BATHURST: Mostert accident resets 2015

Chaz Mostert’s massive accident that ended Friday afternoon’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 qualifying after just a couple of minutes will have massive ramifications for both the weekend and the drivers’ championship.

Mostert suffered a fractured left femur and wrist in the violent accident that also destroyed his $500,000 Pepsi-Max Ford Falcon FG X.

The car glanced the concrete at Turn 16, ricocheted across the road into the wall at Turn 17 and then tried to climb over the wall on the short straight leading down to the Dipper.

Mostert’s accident sent seven marshals flying for cover. Four were uninjured, two were treated at the scene for minor injuries and one was transported to Orange hospital in a stable condition.

After receiving treatment in the course medical centre from category medico Dr Carl Le, Mostert was airlifted to Orange hospital.

The accident forced the cancellation of the rest of the day’s racing activity at Mount Panorama. Qualifying had yet to be rescheduled as this was written.

Mostert’s injuries and the destruction of his car ruled one of the favourites out of the race. He is the defending race winner and had been among the fastest drivers on the mountain all week. His co-driver Cam Waters had been fastest co-driver in practice earlier in the day.

But the accident also means Mostert’s shot at winning the V8 Supercars championship has ended. It is unknown when he will return to racing, but it will be months.

He trails team-mate Mark Winterbottom by 198 points with 12 races to run in the championship, with fellow Prodrive Racing Australia David Reynolds driver third, 360 points away in third. The winning combination will collect 300 points on Sunday.

Winterbottom was already the favourite to win his first championship and this accident will cement that favouritism.

“I can give you the tip Mark’s pretty upset at the moment and I’m sure that’s [championship position] not even crossed his mind and nor should it,” said team boss PRA Tim Edwards.

“The most important thing at the moment is Chaz’s health and well-being,” Edwards stated

Looking beyond this weekend. PRA must also find a substitute for Mostert, most likely for the rest of the season. Waters is the obvious candidate. He will also need a co-driver for the last two driver race in the championship, the Gold Coast 600, in two week.

“That’s certainly a line of thinking,” said Edwards.

“There could be other lines of thinking but that certainly could be a line of thinking

“We’ll be thinking about it and talking to people as well, that started once we understood the extent of his injuries.

“We have to start thinking about it, Gold Coast is only two weeks away, ” Edwards stated.

Race authorities called a stop to on-track activities after Mostert's crash, in part due to damage to catch fencing. It's not clear yet if the session will be re-run on Saturday morning or whether teams will be limited to a single qualifying session, ahead of the traditional Top 10 Shootout.

Images: Colin Baker