The 2012 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 is well underway with a quarter of the distance complete.
The pole-sitting Ford Performance Racing Falcon of Will Davison led the majority of the opening phase of the race until co-driver John McIntyre pitted partway through the second stint having mistaken rubber build-up for a delaminating tyre.
Tyres have been the story of the race thus far, with a number of leading teams, including both TeamVodafone entries, making unscheduled stops.
At the start of Lap 40, TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup currently leads ahead of McIntyre and Dean Canto in the #55 Bottle-O Racing entry.
The field is currently under Safety Car due to debris at The Chase.
Only three cars have dropped off the lead lap, with one car officially out of the race.
Dean Fiore’s #12 Jim Beam Racing Falcon suffered a suspected tyre failure at The Chase and peeled immediately into pit lane where it was found that his front-left suspension had broken. The car has eventually returned to the circuit with co-driver Matt Halliday at the wheel.
Michael Patrizi’s #91 Tekno Autosports Commodore is out of the race after a driveline failure on the exit of the Cutting. His stalled car caused the Safety Car on Lap 21.
On lap 37, reigning Bathurst 1000 champion Nick Percat crashed at the Esses, ruling the #2 car of Garth Tander out of contention.
See below for Speedcafe.com’s live tweets of the first 40 laps of the 1000km race from Mount Panorama.
CLICK HERE for live tweets of the race from Speedcafe.com.
– V8 Supercars on warm-up lap for 2012 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. Brilliant conditions for racing #V8SC
– Drivers to start in order: Davison, Dumbrell, Van Giz, Winterbottom, Coulthard, Tander, Slade, Reynolds, Luff, Owen #V8SC
– Only co-drivers starting: Dumbrell (#1), Luff (#888), Ritter (#34), Reid (#91), Perkins (#33), Pye (#30) #V8SC
– Cars forming up on the grid following warm-up lap #V8SC
– Davison leads across the top of the hill for the first time after running side-by-side with Dumbrell through Griffins #V8SC
– Van Giz takes Dumbrell for second at Forrest’s Elbow #V8SC
– Order end Lap 1: Davison, Van Giz, Dumbrell, Coulthard, Tander, Slade, Winterbottom, Reynolds, Luff, Bright #V8SC
– Biggest losers off the start have been Winterbottom (down three spots to seventh) and Owen (down four to 13th) #V8SC
– Dumbrell told his pace is excellent. Engineer Mark Dutton suggests to stiffen the front bar #V8SC
– Lap 4/161: Van Gisbergen is just 0.5s behind leader Davison. He’s told to make a fuel trim change and “look after the car” #V8SC
– Please follow @speedcafelive in case this account reaches its tweet limit during the day #V8SC
– Van Gisbergen has closed to within 0.2s of Davison after running a 2:10.09s time on Lap 4 #V8SC
– Lap 6 Davison has increased his lead to 0.7s but reports he’s suffering from “a lot of slow speed understeer” #V8SC
– “Hopefully it gets better as the fuel goes down,” says Davison #V8SC
– Every car in the race has recorded a best lap time in the 2:10s bracket except for the bottom three (Reid, Pye and Waters) #V8SC
– Lap 7 Davison has run the first 2:09 of the race – a 2:09.74s lap to extend his lead to 1.7s #V8SC
– Race Control notes that the window rubber is coming loose on James Courtney’s car #V8SC
– Rick Kelly reports that he may have a tyre going down as it’s vibrating on the straights #V8SC
– Lap 10 order: Davison, Van Giz, Dumbrell, Coulthard, Tander, Slade, Winterbottom, Reynolds, Luff, Bright #V8SC
– Lap 10 Rick Kelly pits with left-rear issue. Luff pits too for fuel #V8SC
– Correction: Luff’s stop was not scheduled. He had a left-front tyre problem. This could turn into the story of the race #V8SC
– Screens show that front-left window rubber on Courtney’s car is very much adrift. Owen is trying to pass the #22 for 10th #V8SC
– Webb pulls of a big move into the Chase on Owen for 11th #V8SC
– Lap 12 Fiore pits for tyres and fuel and stays in the car. The car has an issue with its left-front and will be pushed back into its bay #V8SC
