A chaotic opening 10 laps of the Bathurst 1000 has seen several race retirements, including that of the Andre Heimgartner and Dale Wood entry.
Two major crashes in the first five laps have put a dampener on the early race, one on Mountain Straight on Lap 1 and another at the exit of The Chase on Lap 5, both involving multiple cars.
Other withdrawals include the entries of David Reynolds, James Courtney and Thomas Randle.
The weather which has pounded the venue all weekend had cleared by the start, a mostly-dry track contrasted by a wet in-field with damp spots in places at the top of the mountain, the only hints of the weather of the past few days.
The clouds remain, however, rain still threatening as the race began.
The grass at Turn 1 has turned to mud, a run off-line unlikely to end well for the drivers. Surface water also remained on the racing line at the the corner exit, threatening a slippery start for a number of competitors.
The same can be said in the runoff at the exit of The Chase, large in-field puddles encouraging extreme caution in the approach on the fastest part of the circuit.
The mixed grid after the cancelled Top 10 Shootout saw a series of co-drivers make the start for their teams. Greg Murphy was one of those, on the second row in the 51 Commodore he shares will Richie Stanaway.
Other Kiwis making the start include Fabian Coulthard, also on the second row, Chris Pither from 21st and Jaxon Evans from 27th.
Matt Payne will take over later in the race, Lee Holdsworth starting off the front row for Grove Racing. Garth Tander started for Shane van Gisbergen in the championship-leading Red Bull Commodore.
The field got away cleanly, a slow start for James Moffat, in for Cam Waters on pole, seeing Coulthard (Chaz Mostert) and Murphy immediately make gains into the top three. Holdsworth got a great jump off the front row to lead by several lengths into Turn 1.
The field made it through unscathed, the drama, however, beginning halfway up Mountain Straight.
A bunched midfield saw Tony D’Alberto (Anton de Pasquale) on the inside of the straight, Jack Perkins (Will Brown) on the outside of a three-wide battle, a fast Jamie Whincup (Broc Feeney) pushing to make it four-wide on the outside.
A nudge from Whincup on Perkins, after hitting standing water, saw both spin multiple times approaching the crest.
The field behind slowed to a stop due to the blockage, Zak Best (Thomas Randle) running into the inside wall at speed to avoid other cars.
On track, New Zealander Jaxon Evans was an unlucky casualty at the rear, unsighted as to what was happening ahead and making contact with the rear of the bunch.
Michael Caruso (Mark Winterbottom) was another caught in the carnage, also running into the rear of the congestion.
Whincup was one of the lucky few, emerging unscathed albeit at the rear of the field.
Best was the most unlucky, a flatbed required to remove the stricken #55 Castrol Racing Mustang off Mountain Straight, withdrawing the car from the race.
Evans and Caruso were able to return to the lane, the damage only cosmetic, both now sporting a livery of tape holding the front of the car together.
Perkins also limped back to the lane, a bent steering arm and puncture the damage. The car is now in the garage for repairs.
Restarting on Lap 4, only one full lap was completed before the next major incident.
Zane Goddard (James Courtney) was the instigator in this one after running long at The Chase. An unsafe rejoin at the exit of Turn 22 saw the Snowy Rivers Caravans Mustang collect Dale Wood (Andre Heimgartner) at pace.
Wood went wide into the wall, severe damage sustained whilst Goddard remained on track to be collected hard by the trailing Matt Campbell (David Reynolds).
The damage on all three cars was severe, all retiring from the race.
D’Alberto and Caruso were once again caught up behind, the Shell V-Power Mustang swerving to avoid the stricken Wood to make contact with the read of Caruso’s car.
This spun him as a result. He remained on-track, however, and was able to rejoin at the rear.
The race finally got underway on Lap 10, the first drops of rain following shortly after.
Holdsworth continues to lead, a five second gap the advantage. Moffat is running in second after regaining ground from his poor start, Coulthard challenging in third.
Murphy has slipped down the order and is currently running 13th.
The third safety car intervention was required on Lap 17, this time for a stranded Jake Kostecki who had run long at The Chase and become stranded in the muddy out-field.
The field came into pit under caution, strategy now establishing itself for the remaining 143 laps.
