Bathurst 12 Hour Halted for McLaren After Skyline Incident
The Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour race saw a significant setback for the Volante Rosso Motorsport team on , as their #720 McLaren 720S crashed out at Skyline, ending their race prematurely. The McLaren, the sole Silver class entry in the competition, suffered extensive damage in the incident, which occurred with just under six-and-a-half hours remaining in the endurance event.
Rylan Gray, at the wheel, lost control of the McLaren as he crested the brow of Skyline, snapping sideways across the kerb and initiating a slide. The car made initial contact with the inside concrete barrier before being propelled left and into the adjacent wall, sustaining damage to all four corners. Gray was able to extract himself from the vehicle seemingly unharmed.
Armful of oppo and CRUNCH!
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— Intercontinental GT Challenge (@IntercontGTC) February 15, 2026
Commentator Garth Tander offered insight into the incident, explaining, “Across the top, just loses the rear over the kerb and you’re in trouble right there. Gets the wall and that’s it, you’re straight into the outside.” He further elaborated on the deceptive nature of the Skyline section of the track, noting, “When you go across Skyline, ninety-nine percent of the time you think ‘I’m actually not going that fast here’. And it’s only at the moment when you lose a little bit of control and you lose the rear there, you realise how fast you’re going, carrying that speed down to the Dipper. You just cant get the car pulled up. ABS, no ABS. All the rest of it, does not matter.”
The crash brought an end to the race for Gray and his co-drivers: Bayley Hall, Marcos Flack, and Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer. The Volante Rosso team’s hopes for a competitive finish in the Silver class were dashed by the incident.
Prior to the crash, the McLaren had already faced adversity in the race, receiving a six-minute stop-and-go penalty for ignoring blue flags. This penalty undoubtedly hampered their progress and contributed to the challenging circumstances leading up to the Skyline crash.
As of just shy of the six-hour mark, the race lead was held by Mikael Grenier in the #888 Team GRM Mercedes-AMG, followed closely by Jules Gounon in the #75 Express camp Mercedes-AMG. Augusto Farfus rounded out the top three in the #46 Team WRT BMW M4. The incident involving the McLaren did not immediately alter the top of the leaderboard, but it did remove a competitor from the field and potentially impacted the overall race dynamics.
The Bathurst 12 Hour is renowned for its challenging circuit and demanding conditions, and the crash involving the Volante Rosso McLaren serves as a stark reminder of the risks inherent in endurance racing. The Skyline section, in particular, is known for its potential to catch out even the most experienced drivers, as highlighted by Tander’s commentary.
