Shane van Gisbergen had started from pole position but incurred a drive-through penalty for illegally overtaking Caruso on a safety car restart.

The second race was marred by two major incidents on the first lap, one of which left Lee Holdsworth in hospital with fractures to his pelvis, right knee and two ribs.

[5] A one-off livery for Craig Lowndes' car was revealed by Triple Eight Race Engineering on the Thursday prior to the event.

[6] Fabian Coulthard's car also featured a different livery, with sponsorship from Australian paint company Taubmans, as part of DJR Team Penske's system of rotational sponsors.

[9] A change was made to the drop gear ratio compared to the previous year's event, where cars were reaching the rev limiter on the main straight.

The ratio change was aimed to reduce the amount of time that cars spent on the limiter, lessening the risk of damage to the drivetrain.

Overtaking at the first corner was made easier, as the top speed of the cars on the main straight was no longer restricted by the limiter.

The issue was addressed ahead of the 2016 event, with drivers who short-cut the circuit now required to drop behind the last car on the lead lap.

Rick Kelly set a lap time of 1:07.0515 to be fastest, ahead of Triple Eight Race Engineering teammates Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen.

The session began with cloud cover over the circuit and Van Gisbergen took advantage of the resulting lower track temperature to set a time of 1:06.0923, which would prove to be fast enough for pole position.

[15] Race 12 took place on Saturday afternoon, with regulations requiring each car to make at least one pit stop to change all four tyres.

[16] Tander was also involved in contact on the first lap, losing his driver's door, while Nick Percat retired from the race with suspension damage.

[17] The race was restarted at the end of lap 3 and Van Gisbergen made contact with Caruso at the final corner, allowing him to take the lead on the run to the line.

[21] On the exit of the first corner, Bright was bumped into Lee Holdsworth who then went off the track and made heavy side-on contact with a concrete barrier.

This hindered some of the drivers and Lowndes emerged as the leader ahead of Todd Kelly, Winterbottom, Van Gisbergen, Slade and Courtney.

After the race restarted, Winterbottom ran into the back of Kelly at Turn 1, sending the latter wide and earning himself a drive-through penalty.

Pye made contact with Caruso at Turn 6, damaging his suspension which eventually caused him to stop on the pit straight.

Van Gisbergen took the lead from Lowndes at the restart and led through the second and final round of pit stops for the leaders, which took place around lap 33.

[21] It was revealed after the race that Holdsworth had suffered fractures to his pelvis, right knee and two ribs, as well as minor injuries to his chest and left elbow, with data from his car showing a peak load of 56 g during the crash.