Mostert walks it but will not watch crash
CHAZ Mostert has declared he has conquered his Bathurst 1000 demons two years after a sickening 170km/h crash almost ended his career.
Walking through the Mt Panorama accident for the first time, Mostert revealed he still has not watched a slowmotion replay of the hit that left him with a broken leg, smashed wrist and a shattered championship dream.
He is still haunted by vision of his Ford Falcon careering into the concrete wall at Forrest Elbow during qualifying in 2015. The impact, some 50Gs of force, or five times what a fighter pilot experiences, sent his car into the air and track officials diving for cover.
“You just have to shrug it off and get on with it,’’ he said.
“That is what we have to do. A setback like that makes you stronger. My scars have healed and I am ready to go out and try to get redemption after winning here in 2014.’’
Mostert has tried in vain to put the crash in his rear-view mirror.
“I hate watching myself even under the best of circumstances,’’ he said.
“But with this one it is basically impossible. I haven’t sat down to watch it but I have seen it at functions and promotions. It is pretty hard not to see it when it is right in your face at a promotional thing. It has been everywhere for the last 24 months or whatever it has been.’’
Mostert said he could not watch footage from inside the car showing the moment his leg breaks.
“People say you can see it being broken in slow motion,’’ the Ford driver said.
“I have refused to watch it in slow motion because of that. I will never slow it down.’’
Mostert said the accident happened in the “blink of an eye’’ after a minor misjudgment sent him bouncing off the concrete in one of Bathurst’s biggest crashes.
“Normally everything slows down when you crash,’’ he said. “But this one didn’t. I made a little mistake and it was all over and done with in an instant. I didn’t even know I had almost gone over the side of the fence.”