Supercars: Shane van Gisbergen and Holden win a tense Bathurst 1000

October 18, 2020 October 18, 2020

For the first time in almost 20 years, the infamous Bathurst 1000 set the scene for a Supercars season finale.

Scott McLaughlin travelled to Sydney having already been confirmed as the year’s championship winner for the third successive time.

However, the pride and plaudits that go with a Great Race victory kept tensions high, especially for the Holden-based teams, who were to register the brand’s final endurance race as a factory-backed marque.

As a result of COVID-19, the co-drivers partnered with the series’ stars jumped into the V8s with relatively low experience. Across the multiple practice sessions, various driver combinations posted the fastest times. When Friday’s qualifying showdown arrived, it was Tickford Racing’s Lee Holdsworth who topped the time sheets, leading himself and nine other competitors to Saturday’s Shoot Out.

Tickford stablemate Cam Waters emerged as the quickest campaigner on a one lap dash, finishing almost half a second ahead of time trial genius McLaughlin. Seven-time-champion and four-time-Bathurst winner Jamie Whincup also piqued interest in the session, making a rare mistake and going off the track at The Chase.

From launch on Sunday’s race, it was McLaughlin who made it first to Hell Corner, having bested Water’s co-driver Will Davison when the lights went out. The field navigated the first few laps without much drama, despite Macauley Jones’ door opening, copping himself a penalty.

On lap 33, the Mountain claimed its first true victim, after a throng of cars entered pit-lane with various mechanical faults. A dogged battle between the Red Bull Holden of Jamie Whincup / Craig Lowndes and Erebus Racing co-driver Brodie Kostecki saw the former in the wall at The Cutting.

The mistake by Whincup, who was at the wheel, undid all of teammate Lowndes’ hard work during the opening 30 laps. The safety car emerged, and arguably the most experienced duo was out of the race in very unexpected circumstances – their first Bathurst DNFs since 2002.

Amongst the chaos that ensued in pit-lane, Waters, who was now at the helm of the #6 Mustang, overtook leader Slade, who had filled McLaughlin’s seat earlier in the race.

20 laps after the race restart, another crash brought out a brief intermission – rookie Jordan Boys, partnering with Brad Jones Racing’s Todd Hazelwood, spun into the wall at Murrays having used too much kerb on the exit.

It had been a fairly simple affair up until the 50 lap mark, when the promised rain showers finally arrived at the Mountain. The frontrunners stayed out on cold slicks when the green flags showed, and struggled to keep on the track in the difficult conditions. Leader Davison acted as pioneer, and almost went off at Skyline.

However, thanks to pure driving skill, every driver wrestled the V8s around the track as the brief shower passed, with the lone Red Bull Holden of Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander coming out as winners. The partnership had started the race in fourth, but found themselves in the lead as SVG excelled in the wet.

This short spell proved to be crucial to the race’s outcome, as the #97 Commodore and #6 Mustang sped away from the field, punching out constant, mistake-free qualifying laps one after another.

It took another 50 laps for the next safety car period to arrive – BJR teammates Jones and Jack Smith came together at Murrays, landing another penalty on the former, and compiling an awful day for the operation, with every car succumbing to different faults.

This pause to proceedings ultimately decided who the frontrunners would be come lap 161, as it fell right in the middle of a scheduled co-driver swap. The van Gisbergen / Tander and Waters / Davison duos landed safely, but McLaughlin’s partner Tim Slade was two laps short of his 54 lap quota, forcing him to stay out amongst the series’ heavy hitters.

Despite his best efforts, he was quickly snapped up by Chaz Mostert’s Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore on the restart. Moreover, the lead two of van Gisbergen and Waters had streaked away from the rest of the pack, showing immensely consistent pace that McLaughlin could only watch in the pit-lane.

The standard of driving was top tier, with qualifying laps being punched out lap after lap. Mostert, who was in third at the time, matched the front two’s pace for a short period, but ultimately could not catch them.

The race was looking to be completed in record time as lap 150 of 161 arrived, with van Gisbergen just 2.5secs ahead of a determined Waters. As expected with the Bathurst 1000, however, a tense finish was to be played out, with Smith going off at The Chase and Bryce Fullwood smacking the wall at The Esses simultaneously.

A short sprint was to conclude proceedings in New South Wales before rookie Zane Goddard wore the wall at The Grate upon restart. The safety car once more emerged, and a three lap dash was left for Waters to make a move on van Gisbergen.

The front five were split by less than two seconds, but despite Water’s best efforts, van Gisbergen remained unflappable, and claimed his first Bathurst 1000 win alongside veteran Tander, who bagged his fourth. Waters settled for second after a mightily impressive showing all weekend alongside co-driver Davison, with ex-teammate Mostert and partner Warren Luff completing the podium.

Meanwhile, 2020’s series champion McLaughlin crossed the line in fifth, with the other Shell V-Power Mustang of Fabian Coulthard and Tony D’Alberto meeting the chequered flag ahead in fourth.

Water’s second-place heroics placed him runner-up overall in the season’s standings, with both himself and van Gisbergen leapfrogging Whincup due to his crash.

After the race, the victorious van Gisbergen said:

“It’s just awesome. The last few laps were really tough with the Safety Cars but the team did a faultless job and the car got better all weekend, so thanks to my guys. We had a great car and it’s a great way to send out Holden.
“I knew as long as I got through Turn 2 I would be fine. Each time he got pretty close but got through Turn 2 with good grip so I knew I would be ok. Those last three stints were just qualifying laps, so just awesome.
“It was a real track position race, super hard to pass and when that rain came I was a bit slow at the start but then got going. That got us to the front and we never left it. Awesome day.”

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