Kiwi Supercars Championship driver and points leader Scott McLaughlin has thankfully emerged unscathed from a big incident in qualifying at the Vodafone Gold Coast 600.
McLaughlin, appearing to run wide in the second phase of the opening chicane, clipped the inside tyre wall before rocketing across the track into the concrete wall on the other side. The secondary impact caused a roll-over, with McLaughlin's Mustang sliding down the road before coming to a stop.
Numerous marshalls quickly came to McLaughlin's aid, with Shane van Gisbergen also stopping on track to join them in extricating McLaughlin from his rolled car in a superb example of camaraderie.
“I’m just terribly sorry for everyone at the team, Shell V-Power Racing,” said McLaughlin. “They gave me a great car. We were trying to do a shootout lap then, I was practicing for the shootout.
“It surprised me, when it hit and went that way, by the time I was on my side I was like ‘Geez’. It all happened real quick. So, I'll give myself a bit of a clip around the ears, but terribly sorry.
“First up I want to thank Shane for pulling up and seeing if I was alright, so I say thanks to him but that was a big one. [...] Thankfully we built a great car, everyone does in Supercars, and we’re safe. People will learn from this incident and hopefully we can make safety even better for the next few years.”
“Not a nice feeling to come around the corner and see one of your mates on the side way after the corner,” added van Gisbergen. “I mean, it must have been a big shunt. I helped him out but the medical team were there fast, and all the fireys and stuff.
“So thanks to them. Saw him get out. He’s pretty shaken but he’s okay. He’ll be fine. But not nice. It’s irrelevant who it was when I first saw it, I just wanted to get there and help. You’d do it for anyone in the field. It wasn’t a good thing. I don’t know what to say, it was shocking.”
McLaughlin thankfully emerged unscathed. It's since been confirmed that he and co-driver Alex Premat will no longer be competing in this weekend's racing due to the extent of the damage. This means that the championship battle will not shift to the next round of the series; the Sandown 500.
The crash completed a very interesting qualifying session, following the sudden and immediate stand down of fellow Kiwi Richie Stanaway.
The GRM driver was stood down for reportedly missing the morning's signing session. In his absence Dylan O'Keefe will race the No. 33 Boost Holden today with Chris Pither. Garry Rogers wouldn't elaborate on the stand down, except to say that there are more discussions to take place.