Shane van Gisbergen SLAMMED in Bathurst wet weather CHAOS as more drivers pile into the barriers

The heavy rain wreaks havoc at the Bathurst 1000 as drivers struggle with grip – but rain wasn’t to blame when series leader Shane van Gisbergen collided with the back of Macauley Jones’ Holden and his car crashed into an annoying guardrail.

Wild weather continues to plague the mountain as experts drop the wettest Bathurst ever. causing slippery conditions that caused drivers in all categories to break loose.

In today’s qualifying alone, former V8 Supercars champion Jamie Whincup and Dunlop Super2 Series driver Kurt Kostecki slid into the hurdles.

Kiwi champion Van Gisbergen cannot blame the rain, however, after throwing Jones into a wall late yesterday, resulting in a three-place grid penalty.

He was putting in a hot lap late in the day when he hit the slower-moving Jones at Turn 13 on the Mount Panorama track, cramming the New Zealand driver into a gap that wasn’t there.

Jones’ car required extensive repairs as the force of impact with the barrier tore parts of the left rear of his V8, while the axle was bent. His team, Brad Jones Racing, worked until 2:30am to keep their hopes for the Bathurst weekend alive.

Team owner and father of Macauley, Brad, questioned the verdict of 2021 champion Van Gisbergen.

“Here you can win the race from last place… it’s just disappointing,” said Jones Snr.

“Even on dry land you can’t get two cars through that part of the track. So I guess Shane is a little unsure of what he was thinking. It was obvious he was committed and he was trying to pass.

It may have been a little blood on his part, I’m not sure. Look, the penalty is the penalty, he did so much damage to the car, but we’ll fix it and get it going again tomorrow.”

Race cars spin out at the end of Conrod Straight, with rain wreaking havoc all over the Mount Panorama circuit

Van Gisbergen said the incident was “a shame” but was confused as to why Jones didn’t let him pass.

“I’m confused because he went very wide in the first corner and lost almost a second of his lap before,” he said. Big sports world.

“And then at the top it looked like he let me go, so I went down the hill.

“Then he came back to the line and I couldn’t stop and bumped into him.”

‘The contact is my fault. But what led to it… his lap was ruined in turn one.

“He saw a car overtook him… he doesn’t have to come to my side because he was still on my lap.

“But I thought at the moment he had full turn one and then he stopped to let me go.

“I feel sorry for his men that they have to fix the car.”

The penalty goes into effect for Saturday’s Top Ten shootout and means last year’s 14-time winner cannot start higher than fourth.

Van Gisbergen celebrates after winning race two of the Townsville 500 during the 2022 Supercars Championship season

The John Lord/Ray Molloy Mini crashes at the 1974 Bathurst 1000, the fifth wettest race ever.

The 2016 champion was able to drop to 13th position for Sunday’s 16-lap race, making his climb up the ranking difficult given the barrage of rain.

The Kiwi wasn’t the only driver to be fined for his alleged careless driving, and Jake Kostecki was fined for a red flag violation.

The 22-year-old Perth driver was fined $10,000, with $5,000 suspended, when he was clocked at 220km/h on the Conrod Straight.

Four-time Bathurst legend Jamie Whincup was also a victim of the wet conditions, crashing into the tire barrier in the first corner after losing control in qualifying.

This year’s ‘Great Race’ will be one of the wettest ever, with a forecast of up to 35 millimeters of rain on Sunday.

The 2000 Bathurst race is considered the wettest yet, with 21 millimeters of rain producing 13 safety car calls – a track record.