Three cars have been totalled and ruled out of the race in a chaotic start to the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama.

The safety car was deployed twice within the opening five laps on Sunday.

James Moffat lost pole immediately off the start to a surging Lee Holdsworth and when the pack rounded turn one Jamie Whincup and Jack Perkins were spun around.

Zac Best’s car was the mountain’s first casualty, towed off the circuit after veering into the barriers.

When racing resumed on lap five, Zane Goddard’s Mustang left the track as he attempted to overtake and lost control re-joining the tarmac.

He veered across the track and was smashed into by Dale Wood’s Holden, and Matt Campbell’s Ford Mustang joined the pile-up.

All three cars were wrecked.

Campbell reported a sore ankle, groin, neck and wrists while Wood and Goddard walked away unscathed.

Campbell’s lead driver David Reynolds, who was victorious in 2017, was left stunned.

“I dont know what to say, it was just one of those things,” Reynolds told Fox Sports.

“I don’t think Matt saw it coming, there’s no fault on his behalf whatsoever.

“I kinda half blame myself for putting him so far back in qualifying. I know our car’s probably fast enough to be up the front.

“I feel really bad for our crew, our sponsors, our team because we had two fast cars today and we should be up the front.”

Racing in his 20th Bathurst, 2013 champion Mark Winterbottom got tangled up and spun out but narrowly avoided any major damage in the incident.

After days of rain, dry track conditions and fine weather prevailed as the Bathurst 1000 got underway, with the majority of teams opting for their co-drivers to begin the 1000-kilometre race.

The only main driver among the top 10 starters was retirement-bound Holdsworth, who held the early lead.

-AAP