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A crash in Race 2 has eliminated the SRM BMW and Walkinshaw Porsche from Highlands Park and threatened to derail Bathurst preparations for both teams.
The two cars struck the concrete wall at the exit of Turn 12 after a late-race dive from John Martin in the Porsche saw contact with the Max Twigg driven BMW.
The incident came as both attempted to lap the Nick Chester/John de Veth Chevrolet Camaro.
Audi drivers Marcus Marshall and Garth Tander were also part of the accident but escaped with minor damage.
Tander, who regularly drives for Walkinshaw’s Supercars team, nailed the back of the Porsche after its initial strike on the BMW, sending it into the concrete.
Martin later apologised to Twigg and team owner/driver Steven Richards for the accident, which has left both cars on the sidelines for tomorrow’s Australian Endurance Championship decider.
“I went to the right of Max on the way in thinking I could get down the inside under brakes,” Martin explained to Speedcafe.com.
“I thought he’d seen me but he got baulked by the Camaro and didn’t know I was there.
“When he turned in I turned right as much as I could, which put me on the grass where there’s no grip and I just slid up into his door.
“Then I was trying to get out of Twiggy but I kept getting hit from behind, which turned Twiggy around.
“After that I was turning left trying to miss Twiggy and just got nailed from behind again which put us into the fence.
“It’s done a lot of damage to the car. It was just a crazy chain of events.”
Both cars were due to be air freighted out of Highlands in order to be prepared for the November 24-27 Challenge Bathurst event, which serves as a test for February’s 12 Hour.
While the Porsche now looks unlikely to make it, Walkinshaw managing director Adrian Burgess says the team will undertake a detailed assessment before making its final decision.
“We don’t want to rush it and go to Bathurst with a car that’s not right because you’re not going to learn anything,” Burgess told Speedcafe.com.
“But we’ll pull it all apart, see how much damage there really is and then make a decision from there.”
BMW is meanwhile scheduled to run the Challenge Bathurst event as well as a private test at the venue the following Monday for its two-car effort.
Like Burgess, Richards confirmed that his car cannot be repaired in time for tomorrow’s Highlands 101 but a firm call is yet to be made on Bathurst.
“We’ve got every part other than the body shell here to fix it, but there’s just too much damage,” he said.
“There’s a lot of motorsport fabricated parts in the shell and we just don’t have those bits.
“We’ve got to get the car back quickly and assess how this places us for Bathurst.
“You can do a lot in two weeks, but at the moment we just don’t know.”
Tomorrow marks the second time the Walkinshaw entry has missed an AEC round due to damage sustained in the sprint races.
It joins the factory Nissan GT-R and Tony Walls McLaren on the sidelines after they both crashed out in practice.
Burgess says the team will reconsider whether to attempt the sprint series next year .
“We’re certainly going to have to reassess what we do for next year,” said Burgess.
“You can’t do the sprints and the enduros, there’s just too much risk.
“The difference in the level and quality of the driving (throughout the field) is probably too big.”
Image sequence by Neville Bailey
