Days after an "embarrassing" Supercars round in Perth, Holden's Walkinshaw Racing has sensationally sacked high-profile team manager Adrian Burgess, effective immediately.
Team owner Ryan Walkinshaw made the bold call to provide a "fresh start" amid frustration over a horror season start bubbled to the surface last weekend at Barbagallo Raceway.
Leading driver James Courtney slammed the team's performance in a TV interview after another underwhelming display.
Courtney and teammate Scott Pye struggled to crack the top 20 at Perth to sit 15th and 18th respectively in the drivers' standings after four rounds.
"We are calling ourselves a top-level team and we are qualifying in the 20s," Courtney told Fox Sports.
"It is very embarrassing for me and I am sure for all these guys here.
"It is immensely frustrating. Something has to happen."
Walkinshaw felt the same way, dumping the team boss he had controversially poached four years ago from Triple Eight Race Engineering.
"It has obviously been a difficult start to the year from a racing perspective and I came to the conclusion that a fresh start was the way forward," Walkinshaw said.
"The entire team will continue to work hard and are extremely passionate about achieving success.
"It is not in our nature to step back from the challenges that racing in such a competitive category presents us."
Mathew Nilsson will be acting manager until the team find a permanent replacement.
Walkinshaw ran out of patience with Burgess after the team promised a new era in 2017.
Forced to ditch their Holden Racing Team moniker after losing factory backing, Walkinshaw Racing also injected new blood by replacing veteran driver Garth Tander with Scott Pye alongside Courtney.
But all to no avail.
Burgess moved from Formula One to help Courtney claim the 2010 Supercars title with Dick Johnson Racing before linking with Triple Eight the next year.
He helped them win the 2011 and 2012 championships before being lured to Walkinshaw Racing.
When Triple Eight boss Roland Dane learned Burgess had signed with rivals Walkinshaw Racing in mid-2013, he abruptly sent the team boss on "gardening leave" for the rest of the season.
Burgess made up for lost time on his official arrival in 2014 at Walkinshaw Racing, overseeing a major restructure by downsizing a four-car team to just two.
But he never regained his Midas touch, enjoying just seven wins over three seasons with Walkinshaw Racing.
Their highest placing on the drivers' standings during his stint was sixth by Courtney (2014) and Tander (2015).
Share
