Shop
So, we ask you in this week’s Pirtek Poll, who impressed you the most at the Thrifty Bathurst 500?
Triple Eight Race Engineering and Walkinshaw Andretti United collectively dominated proceedings, with Will Brown, Broc Feeney, and Chaz Mostert filling the top three in every ‘competitive’ session (Qualifying onwards), save for when the latter was ‘only’ fourth in (provisional) Qualifying for Race 1.
However, theirs were not the only eye-catching performances, so read our shortlist below and then cast your vote in this week’s Pirtek Poll.
1st Will Brown (TTSO 1 1st, Race 1 2nd, TTSO 2 3rd, Race 2 1st)
It was not a perfect Triple Eight debut for Will Brown, but it was almost as close as one could get. If not for some finger trouble with the pit lane speed limiter on Saturday, the former Erebus driver could have been celebrating a perfect score at Mount Panorama. After a rough end to 2023, Brown has hit the ground running with Red Bull Ampol Racing, and appears to have gelled very well with Shane van Gisbergen’s old engineer, Andrew Edwards.
2nd Broc Feeney (TTSO 1 2nd, Race 1 1st, TTSO 2 1st, Race 2 3rd)
We could say much the same for Brown’s team-mate, Broc Feeney; an almost perfect weekend, at least statistically. The 21-year-old’s starts were not great, at least in comparison to Chaz Mostert, and he did incur a penalty in Race 2, but slow getaways from the front row and contact in a battle for second place would be nice problems to have for some. Let us not also forget that Feeney was third when he lunged at James Golding and finished the race in third. There was an ominous sense of inevitability that B-Feen was somehow going to find his way onto the podium anyway.
3rd Chaz Mostert (TTSO 1 3rd, Race 1 3rd, TTSO 2 2nd, Race 2 2nd)
Mostert was the only driver who could get near the Triple Eight duo at Mount Panorama, and was also head and shoulders above the other Ford drivers. While conjecture exists about the performance of the Ford engine, WAU went a different way with the #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang, which was especially slow down Conrod Straight but stunningly quick across the top. Clearly, it was set-up-related, but Mostert was also grabbing that car by the scruff of the neck in one of the more exciting displays of the weekend. He might have been rewarded for his efforts with a win on Sunday if not for a tiny error at The Chase on an in lap but, just like Brown in Race 1, on such fine margins can contests be decided in Supercars.
4th Richie Stanaway (TTSO 1 5th, Race 1 4th, Qual 2 15th, Race 2 11th)
After much off-season hype about Grove Racing, the Penrite Mustangs were not as competitive as expected, but the Braeside squad is second in the teams’ championship at this early stage of the campaign. Richie Stanaway edged Matt Payne over the course of the weekend, and put his car into a shootout at the first time of asking in his return to full-time motorsport. The practice crash was an obvious blemish, but Stanaway has already bettered anything he ever achieved as a primary driver in his 2018 season at Tickford Racing and 2019 at Garry Rogers Motorsport.
5th David Reynolds (TTSO 1 NC, Race 1 8th, TTSO 2 5th, Race 2 6th)
For whatever reason, Bathurst is a place where David Reynolds can be expected to rise to the occasion, and that was in evidence again in the weekend’s 500. A flat tyre cruelled him in Saturday’s Top 10 Shootout and then the 2017 Great Race winner needed a shootout-style lap to make the real thing on Sunday after a misfire in Qualifying for Race 2. His Saturday race result could have been even better, too, if not for the late Full Course Yellow and Safety Car periods.
6th Nick Percat (TTSO 1 8th, Race 1 6th, TTSO 2 9th, Race 2 9th)
Row 4 of the grid is not a place which Nick Percat had been accustomed to seeing in recent years, first time out for Matt Stone Racing, he made both of the one-lap dashes. True, there was an element of fortune on Saturday given Ryan Wood would have been in the shootout instead, if not for the yellow flag at Murray’s Corner, but it was still a big improvement on Percat’s time with WAU. The South Australian was also quick in race conditions and is now sixth in the championship, raising expectations that he might emulate what he achieved with Brad Jones Racing (seventh in the final standings in 2020 and 2021).
Honourable mentions
Speaking of MSR, Cameron Hill warrants a mention for his Saturday performance in particular, finishing fifth from fourth on the grid.
PremiAir Racing’s James Golding was quick without luck in both races, and much the same could be said for WAU rookie Wood, who deserved much more than precisely zero points from his very first event in the top tier of Supercars.
Then there was Todd Hazelwood. While he faded over the course of the weekend, third in practice in the spotlight of being Brodie Kostecki’s fill-in at Erebus Motorsport is worth commending again.
But, who impressed you the most at the Bathurst 500? Cast your vote in this week’s Pirtek Poll.
