2023 60th Anniversary Bathurst 1000

[Everso Biggyballies]

We always have an exclusive thread for Bathurst so here 'tis. Any news and discussion for this years Bathurst race and here. is the place.

I'll start.

When is the Bathurst 1000?

The 2023 Bathurst 1000 will take place between Thursday, October 5 and Sunday, October 8.

The event retains its traditional early-October slot for the second consecutive year following some COVID-related disruptions.

An endurance spectacle, the race will begin at 11:15 am AEDT on October 9, concluding at approximately 6:00 pm AEDT.



Bathurst 1000 Supercars full event schedule
*All times in AEDT (12pm UK time = 9pm AEDT)

Thursday, October 5
1:20 pm - 2:20 pm Practice 1 (All drivers)
4:50 pm - 5:50 pm Practice 2 (Co-drivers)

Friday, October 6
10:00 am - 11:00 am Practice 3 (All drivers)
1:05 pm - 2:05 pm Practice 4 (All drivers)
4:15 pm - 4:55 pm Qualifying

Saturday, October 7
10:00 am - 11:00 am Practice 5 (Co-drivers)
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Practice 6 (All drivers)
5:05 pm - 5:50 pm Top Ten Shootout

Sunday, October 8
8:00 am - 8:20 am Warm Up
11:15 am - 6:00 pm Race

Bathurst 1000 driver pairings, field

# Driver Co-driver Team Car
2 Nick Percat Fabian Coulthard Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford Mustang
3 Todd Hazelwood Tim Blanchard Blanchard Racing Team Ford Mustang
4 Jack Smith Jaxon Evans Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro
5 James Courtney Zak Best Tickford Racing Ford Mustang
6 Cam Waters James Moffat Tickford Racing Ford Mustang
8 Andre Heimgartner Dale Wood Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro
9 Will Brown Jack Perkins Erebus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro
11 Anton De Pasquale Tony D'Alberto Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustang
14 Bryce Fullwood Dean Fiore Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro
17 Will Davison Alex Davison Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustang
18 Mark Winterbottom Michael Caruso Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro
19 Matt Payne Kevin Estre Grove Racing Ford Mustang
20 Scott Pye Warren Luff Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro
23 Tim Slade Jonathon Webb PremiAir Racing Chevrolet Camaro
25 Chaz Mostert Lee Holdsworth Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford Mustang
26 David Reynolds Garth Tander Grove Racing Ford Mustang
31 James Golding Dylan O'Keeffe PremiAir Racing Chevrolet Camaro
34 Jack Le Brocq Jayden Ojeda Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet Camaro
35 Cameron Hill Jaylyn Robotham Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet Camaro
55 Thomas Randle Garry Jacobson Tickford Racing Ford Mustang
56 Declan Fraser Tyler Everingham Tickford Racing Ford Mustang
88 Broc Feeney Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Chevrolet Camaro
96 Macauley Jones Jordan Boys Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro
97 Shane van Gisbergen Richie Stanaway Triple Eight Race Engineering Chevrolet Camaro
98 Kai Allen Simona De Silvestro Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustang
99 Brodie Kostecki David Russell Erebus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro
888 Zane Goddard Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Chevrolet Camaro
TBC Jake Kostecki Aaron Love Blanchard Racing Team Ford Mustang

Past winners of the Bathurst 1000
Last year's race was won by Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander.

Here's a list of Bathurst 1000 winners from the past 20 years:

YEAR WINNER
2022 Shane van Gisbergen/Garth Tander
2021 Chaz Mostert/Lee Holdsworth
2020 Shane van Gisbergen/Garth Tander
2019 Scott McLaughlin/Alexandre Premat
2018 Craig Lowndes/Steven Richards
2017 David Reynolds/Luke Youlden
2016 Will Davidson/Jonathon Webb
2015 Craig Lowndes/Steven Richards
2014 Chaz Mostert/Paul Morris
2013 Mark Winterbottom/Steven Richards
2012 Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell
2011 Garth Tander/Nick Percat
2010 Craig Lowndes/Mark Skaife
2009 Garth Tander/Will Davison
2008 Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup
2007 Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup
2006 Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup
2005 Mark Skaife/Todd Kelly
2004 Greg Murphy/Rick Kelly
2003 Greg Murphy/Rick Kelly

[Cheeveer]

Always a highlight. Sandown was okay, but this one always deliver something special.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Supercars reveals Bathurst 1000 60th anniversary celebrations

Being a significant anniversary lots of cars and demos going on..... its also the 45th anniversary of the shootout so a number of stars from the shootout will be present
.
Supercars has revealed new details of the celebrations which will be held to mark this year’s 60th anniversary of the Bathurst 1000.

