His Ford Mustang hit the wall at the Grate and caused considerable damage, which include tearing the right front wheel from the car.

“Up over the top, he ran a bit wide there,” said his father, Todd. “Right at the grate, just a foot wide, steering jammed and you are gone after that.”

The steering does bind on the cars, and as other drivers verified, does take time to get used too.

“The thing is toast, though we’ll have a proper look. I don’t know if we have got that kind of gear here to fix it.

“He is pretty upset,” Todd Kelly added.

“The amount of work he has put in to get to here and that happen after the first practice session, he is beside himself, that and disappointing the sponsors that got him here.”

“It would be great if I could get it fixed for him, but it is not looking good.”

Following a maiden season as part of the Supercars development pathway, Mason Kelly made the step up to Super2 after he scored four podiums and fourth overall in Super3.

A relative newcomer to racing, Kelly had previously gained experience in the one-make Excels and Sports Sedans in a MARC I V8.

The second-generation racer and Aaron Cameron are teammate in SCHRAMM Group Racing in a pair of Gen 2 Mustangs as raced in the 2022 Supercars season before rebuilt in the off season.