Tony D’Alberto believes Jordan Cox was “out of line” for comments he made suggesting payback will be forthcoming for an incident at the latest TCR Australia Series round.
D’Alberto collided with Cox in the final race of the SpeedSeries weekend at Queensland Raceway.
Damage to the Peugeot 308 meant Cox would retire moments later after being spun out at the following corner.
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The Garry Rogers Motorsport driver unleashed after the incident, suggesting he’d return serve at the following event at Sandown Raceway.
“D’Alberto lined us up with a beauty, so there’ll be payback for him at the next one,” Cox told Stan Sport commentator Chris Stubbs.
“I hope he’s got a good damage bill to cover what’s coming.”
Despite the contact, D’Alberto’s Honda Civic suffered no serious damage and he continued on. However, a 10-second penalty meant he was demoted from third to 10th.
“I hadn’t heard it until after the event, but I had a lot of messages on my phone straight away. A lot of my supporters and friends and family going ballistic at Jordan,” said D’Alberto on Stan Sport’s Short preview for the Sandown SpeedSeries event.
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“He’s obviously upset after the race. As soon as I got out of the car, I went and saw him and apologised and he couldn’t really talk at the time, he was pretty angry.
“Some of those comments I think are a little bit out of line. I’m not sure whether he’s criticising himself because I’m no good to win the championship because we beat him in the championship – obviously we’ve done a reasonable job there.
“Once tempers quieten down a little bit there we’ll get to Sandown and we’ll go racing hard again.”
D’Alberto won last year’s TCR Australia Series title for Wall Racing. From 19 races, he only finished outside the top 10 in three of them.
Having dropped the No.50 from his door in exchange for the No.1 tag, D’Alberto said there is great emphasis on his rivals beating him.
“I honestly don’t believe he’s out to get me, but I must admit having the No.1 this year definitely puts a bit of a target on your back,” the Bathurst 1000 podium finisher explained.
“There’s more incentive for people to be in front of you and pass the reigning champ and all that sort of stuff. It adds a little bit of spice to the racing. I’m sure it’s great from the commentator’s booth.
“I don’t hold it against him. We’re all there, we’ve put got our heart and soul into the racing and it’s good to see some passion from him that he’s obviously very keen to win races and try win this championship.
“If he just flobbed it off and didn’t worry about it then he’s not in it for the right reasons.”
The TCR Australia Series continues at Sandown Raceway – Melbourne’s ‘Home of Horsepower’ – on September 9-10.
Cox sits fourth in the standings on 400 points, 13 points clear of D’Alberto.
The series is still led by Bailey Sweeny, although his lead has been sliced down to just one slender point. Aaron Cameron holds down third.