Crash steers to safer cars

The startling crash has special relevance to this year’s series with the debut of the Car of the Future design in Perth.

All V8 Supercars now have an identical shell, built to make the cars lighter, faster, cheaper and safer.

The fuel tank in all vehicles has been moved forward from the rear and sits inside the main chassis.

This greatly reduces the chance of a car bursting into flames, as Reindler’s did when he was involved in a high-impact rear-end crash.

A new fire extinguisher system has been added and the windscreens are made from polycarbonate which is 250 times stronger than glass.