Erebus, Triple Eight in combat as halfway mark approaches

The fight for the Peter Brock Trophy loomed as a battle between Erebus Motorsport and Triple Eight Race Engineering as the halfway mark approached in the Repco Bathurst 1000.

The pole-sitting Brodie Kostecki/Todd Hazelwood car was in control ahead of Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup, with Will Brown/Scott Pye a distant third in a race that, to publication, had run green.

Anton De Pasquale was lead Ford in fifth behind Jack Le Brocq, with the Craig Lowndes/Cooper Murray putting in a spirited run from 18th. Star Ford duo Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert, meanwhile, were forced into fightback mode after early errors.

Kostecki made a strong jump from pole, but Feeney got down the inside from third and loomed to take the lead up Mountain Straight. Instead, Kostecki hung on, with Richie Stanaway getting by into second.

Stanaway harassed Kostecki and had a dive at The Chase at the end of lap 1, before he dropped back and got picked off by Feeney on lap 9 at Griffins Bend. By then, Kostecki led by 1.2s.

Down the order, David Reynolds locked up at The Chase and fell to last, sustaining a flat-spotted tyre in the process. Matt Chahda then spun his wildcard Camaro out at The Chase, both cars stopping by lap 17.

On lap 17, Cam Waters fired down the inside Stanaway, and the two Fords ran line astern down Conrod Straight. In a spectacular move, Brown followed Waters and got by Stanaway with a bump draft.

As Kostecki opened up a comfortable margin, Waters pushed to keep Brown at bay, only to lock up into Hell Corner and drop from third to 10th.

Then, the lapped Chahda/Brad Vaughan car was sent into a spin by Mostert at Forrest’s Elbow. Vaughan returned his damaged car to pit lane, leaving his front bumper behind.

The pit cycle began in earnest, with Le Brocq first of the leaders to stop on lap 26, before the top two stopped on the following lap.

As Brown pressed on, Kostecki, Feeney, Stanaway, James Golding, Mostert, Waters, Cameron Hill, Andre Heimgartner and Lowndes all handed over to their co-drivers.

The Feeney/Whincup car took on more fuel and emerged seven seconds behind the Erebus Chiko Camaro, with Whincup quickly eating into the margin. Brown handed over to Pye, with the championship-leading car losing time on the front right wheel change.

Having taken over from Payne, Tander tried to get by Mostert’s co-driver Lee Holdsworth into Murray’s Corner, only to lock up and drop from sixth to 15th.

Declan Fraser, who took over from Heimgartner, also got past Holdsworth, but was forced back into the lane with a suspected refuelling issue.

By that stage, Whincup had slashed Hazelwood’s lead to 3.9s, with Pye 11.4s behind his teammate. Dale Wood, Holdsworth, Tony D’Alberto, Jayden Ojeda, James Moffat, Kai Allen and Murray rounded out the top 10, with Fraser rejoining in 25th.

Ojeda and D’Alberto both went off in sympathy at The Chase, with Moffat splitting the two cars. Murray, meanwhile, picked off both Shell V-Power Fords and marched to eighth, with Allen handing back to Davison before the 50-lap mark.

Ojeda recovered and picked off Holdsworth at Griffins Bend, with Murray doing the same on Moffat two laps later. Murray then caught and passed Holdsworth into The Chase, and with Ojeda and Murray clearing Wood, it was an all Erebus-Triple Eight top five on lap 53.

As Hazelwood extended his lead to six seconds, De Pasquale and Payne took over from D'Alberto and Tander. Hazelwood, Whincup, Murray, Wood and Holdsworth were brought in on lap 56. Whincup, Wood and Holdsworth stayed in, while Kostecki and Lowndes got back in their cars.

On the following lap, Pye handed over to Brown, with Moffat staying in the car. As De Pasquale got by Lowndes, Moffat and Payne got by the ailing Fraser, who was brought in after a wild off at McPhillamy.

As lap 70 commenced, Kostecki led Whincup by 10.3s, with Brown 20.1s behind his teammate. Le Brocq was 35.5s down in fourth, with De Pasquale, Lowndes, Davison, Wood, Payne, Golding, Moffat — who had another scare into The Dipper — rounding out the first 11 positions ahead of Holdsworth.

Davison, meanwhile, was hit with a five-second penalty after running Wood off the road at The Chase.