Bathurst 1000 rivals furious after 's**t' Zane Goddard mistake sparks chaos

The opening laps of the Bathurst 1000 have been marked by absolute carnage, with two safety car periods called within the first 10 laps as drivers struggled with a wet track.

The race only got through one corner before chaos erupted up Mountain Straight, with four cars tangling as the jostled for position.

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Race control had warned the drivers on the formation lap about water that had pooled on the right hand side of the track, and with the entire field thundering up a subsequently narrower racing line it was almost inevitable that all hell would break loose.

Incredibly, only the entry of Zak Best and Thomas Randle found the wall as a result, with Jamie Whincup and Jack Perkins able to continue on - although the latter had to limp back to pitlane with suspension damage.

While the lap one tangle was deemed a racing incident with nobody to blame, Zane Goddard's incident at the exit of the Chase on lap five won't be looked on so kindly.

Goddard locked his brakes and was forced to take to the infield after an attempt to pass Greg Murphy went wrong.

Inexplicably though, he didn't slow the car down by the time he rejoined the track, and with the sodden run-off areas offering little to no grip he had no control when he got back on the tarmac.

Goddard spun and made heavy contact with Matt Campbell, slamming the Grove Racing driver into the wall, while he also collected Dale Wood, ending his race early as well.

Speaking with Motorsport.com after the incident, Goddard apologised to the other drivers and accepted responsibility for the crash, saying he simply couldn't get the car to slow down on the wet and muddy infield.

“On the grass it just kept sliding. I kept dabbing the brake but it wasn't doing anything, it was just making me spin more. So I tried clearing the brakes to just sort of straight it out, and when I rejoined I was sideways," he said.

“It's super s**t on my part. It's not really acceptable. I'm pissed off at myself.

“I owe the team a big apology, I owe Dave a big apology, Dave and his team, all their teams. It's completely my fault. Once I was on the grass there was nothing I could do."

Chaotic start to Bathurst 1000 leaves Brad Jones Racing furious

The incident sparked a furious response from several drivers, notably Wood's co-driver Andre Heimgartner.

“As most said through these interviews it is like these people don’t realise it is 161 laps and they are driving like losers,” he said when interviewed by Channel 7.

“Hopefully they get their s**t together and we don’t have more Safety Cars and ruin more cars.

“Tickford, everyone puts in so much effort and for everyone to take everyone out like that, and especially the last one, it is wild.

“I will be surprised if my car isn’t seriously damaged and will need to be rebuilt on the G. That is not what everyone needs.”

The scenes also sparked a significant response from fans on social media as well.

Team boss Brad Jones was relatively circumspect given the massive damage to his car, but concurred with Heimgartner about the overzealous driving in the first six laps of the 161-lap endurance race.

“(Andre) is probably taking it better than me to be honest. I mean what can you say, we’ve had two safety cars in the first seven laps," he said.

“I guess the elephant in the room is starting co (drivers). It’s a 161-lap race, goes for six-and-a-half hours or something. I mean, I don’t know what’s going on.

“... I get it, accidents happen but this is a very, very long race and to win it you’ve got to be there at the end.

"Some of the stuff that’s going on at the moment is just, I think anyway, a bit unnecessary.”

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