Ford star explains Bathurst 12 Hour ending kangaroo incident

Chris Mies has hailed the safety of his Ford Mustang GT3 after walking away from a scary incident at the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour.

The Mies/Dennis Olsen/Broc Feeney #64 HRT Ford Racing Mustang was taken out in the opening 20 minutes after Mies struck a kangaroo.

Mies, a two-time Bathurst 12 Hour winner, struck the kangaroo on Conrod Straight in full darkness.

The crash resulted in “irreparable damage” in a statement provided by Ford Racing. Mies, meanwhile, climbed from the Mustang GT3 under his own power, and returned to the paddock.

Jayden Ojeda’s #6 Mercedes-AMG Team Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO also collected the kangaroo in the incident, sustaining damage which has hampered the Pro entry ever since.

"I'm glad I'm standing here right now talking to you, obviously was a very, very big impact at a very high speed,” said Mies, who despite the incident, insisted he “still loves Australia."

"I think that was probably the first big hit for Mustang GT3, and I'm really happy that they built such a safe race car, Ford Racing and Multimatic.

Mies showered twice before returning to the circuit to talk to his team, and clean his race helmet.

On the incident itself, Mies said: “In the moment I saw the kangaroo, that was the moment I hit it.

"So there was no pre-warning. I didn't see any flag, so I think it might just have woken up and started to run. I was just in the wrong time, in the wrong place.

"I'm just gutted for the team, HRT and Ford Racing, that we couldn't do the full race."