Cars repaired after Townsville Super2 crash

Overnight repairs have ensured cars damaged in Saturday’s lap 1 crash in Townsville will take to the track on Sunday.

Race 1, won by Jack Perkins, began in high drama following a crash triggered by contact between Cooper Murray and Brad Vaughan at Turn 3.

Battling over second, Vaughan and Murray crashed into the wall on driver’s right, with the Tickford Autosport Mustang spearing into the wall.

Behind them, Cameron McLeod was sent into the wall after contact from Zach Bates as the field bunched up behind the crashing Vaughan and Murray.

Bates’ teammate Campbell Logan was also ruled out, while Jordyn Sinni also sustained damage. Sinni briefly carried on, only to stop on the following lap after the field was brought under the control of the bp pulse Safety Car.

The incident earned the ire of Matt Chahda, who negated the chaos to move from 24th to ninth. All drivers avoided punishment, with the stewards’ report reading: "The Deputy Race Director conducted a post-race investigation into an incident involving Car 5 Bradley Vaughan and Car 88 Cooper Murray between Turn 2 and Turn 3 on Lap 1 including review of available broadcast and judicial in-car vision in consultation with the Driving Standards Advisor.

“The Deputy Race Director determined that on the available evidence neither driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident and the matter did not require referral to the Stewards.”

Bates’ car was repaired at 7:00pm local time, with teammate Logan’s car also requiring repairs that went through to 10:00pm.

The McLeod Commodore, which required extensive repairs after his Perth rollover, was completed at approximately 11:00pm, while the Vaughan car — which picked up heavy front and rear damage — completed at approximately 1:00am.

Eggleston Motorsport were still completing repairs on Murray’s Holden at the time of publication, but the #88 is expected to take part in Boost Mobile Qualifying, which starts at 9:30am AEST.

The field has been reduced, however, following Dean Fiore’s major incident late in the race.

Fiore, standing in for Jett Johnson at AIM Motorsport, suffered a brake failure into Turn 2 and hit the wall at approximately 150km/h. Fiore walked away from the crash, albeit with a sore ankle.