Kiwi domination at Bathurst as van Gisbergen, Coulthard and McLaughlin share the spoils

Wednesday night was an all-Kiwi affair at the top of the Supercars All Stars Eseries standings as three drivers from two teams swept the top spot on the rostrum in the three races around Bathurst’s Mount Panorama Circuit.

After qualifying on pole position for the opening race earlier in the night, Shane van Gisbergen converted the top spot start to his third victory on the run for Triple Eight as the DJR Team Penske pair of Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin fought back over the last two races.

Three longer races than previous weeks were featured over the night with compulsory pit stops across all three outings highlighting the need for a strong strategy as the possibility of a safety car was always present.

With van Gisbergen starting from pole for the first race, the Kiwi was able to hold his position off the line to lead Egglestone Motorsport wildcard Brodie Kostecki into the first corner, taking the field around for the opening lap.

Contact into The Chase at the end of the opening lap between Andre Heimgartner, Will Power, Scott McLaughlin and Bryce Fullwood saw the four cars struggle to stay on the circuit with all bar McLaughlin ending up on the grass. The current championship leader was handed a Pit Lane Penalty to serve later in the race for his role in the incident.

As Kostecki started to apply pressure to van Gisbergen for the lead, the pair ran away from Anton de Pasquale in third. Pitting on lap two to try the undercut and take the lead, Kostecki came in early but caught up behind the Team Sydney cars of Chris Pither and Alex Davison.

van Gisbergen and de Pasquale pitted on lap 4, Kostecki emerging between the pair and making use of his warm tyres to hound van Gisbergen but he was unable to find a way past. Heading in to the final lap, McLaughlin served his penalty and came back on track in seventh where he stayed until the finish.

Out front, van Gisbergen held on to the lead and took his third Supercars win in a row on iRacing, also notching up his first Supercars victory at Bathurst after he was cruelly denied a win in the 2014 1000km race. Kostecki and his Enduro Cup partner de Pasquale completed the podium.

With one extra lap to run and a reverse grid start from the opening outing’s finish order, Fabian Coulthard started on pole for race two ahead of Jake Kostecki, the New Zealander getting off the line well to lead into Turn 1.

Contact between Super2 drivers Thomas Randle and Brodie Kostecki nearly ruined both of their races at Griffin’s bend while van Gisbergen got caught up in an incident at the top of the Mountain, dropping outside the Top 20 after putting in a strong opening lap.

Only two laps in Randle was able to get up to 14th but was handed a penalty for his role in van Gisbergen’s stack, putting McLaughlin as the highest placed driver who started from the last few rows. Coulthard continued to lead the way from Jake Kostecki, the duo enjoying a quiet run out front while all the pack battled behind them.

Brodie Kostecki pulled off the save of the century after van Gisbergen gave him a tap from behind over the hump on Conrod Straight, having to take to the grass and losing a spot. He then ran wide at the exit of The Chase, dropping a spot to de Pasquale in 16th.

Conrod Straight was the scene of an even bigger accident on the next lap as Garry Jacobson and Jamie Whincup made contact into The Chase, taking out Jack Le Brocq in the process while Brodie Kostecki and Anton de Pasquale had to take evasive action.

McLaughlin ran long before his pit stop, getting into the lead and clear air to run away from those he was battling earlier in the race. He was able to come back on the track just ahead of David Reynolds in fifth place as Will Power and van Gisbergen made contact on the way up to The Cutting, the Kiwi pushing the Indycar star wide into the wall.

Chaz Mostert relinquished the lead at the start of the final lap, taking his pit stop as Coulthard retook control of the race ahead of Cam Waters, Will Davison and DJR Team Penske team-mate Scott McLaughlin. van Gisbergen was given a redress penalty with Brodie Kostecki for his earlier contact down the straight, dropping to eighth.

Coulthard was able to hang on for his first Eseries race win, taking the third for DJR Team Penske of the season while the Tickford entries of Waters and Davison completed the podium. Further back Brodie Kostecki locked the brakes into the final corner, dropping for seventh place to tenth.

Again starting from pole, Coulthard led the pack away for the final race of the night with 14 laps of the Mount Panorama Circuit on the cards with two compulsory pit stops. McLaughlin was able to get up to third ahead of Davison at the first corner, making it a DJRTP-Tickford-DJRTP-Tickford top four.

David Reynolds nearly caused the stack of the day after spinning on the exit to Griffin’s Bend though the pack was able to avoid the 2017 Bathurst 1000 champion. Both van Gisbergen and Brodie Kostecki pitted at the end of the first lap to get their first of two stops out of the way, looking for clear air.

It soon became an all-Kiwi affair at the front with Coulthard leading ahead of hard-charging team-mate McLaughlin, Waters holding down third with Heimgartner and Lee Holdsworth sitting in the top five. Holdsworth, Randle and Jacobson all pitted together, coming out in the same order they went in but Randle was able to use the draft from Zane Goddard to get back Holdsworth.

Friendly fire between the Tickford cars of Waters and Davison ended up with the latter parked across the road at Forrest Elbow, blocking the track until his former co-driver Will Power came along and made contact, causing both cars damage.

A solid run for Chaz Mostert, de Pasquale and Power came to an end after the trio made contact in to Turn 1, having all previously taken both stops and settling in for the run home. The incident took them all out of contention for a good result and hurt de Pasquale’s points tally after winning last round at Silverstone.

Just as it was in last year’s Bathurst 1000, McLaughlin and van Gisbergen headed in to the final laps as the leaders with van Gisbergen pitting first, McLaughlin coming back out on lap 10 just under a second ahead of his adversary.

Kostecki filed out of the pits behind the leading duo, looking to get amongst the fight or at least be there to pick up the scraps if another Marcos Ambrose v Greg Murphy incident was to happen. The three ran away at the front with nothing to split their times in the last few laps.

With three laps to run, van Gisbergen side stepped for Kostecki on the run up to The Cutting, giving him the position and ability to chase down McLaughlin for the lead as further back, de Pasquale retired after getting hit my Mark Winterbottom spinning out of the pits.

McLaughlin led to the line with one lap left, Kostecki throwing everything at the reigning Bathurst 1000 champion to try and take a special wildcard win. The #17 Mustang became as wide as the track itself on the run up the hill, Kostecki and van Gisbergen having to go single file over the top of the Mountain before one last shot at The Chase.

Despite defending hard on Conrod Straight, Mclaughlin locked up the rear brakes into the final corner, running off the road and handing Brodie Kostecki the win for Egglestone Motorsport. McLaughlin was able to hang on for second while van Gisbergen bumped the DJR Team Penske car over the line, having to take third place.

However, post-race Kostecki was handed a penalty for making contact with McLaughlin, having to swap spots giving McLaughlin his second Bathurst victory and the second of the night for DJR Team Penske. The victory also gave the Eseries leader the round win, extending his championship margin in the process.

Next week the championship heads on a North American adventure with trips to Watkins Glen and the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. While Montreal is still on the Formula One calendar, Watkins Glen is best known in Australia as the scene of two-time Supercars champion Marcos Ambrose’s only two NASCAR wins.