Bathurst 1000 practice, Top 10 Shootout
STUNNING finish in Bathurst 1000 top 10 shootout with just .0094 of a second between the fastest two racers.
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Live Bathurst
Welcome to our live coverage of Saturday’s action on Mount Panorama.
JOIN us for the build-up to Australia’s biggest day in motorsport. The final practice for the 2018 Bathurst 1000 has wrapped up ready for the thrilling Top 10 Shootout beginning at 5.10pm this evening.
6pm
Reynolds and De Pasquale tame the mountain
Erebus Penrite have set the mountain on fire in the top 10 shootout with David Reynolds and Anton De Pasquale sitting in pole and third place for the Bathurst 1000 tomorrow.
It was a stunning result, particularly for rookie De Pasquale.
De Pasquale set a blistering pace as the second driver out of the blocks behind Garth Tander but the 23-year-old hung onto the top of the leaderboard until his teammate snatched a place at the front of the grid.
Speaking after claiming the top spot, Reynolds heaped praise on his young teammate.
“I’m ecstatic, my young teammate did a pretty amazing time so I couln’t let him beat me. I threw everything I had at it, that’s all I had left,” he said.
“I was stressing, I wasn’t sure I could go that fast. Luckily I got my tires up and pushed on and my thing was amazing.”
Asked if he had been dreaming about what he needed to do, Reynolds replied: “I’m not dreaming when I’m awake but I was replaying how I was going to get those couple of extra tenths at four o’clock this morning. My car was amazing. Our cars are so fast. I think we’re first and third and the team has done an amazing job.”
It was an incredbly close finish for pole with one Channel 10 commentator proclaiming: “I’ve never seen anything like that”.
Reigning V8 champion Whincup was pipped at the post, finishing in second, just .0094 of a second behind Reynolds.
It was a stunning shootout for Holden racers with the top four positions and eight of the top 10.
Retiring veteran Craig Lownes finished in ninth overall, ahead of just Garth Tander, and said he was not happy with the performance in the shootout.
“We’ve been fighting this steering problem the last couple of days and to be honest, we’ve fixed it which is a good thing but the car balanace wasn’t quite nice across the top,” he said straight after his lap.
“Nice job from the boys to get us into the top 10, not quite happy but we gave it a red hot go.”
He said the dry conditions through the afternoon had set up a lightning fast course at Bathurst.
Results
1. David Reynolds (Holden) — 2:04.0589s
2. Jamie Whincup (Holden) — 2:04.0683s
3. Anton De Pasquale (Holden) — 2:04.3498s
4. Shane Van Gisbergen (Holden) — 2:04.5385s
5. Scott McLaughlin (Ford) — 2:04.5494s
6. Cameron Waters (Ford) — 2:04.7517s
7. Nick Percat (Holden) — 2:04.7673s
8. James Courtney (Holden) — 2:05. 0034s
9. Craig Lowndes (Holden) — 2:05.0835s
10. Garth Tander (Holden) — 2:05.1717s
4pm
Mustangs in for Ford in Falcon switch
There’s plenty of emotion for Craig Lowndes at the Bathurst 1000 in his last year as a full-time Supercars driver.
But arguably an even bigger name is leaving Mount Panorama this year, and it ain’t coming back.
The Ford Falcon.
The beloved vehicle is being replaced in 2019 by the two-door Mustang as the manufacturer looks to the future.
There’s certainly excitement about seeing the iconic galloping horse badge up and down he Supercars grid.
There’s nostalgia too, as a trip around the grounds of the famed circuit shows. Flags and banners featuring the Blue Oval adorn tents and campsites, with hundreds of Falcons bumper to bumper in car parks.
“It’s pretty emotional really,” Ford stalwart Mark Winterbottom told AAP. “I’ve driven Ford my whole career.
“You put so much into the sport and the model has so much importance as the badge does.” The Falcon has provided Bathurst with some of its most memorable moments — as well as a hatful of race wins.
Of the 19 Ford triumphs in the Great Race, 14 have been in Falcons — from Harry Firth and Fred Gibson’s win in 1967 to Chaz Mostert and Paul Morris’ remarkable triumph from last place in 2014.
Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup — now firmly ensconced in the Holden camp — won their historic three-peat from 2006 in the BA and BF models. Scott McLaughlin’s Lap of the Gods mark II last year in an FG X shows the Falcon still possesses remarkable pace.
When thinking of the Falcon on the Mountain though, one man leaps out. “It’s been an iconic vehicle around here,” Ford legend Dick Johnson told AAP. “Even since the very early days, even prior to Bathurst at the Armstrong 500. The Falcon won down there too.
“It’s been a huge part of Australian motorsport for many, many years.”
Johnson started his career in an FJ Holden but he built his reputation in a Falcon.
The five-time champ and Hall of Famer won three times at Mount Panorama and twice — in 1981 and 1994 — in a Falcon.
It was two other years in which he really made his name.
In 1980, Johnson entered as a self-funded privateer but came a cropper from the race lead when two drunk fans accidentally dislodged a boulder in his way. Johnson was incredulous at the time.
“I couldn’t believe my bloody eyes. Those galoots up there that just throw boulders. It was enormous,” he memorably told the broadcast. “Unless I can get $40,000 to rebuild the car, you’ve lost me because I’ve had a gutful of the whole bloody operation.” Australia responded, donating thousands of dollars through a telethon — which Ford matched — to set Johnson’s racing career up.
He returned to the mountain the next year and won after a disastrous six-car crash forced an early end to the 1000-kilometre classic.
In 1983, Johnson wrote another legendary moment — and one-liner — into Bathurst’s history.
