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. Today? Part 2!

IMAGES: Mark Walker

In Part One of our extensive Great Race preview, we discussed some of the key elements surrounding the race.

Today, we look broader towards the Shootout, first-time winner potential and the most important category of all.. who makes the TRT Power Rankings!

Click here to read Part One before launching into the second stanza below!

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9/ Scott McLaughlin was a first-time winner in 2019. Who could be one this year?

CRAILL: Well, I’ve backed McLaughlin and Slade to win the race so on that basis, Timmy’s first Bathurst win would mean he gets added to the list a year after his co-driver. Outside of that obvious one, I’d love nothing more than to see Warren Luff finally get a much-deserved Great Race win. He’s been a monster of a co-driver at that place for years with a podium strike rate that is incredible. He’s level-headed, fast enough to be competitive with the full-timers when needed and in a good car with a rapid and in-form Chaz Mostert alongside. It’s a dangerous combination and if we get the kind of WAU we’ve seen on occasions this year, then it could be Luffy breaking his duck.

WALKER: If Tickford have their things together, and an absolute wildcard dark horse could be Le Brocq/Moffat car. For JLB, the last couple of events at The Bend were breakouts, and he has been solid at Bathurst in the past – his last start there for Prodrive alongside Waters netted fourth place. Moff meanwhile carves the place up – second in a bogged up Nissan, two other top-tens with unloved DJR/Nismo kit, fourth with Chaz in 2018, and was looking good last year until things went full Tickford. Great value podium proposition, they should be capable of getting close to the Monster car for the fourth straight year.

RODGERS: Shane Van Gisbergen or Cam Waters. Both have huge claims

SCHIBECI: Yes… Can you believe Shane Van Gisbergen has never won one.  That surely can’t be the case for much longer.

NEYLON: I know I picked SVG to win but I’ll go Warren Luff because man that would be awesome!

O’BRIEN: van Gisbergen.

RUST: SVG

SUMMARY:

Craill and Walker forgot about SVG for a brief moment, whereas the others certainly did not. It is indeed remarkable that he’s yet to win the big one – but that’s the nature of the place, isn’t it. The bottom line is that if 2020 is anything to go by, there’s a very good chance that someone yet to win will be holding the Peter Brock Trophy aloft on Sunday afternoon.

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10/ Predict the pole position time (if it’s dry)

CRAILL: 2:03.6875 – fractionally quicker than Scott’s Lap of the Gods II in 2007.

WALKER: 2:02.8387. That time also is my prediction if it is wet on Saturday afternoon, Scotty is that good a guy at qualifying.

RODGERS: 2:04.27

SCHIBECI: 2.03.971

NEYLON: 2:03.9812 (I’ll be honest the 10 thousandth of a second was a guess)

O’BRIEN: 2:02.666

RUST: 2.03.4670

SUMMARY:

O’BRIEN and Walker into the two’s, which would be something to see. Dale on the slower side while Neylon and Rodgers suspect Scotty won’t quite beat his benchmark. Craill and Rust think he’ll undercut it. Please, weather gods, be dry for the Shootout, if only the shootout.

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11/ Predict Scott McLaughlin’s Pole Position margin

CRAILL: McLaughlin by 0.2 seconds, as always.

WALKER: 2.5 tenths. Isn’t that the standard margin?

RODGERS: 0.27 of a second.

SCHIBECI: 0.231

NEYLON: Old Scotty 2 tenths they call him.

O’BRIEN: 0.15 seconds

RUST: 0.17 – I reckon it’ll be closer than last year.

SUMMARY:

WE’RE a bit cheeky with this one but such is Scott McLaughlin’s dominance on one Supercars lap you’d be crazy to bet against the Kiwi, though the odds for other drivers might make that a worthwhile gamble. Still, we expect 17 to be on pole and by the looks of it, by his customary two tenths of a second margin, or so.

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12 / Predict the drivers to tackle the Top 10 Shootout on Saturday

CRAILL: In order of how they will run – slowest to fastest? Righto.

Courtney, De Pasquale, Heimgartner, Percat, Mostert, Coulthard, Waters, Whincup, van Gisbergen, McLaughlin

WALKER:

McLaughlin, SVG, Whincup, Waters, Coulthard, de Pasquale, Heimgartner, Percat, Mostert, Courtney.

RODGERS: In No Particular order…..

Whincup, Van Gisbergen, Waters, McLaughlin, Mostert, Percat, Coulthard, De Pesquale, Courtney, Reynolds

SCHIBECI:  

McLaughlin, Whincup, Van Gisbergen, Heimgartner, Waters, Percat, Courtney, De Pasquale, Mostert, Hazelwood.

