The Motorsport Australia Queensland Circuit Racing State Championships’ return to Queensland Raceway was marred on the first day by a frightening rollover and fire.

Series X3 Club Queensland reported that there was an on-track incident in Race 1, and that the race was declared. It also related that all drivers are okay and that no further comment will be made on the incident at this stage.

Witnesses reported that Stevie Chant rolled at Turn 1, up to eight times, and landed on Kyler Clements. The inverted Chant Excel subsequently caught fire as several other competitors in the 40-strong field stopped to assist in the extraction of the drivers, and helped attend to the fire.

Chant’s car was burnt out while Clements’ Excel suffered considerable front damage. Both drivers were taken away for precautionary checks.

Previously, Zane Rinaldi was the fastest qualifier and was just in front of Jack Wood when the race was stopped. Treigh Maschotta was next from Tyler Collins and Will Seal.

The meeting saw the debut of the new MARC GT in the hands of Adam Hargraves. He won ahead of Darren Currie, who was a last-minute replacement in the MARC II V8 as car owner Geoff Taunton drove Currie’s regular MARC Mazda.

Third place went to Cam McLeod (MARC Mazda), who narrowly won the second race ahead of Currie with Tom McLennan (Porsche 991.1 Cup Car) third. Hargraves had a spin at Turn 6 and couldn’t restart due to a flat battery. With the MARC GT stranded, the race was finished before its scheduled conclusion.

In other categories, Brandon Madden won the first HQ Holden race, clear of a near dead heat for second between Peter Coleman and Scott Andriske. Joe Andriske came from the rear to beat Madden and Coleman in the second.

Grant Draney (Chev Monte Carlo) won both the Improved Production & Invited Sedans outings, and Chris Farrell (Swift) took out the two Sports & Racing Cars races in his Formula Ford.