Volvo superstar Scott McLaughlin has taken the early lead in the Bathurst 1000 after a flying start to the 161-lap epic on Sunday.

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.

His Red Bull Racing teammate and championship leader Jamie Whincup also gained half a dozen positions from 24th on the grid.

His jump off the line prompted stewards to investigate for a false start, but he was later cleared.

Whincup, a four-time winner at Bathurst, was relegated to the back of the pack after crashing during qualifying on Friday.

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 to the Great Race, a thunderstorm has been forecast for late Sunday afternoon.