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Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki/David Russell lead the Repco Bathurst 1000 after strategies diverged under a Lap 71 Safety Car period.
Erebus left Russell on-track in the #99 Coca-Cola Camaro and he inherited the lead after Triple Eight Race Engineering called in both Richie Stanaway from the lead and Jamie Whincup from third place, with the latter having to double stack for the second time today.
Tony D’Alberto sits second in Anton De Pasquale’s #11 Shell V-Power Mustang, from Warren Luff in Scott Pye’s #20 Toyota Forklifts Camaro and Jaylyn Robotham in Cameron Hill’s #35 Truck Assist Camaro.
Stanaway now sits fifth in Shane van Gisbergen’s #97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro and Garth Tander sixth in David Reynolds’ #26 Penrite Mustang.
Thomas Randle is seventh in the #55 Tickford Mustang he is sharing with Garry Jacobson, from the #34 Truck Assist Camaro of Jack Le Brocq/Jayden Ojeda, Whincup in Broc Feeney’s #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro, and Lee Holdsworth in Chaz Mostert’s #25 Mobil Optus Mustang.
Cam Waters/James Moffat are out of contention after the latter’s recent crash in the #6 Tickford Racing Mustang, Craig Lowndes/Zane Goddard are multiple laps down after breaking a gear lever mount in the #888 Supercheap Auto Camaro, and the #8 R&J Batteries Camaro of Andre Heimgartner/Dale Wood have just suffered an engine failure.
Back at 11:15 local time, the field set off for its formation lap and the 161-lap journey around Mount Panorama.
Whincup started on the outside of the front row in the #88 Camaro but was able to sweep into the lead at Hell Corner, with Russell tucking into second place in the #99 Camaro which Brodie Kostecki had put on pole.
James Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro) took up third, from Waters, Tander, Stanaway, Tony D’Alberto (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang), Holdsworth, Luff, and Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang).
Meanwhile, Hill started from pit lane due to an ongoing clutch drama for the #35 Camaro.
Whincup came under attack from Russell in the opening laps, while Will Brown (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro) marched from 17th on the starting grid to pass Holdsworth for eighth on Lap 6 at Hell Corner.
Stanaway outbraked Tander for fifth at The Chase on Lap 9 as Whincup moved a full second clear of the field.
Brown went under D’Alberto at The Chase on Lap 10, then did likewise to Tander on Lap 12 to move up to sixth.
There were dramas in the midfield on Lap 17 when the #888 Camaro’s gear lever mount broke while Lowndes ran 14th, then Jonathon Webb had an off at The Chase and bumped the fence in the #23 Movember Camaro.
Stanaway and Brown got by Waters on Lap 19, at Griffins Bend and The Chase respectively, making for an all-Camaro top five.
It was broken up when Golding pitted from third on Lap 21, with Waters and Payne into the lane 6.213km later, and Stanaway another lap later again.
Whincup had stretched his lead to six seconds when Brown and Tander pitted on Lap 26, and that was just as well for the former of those two.
A Safety Car was called on Lap 27 when Kevin Estre ran off at Hell Corner, bumped the tyre wall, and got the #19 Mustang stuck in the gravel, meaning Car #9 would have had to double stack.
Everyone who had not done so took the chance to pit, including Whincup and Russell.
Dylan O’Keeffe assumed the lead in the #31 Camaro, from van Gisbergen (#97 Camaro), Reynolds (#26 Mustang), Feeney (#88 Camaro), Moffat (#6 Mustang), Brodie Kostecki (#99 Camaro), Ojeda (#34 Camaro), Jack Perkins (#9 Camaro), Wood (#8 Camaro), and De Pasquale (#11 Mustang).
The race restarted on Lap 30 and van Gisbergen passed O’Keeffe at Griffins Bend, with Reynolds and Feeney following him through.
However, Car #26 was then issued a drive-through for Reynolds passing Feeney under Safety Car after being pipped to the SC2 line.
Race Engineer Alistair McVean instructed the 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner to redress but that was not enough to escape the penalty, which dropped Reynolds to 26th once he served it.
Kostecki would thus assume third when he passed O’Keeffe while van Gisbergen had gapped Feeney to the tune of three seconds when the second Safety Car period was called.
The cause was an off for Wood, who became stranded against the tyre wall at Murray’s Corner after a bump from Pye (#20 Camaro).
Most pitted under the yellow but Mark Winterbottom (#18 DeWalt Camaro) stayed out and assumed the lead, from Fabian Coulthard (#2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang) and Declan Fraser (#56 Tickford Racing Mustang).
Brodie Kostecki resumed in fourth having apparently short-filled to jump the #97 Camaro, which had Stanaway back behind the wheel, with De Pasquale sixth from Moffat, O’Keeffe, Bryce Fullwood (#14 Middy’s Camaro), and Pye.
Perkins dropped to 13th due to a double stack in the #9 Camaro and Whincup to 16th due to the same for the #88 Camaro.
Estre was back on the lead lap thanks to the wave-by before the restart came on Lap 42, at which point Kostecki cleared Fraser at Griffins Bend and Stanaway did so at The Chase.
Kostecki was in front once he got by Coulthard on Lap 42 and Winterbottom on Lap 44, both at Murray’s Corner.
Stanaway made his way to second position a lap later, at which point he trailed by just under two seconds but was catching back up to Car #99.
The gap was less than a second on Lap 50, by which time De Pasquale, Fullwood, and Moffat ran third through fifth, respectively, on merit except for the #6 Mustang of the latter facing a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release under the previous Safety Car.
Whincup was back into the top 10 having just passed Perkins at The Chase, where Mostert would overtake Moffat for fifth on Lap 54.
Up the road, the gap between Kostecki and Stanaway got as low as four tenths when the former had a scare in the form of rubber pick-up but was back above two seconds on Lap 60.
On Lap 61, Fullwood pitted from fourth, Pye from fifth, and Whincup from eighth, the latter exiting the pits in clear air.
Kostecki and Stanaway were both in on Lap 64 at over four seconds apart, with fresh front brakes for both cars and a driver change for #99.
Triple Eight opted for the shorter fill this time and dispatched Stanaway in front of Russell, while De Pasquale ceded the official lead when he peeled off on Lap 65 and was followed into the lane by Mostert and Moffat.
As that happened, Race Control issued a drive-through to Car #14 for a pit lane infringement, reportedly for co-driver Dean Fiore turning the limiter off early during its last stop.
The pit cycle was just about complete as a result of Reynolds stopping on Lap 69 but Stanaway did not enjoy the lead again for long.
The #8 Brad Jones Racing entry had an engine failure with Wood back behind the wheel but the drama which triggered the third Safety Car was in fact a crash for Moffat at The Dipper, with replays suggesting he cannoned between the walls on both sides.
He got moving after the yellows were unfurled but became stuck in a badly crabbing #6 Mustang once he reached the pit entry road.
Triple Eight reportedly short-filled Car #97 to reduce the double stack burden for #88, before the race restarted on Lap 74.
