Baird: I was happy to get out unhurt.

WPS Racing's Craig Baird walked away unscathed after a horrific 220kph crash that sent spectators ducking for cover in the second round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Pukekohe.

The Kiwi, racing on home soil, was close to top speed down the main straight when he took evasive action to avoid the car of Jamie Whincup, who had thrown a cloud of dust across the straight after drifting off the track. Baird checked his racing line, moving to the inside of the track alongside pit-wall, but Paul Dumbrell, who was line astern behind the WPS car, also moved to the inside and made an apparent attempt to pass Baird.

Unsurprisingly, Dumbrell found no room to get through and nudged pit-wall before clipping Baird's car, turning the Wright Patton Shakespeare-supported car around. Baird then travelled backwards down the straight and into the fencing separating the track from Pukekohe's horse racing equivalent, which lies inside the motor racing circuit. Track marshals and spectators alongside the fence were sent running for cover as debris rained around them, before Baird's car then careered back across the track and into another fence, the second impact finally destroying the rear of his car.

Somehow, a shaken Baird, who was in twelfth position at the time of the accident, stepped out of the car to a rousing cheer from the shocked crowd.

"When you are in a situation like that, you just have to hang on and hope that it's not going to be too big," said the Kiwi, who remarkably required no medical treatment, "I was going at over 200kph and was just happy to get out of it."

The car sustained major damage and it is doubtful whether it can be repaired. The incident unsurprisingly enraged team principal Craig Gore, who planned to seek legal redress for a situation he described as 'stupid'.

"It was madness," he said, "Baird was taking evasive action to avoid another incident and Dumbrell tried to sneak down his inside. It was opportunistic, and I understand that, but it was a stupid move. I will apply to have his license removed as he seems to be there in all of these high-speed major accidents."

Prior to the accident, Baird's team mate David Besnard was also forced out of the race after one of his tyres blew out and sent him spinning off the circuit and into a sand trap. It ended a promising weekend for the Aussie, who had great race pace but recorded two DNFs resulting from equipment failure.

"It was a good weekend in that we made some big gains and were passing a lot of cars," Besnard said, "but it showed again that we have to improve in qualifying because you can get in a lot of trouble at the back end of the field where the driving isn't as good as it is at the pointy end."

Baird had earlier put in a standout performance in the day's opening race, finishing just outside the top ten after starting from the back row of the 32-car grid. In all, he climbed 19 places through the race to finish in twelfth. It was a welcome turnaround following Saturday's first race DNF, which resulted from the failure of a welding mount on his car's front sway bar.

Besnard was looking good for a shot at a top ten finish in the day's first race, after starting from 29th position on the grid, but his charge effectively ended after Jason Bright attempted to recover from a spin, forcing a number of cars to run wide to avoid a collision. That resulted in Besnard being shuffled back several places and, a few laps later, being turned around after a touch from Mark Winterbottom. Besnard then broke the front splitter of his car and was forced into the pits.