IT’S BATHURST WEEK – which means The Race Torque’s big Bathurst preview is back, with the TRT team and some invited guests putting their best foot forward to predict the action this weekend.

IMAGES: Mark Walker

WELCOME to the best week of the year – Bathurst week. It’s going to be a race like no other this year, for more reasons than just the fact that the race will attract it’s smallest ever crowd thanks to the pesky pandemic.

Still, there’s a cracking racing in store with a multitude of storylines, compelling combinations and a sheep station the size of the New South Wales Central West to fight for. It’s going to be great.

Our panel this year includes names you should be familiar with if you’re a regular reader of this site. Team TRT, Craill, Walker, Schibeci and Rodgers, head into race week with more than 60 live Bathurst’s in their collective book. Admittedly, most of them are Dale’s, but then again with age comes experience!

They’re joined this year by a trio who are definitely qualified as experts. GARRY O’BRIEN is back for another year, offering up his sage experience which includes an unbroken streak of attending events in his home town – not just the 1000 – since before Noah was boarding the ark.

CHAD NEYLON will be back on the microphone for Fox Sports this weekend, as he should be, and given he currently lives in Melbourne, has had two quiet weeks of contemplation in a Sydney Hotel room with which to consider his choices.

Finally, GREG RUST adds to the Bathurst experience of our crew; always reasoned, always informed, and always getting the human side of the story, Thrusta – the host of the outstanding ‘Rusty’s Garage’ podcast, available on PodcastOne, this year represents our international audience: He lives in New Zealand, after all. Remember when you could go overseas?

Thanks to all for taking part.

As always, this is broken into two parts, with key race questions tackled today and more general event ones following tomorrow.

We start with the most blatantly obvious question, of course – but also the most important.

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1/ Pick the winners of the 2020 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

CRAILL: McLaughlin / Slade. I think this race has the potential to be run at an utterly breakneck pace this year, weather permitting, and if raw speed is the deciding factor then you don’t go past a hooked-up #17. Tim Slade may not have the co-driver profile of Tander or Lowndes in the Triple Eight rigs, but he’s a proven winner and has plenty of Bathurst experience. This will be the cherry on the top of a most impressive season for this car / team / driver combo.

WALKER: Whincup/Lowndes – there are a lot of strong contenders that are capable and deserving, but on paper, these two have more going for them than anyone else. With an average finishing position of 2.4 as a combination, they have always been in the mix, and there’s no reason why that shouldn’t change now…

RODGERS: #97 Van Gisbergen and Garth. Too close too many times. It is either going to happen or he will join Seto.

SCHIBECI: Whincup and Lowndes – Time for Triple 888 to take the lead this year after following DJRTP for the majority of it.  While I would love to see the #17 take Bathurst and what a great way that would be to say goodbye to Scotty Mac.  I just think a combination of 11 Bathurst wins and 10 Championships between them is always going to be hard to beat.

NEYLON: 97. SVG & Tander

O’BRIEN: Van Gisbergen / Tander

RUST: SVG & Tander. I just think Shane is due to put his name on the Peter Brock trophy.

SUMMARY:

Remarkably, only Craill has backed the champion-elect, with the remainder of the team finding it impossible to look beyond the remarkable Red Bull Holden Racing Team quartet; 4 in favour of the 97 and the remainder for the 888. Tickford, Walkinshaw, BJR and everyone else? Not a chance, according to us. Which, of course, means they’ll probably win the thing now..

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2/ And now sort out the remainder of the podium..

CRAILL: I want to see McLaughlin and Whincup – the two best Touring Car drivers of the last ten years – battling for the win, so on that basis it’ll be Jamie and Craig second and I’m going to roll with Chaz Mostert and Warren Luff for third in the WAU car. Luffy is supreme on the Mountain, truly Mr. Reliable with a staggering podium rate there, and Chaz and his team have real pace this year.

WALKER: Clearly McLaughlin/Slade should be in the mix, ditto Waters/Davison and SVG/Tander. On paper they all have the recent form and total package co-driver wise, but Bathurst has never followed a script. I realise that’s a four car podium, so I’m therefore predicting a dead heat for third.

RODGERS: #17 and #6 – McLaughlin will be a force, not sure about his co driver – and #6 has come good just at the right time.

SCHIBECI: Scotty Mac and Tim Slade while I think Andre Heimgartner and Dylan O’Keefe could take 3^rd.

NEYLON: 17. McLaughlin & Slade, 8. Percat & Randle

O’BRIEN: McLaughlin/Slade, Mostert/Luff

RUST: P2: Cam Waters & Will Davison, P3: David Reynolds and Will Brown

SUMMARY:

OUTSIDE of the obvious choices there are some sensible selections here: Waters / Davison are as good as anyone and will be a shot. Any car with Warren Luff aboard is a chance, especially when Chaz Mostert is the other driver. Schibecs reckons Kelly Racing will have a very big day while Neylon’s backing of BJR to feature is entirely logical.. and Rusty is backing Erebus to come good after a rough season.

