V8 bosses to look at car safety

He admitted that the series may have to consider a switch to purpose-built racers, rather than the current production-based cars.

"If there was supporting evidence to do that, then I guess we would," he told Australian newspaper the Herald Sun.

"It would be a big exercise, to start with a clean sheet of paper but it might be something we need to consider if we are in any way unsure of the strength and safety of our cars."

But Cattach wants to wait until investigations show that improvements need to be made before jumping the gun.

"At the moment there's nothing on the drawing board to affect that. I think the cars have, by and large, protected the drivers well. If you look at some of the colossal crashes we've had over time with very little injury, that's a testament to the strength of the cars."

He would also want any changes to keep the series more in line with DTM than NASCAR.

"We want to keep the cars in a form that gives our manufacturers the chance to market them. We wouldn't want to go down the NASCAR route, but have them as a silhouette of the road car."

The safety of the cars was called into question after Cooper suffered fatal head and internal injuries when his Holden Commodore slammed side on into the barrier at turn eight.

"We've had a look at the footage and it appears that his car may have clipped the guard rail on entry to the corner," said Cattach. "There's nothing we can find to indicate any failure of the seat, HANS, straps, or roll cage."

Cooper is the second driver to be killed in a V8 Supercar since 2006, when Mark Porter suffered fatal injuries in the support race at Bathurst.