Crash rules Quinn out of weekend

A crash in the opening race has ended Tony Quinn’s Clipsal 500 weekend early, the team withdrawing the car after damage in the opening race proved irreparable.

Quinn had endured a difficult opening day of the 2017 Australian GT Championship, with limited running following a spin at the high speed Turn 8 during practice.

His race then lasted little more than a few hundred metres, the Darrell Lea car eliminated at the first chicane.

Having negotiated the first chicane safely, Quinn had begun to move right to position himself on the inside line as the field poured onto Wakefield Street.

The faintest of touches between the Darrell Lea McLaren 650S GT3 and Max Twigg’s Australian Engineered Flooring Mercedes-AMG GT3 saw Quinn’s race end early.

The racing incident saw Quinn spin into the barrier, damaging the rear of the McLaren too badly for the crew to repair at the circuit.

The Scotsman had been set to take the 100th Australian GT Championship race start of his career on Sunday, a milestone that now looks set to occur at the Australian Grand Prix later this month.

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