Driver called brakes 'soft' before crash

British motor racer Sean Edwards knew something was wrong with the brakes on his Porsche, but his mechanic gave them the all-clear.

A day later the promising 26-year-old professional driver was dead, after the racing car - driven by an amateur under his instruction - hit a barrier at high speed.

Almost two years after the October 2013 crash at Queensland Raceway, an inquest has put the car's brakes - and the mechanic who checked them - in the spotlight.

The Brisbane inquest has heard a post-crash inspection revealed the brake pads on the Porsche 996 GT3 were badly worn.

But the problem was somehow missed by the German mechanic who was asked to inspect them just one day before the tragedy.

"Sean came in and said, (the) brakes, they feel a bit funny, spongy, soft, I can't remember which word he was saying," mechanic Thomas Gyori said on Tuesday.

"I looked at them and they (were) in my eyes they have been alright, they've been good to drive.

"Otherwise, I would say, hey, we need new brake pads."

But when shown photos of the badly worn brake pads taken after the crash, Mr Gyori gave a different opinion.

"If I had seen it like that then I would say, yeah, you should replace it," he said.

The Porsche was completing its 13th and final lap on October 15, 2013, when it ploughed into a tyre barrier and concrete wall and caught fire.

Edwards, in the passenger seat, died from severe head, pelvic and limb injuries sustained on impact.

Driver Will Holzheimer, 20, had to be cut from the wreckage and his legs were so severely injured he had to learn how to walk again.

GoPro vision from inside the vehicle appears to show Mr Holzheimer pumping the brake pedal before impact.

The 2004 Porsche model was supplied by Mr Holzheimer's father, who had hired the Monaco-based Edwards to coach his sons.

Edwards was a talented, up-and-coming racer who appeared in the movie Rush as his father, former Formula One driver Guy Edwards.

His mother Daphne McKinley is watching the inquest from the UK via Skype.

In a statement, she said the long wait for answers had caused the traumatised family stress and anxiety.

"I am relying on the coroner to make recommendations, if they are necessary, to ensure such an incident does not happen again," she said.

Questions have also been raised at the hearing about whether the Porsche's throttle jammed, and whether the trackside gravel pit designed to slow out-of-control cars met safety standards.

Queensland Raceway chief executive John Tetley is expected to face queries about the safety of the track when proceedings resume on Wednesday.