GT / Tourism

Kangaroos, flying cars and rescue pilots: a crazy Saturday at the 12 p.m. from Bathurst

Several spectacular accidents punctuated testing for the 12 Bathurst 2020 Hours, during which Dirk Müller and Renger van der Zende courageously provided assistance to colleagues. Kangaroos also disrupted the sessions. 

Published on 01/02/2020 à 11:01

Medhi Casaurang

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Kangaroos, flying cars and rescue pilots: a crazy Saturday at the 12 p.m. from Bathurst

Clichés die hard in Bathurst (Australia). The country's animal symbol, the kangaroo, has decided to race with the GT3 field entered in the Bathurst 12 Hours, first round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) 2020. 

As soon as it opened, the qualifying session was interrupted with a red flag so that the animals left the premises! Fortunately, no marsupials were hit in this story. 

 

Furthermore, the Mount Panorama circuit in Bathurst (Australia) is one of those uncompromising tracks that drivers appreciate above all else. But the price of error is very high, particularly in the “high” portion. 

The McPhillamy Park corner (Turn 10) trapped several competitors. Dean Canto's Lamborghini Huracan flew a few meters while taking off on the protective tires. Fortunately, the area was free of spectators and marshals. 

 

In addition, the Ferrari 488 driven by Daniel Serra went off course, hitting the concrete wall in reverse. If the double winner of 24 Hours of Le Mans in GTE Pro came out unscathed, it is different for the Italian, irreparable for the race. 

 

 

The biggest accident on this curve occurred between two cars. There Mercedes-AMG of Sam Shahin, pushed by another competitor straight into the wall, was then hit at high speed by the Marc II of Tyler Everingham. 

 

Arriving on the scene, former Ford official GT driver Dirk Müller got out of his Mercedes GT4 to assist Sam Shahin. The two injured pilots, stunned, were taken to hospital for a complete check-up.

 

 

A few moments later, a violent crash led to the end of qualifying. Marvin Kirchhöfer made a mistake with his Aston Martin Vantage, before rolling away. Worried for his colleague, Renger van der Zende (Honda) did not hesitate to cut off his efforts to help the German:

 

Here again, no serious injury was detected to Marvin Kirchhöfer, who will watch the event from the R-Motorsport garage. 

 

 

In all, five cars withdrew after testing. the Aston Martin, the Ferrari, the Mercedes, the Marc II as well as the Nissan of Imperatori-Liberati-Oliveira from the first practice sessions.

Medhi Casaurang

Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!

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