A host of famous cars will feature in a special demonstration, including the recently restored 1993-winning VP Commodore of Larry Perkins/Gregg Hansford and the 2006-winning BA Falcon of Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup.

Drivers who will partake in the demonstration include Lowndes, Whincup, Perkins, and Mark Skaife.

With the 2023 Repco Bathurst 1000 also being held 45 years on from the first Top 10 Shootout at Mount Panorama, iconic cars from the one-lap dash will also be on display in the Harris Park precinct.

They include Marcos Ambrose’s 2001 Pirtek Ford Falcon, the 1990 pole-sitting Allan Moffat Enterprises Ford Sierra, and more.

A few of the stars












More info and pics. https://www.speedcafe.com/2023/09/20/su ... s/?image=8

[Everso Biggyballies]

The DJR Bathurst Wildcard livery looks pretty smart....

DJR has revealed the look Simona De Silvestro and Kai Allen will carry aboard their wildcard Ford at Bathurst

Simona , fresh and recovered from her Appendix surgery is making her first start since 2019, and it will be Kai's first ever,

The livery draws parallels to the former Shell Helix DJR Falcons liveries of the early 2000s.

Why #98? The #98 arelates to Shell’s 98 octane premium unleaded fuel, called, oddly enough, Shell V-Power Unleaded 98.

Extra stickers from Harvey Norman, Rheem, Pivotel, WM Waste and National Tiles, along with personalised plates 'SIM KAI’ thanks to sponsor PPQ.

They will be giving the car a couple of days testing pre Bathurst at QIR. (Simona's surgery put paid to the original test date).

I must admit I was wondering whether we were , with her surgery, going to see a last minute call to say Simona had to withdraw because of the surgery and we were going to see 3rd Gen Johnson, son of Stev Jett, who is showing a bit of form in Trans Am and other 'feeder' series. Quite glad it didnt happen as I happen to like Simona and wish her well. Theoretically this will be a better car than the Kelly Nissan leftovers bitzah she had to put up with whilst she was full time.

[Everso Biggyballies]

New Nuts for Bathurst

Of course Im talking about wheel nuts. Following various issues throughout the year which culminated in a failure of a wheel nut on the #26 Tander / Reynolds Grove Mustang that pitched them into retirement and then a further failure on a ride day with an Erebus car the following day there has been much headscratching going on.

As a result Supercars have mandated new nut designs for all, and teams have now been provided with drawings of the new specification which they will race with at Mount Panorama.

The new design is said to be significantly different to that which was used at Sandown, which itself is understood to have been a product of revisions during this year, the first of Gen3 competition.

However, it is similar to the larger wheel nuts which were used until the end of the Gen2 era, in so much that it will now feature the same safety locking mechanism.

Actually I saw this interesting Brad Jones short video the other day which shows the issues that have been raised, in laymans terms, and shows last years hub and nuts by comparison.

It seems progress is not always an improvement. This years nuts and spindle look very small compared to last year.

[Vassago]

It looks like the official Supercar page got a new layout for the Bathurst race but now I need to click several times to find the start time while it was on the front page on the previous version. So not exactly an upgrade for someone who watches these races at 4:00-6:00 am all the time.

Bathurst start is 3:15 am CET

[Cheeveer]

It looks like the official Supercar page got a new layout for the Bathurst race but now I need to click several times to find the start time while it was on the front page on the previous version. So not exactly an upgrade for someone who watches these races at 4:00-6:00 am all the time.

Bathurst start is 3:15 am CET

Hehe, thanks. Tried watching live a couple of years ago when it started a couple of hours earlier. Did not go well for me.

[Everso Biggyballies]

It looks like the official Supercar page got a new layout for the Bathurst race but now I need to click several times to find the start time while it was on the front page on the previous version. So not exactly an upgrade for someone who watches these races at 4:00-6:00 am all the time.

Bathurst start is 3:15 am CET

Hehe, thanks. Tried watching live a couple of years ago when it started a couple of hours earlier. Did not go well for me.

NOTE: Our clocks go forward one hour this weekend as we move to our Daylight Saving / Summer time. So make sure your time zone calculations reflect that we in NSW (ie Bathurst) and Victoria will be in Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) by the time Bathurst happens

[Everso Biggyballies]

Its gtting closer..... Teams are obviously all set up and first practice sessions are tomorrow Thursday.
Foxtel have started their official Bathurst 24/7 channel so we have an absolute plethora of Bathurst viewing, from the live programming of the V8s and all the Supports through to Highlights and replays of races from over the years, all the Brock docos and other docos will all be airing again.

