If Jason Bright's Supercars pit team look a bleary-eyed this morning, it's not because of a night out in Auckland.
The Brad Jones Racing engineers spent their Saturday night repairing car No.8 after a high-speed run-off at Pukekohe Park.
Bright was nudged off the track by young driver Chris Pither at 180km/hr, slowing as he flew through the grass and into the wall.
The 43-year-old walked away without needing to seek medical advice - complaining only of a sore shoulder - but his Commodore wasn't so lucky.
Extensive damage meant engineers from all three of the BJR cars had been seconded to help on Saturday night.
"There's a lot to do" was the word from the garage, with a fabrication expert brought from Australia especially for this situation proving worth the expense.
The crew stripped away the car and replaced all the rear bars and straightened the rear arms.
The engine needed to be taken out so bolts could also be attended to.
Predictions from the garage team on when they would leave the track varied - from midnight to the AM.
But they vowed to have the car ready for qualifying at 9:40am (AEDT), and Bright himself was staying positive of racing again at the regional New Zealand track.
"They'll give it a good crack to get it out there for qualifying and the races tomorrow," he told the Supercars website.
"The first thing was to get it all stripped.
"There is a fair bit of damage, a lot of the components. It's broken all the engine mount bolts as well, so it's not just the rear unfortunately."
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