Bizarre failure parks brand-new Erebus Camaro

Cooper Murray was left on the sidelines for the second time in as many years in the opening practice session of the Tyrepower Tasmania Super 440.

His first competitive outing in a brand-new Erebus chassis, the second-year driver didn't even get two corners into the opening practice session of the weekend until it all unravelled.

Turning into Turn 2, the #99 TotalEnergies Camaro suffered a sudden and catastrophic failure in the left-front corner, which spat Murray into the gravel.

Murray didn't make contact with the wall, but it was an inauspicious end to his session, before it had really begun.

It appeared to be the outer ball joint on the bottom wishbone that had broken, with Erebus unable to get the car back on track before the chequered flag.

"Just as soon as I hit the kerb, I felt something break in the left front, so it's a bit unfortunate," said Murray upon return to pit lane.

"The boys did an amazing job building this car and getting it ready for this weekend, but we'll just have to get it back, assess what's wrong, and hopefully we can get it fixed before the next practice."

In 2025, Murray missed the first practice session after Erebus had fixed the incorrect drop gear ratio to the #99 Camaro.

At the start of race week, Erebus and Murray completed a "faultless" shakedown over 60 kilometres at Winton.

Practice 2 followed at 2:55pm local time, with David Reynolds fastest in Practice 1.