All in all 10 sessions of SC practice qualy, shootout and race over the next 4 days. The V8SC programme is in the opening post.

Talking of support categories the one that I am really looking forward to are the Sports Sedans. Thy should be superb and all the nations biggest scariest Sports Sedans willl be in action. They will be brilliant and superquick. At the 12 hour they were running and the 900KW (1100+BHP) Nissan was the fastest ever recorded speed at Bathurst. So fast that the powers of be tried to clip his wings. Anyway I cant link any pics to show you but there is a Gallery link on the Sports Sedans Website here, along with lots of info on the category.

https://www.sportssedansnational.com.au/gallery


Actually here is a full programme of events in local Bathurst times.
Dont forget our clocks went forward one hour last weekend so we are now 9 hours ahead of Europe and 10 of the UK. Not 8 and 9 hours as it was pre last weekend.


2023 Bathurst 1000 schedule (all times AEST)

Thursday, October 5

Time Category Session
0725-0745 Sport Sedans Practice 1
0755-0815 V8 SuperUtes Practice
0825-0845 Toyota 86 Practice 1
0855-0945 Porsche Carrera Cup Practice
1000-1040 Dunlop Series Practice 1
1055-1115 Sport Sedans Practice 2
1125-1145 V8 SuperUtes Qualifying
1245-1305 Toyota 86 Practice 2
1320-1420 Supercars Practice 1 (All Drivers)
1450-1530 Dunlop Series Practice 2
1545-1605 Porsche Carrera Cup Qualifying
1615-1635 Sport Sedans Qualifying
1650-1750 Supercars Practice 2 (Co-Drivers)



Friday, October 6

Time Category Session
0725-0745 Toyota 86 Qualifying
0755-0815 Sport Sedans Race 1 (6 laps)
0825-0845 V8 SuperUtes Race 1 (6 laps)
0855-0910 Dunlop Series DS3 Qualifying
0920-0935 Dunlop Series DS2 Qualifying
1000-1100 Supercars Practice 3 (All Drivers)
1115-1135 Sport Sedans Race 1 (6 laps)
1235-1255 Toyota 86 Race 1 (6 laps)
1305-1405 Supercars Practice 4 (All Drivers)
1420-1500 Porsche Carrera Cup Race 1 (15 laps)
1515-1600 Dunlop Series Race 1
1615-1655 Supercars Qualifying



Saturday, October 7

Time Category Session
0815-0840 V8 SuperUtes Race 2 (8 laps)
0855-0910 Dunlop Series DS3 Qualifying
0920-0935 Dunlop Series DS2 Qualifying
1000-1100 Supercars Practice 5 (Co-Drivers)
1115-1135 Sport Sedans Race 3 (6 laps)
1300-1400 Supercars Practice 6 (All Drivers)
1415-1435 V8 SuperUtes Race 2 (6 laps)
1445-1505 Toyota 86 Race 2 (6 laps)
1515-1540 Porsche Carrera Cup Race 2 (9 laps)
1555-1640 Dunlop Series Race 2
1705-1750 Supercars Top Ten Shootout



Sunday, October 8

Time Category Session
0725-0745 V8 SuperUtes Race 4 (6 laps)
0800-0820 Supercars Warm Up
0830-0850 Toyota 86 Race 3 (6 laps)
0900-0920 Supercars Drivers Parade
0930-0955 Porsche Carrera Cup Race 3 (9 laps)
1005-1025 Events Legends Parade
1115 Supercars Race 24 (161 laps)


WEATHER

It seems we wont have any rain to worry about on race day. But hey its Bathurst anyrthing can happen there. It is however raining there now.
Some rain showers forecast to happen tomorrow Thursday, but from then on the chance of rain reduces and as mentioned at present the forecast for Sunday iss 0% chance of rain.


Thursday 5 October
Summary Min 3 Max 15
Shower or two.
Possible rainfall: 0 to 1 mm
Chance of any rain: 50%

Central Tablelands area
Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers in the south, slight chance elsewhere. Damaging winds possible on and east of the ranges in the morning. Winds west to northwesterly 30 to 45 km/h tending west to southwesterly 15 to 25 km/h during the day. Overnight temperatures falling to between 2 and 9 with daytime temperatures reaching between 11 and 19


Friday 6 October
Summary Min 1Max 17
Partly cloudy.
Chance of any rain: 20%

Central Tablelands area
Becoming cloudy. Patches of frost in the south in the early morning. Medium chance of showers on and east of the ranges, most likely in the late afternoon and evening. Near zero chance of rain elsewhere. Winds west to southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h shifting southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h in the late morning and afternoon. Overnight temperatures falling to between 1 and 7 with daytime temperatures reaching between 15 and 22.


