Percat slams "laughable" van Gisbergen contact

The awkward clash between the two Brad Jones Racing drivers and van Gisbergen started on the way into Turn 5 on the opening lap, with Percat run slightly wide by Hazelwood.

That cost Percat enough momentum for van Gisbergen to get into his rear bar, which spun him into Hazelwood.

The clash took Percat out of the race, while Hazelwood dropped to the back of the field and could only recover to 18th.

Van Gisbergen, meanwhile, was slapped with a drive-through penalty for his role in the clash. He went on to finish 11th.

Speaking to Fox Sports right after seeing a replay of van Gisbergen's on-board, Percat said the contact was "laughable" and that the Kiwi should have rolled out of the throttle.

"That's actually laughable. Unreal," he said. 

"He's having a Shane day where he doesn't bleed out of the throttle. Disaster. 

"Hopefully it will be a nicer day tomorrow, I've got some more tyres up my sleeve unintentionally. It would have been nice if Shane had feathered the throttle a bit to not cause a car accident, but yeah..."

The Darwin opener was a miserable affair for BJR, with a mid-race crash from Macauley Jones leaving the team with three damaged cars to deal with before tomorrow's two heats.

The only positive was a 12th place for Jack Smith, who used the Safety Car caused by Jones' crash to take on soft tyres for a charge through the field.