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Two-time champion Rick Kelly has been handed a lifeline for this year’s Bathurst 1000 after his teammate Paul Radisich ruined their Toll HSV Dealer Team Commodore in a high-speed crash.
The No.15 car was scratched from tomorrow’s big race leaving Kelly without a drive.
But in bizarre scenes, the co-driver in HSV’s No.16 entry, David Reynolds, was pulled out for “exceptional circumstances” leaving a spot free for Kelly to join regular fulltime teammate Paul Dumbrell.
Reynolds has been on the drip this week battling gastroenteritis but still drove in the second-tier Fujitsu series race today.
In the end the team deemed Reynolds would not be capable of completing his full stint in the gruelling 1000-kilometre event.
Dumbrell and Kelly will start from fourth on the grid.
“I’m obviously stoked to be able to have a car but it’s a hard one because my thoughts are still with Paul,” Kelly said.
“It’s mixed emotions, to be honest.”
Radisich’s crash occurred in the day’s earlier practice session, leaving the New Zealand driver with a broken ankle.
The throttle was stuck, causing the 46-year-old to first clip the wall at about 180km/h before skipping across the sand trap at speed and hammering the safety barrier head on.
Two years ago Radisich was involved in another serious crash at the mountain and had to be airlifted to hospital after being extracted from the wreckage.
He also suffered a broken ankle on that occasion.
Meanwhile, Holden driver Paul Weel has been cleared of any serious injury after his collision with Ford driver Chris Pither in practice on Friday.
Pither walked away but both cars involved have been scratched for the weekend, leaving 26 cars in the field.
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