Saturday 7 October
Summary Min 3 Max 18
Partly cloudy.
Chance of any rain: 5%

Central Tablelands area
Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower about the Blue Mountains, near zero chance elsewhere. Winds east to southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h. Overnight temperatures falling to between 3 and 8 with daytime temperatures reaching between 14 and 20.


Sunday 8 October
SummaryMin 1 Max 20
Mostly sunny.
Chance of any rain: 0%

Central Tablelands area
Partly cloudy. Patches of morning frost in the south. Winds easterly 15 to 20 km/h becoming light during the day. Overnight temperatures falling to between 1 and 7 with daytime temperatures reaching between 17 and 22.


Bureau of Meteorology forecast link http://www.bom.gov.au/nsw/forecasts/bathurst.shtml

[Everso Biggyballies]

It peed down at Bathurst overnight but it seems is currently dry. P1 has happened for the Supercars but I will get to that in a sec.

In parity land there was to be a both sides meeting (Ford and Chev), with Supercars to discuss the Ford claims of aero imbalance and the fact they had been allowed to bring updated bodywork to Bathurst 'in case'. That meeting never happened as was cancelled. Separate meeting for each brand with Supercars ensued and it seems it was a waste of time. The Ford Mustangs are competing this weekend with an unchanged aerodynamic package after the Supercars Board rejected a proposed parity adjustment which has caused a furore even into today.

A statement just released by Ford suggests they are pissed off. I think that what has been decided is that come the end of the year one Ford and one Chev will be sent to the US for the Transient dyno testing that was not available at the time in Aus.

But that leaves us at Bathurst with an alleged lack of parity. They are pretty close over one lap, but Bathurst is 161 laps
It is what it is.




As for P1 we had an Erebus Camaro (Brown) leading the way with a Penrite /Grove Mustang of Payne and Estre 2nd..... just 7 thou the difference! At this stage of the weekend its all about bragging rights and all a bit irrelevant. A long way to go until even qualy let alone the race.

Erebus are looking the goods on track with Brodie 3rd fastest but I have to say the Penrite car look the best on the grid. The burnt copper (their words) paintwork looks great and in marketing terms the Penrite branding sticks out like dogs balls
No photos of it on track yet but here it is static.


3 Ford in the top 5 with the other Penrite car and the WAU Mostert car in the mix. Feeney was the quickest of the Red Bulls in 7th (SVG down in 15th.

Primary drivers didthe majority of running, although a number of co-drivers were also handed seat time.

Practice 2, an hour-long session for co-drivers only, starts this afternoon at 16:50 local time/AEDT.


