IT was a day which began with nervous laughs as kangaroos bounded along the Mount Panorama circuit, but ended in horrific crashes for many of this year's Bathurst 12 Hour hopefuls.
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Saturday's practice and qualifying sessions at Mount Panorama were marred by a series of crashes, the worst of which saw the #62 R-Motorsport Aston Martin which Marvin Kirchhoefer was driving flip on to its roof.
Some 10 minutes into the second qualifying session, Kirchhoefer clipped the wall at the Metal Grate and lost control, the rear of his Aston Martin slamming into the concrete on the right side of the track at Sulman Park.
That impact saw his car roll before it came to a stop at McPhillamy Park.
Honda driver Renger van der zande, was the first on scene of crash. He initially feared the worst, before Kirchhoefer was able to climb out of the extensively damaged vehicle.
"I looked on the right and the whole side of the car was broken and destroyed. I saw him hanging like this [head down on chest], so I thought 'This is not good'," he said.
"The door was stuck, everything was destroyed. He straight away said he was - he looked very dizzy - but he was okay. He jumped out himself after that, I just helped him to get the door out of the way."
The damage to the car meant it will not be repaired in time for Sunday's race, but that Kirchhoefer was able to walk away from the incident was the main concern in the R-Motorsport garage.
"We're pushing flat out, we're here to do a job. There's only one thing on my mind right now and that's Marvin. I haven't seen the crash, I don't want to see the crash, I've got to go back out there now and do a job for the team," Jake Dennis, who steers the #76 R-Motorsport Aston Martin, said.
"We're pushing so hard and it's what we love, it's what we do, and it can bite us quite hard, but the main thing is he is fine and he is coming back to us."
As for Kirchhoefer, he said: "I'm just feeling so sorry right now, I know how hard they push all weekend. It was my mistake, I clipped the wall. Don't know really what happened, if it was a puncture or rear suspension broke, but I had no control any more of the car."
The final qualifying session was ended early on the back of an incident at McPhillamy Park.
The #29 Trofeo Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan, with Dean Canto behind the wheel, lost control, went through the sand trap, struck the tyre bundle then bounced up over it.
Bathurst's Grant Denyer, one of Canto's co-drivers said it was a "really scary accident."
"To see it sort of parked up on the wall is incredible, but my God, how many crashes are we going to see at this mountain this weekend?," he said.
"He was pushing really hard, we're obviously just trying to get ourselves in a nice position in our class and Dean Canto can drive, there's nothing wrong with that bloke's skills."
Denyer described the heat as "really horrific conditions" and said the track was slick as a result.
"He was finding time, but everyone's pushing so hard," he said.
"Eighty per cent of the field is hot guns from Europe in factory cars and they're even binning them, so this is going to be a fair old race of attrition.
"But I'm so glad he's okay, the car should be okay and maybe we'll continue."
The first driver to strike trouble at the McPhillamy Park section of the track was Frederic Vervisch during qualifying one.
His lost the rear in his #2 Audi R8 and ended up slamming into the tyre bundle.
Following that was an incident involving Cameron McConville (#6 Wall Racing Lamborghini Hurracan), Sam Shahin (#777 Triple Eight Mercedes AMG) and Dubbo teenager Tyler Everingham (#92 Scandia Racer MARC II Mustang).
McConville tapped the back of Shahin's Mercedes AMG, pitching it into the concrete just before Skyline.
With a huge dust cloud caused by the incident hampering visibility, Everingham then made heavy contact with the wall.
Those incidents followed on from a dramatic end to the final practice session on Saturday morning as both the #8 Bentley Continental and #27 Ferrari were involved in separate incidents.
Bentley driver Oliver Jarvis had a suspected mechanical failure at the end of Conrod Straight, seeing him run off the track into The Chase, plough through the gravel and then slam into the tyre wall.
Behind the wheel of the Hub Auto Corsa Ferrari, Daniel Serra went off at McPhillamy Park and also made heavy contact with a tyre barrier.
Garth Tander, a man with a host of experience racing at Mount Panorama, said the track conditions contributed to the incidents.
"It's just as hot as I can ever remember it here and the track goes away massively," he said.
"All these cars make their lap times across the top of the mountain, so everyone's leaning on it and so, yeah, mistakes.
"All three of our guys are saying it's as greasy as it's ever been, so I'm glad I'm not out there."
