Bathurst 1000: The chaos and Dramas of Mount Panorama; Penrite Racing claims the win, amidst the unpredictable weather conditions.

Mount Panorama once again served up a weekend of chaos including the ongoing weather conditions. We started the weekend with great weather, sunny skies and high temperatures. By Sunday that was a different story. Initially the weather was the same it had been so far with sun in the sky, by a couple hours in, rain had begun and instantly brought chaos.

Hour 1:

Bryce Fullwood had a difficult start with having to pit almost immediately, there was uncertainty if they were going to be able to return to the race. The start for the race was clean; Todd Hazelwood (#38) led from Mark Winterbottom (#6) and Jayden Ojeda (#2). By lap 2, advisors had declared the race as wet and therefore the wet tyres were brought to the garage for when they were needed. Cooper Murray (#99) had an impressive chase up to P3 at one point, proving the strength in himself as a driver as well as the team.

The very calm race start to an extremely wild bathurst 1000.

We saw scrappy laps between various teams, including Garth Tander (#100), Craig Lowndes (#888) and James Courtney (#7). This moment specifically saw these drivers lose position on track. By halfway through, Jamie Whincup (#88) had managed to pass Fabian Coulthard (#25) and Jayden Ojeda to get to P4. It had been a better start for the Feeney/Whincup pairing. Closing to the end of the first hour, Scott Pye (#1) had gained position on track with 5 positions made up, making it to P7. Our biggest moment for the end of the hour, was Garth Tander losing position on track to Craig Lowndes.

The moment Garth Tander and Craig Lowndes almost collided with one another. Both managing to keep it on track.

Hour 2:

At the beginning of the hour, your top 3 was Broc Feeney, Todd Hazelwood and Jobe Stewart. Most of the initial driver swaps had occurred by now with the main drivers in for their first stint. For Bathurst, the rules had been changed from previous years, with Co-Drivers having to complete a minimum of 60 laps. Thomas Randle (#55) and Jack LeBrocq (#09) had a collision with one another which resulted in a 5 second time penalty for Randle as a driving infringement.

We had our first minor collision with Aaron Cameron who was unfortunately having to deal with vibrations and damage due to a collision with the wall. Bryce Fullwood finally made his return to the track, 24 laps down on the remainder of the field, but still could score points vital for himself and the team. 888 duo, Craig Lowndes and Zach Bates had a good stint promoting themselves to P15, still a long way to go, but impressive for the youngster. Eventually by the end of the hour, teams had begun their driver swaps again.

Hour 3:

Hour 3 began to bring chaos. Shell V-Power Duo Will Davison and Tony D’Alberto (#17), were out due to a big collision at Forrest’s Elbow, carrying lots of speed, and unfortunately finding the outside wall. The collision was our first safety car of many. By the time the first safety car was over, a second one was forced as Chaz Mostert's Mustang had various issues including problems with the water pump. By this time, rain had started falling on the track, this was the beginning of the on-track drama. Another penalty was handed out, this time it was Cam McLeod who received a 15 second penalty, for a driving infringement.

The significant damage to Will Davison's Shell V-Power car after the collision with the wall.

Halfway through the hour and Lee Holdsworth (#20) led from Jamie Whincup and James Moffat, before a third safety car was brought out. This safety car was the result of Nash Morris (#62), who managed to beach himself in the last corner. When the restart occurred the top 3 was switched up again, with Mark Winterbottom leading from Garth Tander and James Moffat. Before the end of the hour, with rain falling quite heavily and most cars being on wet tyres, Winterbottom, who was on slicks hit the wall, receiving a puncture and being forced to limp back to the pits, eventually he was going to be only one lap down.

Hour 4:

Your early top 3 for this was David Russell, Garth Tander and Zak Best. These were everchanging positions, especially given the conditions and the length of the race. By lap 85, Jayden Ojeda was leading the race, but with the rain, it was going to be difficult, especially to keep it on track. Kostecki and Hazelwood had to change some things, with problems needing to be fixed relating to the battery. Both of the RedBull Ampols cars were getting into a battle at the end of the hour, Pye triumphs ahead of Whincup.

Hour 5:

This hour was quiet, with not much happening due to settling in the conditions. Brodie Kostecki hit Kai Allen on the pit straight after trying to overtake multiple cars in one go, both losing positions on track. Kostecki received a pitlane penalty for that incident. This penalty was completed very quickly, they dropped to P20, but also faced other ongoing issues related to the engine. The conditions were causing severe sliding for everyone and Zach Bates suffered from that, going off at the last corner, but saving it and managing to continue. Payne and Randle were putting in the big battles, with a minor bump from Payne. Brodie Kostecki made another return to the pit, possibly as a DNF, but this was not certain.

One of the many collisions during the Bathurst 1000. This was between Kai Allen and Brodie Kostecki.

Hour 6:

This was the hour with a most going on regarding racing. Ryan Wood led from Broc Feeney and Matt Payne. Broc Feeney brought out our 4^th safety car after running into the wall, getting wedged in the barrier and being unable to get back out. Brodie Kostecki was able to get back out, after changing out for a new battery. There were also other issues on track including gearbox problem for Courtney. Kai Allen having a decent weekend was hit again, this time by Jack Le Brocq, after the first one with Kostecki, luckily, he was able to continue and finish the race. Two more 5 second penalties were given out; One was for Will Brown, and the other was for Jack Le Brocq after hitting Kai Allen.

Will Brown was the 5^th safety car, when he hit the wall just up at ‘Griffins Bend’, this was very different damage with Brown almost losing the bonnet of the car and having to drive the remainder of the lap being unable to see. At the restart, Wood was ahead of Golding and Payne, but a mistake from Golding brought Payne up into P2. There was yet another 5 second penalty for Thomas Randle for an unsafe release during a pitstop. Jones was the 6^th safety car, and such a sad end to the weekend for the De Pasquale/ Jones pairing. After such a great weekend, the mountain had to punish another young driver with Ryan Wood suffering from an expired engine. It was a devastating result, especially given how close he was to a win or even a podium.

Will Brown's car after his collision with the wall at turn 2.

Hour 7:

We reached the final hour, after all the chaos and drama including the weather. We had another race restart due to the Jones incident and from that Cooper Murray led from James Golding and Matt Payne. By this point, the visibility was nearly zero, especially at the highest point of the mountain, making the conditions near impossible. Richie Stanaway was our 7^th safety car of the event after he collided with the wall, a very difficult result but so tough given how bad the track conditions were. By the Restart, the result was the same with Murray leading from Payne and Golding. Ryan Wood was finally able to make a return to the track after fixing their problem, but not the result him or the team would’ve liked.

One of the battles for the P1 position on track through the significant weather conditions. This was the big deciding moment between Golding and Payne.

On the final restart, Murray was knocked by Golding which dropped him to P4, as a result, Reynolds moved up into P3. For that incident, Golding did receive a 5 second penalty but ultimately this would not make much difference. The winner of the Bathurst 1000 was Matt Payne and Garth Tander, with P2 being David Reynolds and Lee Holdsworth and in P3 despite the penalty was James Golding and David Russell.

The 2025 winners of the Bathurst 1000; Matt Payne and Garth Tander.

Gold Coast 500:

It was an overall brilliant and unexpected race weekend at Bathurst with a similar podium result. This weekend, we head back to the sunny state. It is the weekend of the Gold Coast 500, it should be an interesting weekend, especially given how the track is setup.

We return for the excitement and chaos of the Gold Coast 500.