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3/ What car has the best all-round combination of drivers?

CRAILL: I mean, it’s either of the Triple Eight combinations. Take your pick, but on priors and experience you’d edge your way towards Whincup and Lowndes. Picking those two cars is as obvious as a slap in the face, so outside of that you’d lean towards the aforementioned Mostert / Luff, or Cam Waters and Will Davison in the Tickford machine.

WALKER: As above, Whincup/Lowndes have the stats on the board, although SVG/Tander have the same machine, and as a combo they have the same ability on any given day. The only real area they are behind car 888 is in the Bathurst wins column: 11 versus 3.

RODGERS: #6 – Cam Waters has shown great race speed and maturity. Will Davison is the perfect partner. Knows the car and the team so well. 

SCHIBECI: Whincup and Lowndes as explained above.  Oh and I didn’t mention they have won it 3 times together as a pairing before.

NEYLON: 6. Waters & W.Davison

O’BRIEN: Van Gisbergen/Tander

RUST: Jamie Whincup & Craig Lowndes RBHRT

SUMMARY:

UNLIKE Jamie Whincup at the end of the 2014 race, there’s no risk taking with our selections here..

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4/ What is most at stake this week?

CRAILL: Lots, as always, but there’s two key things I’ll single out. TV ratings will be important to follow as for the first time the Great Race won’t be in clear air, in that magic few-week window before Cricket and after Footy in which it usually sits. How it compares with the footy finals on at the time will be interesting and a strong number will only engage Seven and Fox to go harder on the sport in the long term. Secondly is optics: a flat out, hard, entertaining race with a great finish would put a superb bow on the season we’ve all survived and showcase just how well the sport has managed their way through 2020, especially compared to many others. A messy ending with all the politics like last year we do not need.

WALKER: Pride. Last year was a messy win for McLaughlin. He’ll take it regardless, and his name will forever be in the record book, but it was an untidy. From the qualifying engine irregularities, to the Fabian go slow, no matter which way you look at it, the shine was taken off the victory. With Scotty set to depart these shores, this is his chance to put a full stop and an extra-large exclamation mark on this brilliant chapter of his career. The battle between 17, Whincup and SVG has been simmering since Townsville, and all that matters now is that Peter Brock Trophy. A Bathurst win makes a season worthwhile. Game on.

RODGERS: The Teams Championship – maybe not the public but for the Pit lane – 100 points in it. 

SCHIBECI: Really nothing apart from the Peter Brock Trophy.  With the championship wrapped up and this being the final race of the season they guys can let their hair down.  If there was one team with something to prove it would be the Tickford combination of Cam Waters and Will Davison.  Cam is trying to hold onto 3^rd in the Championship while Wilber is really gunning to remind everyone that he still has what it takes to be a part of the Supercars Championship fulltime

NEYLON: Ratings. Sharing the weekend with the footy finals is a great chance to show Aussie sports fans what a great show this is.

O’BRIEN: The race, no championship on the line.

RUST: Co-Driver stock value. Maximum pressure to deliver with no traditional pre-Bathurst 500 to dial in.

SUMMARY:

TV Ratings will be worth watching, given there’ll be about 180,000 people not going in person this year, so lots will be watching by other means. Otherwise, it’s the teams title and the battle for third in the championship that are the focus, understandably, while Walker reckons McLaughlin will be champing at the bit to execute cleanly, after last year’s controversy.

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5/ Where will the race-defining, key moment occur?

CRAILL: Where? Not sure but as for When? Thursday. Someone is going to end up in the fence, hard, early in the weekend, it will be a big name contender and it will set them back for the remainder of the weekend. There’s lots of practice this year, but without a co-driver warm-up race maximising their time in the car will be critical in the lead-up so there’s a chance the many hours of practice will be both very busy and at times as competitive as a qualifying session. Changeable weather this time of year always plays a role, so expect that to feature.

WALKER: In a fence. The impact of the lack of miles the co-drivers have had will come to the fore at some stage. Not all of the 24 (or is it 25?) combos will be entirely match fit, and undoubtedly someone will come unstuck. Are all of the co-drivers up for a double stint? Even if it is early in the weekend, it’s hard to bounce back after an all-nighter. Look at Erebus last year – Youlden wrote the Reynolds car off early, and they were absent for the rest of the weekend. Last year the lack of a Sandown lead-in wasn’t an issue, but there had been a stack of test days, co-driver sessions, ride days and support categories to have everyone up to speed. This year the rust will be telling…

RODGERS: The deployment of a late Safey Car will once again define the race outcome.

SCHIBECI: Lap 132 with one of the Backmarkers going into the wall at McPhillamy.  The Safety car will close them up and the 32 sec lead of the #17 will be brought back to the field and having just got a set of new tyre on the #88 Whincup goes straight past McLaughlan and leads the last 27 laps of the race and is told he doesn’t have to worry about fuel.

