FORD’S maiden Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour with its Mustang GT3 is over after just three laps following a terrifying incident in the dark early stages.
Christopher Mies was running inside the top 10 when he hit a kangaroo at near top-speed just prior to the top of the hump on Conrod Straight.
The former Bathurst 12 Hour winner was unhurt but appeared to be covered with blood after emerging from the cockpit, while the front end of the #64 Mustang had significant damage on the front-left corner and windscreen.
“We had an animal on track and hit it at 250kph. Luckily Miesy’s okay,” co-driver Dennis Olsen told Kayo.
The Mustang had regularly been the fastest of the GT3 cars down Conrod Straight and was expected to be a threat for victory, its driver lineup completed by Supercars star Broc Feeney.
The Ford wasn’t the only car to hit an animal, either; the #32 WRT BMW Art Car also sustained right-front damage in the early laps after clipping a kangaroo, but the car was able to continue.
It had been a calm start to the race initially, with Maxi Götz taking the lead in the #77 Craft-Bamboo Mercedes-AMG passing the polesitting #222 STM Mercedes-AMG with Thomas Randle at the wheel.
The big movers on the rolling start were Christopher Haase (#55 Audi) and Augusto Farfus (#46 BMW), both of whom made up multiple positions by Hell Corner.
One of their victims was Marco Mapelli in the #93 Lamborghini, who was escorted wide at Hell Corner and dropped down to eighth place behind Mies.
There were other tangles further down the field, too, with the #27 Heart of Racing Mercedes-AMG losing ground after being turned sideways by a JMR Corvette on the exit of the corner.
The subsequent long Safety Car period after Mies’ mishap wasn’t without drama either.
The #50 KTM’s horror luck returned with David Crampton spinning on the approach to Murray’s Corner, ending up in the barrier on the exit.
Several teams used the lengthy Safety Car period to top off fuel, while Kenny Habul hopped into the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG to begin satisfying his driving time requirement.
Two other cars to make big gains amid the early drama were the two JMR Chevrolet Corvettes, both of which benefitted from a Balance of Performance change that reduced their rear wing angle, making them faster down the straights.
Both Jordan Love (#99 Chevrolet) and Earl Bamber (#2 Chevrolet) made up significant ground, with the former running 11th and the latter 14th having started 26th and 25th.
The race resumed on lap 12.