'Scary moment': Bathurst race rocked by terrifying high-speed crash
Garth Tander is a lucky man after walking away from a terrifying high-speed crash at Bathurst unharmed.
On a day of carnage at the Bathurst 12 Hour enduro at Mount Panorama on Sunday, Tander's incident was particularly frightening.
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The former Supercars series champion lost control of his Audi and hit the tyre barriers at McPhillamy Park at top speed in the third hour.
Thankfully the 42-year-old was uninjured in the incident, despite understandably being a little shaken.
Tander got in a tangle with Audi teammate Dries Vanthoor and was sent hurtling across the sand trap at top speed.
The car slammed into a tyre wall a short distance away from a section of fans who witnessed the carnage close up.
Concerned viewers were quick to send their well wishes to Tander after the scary incident.
That's a massive hit for Tander. I'm surprised there isn't catch fencing between the wall and the fans. They could have been showered in all sorts with that crash. #Bathurst12hour
— Gareth Hall (@GT2_Driving) February 1, 2020
Thank goodness for the tyre bundle. Glad to see you are ok.
— David French (@DavidFr44416363) February 2, 2020
Wow GT! That was a hard hit! Glad you’re ok! Wow! What a ride!
— Duane Boyle (@DuaneBoyle6) February 2, 2020
Gutted for you mate. Don’t have any luck at the 12 hour. Just one of those racing incidents I guess!
— Daniel Aquilina (@dantheracer99) February 2, 2020
Crazy crash #Tander #Bathurst12hour
— James Stacey (@James_Stacey_) February 1, 2020
Huge shut @GarthTander glad you are ok.
— Corey Innes (@InnesCorey) February 2, 2020
Sorry for ya mate, but glad ya r okay!
— Jacco 🇳🇱 🇭🇲 (@tioninee) February 2, 2020
So glad you’re ok! Looked like a scary ride!
— Kirsty K - Work From Home Mum 💻 (@KirstyKortum) February 2, 2020
“It just happened so quick up there at the top of the mountain,” Tander told the broadcast.
“Dries was quite wide and I was only half a car length narrow, and it changes the hump and the cars have been nervous there all weekend anyway.
“It just swapped ends on me… I tried to be narrow and keep the car tight to miss Dries, and I was off-pace.
“Just a little change in trajectory and it killed it."
Mount Panorama claims big scalps
Some of Supercars' biggest names were also claimed by Mount Panorama by the halfway mark of the race.
Former Bathurst 1000 winner Chaz Mostert and seven-time King of the Mountain Craig Lowndes both experienced their share of trouble.
Many teams weren't so lucky with the original 39-strong field reduced to 25 for the final hours of the race set to end at 545pm AEDT on Sunday.
Mostert's Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW entry was ruled out due to overheating.
They were already two laps down after co-driver Nicky Catsburg hit a kangaroo.
"Unfortunately hit a kangaroo (also for the kangaroo) in one of my first laps out," Catsburg posted on Twitter.
"The bonnet was slowly giving up and then finally it broke in a slipstream due to all the vibrations."
Two-time Bathurst 12 Hour winner Lowndes' quest to again stand on top of the podium appears in trouble after the Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche entry he shares with co-drivers Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor dropped from sixth to 15th due to brake issues in the seventh hour.
There was early drama after the pre-dawn start when Supercars enduro co-driver Warren Luff's MARC II caught fire in pitlane due to a fuel leak.
Then Supercars driver Tony D'Alberto's Lamborghini crashed out at The Dipper on lap 44 with co-driver Julian Westwood at the wheel.
With AAP