The opening Supercars qualifying session of the Adelaide 500 has been declared due to the Turn 8 chaos and the grid will be shaken up as a result.
Only five minutes of running was possible before a session-ending red flag arrived due to Richie Stanaway, Cameron Hill and David Reynolds all finding the infamous Turn 8 concrete in quick succession.
Stanaway was the first to clip the inside kerb and hit the outside wall, but made it back to the pits, while Reynolds ended up on top of Hill after the two Camaros had separate incidents.
Whilst the Grove Racing crew repaired Stanaway’s Mustang, MSR and Team 18 have the misfortune of facing an all-night repair.
After initially stating the session was “in suspension mode” after 27 minutes under reds, the officials eventually made it official it was “declared.”
Before the crashes only five minutes of action were possible with Will Brown leading the way with a 1:19.4425 – three tenths clear of Cam Waters, Thomas Randle and Broc Feeney.
Some familiar and unfamiliar names including James Courtney, Matt Payne, Aaron Love, Jaxon Evans, Macauley Jones and Bryce Fullwood will also appear in the one lap dash.
Stanaway was 11th and Kostecki 12th just missing out, while the likes of Chaz Mostert and James Golding never posted a time.
Many were left shocked as lightning struck thrice at Turn 8 with all three drivers clipping the inside kerb before having heavier hits with the outside wall.
Reynolds opened up to Fox Sports and said he made a “silly mistake” as he tried to back off due to the yellows as he approached the rapid right hander.
“I am brand new which is the unfortunate part,” Reynolds said.
“There were some yellow flags and I did not know what was going on on the other side so I tried to lose a bit of speed but stayed on the brake a bit too long and turned myself into the fence and had a crash myself.
“I was probably a bit over committed so it was a stupid mistake.
“There were shadows across but that is not my excuse.
“I feel sorry for the boys and hopefully they can fix it and get it out tomorrow.
“We had one of the fastest cars.”
Before the Turn 8 drama, there was a small five minute window to post laps.
Brown and Randle suffered kerb strikes first up, which allowed Feeney to go on the attack and post a 1:20.1913 with his first attempt.
Only Courtney and Payne got within four tenths in the opening laps.
Brown responded to his kerb strike by posting two purple sectors to head to the top with a 1:19.4425.
Kostecki was on a hot lap, but he never got the chance to set that time due to the Turn 8 chaos.
Stanaway was the first on the scene, clipping the inside wall, which led him into the outside.
The whack was enough to make the #26 Mustang airborne for a moment, but he was able to carry on and make it to the pits.
However, the same could not be said for the others.
Hill made the same mistake, but there were much greater consequences.
The MSR Camaro crunched the concrete very hard on both sides of the track, removing the left front wheel and destroying the left hand side.
Hill continued to spin out of control all the way to the braking area of Turn 9.
But behind him Reynolds was the third to get too much of the Turn 8 kerb and fired into the outside fence.
The Team 18 driver lost control of his #20 Camaro under braking and careered into the outside wall.
Reynolds then skated along the outside fence and could not avoid climbing over the top of Hill’s stricken Chev.
With barriers bent and Camaros on top of each other, officials had no choice, but to wave the red flag.
Impressively the Grove Racing mechanics repaired the #26 to return to the track when the session would resume, but it never did.
With the session declared, Practice 3 is next at 10.00 ACDT on Saturday morning followed by an open Top 10 Shootout at 12.35.
Image: Peter Norton EPIC Sports Photography
Supercars VAILO Adelaide 500 Race 23 qualifying results
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