Race 32 of the Repco Supercars Championship has been red-flagged after a pile-up at the exit of the Beach Chicane which caused a car to catch fire.
It appears that all drivers are out of the four heavily damaged cars which remain on-track where the carnage occurred, namely those of Nick Percat, James Golding, Broc Feeney, and Macauley Jones.
It was the latter’s #96 ZB Commodore which caught fire, with the flames now extinguished.
Replays showed that Golding, who was running 10th, made a mess of the chicane complex on Lap 4 and smashed into a tyre bundle.
That caused not only the #31 PremiAir Racing ZB Commodore to kick sideways and Golding to lose control, but also dislodged said bundle.
Several cars came to grief either by striking the stray tyres and/or running into Car #31 or others which had been caught in the chaos, with the track temporarily blocked.
In addition to Golding, Feeney, Percat, and Jones, Todd Hazelwood and Lee Holdsworth also stopped on-track after incurring damage.
Jack Smith, Tim Slade, and James Courtney also incurred significant damage, with the former two parked on the main straight under the red flag while the latter is back in the Tickford Racing garage.
As it stands, Will Davison leads in the #17 Shell V-Power Mustang.
He qualified second and bettered pole-sitter Shane van Gisbergen (#97 Red Bull Ampol ZB Commodore) when the lights went out, before getting a nudge from Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus ZB Commodore) which caused him to straight-line the front chicane.
Officials reviewed the incident but determined that no further action be taken, meaning van Gisbergen remains second and Mostert third, from Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) and Brodie Kostecki (#99 Boost Mobile ZB Commodore).
A number of other cars are also already sporting battle scars, including the #11 Shell V-Power Mustang of Anton De Pasquale who is currently eighth and was thus just ahead of the carnage which unfolded next to the beach.
A restart is estimated at about 14:55 local time/15:55 AEDT.
Update 15:49 AEDT
It appears that clean-up has been completed at the exit of the Beach Chicane and also at Turn 11, where a car had also stopped with damage.
Update 15:50 AEDT
Golding released from medical centre.
Update 15:52 AEDT
Safety Car leads field away from main straight.
More reports to follow
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