Bathurst 1000: Supercars live race updates, blog

The Bathurst 1000 is upon us for 2018, with 1000 kilometres ahead of an uncertain Supercars field after a tough week on the mountain. Join The Roar for live coverage of the great race from 11am (AEDT).

This is one of the most open Bathurst’s in years. Of course, every Bathurst is open with nothing decided until the drivers come over the finish line six hours after they start, but there are so many teams which you feel could win this year.

David Reynolds will start the great race from pole and has shown some great pace, having qualified well and then clocked an excellent lap in qualifying.

The defending champion goes in with a target on his back this time around though, after coming from the clouds to claim the 2017 version of the gaunt around the mountain.

Beside him on the front row is Jamie Whincup. Teaming with Paul Dumbrell, they make one of the most formidable pairings in the field and with pace to burn after clocking a 2.04.1 during qualifying, they will be hard to beat today.

Anton De Pasquale, who races out of the same Erebus garage as Reynolds was the surprise packet yesterday, but the rookie combination of him and Will Brown will do well to last the distance, while Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin will be right up there if they can keep their nose out of trouble.

Long touted as the best wet-weather driver in the field, Van Gisbergen may well be hoping for some rain and the forecast has changed from earlier in the week, meaning those vital practice sessions where many drivers stayed in the pit lane may now come into play.

There may not be much rain, but the chance of it increases through the afternoon and at the Mountain, things can change in an instant and make things very tricky.

Last year’s race – the first 100 laps of it anyway – were raced almost entirely in the rain and it became a battle of attrition. We won’t see that this year, but it could cause havoc on strategies late in the race.

The other men who can’t be discounted from calculations are Craig Lowndes in his final race at the mountain and Garth Tander, who round out the top ten on the grid.

Prediction
This is going to be a cracking race again. The weather is up in the air, the pace is tight based on qualifying and it’s nearly impossible to tip a winner.

Based on that, you have to back experience, the best driving combination and the best driver.

Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell to take out another 1000.

Be sure to join us here on The Roar for live coverage of the greatest motorsport race on the Australian calendar from 11am (AEDT) and don’t forget to get involved by leaving your thoughts and comments in the section below.

Race information

Start time: 11:10am (AEDT)
Track: Mount Panorama, Bathurst
Laps: 161
Lap distance: 6.213 kilometres
Race distance: 1000 kilometres
TV: Live, Ten, Fox Sports

Full grid

Pos.	Car No.	Driver	Co-driver	Manufacturer	Car	Team
1	9	David Reynolds	Luke Youlden	Holden	ZB Commodore	Erebus Penrite Racing
2	1	Jamie Whincup	Paul Dumbrell	Holden	ZB Commodore	Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3	99	Anton De Pasquale	Will Brown	Holden	ZB Commodore	Erebus Motorsport
4	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Earl Bamber	Holden	ZB Commodore	Red Bull Holden Racing Team
5	17	Scott McLaughlin	Alexandre Premat	Ford	FG X Falcon	Shell V-Power Racing Team
6	6	Cameron Waters	David Russell	Ford	FG X Falcon	Monster Energy Racing
7	8	Nick Percat	Macauley Jones	Holden	ZB Commodore	Blackwoods Racing
8	25	James Courtney	James Perkins	Holden	ZB Commodore	Mobil 1 Boost Racing Team
9	888	Craig Lowndes	Steven Richards	Holden	ZB Commodore	Autobarn Lowndes Racing
10	33	Garth Tander	Chris Pither	Holden	ZB Commodore	Wilson Security Racing GRM
11	55	Chaz Mostert	James Moffat	Ford	FG X Falcon	Supercheap Auto Racing
12	34	James Golding	Richard Muscat	Holden	ZB Commodore	Wilson Security Racing GRM
13	7	Andre Heimgartner	Aaren Russell	Nissan	Nissan Altima L33	Plus Fitness Racing
14	15	Rick Kelly	Garry Jacobson	Nissan	Nissan Altima L33	Castrol Nissan Motorsport
15	12	Fabian Coulthard	Tony D’Alberto	Ford	FG X Falcon	Shell V-Power Racing Team
16	23	Michael Caruso	Dean Fiore	Nissan	Nissan Altima L33	Drive Racing
17	56	Richie Stanaway	Steve Owen	Ford	FG X Falcon	MEGA Racing
18	2	Scott Pye	Warren Luff	Holden	ZB Commodore	Mobil 1 Boost Racing Team
19	5	Mark Winterbottom	Dean Canto	Ford	FG X Falcon	The Bottle-O Racing Team
20	14	Tim Slade	Ash Walsh	Holden	ZB Commodore	Freightliner Racing
21	18	Lee Holdsworth	Matthew Brabham	Holden	ZB Commodore	Preston Hire Racing
22	21	Tim Blanchard	Dale Wood	Holden	ZB Commodore	Team CoolDrive
22	35	Todd Hazlewood	Bryce Fullwood	Holden	VF Commodore	Bigmate Racing
24	230	Will Davison	Alex Davison	Ford	FG X Falcon	Milwaukee Racing
25	19	Jack Le Brocq	Jonathon Webb	Holden	ZB Commodore	Tekno Autosports
26	78	Simona De Silvestro	Alex Rullo	Nissan	Nissan Altima L33	Team Harvey Norman

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Scott Pryde

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Scott has penned over 3000 articles and is one of The Roar's longest-serving writers, covering a wide range of sports. When he isn't writing about sport, you'll find him umpiring at the cricket, or on the hill at Kogarah supporting the Dragons.