Who will win the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama? Join The Roar for live updates from Australia’s Great Race, and the warm up, from 9:15am AEDT.
Today is the day where man and machine will take on Mount Panorama in the hope of winning the Peter Brock Trophy.
25 cars will start the race today with the hope of being at the top at the end of 161 laps. Some will lose the battle. Others will fight all day to remain in contention and stay on the lead lap.
Some – the chosen few – will fight for victory until the end. Only one car though will become victorious today. Picking that winner is almost impossible in 2014.
The new surfaces, and the quicker lap times, have thrown plenty of spanners in the works this weekend. Expect that to continue today.
Plenty of drivers have already complained about the rear of the car going away after two or three laps during practice and qualifying.
Today, those stints will have to last 20 to 25 laps, and the problems with the rear will only get worse as the tyre life gets worse.
Combine this with some fast teams at the back of the grid, and some inexperienced teams at the front and accidents are going to happen today.
The race pace is also going to be electric today. In the Dunlop Series endurance race, some teams were doing 2:07 and 2:08 lap times, around the mountain. The race record in a V8 Supercar is 2:08.4651 by Jamie Whincup in 2008.
According to Paul Dumbrell, who won the Dunlop Series race, and broke the race record in the process, we could see low 2:07’s and high 2:06’s in the race. That is extremely quick for a V8 Supercar race around the mountain.
With those times, the overall race record, with minimal safety cars is under threat.
This will only increase the pressure on the drivers and co-drivers and more mistakes are bound to happen today. Safety cars could be a frequent occurrence today.
The 1.01 price for a safety car during the Bathurst 1000 from one particular betting agency is a guarantee today. One other factor in the race is the pit stop strategy. Teams are required to do 7 stops today during the race.
This allows the Volvo, Mercedes, and Nissan, to be more competitive in the race as they can’t conserve as much fuel as the Holden and the Ford.
This could still become a disadvantage if safety cars become a frequent occurrence during the race. Three or four safety cars in the first 70 laps would allow plenty of teams the chance to get rid of those required stops.
This would then allow the teams to stretch the fuel stops and create an advantage by not pitting as much in the final few laps.
Another factor is the final safety car for the race.
If it comes out with 30 laps to go then the Volvo, Nissan and Erebus, become disadvantaged in the race.
Many teams would make their final pit stop during the safety car.
They would struggle to finish the race on fuel and would hand an advantage to the Holden and Ford teams. If it comes out with around 25 laps to go then it would favour all teams in the field.
That final safety car could be decisive for a lot of teams.
One other factor in the race is the weather. For the first three days of the weekend, the weather has been absolutely perfect, with no sign of rain. This is Bathurst though, and today, it could deliver a nice shock in the final few hours of the race.
According to Weatherzone, the forecast is “the chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon and early evening.”
From 12pm to around 5pm the chance of rain is between 40 per cent and 60 per cent. Rain is a big possibility in the afternoon. How that affects the teams and drivers is anyone’s guess.
If I had to pick one it would be Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards. Their experience will count for something among the combinations that can win. I believe up to 15 combinations can win today.
With the threat of rain, and the unpredictability of the new surfaced track, that could rise to 20.
It is one of the most open Bathurst 1000s in years.
Stay with The Roar all day as we cover what could be a brilliant Bathurst 1000.
Bring it on.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
That concludes The Roar's coverage of the Bathurst 1000. I would like to thank Ryman and Patrick, my editors, for providing me with the opportunity to cover the race. I would also like to thank them for uploading all my blogs for the weekend on time and whenever I needed them. It is greatly appreciated guys. I would also like to thank the readers, and fans, who read and kept an eye on the blog all day. Without you, we have no audience. I would also like to thank the drivers and the teams for putting on one hell of a race today. It made my job an absolute pleasure to do. I hope you enjoyed the coverage of the Bathurst 1000. I'll be back in two weeks for the Gold Coast 600. Thanks again and bye for now.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
QUOTES FROM THE DRIVERS - NICK PERCAT - "Our car was pretty speedy all day." "My cool suit died on me [with 60 laps to go]." "There was no way that Ford was getting past us, and their was no way the Merc was ending up on the podium." OLIVER GAVIN - "It has been a pretty extraordinary day." "You come here in a V8 Supercar and it is tough, it is tricky." "I have never seen anything like it, [in the race today]." "You just could not bank on anything." "Nick did a phenomenal job." "This kid here just did nothing wrong."
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
QUOTES FROM THE DRIVERS - JAMES MOFFAT - "Pretty ridiculous to think we were in the fence at turn 2 twice [and end up on the podium]." "The red flag in a way saved us." "I know from that point on it was all about digging deep and keeping out of trouble." "I can't thank the team enough." "My mate Tazy D here, he brought me back a car that looked like it came from a Dukes of Hazard scene." "I figured I couldn't make it any uglier, so I ragged the hell out of it in the final 20 laps." TAZ DOUGLAS - "Pretty hectic day for me." "It's awesome to come second with a mate." "James and me are a good team."