NEYLON: (see 7)

O’BRIEN: The End..

RUST: The Grate. Big chance for over enthusiasm or rusty reflexes to play a part. Hope I’m wrong. 

SUMMARY:

KEY MOMENTS at Bathurst tend to include the fence, so that’s a feature among our selections, as do pit lane dramas, the Safety Car and all the usual Bathurst things. Schibecs went rather specific with his selection, so if a backmarker crashes on lap 132, start worrying..

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6/ How many Safety Cars?

CRAILL: Three. One of them within the last 15 laps.

WALKER: One, it’s sponsored by Shannons. (Smartarse. Also, did we find out what happened to Vodafone – Ed) Also, it will appear on track five times.

RODGERS: Five

SCHIBECI: There is only 1. But I think it will be out 6 times.

NEYLON: Pick a number between 1-10. Ummm 5?

O’BRIEN: 6

RUST: 4

SUMMARY:

Two absolute smartarses amongst our group, which is not surprising. The general verdict is that there is an expectation that the 2020 race will be a fast one, with limited Safety Car interruptions.

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7/ What will be the big controversy or drama this year?

CRAILL: I think the heat of the gloves-off Bathurst fight will get to someone late in the race and a fencing service will be engaged, deliberately or not, it doesn’t matter. Someone is going to be turfed into the wall at a key moment and they aren’t going to be happy about it, their team owner isn’t going to be happy about it and it will rumble on for the rest of the day. #drama.

WALKER: How could you possibly predict last year’s drama? This year there will be a bad skippy invasion, while double stacking will screw a Triple Eight car on a crucial late pit stop under safety car. But that’s not really a controversy, is it? News Limited to wheel out a shocking expose into the private life of one of the drivers.

RODGERS: A debate over a Safety Car woven in with a Pit Stop.

SCHIBECI: Dave Reynolds punches Barry Ryan after a heated discussion about nothing really.  It’s just been a long year

NEYLON: Pit stop dramas after a year of tyre only stops.

O’BRIEN: Start Time.

RUST: Maybe not so much controversy but the weirdness of such a small crowd thanks to friggin Covid!! Like Indy the Mountain is something truly special when it’s packed. Won’t feel the same that’s for sure. 

SUMMARY:

SCHIBECI thinks things at Erebus are really bad, so that’s a concern if you’re a Penrite fan and you buy Schibeci’s argument.. There’s always some controversy at Bathurst; it’s not a matter of what.. but when and where it happens. A little less than last year, however, would be nice..

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8/ Which co-driver has the most pressure on his shoulders?

CRAILL: I’ve written this before anyone else has sent in their nominations so I don’t know who they’ve picked, but I bet almost all of them will nominate Tim Slade. I also think that’s the easy route out.. I reckon Sladey is more than up to the task even if he’s done no or limited miles this year, and I doubt the pressure will stress him too much. Plus, a majority of people I know would back him as a safer and faster option to Alex Premat, and old Frenchy won the race last year. I think the co-driver under the most pressure will be the one caught out of sequence. There’s always one out amidst a field of full-timers during an awkward stanza of the race while strategies sort themselves out. If an out-of-position rookie in a decent car suddenly finds himself with Jamie Whincup or Scott McLaughlin on his tail, drama could ensue.

WALKER: Tim Slade. He has picked up the ace drive in the best car with the best driver. Previously at Bathurst he has had 11 starts for only four top-tens with a best of seventh, which isn’t really anything to write home about. His previous Paul Morris/SBR/Erebus/Walkinshaw/Brad Jones Racing machines have never been race favourites, now he has to go against Lowndes and Tander in T8 equipment, Will Davison at Tickford, plus everyone else. Is he better than Alex Premat? Probably, so that counts in his favour, because Premat got the job completed last year. I hope he gets it done, but he is the only real question mark against car 17.

RODGERS: Tim Slade. Scott is there to win in what probably will be his last Bathurst 1000 ….. for a while.

SCHIBECI: As mentioned above I really believe Will Davison has this race to prove to all that he deserves to be back in a full time drive.

NEYLON: Tim Slade. Heavy is the crown. 

O’BRIEN: Slade.

RUST: Tim Slade – the new Dad will arrive pumped but with a huge level of scrutiny on his performance alongside Scott (McLaughlin) and the powerhouse DJR/Team Penske.

SUMMARY:

YOU GOTTA feel for Sladey because by virtue of whom he’s driving with, he’s the absolutely prime target for a co-driver feeling the pressure. And it’s a valid argument, so the question is, will he feel the heat, or will he cruise into the (Current) best team in pit lane, with the best driver, and just go about his job. Will be fun to watch..

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TOMORROW: Who we think will be a new first-time winner in 2020, the Top 10 shootout – both who makes it in, what the pole time is and how much Scott McLaughlin will be on pole by – and we predict what will make the all-important TRT Power Rankings next week.. story live at 6AM AEDT Tuesday morning!