By Matthew Sullivan
Copyright news
Richards, the son of five-time Bathurst 1000 champion Steven and grandson of seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Jim, was caught up in a nasty incident on lap 1 of a support race on Friday afternoon.
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Coming out of Turn 1, several Toyota 86 cars made contact with each other and were lucky not to flip over, as Brock Stinson spun sideways in the middle of the track and got T-boned, but walked away from his car.
Richards was sandwiched in and got crunched in between two cars with nowhere to go, leaving his car sitting still on the track.
Another Toyota 86 car, driven by Harrison Blanchard, hit Richards from behind, causing significant damage to Richards’ car.
Watch the Bathurst crash in the video above
Several cars crashed into each other as debris flew everywhere, as Richards and Stinson sat stationary on the track.
“Absolutely smashed into the side of the car and we’ll instantly jump to a safety car here,” Chad Neylon said in commentary.
“Look at the damage on that car, it is torn to pieces.”
“Not something you see very often in this category, there is a tendency of incidents to happen on the straight after turn one. But never in an 86 have I seen that happen,” GR driver Alice Buckley said.
“Happened really quickly. We were lucky to not end up with a car on their roof over here.”
Richards was taken to pitlane in an ambulance and was in a conscious, stable condition speaking to medical staff.
The 24-year-old reported back pain and was taken to Orange hospital by ambulance for further assessment.
“Clay is thankfully conscious and communicating with the medical crew,” Neylon said.
“He’s been transported by road to Orange Hospital. He’s in a stable condition and there for observation.”
Neylon said: “We’ve got 34 cars, not a lot of room, and unfortunately this can happen. It was just pinball, wasn’t it?”
The Toyota 86 series was immediately red flagged and abandoned, while Practice 4 of the Supercars was briefly delayed.