Supercars driver Chris Pither has become the first major casualty of the Bathurst 1000, crashing at Forrest’s Elbow late in practice two.
The session was red-flagged and declared after Pither, Brad Jones Racing’s co-driver, slammed his Holden Commodore ZB into the outside wall as he prepared to begin the journey back down Mount Panorama.
Pither had been driving at about 180km/h on the approach to the corner, before crashing and likely doing serious damage to the front-right suspension of the No.96 car.
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“It’s actually hit very hard. Like nasty hard,” commentator Greg Rust said on the Fox Sports broadcast.
“That looks like it’s a nasty hit on the front of that car.”
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Pither’s accident followed an incident involving teammate Macauley Jones during practice one, in which the car was suddenly engulfed by smoke while exiting The Cutting.
The suspected cause was power-steering problems.
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The car returned to the session but endured more drama when Pither crashed, forcing the team into an overnight rebuild.
The Supercars will return to the track for practice three at 10:40am (AEDT) on Friday.
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