"I hope he is alive".
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That was driver James Koundouris' first thought when he saw his team-mate Ash Walsh involved in a crash that ended the Bathurst 12 Hour last Sunday.
The crash that red-flagged the prestigious endurance event sent shock waves through the racing community and it could have been much worse.
Walsh connected with the wall before John Martin, travelling at almost full speed in a Mercedes-AMG GT3, collided with the motionless Audi and momentarily lost consciousness.
Walsh was transferred to hospital with cartilage damage and required minor elbow surgery.
Koundouris has backed the formation of a committee that will look at “how we can make racing across the top of the mountain safer”.
“Immediate thoughts were 'I hope he is alive'. That's the first thing that came to my mind,” Koundouris said.
“He's back home. He's feeling a bit light-headed, he probably suffered some concussion. He had an operation on his elbow, it was cut to the bone.
“But most importantly, he's alive. That may not have been the case if it was a right-hand drive car.
“It was [scary]. There's a lot of social media in regards to why John Martin didn't slow down in the Mercedes.
“John Martin did a great job on that corner where the car is light, it's blind, he's doing probably just under 200 kilometres, to get that car sideways and not t-bone Ash.
“In fact I'd say John most probably, to some degree, saved Ash's life by getting the car sideways. Very lucky, both of them, very lucky.”