Team TRTPower Rankings: The Bathurst 1000
It’s been won and run, the Great Race for 2024 gave us plenty to HOT, NOT and WHAT, so here goes…
ABOUT THE RANKINGS: The TRT Power Rankings are compiled by your nominations from social media and edited by the TRT editorial team. They’re designed to give a balanced, as fair as possible critical overview of those things that excelled and those things that struggled, at each event. It’s (mostly) a democracy, and what you nominate generates the order, so have your say next event via our social media channels, @theracetorque on Facebook, Twitter and Insta. Look for the call out each evening and get commenting!
HOT
1. Brodie Kostecki & Todd Hazelwood
Thorough dominance. From practice pace to donging the field in the shootout, to practically leading all day long on Sunday, Car 1 was brilliant. Brodie put in a performance worthy of a champion, while Hazelwood put 194 winless races behind him to deliver stints that were indistinguishable from Kostecki’s.
2. Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup
A typical Triple Eight workmanlike performance. The only car all day that was within sight of the Chiko Machine throughout the race, before missing it by that much at the finish. Feeney was emotional post-race, and Whincup put in the performance you would expect from a four-time Bathurst winner.
3. Will Brown/Scott Pye
They didn’t have the ultimate pace of the top two come Sunday, but they had a solid rebound after the car was crushed into a cube early in the week. An outing that will count for plenty come the end of the season, which is very quickly approaching.
4. The Bathurst 1000
Say what you want about the race, it’s still the biggest show in town and this was a race that will be remembered for it’s storylines perhaps more than the actual on-track show. Still, the last 30 laps were as intense a motor race as you’ll ever see, and more broadly, the entire thing just felt as big as it ever does. From the layout, activations, camping, attendance, vibe and the lot, it was all extremely well executed and lived up to its mantle as the biggest show in the Australian Motorsport year.
5. Cameron Waters/James Moffat
A tour down the escape road early, but the combo rebounded to be the leading Ford home in what was a good comeback (hence the Hot) but also probably a case of what could have been for the leading Mustang.
6. Chaz Mostert/Lee Holdsworth
Chaz pushed hard in the closing stages, but once he came across Waters, it was the end of the road for car 25. Still, another stout recovery drive from Mostert, who has made a habit of hauling not particularly good WAU machinery up towards the front of the field when it probably shouldn’t be there.
7. The Rebuilds
A huge effort by so many teams to get cars turned around following an unprecedented weekend of Gen3 carnage. Included in the mix were Team 18, DJR, the Blanchard Racing Team, Matt Stone Racing, Red Bull Ampol Racing, with numerous other entries bouncing off pieces of scenery throughout the event.
8. Mark Larkham
A genuine national treasure… The TV product was typically great with numerous new initiatives.
9. Track to Town
A 12 Hour staple worked an absolute treat. Truck prime movers, the race cars, autograph signing, the pit stop challenge finals and an assortment of sideshows and attractions. Having it in the evening gave everyone plenty of time to walk the track, or visit the National Motor Racing Museum or other attractions around town. Also, the late start ensured many people could knock off work and attend. Although it was largely a made-for-TV product, it set the bar for years to come.
10. Trophy Relay & Pre-race Show
Another cool initiative was the rejigging of the lead into the race with the trophy relay, whilst also incorporating a range of activities that engaged the crowd. It will be interesting to see how this can be reworked and expanded in the future, but it sets a great precedent for fan interaction.
Also, stopping the cars at the top of the Mountain was a masterstroke for a group of fans who are usually quite literally kilometres away from the pre-race action.
James Golding/David Russell
Third at Sandown, sixth at Bathurst, a quality enduro campaign by the underdog crew. If the Enduro Cup had returned this year they’d have been a placegetter. PS – Biebs is now P5 in the championship!
Jack Le Brocq/Jayden Ojeda
Robbed of an almost certain P4 by sacrificing themselves in a battle of pit lane space during the late-race safety car. Commendable effort throughout that resulted in eighth at the chequered flag. Ojeda’s co-driver performance, in particular, was extremely impressive as he continues to build his CV.
Toyota’s Presence
The first event since the brand announced it would be entering the sport, and they made a splash, with most visitors to the circuit touring through their garage, where the full-size version of the Supra was on show. You’d bet in twelve months, it will be the same thing but the real car (perhaps a demo lap?), but this was a fine piece of integration from Supercars and GR to showcase one of the sport’s biggest-ever announcements.
Ford Effort
Clearly, the brand was in some massive strife following engine dramas at Sandown – the Blue Oval crew moved mountains to ensure they had some reliable donks at Bathurst. A huge commitment. As one Blue-oval sporting exec quietly told TRT, “We’d rather have to fix this issue than the ones we had here last year…” which is absolutely a fair point. Well played, Ford, for their commitment.
Heritage Revival
Nothing brought the crowds to the fences as much as the assortment of historics that assembled at the Mount. Great variety and memories. Also, Greg Murphy on the in-car was absolutely superb.
Super2
Genuinely interesting racing without ever going full Super2. The wins went to Jobe Stewart and Aaron Cameron, who suffered failures in the races they didn’t win, resulting in the round win for rookie Rylan Gray. Sets up a fascinating finale in Adelaide.
