The drama didn't end there, though, with two more safety cars called in before the midway point of the 161-lap epic.
V8 Supercars championship leader Jamie Whincup took out the Nissan of Todd Kelly on the first lap after the restart, for which he copped a drive-through penalty.
The two cars were forced back into the pits for some quick repair work on the damage. Whincup had produced the drive before the red flag, managing to climb from 23rd to fifth in just 15 laps and breaking his own race lap record.
Soon after his collision with Kelly, Steven Johnson hit a wall and spun his Ford at the top of the hill.
His retro-themed No.17 Falcon had to be towed back to the garage.
Five laps later, Pye also crashed heavily and wrote off his car - triggering the day's fifth safety car.
"Man, that escalated quickly," said Garth Tander, who was forced to sit out of the race after his wrecked Holden Racing Team Commodore was withdrawn after practice on Saturday.
Holden veteran Craig Lowndes had earlier predicted plenty of carnage in the endurance classic given what he'd experienced on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The grippy new track surface bit several cars in nearly every practice and qualifying session, including Lowndes.
Volvo's Scott McLaughlin is currently front of the pack and has led for more laps than another other car.
The young Kiwi started third on the grid but got the jump on Holden's polesitter Shane van Gisbergen and defending champion Mark Winterbottom of Ford. Volvo hasn't contested the 1000km classic since 1998, when Jim Richards and Rickard Rydell won as part of the two-litre series.
Despite a bright and clear start, a thunderstorm has been forecast for late Sunday afternoon.
