Motorsport: Kiwi racing driver critically injured

Mark Porter

New Zealand racing driver Mark Porter was critically injured at Bathurst yesterday in a crash on Mt Panorama that saw two drivers taken to hospital.

Porter, 30, was trapped for some time in his car and had to be resuscitated. He was airlifted to a Sydney hospital while the other driver, David Clark, was airlifted to Melbourne.

Hamilton-born Porter was competing in a support race for second-level V8 Supercars. With a couple of laps to go, he was in sixth place when he hit the barriers to the right of the track near Reid Park. His Holden was clipped by another car and spun into the centre of the track where the Clark-driven Ford hit the driver's door.

Racing was stopped for about an hour while the drivers were removed from their cars.

Porter, who lives on the Gold Coast and has his own team, has been a front-runner in the second-level series for several years.