Car vs. kangaroo: scary accident in the race with Valentino Rossi
Truly unbelievable what happened during the Bathurst 12 Hours: the race was marked by many accidents, one of which involved a kangaroo. On the third lap Christopher Mies, at the wheel of his Mustang, struck the animal that entered the track by climbing over the fence: the impact was extremely violent and the German driver’s car sustained serious damage. Debris from the car, along with some parts of the unfortunate kangaroo, were hit by other cars but fortunately no driver was injured. After the accident Christopher Mies had to raise the white flag: his Mustang was destroyed.
The winner was Maro Engel: the Mercedes-AMG driver had an incredible race after starting from position number 29. Second place went to the Porsche 911 GT3R of High Class Racing with Dorian Boccolacci, Anders Fjordbach and Kerong Li. The #46 crew of Team WRT with Valentino Tossi, Raffaele Marciello and Augusto Farfus finished the race in third place, an excellent result that certifies the great progress of the team. The Dottore, coming out of the pit-line, slightly lost control of his #46 BMW, and hit the pin delimiting the pit lane. The intervention was very quick and without consequences for driver and car, but enough to convince the’organization to send a safety car to the track.
The second, more substantial safety car arrived about two hours into the race due to an incident involving the Audi-BRM #268 of Mark Rosser, who then managed to restart. Another interruption occurred at the stroke of the third hour, when the IRC GT #111 lost its rear wing on the descent to the last chicane: the element ended up in the escape route without causing further damage. During the sixth hour Rylan Gray went off the track in the upper part of the track in the #15 McLaren-Volante Rosso. Two hours later new misadventure for the Audi-BRM, this time with James Golding forced to retire permanently after a violent impact. On the restart, there was then multiple contact between Zelger and Aron; the latter was rescued and transferred to the hospital for assessment.
The last safety car came into action at the penultimate hour, when Earl Bamber damaged the #2 Corvette-Johor JMR in the mountain part of the circuit. Among the most exciting phases should also be highlighted the accident of Chaz Mostert in the #222 Mercedes-Scott Taylor Motorsport, a car that had been fighting for the top spot in the early stages before being penalized by an extended pit stop.
The Bathurst 12 Hours is one of the most iconic competitions in world motorsport, capable of combining tradition, technique, challenge and pure spectacle in the unique setting of the Mount Panorama Circuit, one of the most difficult and fascinating tracks in the world.
