THEY were one of the real success stories of the 2018 Bathurst 12 Hour as they snared a surprise podium, but unfortunately for Black Swan Racing there will be no repeat this Sunday.
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The team which had placed third outright and first in class 12 months ago had its 2019 campaign come to an end during Thursday practice.
Their distinctive green Porsche 911 came to grief at The Chase five minutes into the second practice session.
Driver Tim Pappas – who was to share the wheel with Jeroen Bleekemolen and Marc Lieb on Sunday - sustained fractures to his right arm and pelvis. He is currently in Sydney receiving treatment.
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The car sustained too much damage to be repaired before the start of Sunday’s Bathurst 12 Hour, that bad news adding to an incident at last weekend’s 24 Hours of Daytona which left Black Swan’s second Porsche 911 GT3 R badly damaged.
“Of course it’s a difficult way to end the weekend,” Pappas said in a team statement.
“After last year’s [class] victory we came in very confident on the weekend, but ultimately I’m fortunate that the accident wasn’t worse than it was.
“Thanks to all the guys as well as Porsche Motorsport for putting together a safe car, the injuries could have been more severe. We’ll regroup and see what the next steps are.”