Christopher Mies has explained his unfortunate collision with a kangaroo during the opening stages of the 2026 Bathurst 12 Hour which the Ford driver survived unscathed.
Mies, who was sharing the #64 HRT Ford Mustang GT3 with reigning Supercars champion Broc Feeney and 2019 Intercontinental GT champion Dennis Olsen, hit a kangaroo at 250km/h on the Conrod Straight at Mount Panorama Circuit, with the incident ripping off the windshield of the Ford Mustang GT3.
There was initial concern. The two-time race winner was visibly shaken and took several minutes to collect himself.
“Yeah, I’m glad I’m standing here right now talking to you. Obviously, it was a very, very big impact at a very high speed, so yeah, I’m just glad standing here right now,” the 36-year-old said in his initial reaction.
He went on to praise the safety features of the Ford, which raced for the final time in its pre-Evo configuration at Bathurst: “I think that was probably the first big hit for Mustang GT3 and I’m really happy that they built such a safe race car at Ford Racing and Multimatic, so thank you for that.”
The impact caught Mies completely off guard: “The moment I saw the kangaroo, that was the moment I hit it, so there was no pre-warning, I didn’t see any flags or so, so I think it might just have woken up and started to run and yeah, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Kangaroo inside the cockpit “doesn’t smell very nice”
The severity of the crash was highlighted by the rather grim fact that the remains of the kangaroo found their way into the cockpit, covering the German’s helmet and racing suit, and thus creating an extreme mess.
Mies confirmed that his entire gear is no longer usable: “Yeah, I mean, it’s all in the trash. I mean, it’s not usable anymore. I can tell one thing, a kangaroo from the inside doesn’t smell very nice, so yeah, but I’m just gutted for the team at HRT and Ford Racing that we couldn’t do the full race distance today.”
Despite the shock, his love for Australia remains unbroken. Mies already announced his intention to return to Mount Panorama next year. However, he plans to change his choice of souvenirs for home after this experience.
“My son asked me to bring him a little toy, a kangaroo toy. I will not do that, I will buy him a koala or a wombat or whatever, but no kangaroo,” he joked. “I still love Australia, I will still come back.”
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