Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert and Lee Holdsworth have combined to win an enthralling Repco Bathurst 1000, coming home ahead of Cameron Waters and James Moffat. Erebus Motorsport duo Brodie Kostecki and David Russell finished third, scoring their maiden Bathurst podiums.
Mostert, who scored pole with the fastest ever Supercar lap of Mount Panorama on Saturday, helped himself to a second Great race victory. For Holdsworth, it was Bathurst victory No.1 in his 18th start, some 17 years after his Bathurst debut.
For seven-times Supercars champion and four-time Bathurst winner, Jamie Whincup, it was his final race of the season as he heads into retirement as a full-time Supercars driver. Whincup and co-driver Craig Lowndes finished just off the podium in fourth.
“It was only starting to sink in on the last few laps that this would be the last time I’d be in a Supercar as a full-time driver,” commented Whincup. “That heavy-hearted feeling definitely started to settle in.
“We fought hard to get a podium today, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I’m pretty proud of the day and what everyone has achieved over the last few weeks. It’s more than acceptable to run fourth.
“Even though the car was great, no one was touching #25 (Chaz Mostert & Lee Holdsworth) today, but my car was as good as the other cars on the podium. The young kids were racing hard, and I knew what I had to do to get past them, but I couldn’t fully commit and trust myself to have a red-hot crack and battle for a podium position.
“I didn’t want to race the last 20-laps running the wall every lap and really taking risks, and I didn’t want to take that chance. Overall, I’m amazed by the accolades that I’ve received this weekend – it’s really, truly humbling. To win the Barry Sheene Medal, to have the Prime Minister present me (see main picture) with a Hall of Fame, it was so surreal. I want to make sure I don’t waste these accolades in any way – I owe this sport so much.”
For Red Bull Ampol Racing team mate and 2021 Repco Supercars champion, Shane van Gisbergen, it was a disappointing result having dropped out of second place in the dying stages of the race to finish in 18th.
“It’s been an awesome year,” said van Gisbergen. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get the result we wanted today, but it is what it is. I was driving as fast as I could and probably pushed a bit too hard, and we ended up with a tyre failure late in the race.
“Full credit to Chaz (Mostert) and Lee (Holdsworth) on their Bathurst 1000 win. They were quick all day, didn’t make any mistakes and deserved to stand on the top step of the podium.
“We raced tracks at the start of the year that suited our car, and that’s where we were able to get a few wins on the board and build momentum and grab a great lead at the start of the season. I can’t thank our team enough and it’s super awesome to be apart of it. We had a really fun year and I can’t wait to celebrate the Championship with them tonight.”
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