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
QUOTES FROM THE DRIVERS - CHAZ MOSTERT - "It was the best feeling ever to cross the line in first." "Hopefully we can come back next year and make it a hat-trick [for FPR]" "We were almost out of the race, but we got it out of the fence, and we pushed on." "All the safety cars went our way, and the car was pretty quick all weekend." "From 26th I never thought I'd even get to the top ten." "Next year we may not even qualify, or compete in the top ten, to save our tyres." he joked. PAUL MORRIS - "It was just one of those day's where you had to stay out of trouble." "I just did what I had to do, hand it over, and away he went." "I got up to turn, and there was a gravel trap in the middle of the corner." "I hit the pothole, and the car jumped out of the pothole into the marbles and straight into the fence." - About his incident.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
FULL RESULTS - BATHURST 1000 1. 6 Chaz Mostert / Paul Morris - Ford Performance Racing - Ford - 161 - 7:58.53.5052 2. 360 James Moffat / Taz Douglas - Norton Hornet - Nissan - 161 3. 222 Nick Percat / Oliver Gavin - Walkinshaw Racing - 161 4. 9 Will Davison / Alex Davison - Erebus - Mercedes - 161 5. 1 Jamie Whincup / Paul Dumbrell - Red Bull Racing - Holden - 161 6. 5 Mark Winterbottom / Steve Owen - Ford Performance Racing - Ford - 161 7. 7 Todd Kelly / Alex Buncombe - Jack Daniel's Racing - Nissan - 161 8. 15 Rick Kelly / David Russell - Jack Daniel's Racing - Nissan - 161 9. 14 Fabian Coulthard / Luke Youlden - Lockwood Racing - Holden - 161 10. 888 Craig Lowndes / Steven Richards - Red Bull Racing - Holden - 161 11. 111 Andre Heimgartner / Ant Pedersen - Super Black Racing - Ford - 161 12. 18 Jack Perkins / Cameron Waters - Team Jeldwen - Ford - 161 13. 22 James Courtney / Greg Murphy - Holden Racing Team - Holden - 160 14. 8 Jason Bright / Andrew Jones - Team BOC - Holden - 158 15. 36 Michael Caruso / Dean Fiore - Norton Hornet - Nissan - 158 16. 97 Shane Van Gisbergen / Jonathon Webb - Holden - 158 17. 33 Scott McLaughlin / Alex Premat - Valvoline GRM - Volvo - 150 DNF 23 Russell Ingall / Tim Blanchard - Lucas Dumbrell Racing - Holden - 137 DNF 4 Lee Holdsworth / Craig Baird - Erebus - Mercedes - 132 DNF 55 David Reynolds / Dean Canto - Bottle O Racing - 117 DNF 34 Robert Dahlgren / Greg Ritter - Valvoline GRM - Volvo - 114 DNF 10 Tim Slade / Tony D'Alberto - Supercheap Auto Racing - Holden - 102 DNF 16 Scott Pye / Ash Walsh - Dick Johnson Racing - Ford - 70 DNF 17 David Wall / Steven Johnson - Dick Johnson Racing - Ford - 64 DNF 21 Dale Wood / Chris Pither - Brad Jones Racing - Holden - 45
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
No dramas Mark. Glad you all enjoyed the race.
Mark Young
Roar Guru
Awesome job this weekend Shane. So very much appreciated buddy!
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Full results and quotes from the drivers will come a little bit later. I'm going to soak this race in for a little while. I'm almost speechless.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Ford Performance Racing go back to back at the Bathurst 1000. That is the best Bathurst 1000 I have ever witnessed. Incredible.
Jason Cave
Guest
What was Jamie Whincup thinking? One of the most extraordinary motor races I've ever seen in my life! And...much better than the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne too!!
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
161/161 Whincup ran out of fuel. He finished in 5th position. James Moffat and Taz Douglas are second. Nick Percat and Oliver Gavin are third. We finish at 6:36pm AEDT. The longest race finish in a long, long time.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
161/161 Chaz Mostert wins the BATHURST 1000. Chaz Mostert wins in his second ever trip to the mountain. Paul Morris is also a first time winner. WHAT A RACE.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
161/161 Chaz Mostert overtakes Jamie Whincup at Forrest Elbow.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
161/161 Mostert needs to relax. He has him.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
161/161 Mostert is all over Whincup.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
161/161 The Super Black car has to pit.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
161/161 FINAL LAP. Mostert has closed significantly. Can Whincup hold on and have enough fuel to finish the race. The lead is less than a second.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
160/161 Two laps to go. Whincup leads by 2.9 seconds.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Thanks mate. Only a couple of laps to go.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
159/161 Heimgartner moves back past Winterbottom for 6th.