Winterbottom and Richards win epic Bathurst 1000km

Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards won the first Bathurst 1000km race for the Ford Performance Racing team, holding off the Triple Eight Holden of Jamie Whincup in an epic finish which saw up to five cars within a shot of the win with ten laps to go.

The #5 Ford had worked their way ahead of the #1 Triple Eight Holden of Paul Dumbrell and Jamie Whincup during the safety car period following Greg Murphy’s crash on lap 86, with Winterbottom and Whincup driving during the final stint which saw Whincup try one final lunge on lap 161 at Griffin’s Mount, but Winterbottom held his nerve through the corner and kept point, with Whincup forced to back out and was unable to get a run on him through The Chase.

The battle for the lead had almost become the support event to the battle for third, involving Brad Jones Racing’s Jason Bright, Triple Eight’s Craig Lowndes and Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander.

Bright had emerged from the final round of pit stops in third ahead of Lowndes, with Tander off-sequence and stopping later than the leading quartet, which saw Tander closing on fresher tyres during the final laps.

With 12 laps to go, Tander first attempted to pass Lowndes for fourth at The Cutting, but saw better of it, saving his move until the following lap, diving past at Griffin’s.

Tander continued his charge, going side-by-side with Bright’s BJR Holden on the following lap through the final corner, but Bright was able to hold the position and the loss of momentum for Tander allowed Lowndes to briefly retake fourth before Tander was able to get back ahead at Griffin’s.

It wasn’t until lap 157 that the battle for third was resolved, when Tander made a lunge down the inside of Bright at The Chase, locking up and running Bright wide, which allowed Lowndes past the pair of them into third, which he was able to hold on to the finish.

Tander finished within a second of Lowndes, whilst Bright dropped several seconds back in fifth, helped by a last minute splash and dash fuel stop for the #55 Rod Nash Racing Ford of David Reynolds and Dean Canto, which has been accidentally short-filled in their previous stop.

The wildcard entry by Triple Eight of Andy Priaulx and Mattias Ekström came into contention for a possible shock victory with their off-sequence strategy, with Ekström pitting within a shout of making it to the end without an additional stop, but a vibration discovered when the car was fitted with new tyres and handed over to Andy Priaulx saw the three-time WTCC champion forced to pit for another set, dropping him down the order, but would fight his way back into the top ten at the finish.

Scott Pye & Paul Morris finished sixth for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports, with Will Davison & Steve Owen’s #6 FPR Falcon seventh. Scott McLaughlin & Jack Perkins’ GRM Holden finished eighth, with the Ford of Reynolds & Canto dropped to ninth with their last minute stop and Priaulx & Ekström completing the top ten.

Ford’s win at Mount Panorama is the marques first since 2008, achieved with Triple Eight with drivers Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes, and the first for the factory Ford operation since 1977 with Allan Moffat and Jacky Ickx. The victory comes fresh off of this weekend’s announcement that Ford will continue to support the FPR team as a manufacturer entry next season.

Winterbottom’s Bathurst win is his career first, and the third for Steven Richards, who last won in 1999 whilst driving for Holden with Greg Murphy.

Race Report Part 1 – Jamie Whincup leads the Bathurst 1000 after two hours
Race Report Part 2 – Andy Priaulx holds off-sequence lead of Bathurst at 2/3rds

The next round of the V8 Supercars Championship is also the third event in the Pirtek Enduro Cup at Surfers Paradise in two weeks’ time.