V8 Supercars championship leader Jamie Whincup set a Bathurst race lap record as he made an early charge through the field, led by Volvo’s Scott McLaughlin.
A crash during qualifying on Friday relegated the Holden star to 23rd on the grid, but bolted to fifth in just 14 laps.
Along the way he shaved nearly half-a-second off his own lap record, set in 2007 when he won with Craig Lowndes.
No-one has been victorious in the 161-lap epic from further back than 19th – a feat achieved by the late great Peter Brock, David Parsons and Peter McLeod in 1987.
Whincup had been suspected of a false start and was investigated by stewards, but was later cleared.
McLaughlin was 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.
“I’m nervous as hell,” said McLaughlin moments before the lights went out.
Only five of the 25 entries started with the co-drivers behind the wheel, including Craig Lowndes’ No.888 Holden, with Steve Richards handed the reins.
Richards made up two places in the opening lap after starting sixth, but a problematic pitstop on lap 18 cost precious time.
Lowndes earlier predicted plenty of carnage in the endurance classic, which he rates as one of his toughest in 20 years.
The grippy new track surface has bitten several cars in nearly every practice and qualifying session on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander and Warren Luff were the biggest casualties, forced out of the Great Race with irreparable damage to their No.2 Commodore.
A brake failure sent the car into the wall with Luff behind the wheel in Saturday practice, flipping it on its roof after colliding with the rear of Lowndes’ car which also crashed.
“If you go on what qualifying and practice is all about, yeah I reckon we’ll probably have some (race) accidents,” Lowndes said.
Despite a bright and clear start, a thunderstorm has been forecast for late Sunday afternoon.