Results: Practice 1 All drivers

Pos Num Team/Sponsor Driver(s) Car Fastest lap Split
1 9 Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus William Brown Chev Camaro ZL1 2:05.9653
2 19 Penrite Racing M.Payne/K.Estre Ford Mustang GT 2:05.9724 0:00.0071
3 99 Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus B.Kostecki/D.Russell Chev Camaro ZL1 2:06.0720 0:00.1067
4 25 Mobil 1 Optus Racing Chaz Mostert Ford Mustang GT 2:06.3075 0:00.3422
5 26 Penrite Racing David Reynolds Ford Mustang GT 2:06.4685 0:00.5032
6 20 Toyota Forklifts S.Pye/W.Luff Chev Camaro ZL1 2:06.5300 0:00.5647
7 88 Red Bull Ampol Racing Broc Feeney Chev Camaro ZL1 2:06.5899 0:00.6246
8 11 Shell V-Power Racing Team A.De Pasquale/T.D’Alberto Ford Mustang GT 2:06.7660 0:00.8007
9 8 R&J Batteries Racing Andre Heimgartner Chev Camaro ZL1 2:06.7993 0:00.8340
10 888 Supercheap Auto Racing Craig Lowndes Chev Camaro ZL1 2:06.8540 0:00.8887
11 55 Castrol Racing Thomas Randle Ford Mustang GT 2:06.9949 0:01.0296
12 5 Snowy River Racing James Courtney Ford Mustang GT 2:06.9964 0:01.0311
13 6 Monster Energy Racing C.Waters/J.Moffat Ford Mustang GT 2:07.0011 0:01.0358
14 17 Shell V-Power Racing Team Will Davison Ford Mustang GT 2:07.2103 0:01.2450
15 97 Red Bull Ampol Racing S.van Gisbergen/R.Stanaway Chev Camaro ZL1 2:07.4153 0:01.4500
16 35 Truck Assist Racing Cameron Hill Chev Camaro ZL1 2:07.4245 0:01.4592
17 31 Nulon Racing J.Golding/D.O’Keeffe Chev Camaro ZL1 2:07.6284 0:01.6631
18 18 DEWALT Racing Mark Winterbottom Chev Camaro ZL1 2:07.6326 0:01.6673
19 3 CoolDrive Racing Todd Hazelwood Ford Mustang GT 2:07.7275 0:01.7622
20 2 Mobil 1 NTI Racing Nick Percat Ford Mustang GT 2:07.8686 0:01.9033
21 34 Truck Assist Racing J.Le Brocq/J.Ojeda Chev Camaro ZL1 2:07.8780 0:01.9127
22 7 Petronas Racing Aaron Love Ford Mustang GT 2:07.9881 0:02.0228
23 96 Pizza Hut Racing M.Jones/J.Boys Chev Camaro ZL1 2:08.1098 0:02.1445
24 14 Middy’s Racing Bryce Fullwood Chev Camaro ZL1 2:08.1872 0:02.2219
25 56 Tradie Beer Racing Declan Fraser Ford Mustang GT 2:08.2375 0:02.2722
26 23 Movember Racing Team T.Slade/J.Webb Chev Camaro ZL1 2:08.6118 0:02.6465
27 4 SCT Motorsport Jack Smith Chev Camaro ZL1 2:09.0659 0:03.1006
28 98 Shell V-Power Racing Team Simona De Silvestro Ford Mustang GT 2:09.6949 0:03.7296

[Everso Biggyballies]

Talk is already tht it will be a tyre race. In their wisdom Supercars have gone from a fuel stint of low twenties flat out to now a comfortable 29. The fuel tanks are 30 larger this year. However they have gone from the usual hard tyre used here to the soft tyre, so bottom line is it will no longer be the fuel that will govern the stint, rather the tyre. So the question will be do we drive in tyre conservation mode to stretch out the stint or run harder, use the tyre harder and pit when the grip runs out regardless of the fact you have 30 litres of fuel onboard still.

Actually on the fuel aspect, the average fuel stop from empty to full this year will be 60 seconds over the 30 seconds of last year. That is a combination of larger tanks and the much reduced fuel rig flow rate this year.

That increased refuelling time will be an absolute pain if you end up with teams having to double stack under an SC. The second car will certainly be going down a lap if both cars do a full fill. I imagine a lot of teams will run alternate strategies to avoid a double stack, so then at least one car would only need a half fill.

P2 for co drivers is on now, and again Erebus to the top with Russell in the #99, followed by Stanaway in the #97 and Goddard 3rd in the #888 he shares with Lowndes.

[Everso Biggyballies]

P2 and again Erebus lead the way.....

David Russell doesnt seem to care about parity.... the Camaro might be quicker but he wasnt holding back for anyone as he set the fastest V8SC time of the week in the co-drivers only P2 session. He was almost 0.3 faster than Will Browns P1 time and over 0.6 quicker than any other co driver! 2nd was Tander in the #26 Penrite Mustang, keeping all the wheels on it this week. He had a bit of a scare at one stage having to straighline the esses past Skyline. 3rd fastest was the guy that replaced Garth at T888 for this year, Richard Stanaway, with Kai Allen 4th in the DJR yellow Ford car he shares with Simona. Of note that was the quickest DJR car in the session, in fact set the fastest DJR time all day. Zane Goddard next up in the #888 Supercheap car he shares with Lowndes.

The first one to scratch his toy was Dean Fiore, who locked the inside front in Bryce Fullwood’s #14 Middy’s Camaro at Murray’s Corner, ran into the gravel trap, and hit the tyre wall. Another one who must have scared his main game driver was Gary Jacobson in the Tickford Castrol car.... he gave the wall and wheels a big scrape exiting the dipper and then came within half a door mirror of the wall exiting the Elbow. He needs to settle down as he looked like a major accidenrt wanting to happen.

Practice 3, for all drivers, starts tomorrow at 10:00 local time/AEDT.


