Sunday’s Bathurst 1000 started pretty ok, with no incidents whatsoever for Jim Beam Racing duo Steve Johnson and David Besnard. But things changed drastically on the 112th lap of the 161-lap endurance event, Besnard hitting a tire bundle and crashing with his car spilling fuel which then ignited along the track.
The track exploded into a snaking inferno that consumed his car and a few meters around it, while he was trapped inside the vehicle. Fortunately, fire marshals were quickly on the scene, managing to get the driver out of the car unharmed, and to put out the fire that started on the track.
“I’ve had some big accidents, but I’ve never had flames – that was no fun at all.”
“My eyes were stinging a bit from the fire extinguisher. I think [the fire marshals] thought I was on fire – I was covered in the stuff. But I’d rather have a bit of that over me than flames.
Holden rookie Cameron Waters, 17, also hit a wall and had a lengthy spell in the pits but managed to return to the track.
After the whole incident, it was New Zealand’s Greg Murphy behind the wheel of the Pepsi Max Commodore from the Kelly Brothers’ stable who emerged as the quickest to be the surprise pole sitter.
The Holden Racing Team driver won by less than three-tenths of a second in the 161-lap race on the 3.8-mile Mount Panorama circuit.