NEYLON:

1. McLaughlin, 2. Waters, 3. SVG, 4. Mostert , 5. Percat, 6. Fullwood, 7. Le Brocq, 8. De Pasquale, 9. Whincup, 10. Coulthard.

O’BRIEN:

McLaughlin, Whincup, Van Gisbergen, Waters, Mostert, Percat, Heimgartner, Reynolds, De Pasquale, Coulthard

RUST:

McLaughlin, SVG, Whincup , Reynolds, Mostert, Coulthard, De Pasquale, Waters, Holdsworth, Percat

SUMMARY:

THIS has the makings of a classic TTSO on Saturday afternoon with the real potential for a few surprise names to make it through. Four of our seven judges think Andre Heimgartner will make it though, while Percat also seems like a lock based on his year so far. Picking which of the four Tickford cars make it through – if not all of them – could be a challenge.

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13/ Predict one item each to make ‘HOT’ or ‘NOT’ in the post-Bathurst TRT Power Rankings

CRAILL:

HOT: Without putting much effort in, because you don’t need to, here’s what’ll make the ‘Hot’ list: The finish, the weather, the shootout, the TV production, TV Ratings, Scott McLaughlin, An upset result, smart race control and / or judicial decisions, the track and Lex Kelly.

NOT: There’s going to be a penalty that causes people to blow up, the lack of fans, the lack of atmosphere, the weather, a crash, a terrible strategy call, a terrible performance by someone being lapped and the fact we weren’t there with everyone else.

WHAT: Hahahaha. It’s Bathurst. There’ll be more in this category than we can deal with, but lock in something involving David Reynolds as a given.

WALKER:

HOT: This is me absolutely not trying: An all-time lifetime achievement hot goes to Supercars, and especially the Victorian contingent for even having a season in 2020. What a sacrifice they have made for our entertainment. Unreal. Also not going out on a limb: there will be a hot finish, two cars duking it out to the chequered flag.

NOT: Double stacking is a standing not at Bathurst, but once again, that’s me not trying very hard. So I’ll nominate the 11:30am (AEDT) start time – if we get an eight hour long epic like 2014, the race will finish sometime early on Monday. Honestly, last year’s late start, even when combined with a hasty getaway meant it was tough to get to the local Chinese buffet before it closed. I realise it’s scheduled for the TV audience, but the one non-time certain race of the year could be a drama if we have another wild one.

WHAT: Chaz Mostert is a human “what”, expect him to be front row centre.

RODGERS:

HOT: Cam Waters and Will Davison take it all the way to Van Gis.

NOT: Lap 1 – no flags, no noise, no spectators on the Mountain.  

SCHIBECI:  

HOT: How good were the Co-Drivers.       

NOT: The Reynolds and Ryan bust up I mentioned earlier..

NEYLON:

HOT: Lex Kelly (if he gets a gig he’s a shoe in for the HOT list)

NOT: A wet shootout. The ONE time you don’t want rain you watch what’ll happen. Bloody weather.

O’BRIEN:

HOT: Team Sydney

NOT: Matt Stone Racing

RUST:

HOT: the performance of the De Pasquale/Brodie Kostecki car all weekend.

NOT: Saying farewell to Holden. I still can’t bloody believe it! Commodore, Toranas, Monaros…Holden has been part of the fabric of the Great Race. 

SUMMARY:

FOR US, at least, this is the most important question of the entire preview.. we suspect it’s going to make for a busy Monday sorting through it all to meet our 6AM Tuesday morning deadline.. make sure you get your submissions in nice and early via @theracetorque on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

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14/ Bingo! Contribute an item for TRT’s race day watching from home bingo list..

CRAILL: Reynolds does something amusing on camera. Commentators say ‘sorry you can’t be here with us’ or something to that effect. Someone swears on live TV. Someone talks about rain being ‘not far away’. A driver blows up about a penalty. Tyre talk. I tweet about having a Beer.

WALKER: Watching from home will be tough – like, when are you supposed to go to the toilet without any ads for 1000km? And on that, I kind of hope the computer graphics people superimpose Bert into the empty spectator areas…

Right, Bingo – a slower cars gets given a free lap back under this new system only to be lapped once again shortly after the restart.

RODGERS: ‘That was wild!’ 

SCHIBECI: Mark Skaife saying – “This rain could be a game changer”

NEYLON:  Winning driver stands on roof

O’BRIEN: Aero wash

RUST: We should take all the suggestions my colleagues make on this one and use them in an irreverent/alternative call only available via the TRT site ala Roy and HG complete with Zoom calls during safety cars.

Think of it like a digital Skyline crowd enjoying a beer with us Couch Race Commentating.

SUMMARY:

Watch out for TRT’s downloadable bingo card on our socials this week. Also, be thankful we’re not making it a drinking game. Could end badly!