Rookie's huge Volvo shunt in the wet underlines safety of Supercars
The Supercars Championship Pirtek Enduro Cup kicked off in explosive fashion over the weekend. Tempers flared, emotions ran high, and all of the goodness that tends to float up to the surface during the high-pressure endurance season was there to see.
It's been a while since we witnessed a properly juicy Sandown 500, but last weekend's event handed us everything — including a dramatic high-speed smash on the opening lap.
Unfortunately the crash happened to series debutante James Golding. On his first ever hit out in the main game, the 20-year-old impressed — setting competitive times in practice for Garry Rogers Motorsport and Volvo S60 co-driver James Moffat, before laying down a confident performance in the opening qualifying race.
All it took was a lick of contact in turn one to undo all of that fine work.
Photo / Robert Cianflone, Getty Images
Lightly grazing the side of Jack Perkins' HRT Holden Commodore just after the start, little did Golding know that his front-right wheel had grazed the exhaust tips of Perkins' car — triggering a slow puncture. By the end of the back straight the tyre, under a significant amount of force, gave in, sending Golding directly into the wall at around 150kph.
Golding was thankfully OK, emerging out of the smashed S60 under his own steam before being taken from the wreck by an ambulance.
The Supercars Championship were quick to splice together every key angle of the crash into one spectacular bit of film, which you can watch here.
It's always said in these scenarios, to the point where it does sound a bit cliché, but; all this footage is a testament to just how safe and well built these cars are today.