The Queenslander was on a hot lap during the shootout when he clipped the wall, which dislodged the steering column and sent him arrowing into the trees. The crash could have claimed Johnson’s life, except he was wedged between two trees rather than hitting one front-on.
Asked how he managed it, Johnson said he’d benefited from driving around Brisbane.
“You know what it’s like parking in Queen St,” he deadpanned. This year, it falls to a seven-strong Falcon team to deliver a 15th Falcon success at Mount Panorama.
Scott McLaughlin, who sits second in the championship under Dick’s eye at DJRTP, said the looming retirement of one of Australia’s favourite cars had been spoken about as a motivator.
“Us as a team, we’d like to send it out with a bang. That’s with a championship and with a Bathurst as well,” he said.
“What the Falcon has done with this team, with Dick especially, it’d be very special.” Showing the dispassionate nature of many drivers, McLaughlin said he was already eyeing wins in a Mustang next year.
“I’m really excited for what the future is,” he said.
“The Mustang is going to be cool. I’d probably be a little bit sad if we were going to a Mondeo, not that it’s bad but the Mustang is a cooler car.”
— Ben McKay, AAP
12.10pm
McLaughlin’s stunning save in final practice
What. A. Save.
— Supercars (@supercars) October 6, 2018
They don’t come much closer than that @smclaughlin93 😱#VASC #Bathurst1000 pic.twitter.com/TbKdFd4X1R
Supercars speedster Scott McLaughlin shocked the commentary box with one of the closest saves seen all weekend during the final practice before this afternoon’s Top 10 Shootout.
The 25-year-old Ford driver was literally an inch from disaster as he lost control on his ascent up Mount Panorama in Practice 6.
A frantic shift of the steering wheel saw the young gun, who is second place on the 2018 championship table, avoided a catastrophe.
“I thought I was ended to be honest. More arse than class, that one!” he said after the race. “I was a bit wider than I wanted to be but everyone says you have a (lucky) moment once or twice on the weekend so hopefully that’s one of them.”
☀ï¸â˜€ï¸
— Supercars (@supercars) October 6, 2018
We're all finished for practice, now our sights are set on the @ARMORALLAusNZ Top 10 Shootout!#VASC #Bathurst1000 pic.twitter.com/rAPah6O8O8
David Reynolds shapes as the most likely threat to a Jamie Whincup whitewash of the Bathurst 1000 after the Erebus Motorsport man put his Commodore on top of the timing charts in the final practice.
Whincup won provisional pole yesterday by scorching the field and is in the box seat for Saturday’s top 10 shootout. Reynolds, next fastest in qualifying, went quickest in the final practice session on Saturday morning with a 2:04.4072 lap.
Fiery Ford driver Chaz Mostert just missed out on a shot at the Shootout after falling six hundredths of a second behind veteran Garth Tander in 10th.
“To be honest I’m pretty disappointed in my efforts out there. I was a bit flustered,” the 26-year-old said.
“There’s no excuses. I’m kicking myself.”
9.50am
Shootout Qualifiers
1. Jamie Whincup
2. David Reynolds
3. Scott McLaughlin
4. Shane van Gisbergen
5. James Courtney
6. Craig Lowndes
7. Cam Waters
8. Nick Percat
9. Anton De Pasquale
10. Garth Tander
9.30am
Whincup takes provisional pole
Jamie Whincup has defied a tremendous challenge from David Reynolds and Scott McLaughlin to claim provisional pole for the Bathurst 1000.
The Red Bull Racing ace squeaked out the fastest time in qualifying, charting a 2:04.1093 lap at Mount Panorama.
The pure pace of the Triple Eight Commodore won out in a helter-skelter qualifying session on Friday afternoon.
“That’s by far the quickest I’ve been around this place in a Supercar. I couldn’t be happier,” Whincup said.
In scarcely precedented scenes, drivers took to qualifying as their first dry run around the circuit for the meet.
The result was a hotly-contested session as teams guessed at their ideal setups. Whincup, Reynolds, McLaughlin and James Courtney enjoyed a ding-dong battle for supremacy, each having spells on top of the timing charts.
Respite arrived with nine minutes remaining, when Jack le Brocq speared into the wall at turn `one and required a tow home- bringing a red flag and a session break.
Each team brought their cars in before setting out for one last push. McLaughlin stole top spot with a scorching hot lap, reminiscent of his pole- winning drive last year.
With only qualifying for Saturday’s top ten shootout on the line, Whincup revealed he was in two minds about whether to go hard at the session after the break.
“I’m so glad we went out for the last one or we would have been pipped,” he said.
“That was intense … we were hanging on the edge.” Whincup said their inability to have a run on slick tyres at the previously rain-soaked track meant he owed the result to his pit team.
“To throw green tyres on a car and belt around one of the best bits of road in the world was tough for everyone,” he said.
“The real hero of my day was the engineers.
“It’s just an educated guess on what you think the car should be. The car is completely different to last year so they made a really good guess. It was a cracker session.” Reynolds was on track to snatch provisional pole at the death, only to fade in the final sector to finish second.
Their prizes are the marquee slots in Saturday’s shootout, which begins at 5:10pm (AEST).
Craig Lowndes, on his last visit to Bathurst as a full-time driver, returned to the shootout for the first time in three years with the sixth-fastest time. But Chaz Mostert, Fabian Coulthard and Rick Kelly all missed out. No Nissans and just two Falcons — of McLaughlin and Cam Waters — will take their place in the shootout.
Mostert came in unlucky No. 11, six hundredths of a second behind 10th fastest Garth Tander.
— with AAP
Originally published as Bathurst 1000 practice, Top 10 Shootout