The Bathurst 12 Hour witnessed two scenes that were as unbelievable as they were chilling at Mount Panorama Circuit, Australia. In just the first few minutes of the race, German driver Christopher Mies crashed his Ford Mustang GT3 into a kangaroo at more than 250 km/h (155 mph), and hours later another violent crash forced the race to be stopped with a red flag for almost an hour.
The first incident occurred when only 20 of the scheduled 720 minutes had been completed. On the Conrod Straight and with low visibility, the Mustang of the HRT Ford Racing team struck a kangaroo that suddenly appeared on the track. The impact destroyed the windshield and put the car out of the race.
"I don't know where it came from. It must have been very fast and sudden, because there was no prior warning, no yellow flags or anything, and no radio message warning that there was a kangaroo near the track," Mies explained after the crash.
The driver, who is a two-time winner of the race, managed to get out of the vehicle on his own, although he was visibly shaken. He also commented that his windshield was "completely destroyed" and "he couldn't see anything" when he got out because it was "covered in blood." According to specialized media, the animal died instantly.
The German driver was treated at the circuit's medical center and did not suffer serious injuries, although he was later transferred for additional checks. After what happened, he called for a review of the safety measures on a circuit where wildlife appears every year: "I think we should think about delaying the start of the race, maybe instead of 5:50 in the morning, maybe 7 or 8, and finish later, or put up a big fence," he suggested.
Hours later, a second major accident occurred. Austrian driver Johannes Zelger hit the wall in the McPhillamy Park section and his Porsche was left damaged and sideways on the track at Forrest’s Elbow. In a blind corner with no room to maneuver, Estonian driver Ralf Aron, older brother of Paul, reserve driver for Alpine, crashed almost at full speed with his Mercedes-AMG into the stationary car.
Mercedes No. 77 caught fire in the front section and the track was blocked, which forced race control to stop the race for almost 56 minutes with a red flag. Aron, who had been fighting at the front, staggered out and was taken to Orange Hospital for tests.
Beyond these incidents, and after several interruptions along the way, victory finally went to the Mercedes-AMG of Team GMR driven by Maxime Martin, Maro Engel, and Mikael Grenier.