Results: Practice 2 Co-drivers

Pos Num Team/Sponsor Driver Car Fastest lap Split
1 99 Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus David Russell Chev Camaro ZL1 2:05.6826
2 26 Penrite Racing Garth Tander Ford Mustang GT 2:06.3351 0:00.6525
3 97 Red Bull Ampol Racing Richie Stanaway Chev Camaro ZL1 2:06.3842 0:00.7016
4 98 Shell V-Power Racing Team Kai Allen Ford Mustang GT 2:06.6152 0:00.9326
5 888 Supercheap Auto Racing Zane Goddard Chev Camaro ZL1 2:06.7650 0:01.0824
6 88 Red Bull Ampol Racing Jamie Whincup Chev Camaro ZL1 2:06.7823 0:01.0997
7 17 Shell V-Power Racing Team Alex Davison Ford Mustang GT 2:06.7828 0:01.1002
8 11 Shell V-Power Racing Team Tony D’Alberto Ford Mustang GT 2:06.7997 0:01.1171
9 9 Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus Jack Perkins Chev Camaro ZL1 2:06.8341 0:01.1515
10 25 Mobil 1 Optus Racing Lee Holdsworth Ford Mustang GT 2:07.0426 0:01.3600
11 6 Monster Energy Racing James Moffat Ford Mustang GT 2:07.1849 0:01.5023
12 34 Truck Assist Racing Jayden Ojeda Chev Camaro ZL1 2:07.1850 0:01.5024
13 18 DEWALT Racing Michael Caruso Chev Camaro ZL1 2:07.2257 0:01.5431
14 2 Mobil 1 NTI Racing Fabian Coulthard Ford Mustang GT 2:07.2275 0:01.5449
15 55 Castrol Racing Garry Jacobson Ford Mustang GT 2:07.3706 0:01.6880
16 31 Nulon Racing Dylan O’Keeffe Chev Camaro ZL1 2:07.3919 0:01.7093
17 5 Snowy River Racing Zak Best Ford Mustang GT 2:07.4023 0:01.7197
18 56 Tradie Beer Racing Tyler Everingham Ford Mustang GT 2:07.4806 0:01.7980
19 19 Penrite Racing Kevin Estre Ford Mustang GT 2:07.5317 0:01.8491
20 20 Toyota Forklifts Warren Luff Chev Camaro ZL1 2:07.6081 0:01.9255
21 7 Petronas Racing Jake Kostecki Ford Mustang GT 2:07.6366 0:01.9540
22 4 SCT Motorsport Jaxon Evans Chev Camaro ZL1 2:07.7304 0:02.0478
23 96 Pizza Hut Racing Jordan Boys Chev Camaro ZL1 2:07.7694 0:02.0868
24 8 R&J Batteries Racing Dale Wood Chev Camaro ZL1 2:07.7725 0:02.0899
25 23 Movember Racing Team Jonathon Webb Chev Camaro ZL1 2:07.9593 0:02.2767
26 3 CoolDrive Racing Tim Blanchard Ford Mustang GT 2:08.0912 0:02.4086
27 35 Truck Assist Racing Jaylyn Robotham Chev Camaro ZL1 2:08.6950 0:03.0124
28 14 Middy’s Racing Dean Fiore Chev Camaro ZL1 2:10.6100 0:04.9274

[Vassago]

I suppose the series knows the Camaro has dominated so a 'tire race' offers some chance to prevent a complete bowtie sweep unless this is what they want after all. Tire wear has been an issue for Ford so if they suffer even more on softs that will make the gaps even bigger. Not that I expect much from this race, Triple 8 & Erebus should fill out top 4 places at the finish save for some drama or bad pitstops.

[Everso Biggyballies]

P3 underway and again the Erebus car of Brodie K is the top of the table with 20 minutes to go. ADP next and Feeney 3rd. SVG down in 19th. A few Fords in the top 10, but Camaro sandbaggingg is a phrase that has been used by many. (It seems some of the drivers of Camaros didnt get the SMS to tell them to go slow.)

Whoops...... We have a red flag atm.... Zak Best in the James Courtney #5 Mustang has stopped on Conrod with an unspecified problem

Seems to have got the car running again in some sort of Limp mode and is crawling back to pit lane

Larko thinks its broken one of the engine belts which would lead to it overhding. Apparently this belt is unprotected and trips through gravel can cause grief.

Green flag and SVG clebrates with an off through the Chase but rejoins.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Big moment for Goddard running through the gravel at Skyline. The cars lack of downforce this year is catching a number of people out across the top of the mountain and in fact all round the track.