Photo: Supercars

Whincup leads with 30 laps to go as Mostert takes out Waters

A tight battle is brewing in the closing laps of the Bathurst 1000 with four-time race winner Jamie Whincup holding the lead of the race as the lap timer ticks closer to 161.

With 30 laps to go, Whincup leads marginally into the final stint aboard the Triple Eight Holden Commodore, just ahead of DJR Team Penske’s Kiwi drivers Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard.

Heading out of the fourth hour, McLaughlin was in the race lead with Whincup behind, the pair trading personal best lap times at the front of the field, looking to battle it out on pure pace as safety cars were few and far between throughout the race.

Despite car #17 having a small bit of loose bodywork on the rear bumper, Scott McLaughlin kept going faster and faster in the DJR Team Penske car, setting the new race lap record on lap 109 while stretching his lead over Jamie Whincup in car #888 behind him.

Sitting in third but unable to keep the pace with the leading pair, Fabian Coulthard didn’t have the ultimate speed of his team-mate McLaughlin but was holding off the Tickford prepared Ford Mustang of Cam Waters behind him. Fighting as the fastest Kelly Racing Nissan, Andre Heimgartner was holding his own in fifth after starting 13th on the grid.

A third safety car for the day was deployed on lap 113, the Kostecki Brothers Racing entry crashing at Sulman Park with Jake Kostecki behind the wheel, emerging from the crash unscathed.

The caution period triggered the next round of stops, Coulthard and van Gisbergen having to stack behind McLaughlin and Whincup respectively.

Whincup was able to get out ahead of McLaughlin but in doing so he took a shorter fill of the E85 race fuel, opting for track position and hoping to control the pace. Tickford’s Lee Holdsworth led the pack to the green flag from Whincup, McLaughlin, Waters, Chaz Mostert in the #5 Tickford car, Heimgartner and the double-stack affected van Gisbergen and Coulthard.

Kelly Racing driver Alex Rullo nearly got himself mixed up in the lead scrap, being a lap down in front of the leaders and running wide at McPhillamy Park, straight-lining the Esses and nearly hitting McLaughlin on his way out. As he kept dropping back, he baulked team-mate Heimgartner who lost spots at The Chase to van Gisbergen and Coulthard.

Whincup and McLaughlin resumed their battle for the effective race lead with the #17 tucked right under the rear of the #888, looking to get past but make use of the slipstream to gain better fuel economy as the possibility of only one more stop to the end was line-ball.

With Holdsworth finally coming into the pits on lap 123, it released Whincup and McLaughlin to take the actual lead of the race, separated by under half a second but enjoying a three second gap over the duelling Tickford pair of Waters and Mostert.

The battle between the third and fourth placed cars ended in tears as Mostert locked up into The Chase, making contact and locking wheels with Waters which send them both into the gravel trap with damage, taking the #6 and #55 out of contention for the win.

van Gisbergen reacted immediately, diving into the pits for a quick pit stop while David Reynolds and James Courtney followed suit under the safety car, coming in to the Erebus Motorsport and Walkinshaw Andretti United pits to take on a different strategy to the leaders.

Mostert returned to the pit lane after eventually getting let out of the gravel while Waters remained bogged for longer. All the laps under safety car helped Whincup who kept the lead from McLaughlin, conserving fuel in the previous stint despite being in the optimal track position.

Racing got back underway at the start of lap 127 but was halted again within half a lap, the safety car coming back out as Anton de Pasquale crashed at Sulman Park, a stuck throttle leaving him with no choice but to lock the brakes on approach to the corner and send the #99 Erebus car straight into the concrete wall.