Carrera Cup
Harri Jones was busy doing Harri Jones things until he stumbled across some debris on Sunday morning, which added some late race and event drama, putting his shot at four rounds in a row in peril. David Russell won that race, but Jones recovered to claim the round.
Also, the three-wide stuff on Saturday was wild. Good sport.
Toyota 86s & V8 SuperUtes
Some neat racing from the other supports, with Max Geoghegan winning the first two outings for the 86s before James Lodges came home a winner in the finale, while in the SuperUtes, Aaron Borg claimed the round with wins up until Jayden Wanzek took the Sunday honours.
Repco
They went really hard promoting the race, and turning on activations at the circuit. Even the Repco trackside stores hit the spot. Very well played.
The F-35A Flyover
Impeccable timing, a piece of art.
WHAT
Short Drivers or Big Desk?
“War”?
John Goss Loves a Chat
The TV folk should have been aware of that before allowing the two-time Bathurst-winning legend loose with a microphone…
Putting together the Power Rankings is stressful, we could sure go a packet of Pet Ackson’s…
You Didn’t Need to Sleep Tonight Anyway…
HUH?
Whatever happened exiting the Ox early on Monday morning
NOT
1. Will Davison’s Shunt/Kai Allen’s Weekend Prior to Sunday
An incredibly tough weekend. Firstly, Allen shunted big time at Reid Park in Friday’s Super2 qualifying, with the patched-up car and driver going on to limp around in the race. Later in Supercars qualifying, Davison came unstuck on muck left behind from David Reynold’s shunt, registering a 58g impact. The DJR crew cobbled together what was otherwise a write-off in an overnight miracle. Allen’s Super2 weekend went from horrible to rock bottom, with an apparent failure sending him into the wall out of the Dipper early, ending his charge. He subsequently fell from the series lead to third in the standings heading to Adelaide. Somehow, with a busted car and two equally busted drivers, the crew dragged out a 12th place finish after 161 laps, which is an incredibly gutsy performance.
2. David Reynold’s Shunt/Team 18’s Race Day
A huge shunt, which, like Davison’s shunt that followed, will be enough to see the car wind up in the bin. The combination of Reynolds and Warren Luff subsequently were nowhere on race day, finishing two laps off the pace in 24th. Likewise, the sister car of Mark Winterbottom and Michael Caruso lacked pace and finished in 18th.
3. Matthew Payne’s Shunt
The stack which ultimately produced the race’s sole safety car. It was a tough day for the outfit after Payne ended the warmup in the Chase gravel and Garth Tander toured the escape road. A tough outcome after claiming the provisional pole on Friday.
4. Scott Pye’s Shunt
After not receiving TV airtime at Sandown, Scott Pye ensured that he received all of the TV attention at Bathurst when he binned the championship-leading car early in the weekend.
5. Plane Shunt
Seriously, what on earth was that about? Firstly, the pilot Hayden Pullen, didn’t land on the track like Matt Hall did in 2021, but on the grass adjacent to the concrete wall, where Jess Yates, Garth Tander and Steven Richards were standing. It appears that some right-hand down course correction at the last moment saw a potential catastrophe everted. Whether or not the near miss spooked the pilot, he proceeded to clean up the fence when turning around to deliver the Peter Brock Trophy, before proceeding to take off his clearly damaged plane over the crowded spectator bank at turn one. The ATSB is investigating what was seriously a really big NOT.
6. Declan Fraser
Heartbreaking. How he managed to soldier on throughout the race is remarkable.
7. Richie Stanaway’s Fuel Tank
Richie ran solidly in sixth until his Penrite Mustang ran out of gas on last lap, relegating the team to ninth on the result sheet. A difficult outcome for the squad, which had shown much promise.
8. Historic Oil Downs & Dramas
While the Heritage Revival was a crowd favourite, multiple major oil downs throughout the event were a downer. Ultimately, the class lost a race when its rescheduled Friday race was canned after Will Davison’s qualifying shunt. Perhaps the next time they are included, the class can be scheduled up against the window for resident access or at the end of the day, when almost certain clean-ups can be carried out without blowing out the timetable for other classes.
9. Wildlife
Firstly, there was the snake, then a lizard, and another echidna. There were plenty of roos in the precinct too. Perhaps the “Mount Panorama Drive Through Petting Zoo” would earn the Bathurst Council some sweet side cash.
10. Brad Jones Racing
Ugh. Andre Heimgartner and Declan Fraser had a refuelling issue and lost ground, while the team overall lacked pace on Sunday. Results of 13th, 16th, 20th and 22nd weren’t great.
Blanchard Racing Team
While this team can ace Super2, they haven’t got it together in the main game yet. They finished 21st and 23rd.
Chahda Wildcard
Tough day, finding more strife than the first explorers. Were classified 15 laps off the pace in 25th
Still Some Safety Car Things to Work Out
Also, Cooper Murray made a rookie mistake when he was firing into the pits instead of slowing down, which cost the Supercheap Auto wildcard a good finish.
Other Supercars Preliminary Dramas
Support Race Strife
Horse Racing
Fans watching on Channel 7 were not impressed when the Saturday coverage was interrupted by the gee-gees.
SOCIALS
The Safety Car we all asked for…
Why it’s important to stick to your day job…
Dang It
Damn you, GT-R!
“These two do not like each other!”
Purple Sectors
MEME
Ok. Just because you put a massive effort in…