– “I’ve still got the clutch in and it still won’t move,” says Fiore, who is stranded in pitlane #V8SC
– Fiore’s car has now been wheeled into the garage on go-jacks #V8SC
– Fiore now reports that a tyre blew coming out of the Chase “and then I had no brakes” #V8SC
– Lap 14 Webb takes Courtney for 10th. HRT car had gone through tarmac run-off at Skyline and pits next time by. McConville in. #V8SC
– Now out of the car, Fiore says that “it could have been a broken bottom pin in the upright” #V8SC
– It is now confirmed that Courtney had pitted with a delaminating tyre #V8SC
– Davisn’s lead is now out to almost 5s with Van Giz holding up Dumbrell, Coulthard and Tander in second #V8SC
– Slade in sixth meanwhile is holding up Winterbottom, Reynolds and Bright #V8SC
– Todd Kelly is asked if he has a tyre letting go and is told to pit. He responds by saying he’s not coming in #V8SC
– Lap 18 Perkins pits and hands the #33 Fujitsu Holden over to Premat. #V8SC
– Lap 19 Coulthard and Winterbottom pit from fourth and seventh. Driver changes for both cars #V8SC
– Lap 20 Jonny Reid’s car stops at the exit of The Cutting. Davison pits immediately #V8SC
– Van Giz elects not to pit as the Safety Car is called #V8SC
– Reynolds, Bright and Owen also file past without pitting while the rest dive in #V8SC
– Davison’s lead had been out to 7s before the yellows #V8SC
– Van Giz was not held by the Safety Car and pits next time by. Reynolds, Bright and Owen follow #V8SC
– Order under Safety Car: McIntyre, Youlden, Luff, Canto, R.Kelly, Percat, Besnard, Jones, Whincup, Richards #V8SC
– Luff, R.Kelly, Caruso and Pye are the only drivers that started the race still in their cars #V8SC
– Patrizi confirms his car had a driveline issue and is out for the day. He says he’ll now head up to the top of the Mountain to watch the race! #V8SC
– Car #9 engineer Dave Stuart says the left-rear tyre that came off his car after 21 laps was “perfect” #V8SC
– Race set to restart on Lap 24 #V8SC
– Luff, with significantly older tyres, has taken second from Youlden at Griffins #V8SC
– A.Davison told to stay off Griffins exit kerb with left-rear tyre #V8SC
– Whincup is stuck behind the BJR pair of Jones and Besnard, who are battling for seventh #V8SC
– Richards runs wide in the Chase and loses positions to Thompson, McConville and Caruso. Car #5 is now 13th #V8SC
– McIntyre and Luff are currently battling it out at the front. They’ve pulled 3s on third placed Youlden #V8SC
– Lap 30 order: McIntyre, Luff, Youlden, Canto, R.Kelly, Percat, Jones, Whincup, Besnard, Thompson #V8SC
– Whincup told to try and pass Jones in front rather than just sitting behind saving fuel #V8SC
– Race pace in the top 10 is now drifting into the high 2:10s. Davison’s 2:09.74s from Lap 10 is still the fastest of the race #V8SC
– Lap 32 Canto takes Youlden for third at Murray’s Corner. Whincup pits from eighth #V8SC
– Whincup staying in car. Tyres, fuel and removing front blanking #V8SC
– Whincup had damaged left-front. Driver told to watch the kerbs #V8SC
– Whincup rejoins in 27th position. Front-left tyre was likely damaged by being too aggressive when the pressures were low after the restart #V8SC
– Lap 34 Luff takes the lead from McIntyre but will pit shortly #V8SC
– McIntyre pits after losing a heap of time. He will stay in the car #V8SC
– McIntyre is told there was nothing wrong with the tyre set just taken off the #6 car, just rubber build up #V8SC
– Lap 37 Luff and R.Kelly pit from the top 10. Pad change for #888. Driver changes for both cars #V8SC
– “Bring the tyres up nice and gently and be careful of the Turn 2 kerb,” Lowndes is told #V8SC
– Lap 37 Percat has hit the wall across the top and is going to the garage #V8SC
– Replays show only that Percat’s incident happened before The Dipper. Blanchard meanwhile pits #7 and stays in the car #V8SC
– Drivers being warned that there may be oil across the top of the Mountain #V8SC
– Lap 39 Safety Car is called. Teams lining up pitstops #V8SC
– Whincup and McIntyre will file to the front as all others in front pit #V8SC
