ANOTHER major crash has curtailed the last S5000 race of the Repco Bathurst 1000 weekend.
Tasman Series points leader Aaron Cameron and Luis Leeds tangled on the entry to the Chase, the contact ripping the left rear tyre off Cameron’s car and sending him spinning along the outside wall.
Both drivers walked away from their cars but the incident triggered a red flag period that led to Sunday’s Race 4 being called after just five of the 11 scheduled laps.
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Ironically, the incident confirmed Cameron as the Tasman Cup winner.
With only three official laps in the books – the result was backdated two laps after the red flags were shown, and is not enough for Race 4 to be declared a race – no points were awarded, preserving the lead that Cameron held prior to the final race.
The new champion had a dramatic drive to his title.
In addition to the race-ending crash, he’d been involved in the incident that brought out the Safety Car on the second lap after tangling with Garry Rogers Motorsport teammate Nathan Herne at Hell Corner.
Both cars ended up in the gravel, with Cameron rejoining the field after a trip to the pits for a new front wing.
The incidents left James Golding leading from Roberto Merhi and Joey Mawson when the race was called.
All four of the S5000 races across the Mount Panorama weekend were marred by incidents.
Saturday’s Race 3 was completed despite a lengthy red flag period triggered by a crash at the Chase involving Mawson, Jordan Boys and Yoshiaki Katayama.
The incident was the Japanese racer’s second of the weekend following a crash during Race 2, and the incidents meant Katayama sat out the final race.
