loose anyway,” he told Auto Action.
“It was just a case of pushing that little bit too far.
“We were right in the middle of the pit stop window and the winning McLaren was in clear air so it was a pivotal point of the race.
“I took it too close to the wind and once I got in behind his dirty air and in the aero wash I was gone and very fortunate to get away with it.
“I helped a bit because the lose was that long I had time to think about it.
“I came off the brake, off the brake, off the gas, off the gas and in the end I had to do a bit of sticker work and apologise to the boys for sandblasting the underside of the car.
“But to come back and finish on the podium was pretty decent and I was happy with the times.
“It was as good as we could have hoped for.”
Miedecke and young gun Gray will be chasing redemption in Race 2 at 10.30 AEST.
Image: 7Plus
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