Mount Panorama claimed its first high-profile victim without a racing lap being turned.
Former champion Garth Tander will not start Sunday's Bathurst 1000 after a spectacular crash during final practice.
A brake failure on his Holden Racing Team Commodore sent Tander's co-driver Warren Luff out of control at the end of Mountain Straight. Luff slammed into the back of Craig Lowndes' Red Bull Racing Commodore before both cars made heavy contact with the wall.
Luff's impact with the safety barrier was so violent it flipped the Holden onto its side, leaving Luff temporarily trapped inside the car.
The team initially hoped to have the car repaired in time for the race, but with less than 24 hours and extensive damage to the car, the decision was taken to withdraw the car from the race, leaving Tander and Luff as spectators.
"It's not a decision we've taken lightly," said HRT team manager Adrian Burgess. "However, safety always comes first and we're just glad that Warren is OK after his accident."
The Red Bull Racing team worked frantically throughout the day to get Lowndes' car repaired for the top-10 qualifying shoot-out, but the hasty repairs meant he struggled during his lap. Fortunately he had qualified a provisional ninth fastest, so he only dropped to 10th on the grid.
Lowndes remained confident and the team was expected to work into the night to fine-tune the car.
"We'd made some [set-up] changes overnight [before the crash] and the balance of the car was better," Lowndes said.
Read more: at The Sydney Morning Herald
