Photo: Erebus

David Reynolds and Luke Youlden win eventful Bathurst 1000

David Reynolds and Luke Youlden claimed an emotional Bathurst 1000 win for Erebus Motorsport in an eventful race that was affected by changeable conditions and crashes.

The Holden duo managed to win despite a late safety car session when Nissan driver Simona de Silvestro crashed into the wall of the start/finish straight.

Another scare came on the penultimate lap when Prodrive Racing Australia driver Mark Winterbottom hit the wall at the exit to the Conrod Straight. The race could continue though to see Reynolds crossing the line four seconds ahead of the Walkinshaw Racing duo of Scott Pye and Warren Luff.

While Reynolds and Youlden started second, Pye and Luff made their way from 20th position on the grid, making up ground thanks to the safety car sessions during the race.

The final podium finish went to the DJR Team Penske duo of Fabian Coulthard and Tony D’Alberto. Coulthard has taken over the championship lead thanks to finishing third as his team-mate Scott McLaughlin with co-driver Alexandre Prémat had to retire on lap 84 due to an engine issue.

Another championship contender in trouble was Triple Eight Race Engineering driver Jamie Whincup. The former champion looked set to be involved in the victory fight but dropped down to finish 20th and last of the classified drivers due to a technical issue on lap 121.

This left Shane van Gisbergen with co-driver Matt Campbell as the sole hope for a top ten finish for Triple Eight. Van Gisbergen was in the lead earlier in the race but made two mistakes, the first after rain started to fall when he was on slicks, going off track briefly, and the second when trying to pass Pye for second place. The Kiwi finished fifth behind the Holden duo of Dale Wood and Chris Pither, further underlining the strong performance for Erebus Motorsport.

Chaz Mostert was another front-runner that hit trouble in the race. The Prodrive Racing Australia duo, with co-driver Steven Owen, held the lead earlier in the race but dropped from second to finish tenth after missing out on the penultimate safety car period.

Coulthard heads the championship on 2431 points with Whincup in second, 91 points behind, while former championship leader McLaughlin is third, 97 points behind.