Will Davison won the 2016 edition of the Bathurst 1000 in a dramatic finish after Jamie Whincup was hit with a 15-second penalty.
All the wash-up from a dramatic Bathurst:
» Whincup and Holden appeal result
» Match report: Will Davison wins Bathurst 1000
» Complete finishing order – every car, every driver
Jamie Whincup will look to continue holding off the rest of the field and take out his fifth Peter Brock trophy when the greatest race in Australian motorsport, the Bathurst 1000, takes place at Mount Panorama. Join The Roar for live coverage of the 161-lap marathon from 11am (AEDT).
The weekend so far, which has included six practice sessions, qualifying and the top ten shootout has seen Jamie Whincup relinquish control and stamp his authority as the fastest car on the mountain.
While all that becomes redundant today, starting in first position and knowing exactly how quick his car is will be of great advantage for the four-time champion.
He set a blistering speed yesterday to grab pole, knocking Scott McLaughlin out of first – although McLaughlin will still start from the front row of the grid.
Qualifying though, for a 1000 kilometre race, has very little bearing on what will take place over the course of the day and there are plenty of drivers who misses the top ten to look out for.
Shane Van Gisbergen and Mark Winterbottom, both at the bottom end of the top ten, have shown good pace at times over the weekend, while Cameron Waters who is coming from 13th position shouldn’t be overlooked.
While Craig Lowndes has struggled for speed across the course of the weekend, regularly struggling to get up the leaderboard, he can never be passed off as a non-challenger on race day, and on the tenth anniversary of his great mate Brock’s death he will be keener than ever to make something happen.
If Chaz Mostert, who has had pace at different points at this weekend as well won from the back of the grid two years ago, then Lowndes coming from 21st has a chance.
Fortunately for the drivers, there is no rain forecast for the big race and so strategies should be roughly down the straight and narrow in terms of pit stops and driver changes.
Of course, over such a long race plenty of things can happen and go wrong, but it won’t be like Sandown where we were seeing decisions about whether to go on wets or dry tyres – this is Bathurst though and a weather forecast is a weather forecast – not the gospel.
Prediction
It’s incredibly hard to go past Jamie Whincup here. He and Dumbrell have been exceptionally quick and I can’t see them getting beaten. Fabian Coulthard, Van Gisbergen and Winterbottom are the ones to contend for the other spots on the podium.
Be sure to join The Roar for our live coverage all day of the great race, starting at 11am (AEDT) and don’t forget to get involved by dropping a comment in the box below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde
OzVeyron
Guest
Any result (a Holden win) in any race is a privilege right now, how much longer does our own world class V8 category have left?.....
Well
Guest
Worst Bathurst ever!!!! I think after the initial incident Whincup was playing a bit of negative trackmanship by slowing down, almost dangerously, and not allowing for the fact a car traveling at speed was right on his tail, that is, Tander. Then to cap it all off the most dangerous re-entry onto a race track that I have ever witnessed!!!! Congratulations for spoiling what otherwise would have been an excellent race, Mr McLachlan!!!!
Scott Pryde
Expert
Cheers Jawad.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Great coverage Scott, thanks for the weekend.
Mark Young
Roar Guru
Hell of a finish... Bold call from Tekno and they win the big one.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Right, as I said, results and report are on the way. Thanks for joining me today for our live coverage of the 2016 Bathurst 1000 as Will Davison and Jonathon Webb took out the closest race at the mountain in history on a dramatic day. Hopefully you enjoyed the coverage. Be sure to join our coverage of NBL, A-League, cricket and Tennis over the coming summer. Bye for now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Will Davison and Jonathon Webb lift the Peter Brock trophy and do a shoey on the podium!
Scott Pryde
Expert
Podium getting underway now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Full results and report from an epic day of racing to follow.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Davison saying the car coughed through Murray's corner - he was out of fuel there. What an incredible race.
Scott Pryde
Expert
0.1434 of a second in that with Whincup dropping away to 11th place thanks to the penalty. What an incredible race. It's the closest race in the history of Bathurst.
Scott Pryde
Expert
WILL DAVISON and JONATHON WEBB win the Bathurst 1000! Davison is struggling and Van Gisbergenn could have had a dive at the chase but he isn't allowed. He flies into Murrays and won't have the pace. Will Davison wins it by not even a car length from Van Gisbergen! Percat through in fourth which will become third and he gets a spot on the podium.
Scott Pryde
Expert
161/161 There will be no passing at the bottom of Conrod remember. Van Gisbergen flies into the esses but can't get around Davison. He will have a dive at Forest Elbiw around the outside but he isn't close enough. Onto Conrod.
Scott Pryde
Expert
161/161 Davison is desperately trying to save fuel here because he is out. Onto the reserve tank which gives about 8 litres - 5 per lap but he had a lap and a half. Van Gisbergen misses a dive at the Cutting.
Scott Pryde
Expert
161/161 LAST LAP! Away we go There is nothing in it. 1 lap to go.
Scott Pryde
Expert
160/161 Into Forest Elbow and Nick Percat saw the Peter Brock trophy go across him there because they Van Gisbergen almost tangled with Davison who is now onto the reserve tank.
Scott Pryde
Expert
160/161 It might be the end of the race, but that is an incredibly dangerous spot down at the chase. Brake lock there and you slam into Kelly. Davison is under pressure with 2 to go and being told to conserve.
Scott Pryde
Expert
159/161 Will Davison is flying here and trying to hold off Van Gisbergen. No passing at the chase and they come down Concrod with Davison desperately trying to hang on. Percat struggling for pace.
Bruce Forman
Guest
Huh
Scott Pryde
Expert
159/161 Yellow's are flying but the SC boards aren't out so we should be right to continue to the finish - the chase will be a non overtaking zone though. Think Kelly has a lock up there and it's a shocking day for the Kelly's. Shae Davies with a pit lane penalty.