Round 4 of the 2009 Australian MINI Challenge is taking place at Sandown this weekend. Chris Alajajian currently sits in second place on the series table, however his chances of clawing back some points on championship leader Paul Stokell were done no favours after this spectacular crash in yesterday’s first race.

The accident happened on the opening lap and forced organisers to cancel the race. Fortunately, Alajajian was not injured and spoke philosophically after the incident, “I’m OK, but the car isn’t that flash. I got tapped in the right rear wheel as we went into the corner, I think it’s turn six, and then I got on to the grass and everything sped up dramatically. From there I was just hanging on.”

Alajajian, starting well down the field in 13th, had made a the most of a bumper start taking advantage of some front runners spinning ahead and had reached 4th place before his crash.

[Source: Racecar.com]