A second Ford Mustang has gone up in flames at Albert Park in shocking scenes that rocked the Supercars field on Saturday.
James Courtney said he could smell smoke before he saw flames from the front left of his car and immediately tried to nurse it back to the pits.
Vision showed an absolute fireball engulf the Tickford Racing entry as Courtney pulled up.
Thankfully Courtney was able to quickly exit the vehicle as rival pit crews raced to help.
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“I saw the flames and said to the guys I could smell something from the front left corner,” he told Fox Motorsport.
“Then I could see the flames. I just tried to get to the pits. They’ve got all the fire stuff to try and save the car.
“Probably similar to what happened to Nick (Percat). Seems like it’s the same spot. It’s not good.”
Courtney’s Mustang is the second to go up in flames after Percat’s fire was sparked by an electrical component failing on Friday.
“Flames billowing out the front this car – that is not a good look,” commentator Neil Crompton said.
“That’s seriously on fire that one.”
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The fire just adds to what’s been a dramatic weekend at the Melbourne SuperSprint for Courtney after he lost his podium placing in race two.
Officials determined Courtney was to blame for an early crash that turned David Reynolds around.
As a result, he was slapped with a 30-second penalty that dropped him to 22nd.
Race five was only two laps old when the Courtney drama unfolded. At the same time, Anton de Pasquale and Mark Winterbottom were forced out of the race after a big crash.
“I just got sent,” a dejected Winterbottom said after the “nasty hit”.
“Obviously any time you hit the wall isn’t good,” de Pasquale said.
“I’m not sure exactly what happened, but someone got into me pretty hard. It seems unnecessary.”
After all the drama, it was Brodie Kostecki who claimed his second career win – and his second this weekend, ahead of Will Davison and Bryce Fullwood.
But moments after the race, Davison and Fullwood were stripped of their podium finishes and both slapped with 15-second penalties for unsafe pit releases.
Crompton said the “seas were parting” for reigning series champion Shane van Gisbergen who jumped from fourth into second ahead of Will Brown in third and Chaz Mostert fourth.
“The silliest things, the simple things in this game (can hurt). It’s a congested pit area,” commentator Mark Skaife said.
