Evans' 25G hit prompts BJR chassis switch

Brad Jones Racing will revert to a repaired chassis in Townsville for Jaxon Evans following his 25G crash in Darwin.

Evans’ Darwin weekend came to an abrupt halt after the Kiwi was sent into a head-on impact with an Armco barrier.

While the New Zealander walked away, albeit with foot soreness, the car — chassis BJR-016 — wasn’t as lucky.

Officials deemed the car too damaged to be repaired on the weekend, sidelining Evans.

As first reported in Darwin, BJR was bracing for a chassis switch, which has now been confirmed by team owner Brad Jones.

Speaking in a BJR video, Jones said Evans will return to chassis BJR-015, which was sidelined and repaired after his Adelaide crash last November.

“The car, when it hit the wall, the impact was 25G, which is a very, very high amount,” team owner Jones said.

“Obviously, a lot of stuff is damaged. Just to have a quick look at some of this stuff, you can see the suspension arm and how bent that is.

“It’s broken the end off the shock absorber. All these bits here are badly damaged – even the headlight. The impact has been very high.

“I’ve never seen a wheel this badly damaged and bent out of shape. It’s crazy how much damage has been done to this.”

On chassis BJR-016, Jones said it's “fifty-fifty” on whether it can be repaired, given how the 25G impact twisted the chassis.

Notably, Jones said the front clip is set for the scrap heap, while the engine mount is bent, and firewall damaged.

“His car that we repaired from Adelaide, the boys are working on,” Jones added.

“This is going to be a very slow burn. This [chassis] is going to go back to being our spare car.

“We’ve already got a centre section that we’re building on the jig at the moment.”

The 2025 season resumes in Townsville on July 11-13. Tickets are on sale now. International viewers can watch the action on SuperView.