According to court documents and reports out of the United States, Habul had his Hendricks Edition 2018 Camaro ZL1 1LE towed to a Chevrolet dealership after it failed to start.
The 6.2-litre supercharged V8 had just under 1600km on the odometer from on-track activities and was recently valued at $144,000 ($97,000 USD).
Habul reportedly told the Connecticut dealership “under no circumstances was any employee to take the vehicle off the lot”.
According to the report, service advisor Matthew Sebastian ignored the request of Habul and the dealership’s boss and took the car off the premises.
Habul filed a negligence and recklessness lawsuit in which he claimed the service advisor lost control of the car at 113km/h after he “gunned the engine” on the Interstate 95 highway.
According to the car’s data recorder, the throttle had been pressed 95 percent.
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Per court documents, Sebastian crashed the car into a guardrail. The driver was not wearing his seatbelt but sustained no injuries.
Habul claimed the driver was “deliberate and reckless” in his actions and had carried out “highly unreasonable conduct”.
Habul also claimed the driver should have known the car could only be operated by someone “highly experienced” and “is capable and knowledgeable about the car’s capabilities and dangers”.
The expat Australian behind SunEnergy1 is reportedly seeking “full restitution” from the dealership for failing to carry out “the simple task of diagnosing and repairing a broken clutch switch” as requested.
Habul, who filed the case in mid-June, is also seeking court costs and punitive damages.
North Carolina-based Habul won the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2022 with Martin Konrad, Jules Gounon, and Luca Stolz and took victory again a year later with Gounon and Stolz.
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