The 2024 Bathurst 1000 was considerably of a gradual burner with the pole-sitting Erebus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro of reigning Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood main for the period.
It had appeared that the 1000 km distance was set to run below inexperienced flags for the period till Matt Payne misplaced management of his Grove Racing Ford Mustang at The Reducing, ensuing within the sole security automotive intervention and a 27-lap dash to the flag.
This put the Triple Eight Camaro of Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup on the tail of the leaders, with the 2 lead vehicles rapidly gapping the sector.
With neither Kostecki nor Feeney placing a wheel unsuitable, it was the Erebus automotive that took the flag by 1.3496s.
“I can not consider it, this man right here [Hazelwood] did a stellar job all weekend,” stated Kostecki after giving Erebus its second 1000 win – the opposite triumph coming in 2017 with David Reynolds and Luke Youlden.
“We had a extremely good automotive for the center stint however as quickly because the clouds came visiting we misplaced somewhat velocity. They had been 32 shootout laps [at the end].
The race will get below means at Bathurst
Picture by: Supercars
“You’ll be able to convey your tempo again somewhat bit and lose it somewhat bit.”
It was a deserving end result for Kostecki, who stood apart for the opening two rounds of the championship and for Hazelwood, who stepped into the #1 Camaro on the Bathurst 500 and at Albert Park, and whose earlier finest end in a Supercars race was third place.
“Unbelievable, I feel I’m hallucinating. I’m misplaced for phrases!” stated an emotional Hazelwood.
“’Bush’ [Kostecki] is an absolute legend. It has been a tricky 12 months however while you win Bathurst, it makes up for the whole lot. No higher bloke to do it with, he’s a wizard across the Mountain.”
Many of the race was an arm wrestle between Chevrolet’s two dominant squads, Erebus and T8. Kostecki, who began from pole place for the second 12 months in a row, managed the opening 28-lap stint, when he stretched away from Triple Eight’s Broc Feeney, then the third, when Feeney’s co-driver Jamie Whincup was within the blue Camaro for 2 consecutive 28-lap stints.
At one stage the 2 groups occupied the primary 5 positions, with Jack Le Broc and Jayden Ojeda operating fourth within the second Erebus Camaro, after which Craig Lowndes. The veteran drove cautious first and third stints in Triple Eight’s wildcard entry, which began from grid 18, earlier than handing over to co-driver Cooper Murray – who was later penalised for a breach of the protection automotive process.
When Le Brocq misplaced time within the closing pitstop, dropping him from the highest 5, the race was all the way down to Kostecki, Feeney and Brown, main a pack of Ford Mustangs – Tickford’s Cameron Waters and James Moffat, Chaz Mostert and Lee Holdsworth (Walkinshaw Andretti United), and Richie Stanaway and Dale Wooden (Grove Racing).
The Payne/Tander automotive was the one retirement of the 2024 Bathurst 1000
Picture by: Supercars
When the ultimate sprint got here, Brown’s velocity was simply not there. He and co-driver Pye had been within the hunt for the rostrum however not far more, ultimately ending 13.6404s behind the winner.
Fourth got here one of the best of the Fords. Waters mounted a robust restoration from his and Moffat’s issues, to carry off Mostert and 2023 winner Stanaway – who nonetheless doesn’t have a confirmed seat for 2025.
The shortage of Security Vehicles for greater than 125 laps meant that any small errors had been severely punished. Waters hung onto the leaders till a visit up an escape street, shedding eight positions earlier than he recovered. Garth Tander did an analogous factor in considered one of Payne’s Ford, dropping him 5 locations.
Dick Johnson Racing’s Anton De Pasquale regarded like a contender to guide the Ford problem till he dropped round 30 seconds with a difficult brake change throughout a pitstop.
Andre Heimgartner, whose Brad Jones Racing crew managed to get solely 20 litres into the Chevrolet on the first gasoline cease, 100 in need of what was supposed. The automotive regarded to have top-six velocity however with no mid-race yellow flag durations, was doomed to complete again in sixteenth place.
On account of his third place Brown, who introduced an 189-point result in Mount Panorama, now leads by 204 factors, with 2538 to the 2334 for Feeney, who strikes to second. Mostert is third on 2313 from Waters (2074), James Golding (1718) and Payne (1659).
The subsequent spherical of the Supercars Championship can be on the Gold Coast on 25-27 October for 2 250km races across the tight streets of Surfers Paradise.
Supercars Bathurst 1000 Outcomes
