The Repco Supercars Championship concluded its weekend at Mt. Panorama in Bathurst, New South Whales, on Sunday for the 60th running of the Repco Bathurst 1000.
The No. 99 Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus of Brodie Kostecki and David Russell started the race on the pole with the No. 11 Shell V-Power Racing Team of Anton De Pasquale and Tony D’Alberto starting second.
On the opening lap, Jamie Whincup in the No. 88 Red Bull Ampol Racing took the lead at Turn 1 over David Russell. Whincup led the opening 27 laps before a safety car was dispatched when Kevin Estre crashed at the Turn 1 wall. When the race resumed on lap 29, the No. 31 Nulon Racing of Dylan O’Keeffe was the new leader.
However, on lap 30, O’Keeffe would lose the lead to Shane van Gisbergen and second place to David Reynolds. Reynolds’s second-place run did not last long when he was handed a pit lane penalty. On lap 38, Dale Wood slammed into the fence at Turn 23 which led to another safety car.
The No. 18 Team 18 of Mark Winterbottom was the new leader on lap 41. Later in the race, David Russell took the lead on lap 48. On lap 90, Russell handed the driving duties to Brodie Kostecki. The new leader of the race was Richie Stanaway.
Stanaway’s lead was 18.5 seconds over Garth Tander before handing driving duties to Shane van Gisbergen on lap 96. Van Gisbergen had a six-second lead over Kostecki after pit stops were complete. On lap 119, Van Gisbergen went to pit road as his crew completed a brake rotor change.
On lap 125, Van Gisbergen’s crew made adjustments after he reported a long brake pedal issue. Late in the race, Broc Feeney’s car suffered a gearbox issue. While his team initially fixed it, the problems continued and Feeney went to the garage on lap. Shane van Gisbergen made one more pit stop on lap 149 before driving away to a fifth victory of the season by 19.9326 seconds over Brodie Kostecki. I
In addition, it was Van Gisbergen’s third win at Bathurst in four years. He became the first driver in 15 years to win consecutive Bathurst 1000s. The rest of the top five finishers were Anton De Pasquale third, Chaz Mostert fourth, and David Reynolds fifth.
The Repco Supercars Championship returns for races 25 and 26 on October 28 and 29 for the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 in Surfers Paradise, Queensland.
