The aeroplane that delivered the Peter Brock Trophy to Bathurst 1000 on Sunday is under investigation after it hit a wall at the track.
The plane — piloted by aerobatic expert Hayden Pullen — seemingly damaged part of its rear wing when it made contact with the concrete wall on Mountain Straight.
The specially designed aerobatic aircraft did take off again after the trophy was delivered, and no one was hurt.
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But now the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has stepped in, launching a ‘short’ investigation and grading it as a “serious incident”.
“The ATSB is investigating a collision with a barrier involving an Extra EA 300-LT, VH-XKW, about 10 km west-south-west of Bathurst Airport, New South Wales, on 13 October 2024,” the bureau said in a statement.
“After landing at the Mount Panorama racing track, the aircraft struck a wall at the edge of the track, resulting in minor damage.
“The evidence collection phase of the investigation will involve interviewing the pilot and the collection of other relevant information.
“A final report will be released at the conclusion of the investigation. Should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify relevant parties, so that appropriate safety action can be taken.”
The trophy had been flown from Penrite Racing to Sandown to Queensland before landing at Bathurst.
Pullen is a veteran pilot with 25 years of experience.
The plane he was flying was reportedly a built-for-purpose aerobatic aircraft with a custom-performance engine. It was said to be one of the fastest planes of its type in Australia.
The plane wing hit the wall when Pullen turned it around on the track.
Fans were shocked at the time.
“Dude in the plane collected the wall and just took off again with bits hanging off like it aint no thang. That’s Bathurst for ya,” one said on X (formerly Twitter).
Another said: “The Repco plane delivering the Bathurst Cup to Steve Richards inadvertently landed on the grass, bounced twice, hit the concrete divider when doing a U-turn … WTF.”
And another: “I thought we were about to see air crash investigations after that horizontal stabiliser hit the wall.”