The split-second sacrifice that sealed Erebus' Bathurst win
Jack Le Brocq/Jayden Ojeda stung by late Safety Car
Le Brocq/Ojeda ran a net fourth for 85 laps before Matt Payne crash
Tyrepower Camaro came home eighth
While one side of the Erebus Motorsport garage celebrates an historic Bathurst win, the other wondered "what could have been" following a late Safety Car.
Brodie Kostecki/Todd Hazelwood raced their Chiko Camaro to a famous victory, with the reigning champion fending off Broc Feeney in a 27-lap run home.
Erebus had two cars firmly in the fight before the Safety Car, with Kostecki’s teammate Jack Le Brocq sitting fourth, having turned in an impressive race to that point.
A last-lap fuel shortage for Richie Stanaway and penalty for Cooper Murray helped Le Brocq/Ojeda come home eighth on a day Erebus could have snagged a double podium. The team ultimately nailed the call for Kostecki, whose fuel light came on as he took the chequered flag.
Matt Payne’s lap 132 was a major turning point for the Le Brocq/Ojeda car, which came home eighth after being stung by the caution.
When the Safety Car was deployed, Kostecki led Feeney by 4.1s, with Will Brown 41 seconds behind in third. Le Brocq was 18.5 seconds behind Brown, with Cam Waters 13.5s behind the Tyrepower car.
Stanaway, meanwhile, was seven seconds behind Waters, and was battling with Chaz Mostert, who just saw Payne crash out in his rear vision mirror.
Not wanting to risk a double stack and cost Kostecki time, Erebus asked Le Brocq to stay out for a lap under Full Course Yellow conditions.
Waters, Stanaway, Mostert, Murray, James Golding and Anton De Pasquale all dived in, with Kostecki and the two Triple Eight cars pitting, followed by Le Brocq.
On the restart, Kostecki retained his lead over Feeney, with Brown third ahead of Waters, Stanaway, Mostert, Murray, Golding and De Pasquale. In a heartbeat, Le Brocq had fallen to 10th.
Le Brocq's efforts weren't lost on Erebus CEO Barry Ryan, who told the Schick Cool Down Lap podcast that he had done an "awesome job."
"We were running in P4 with 30 laps to go before we were unfortunately on the wrong end of the new safety car rule that dropped us down the order to P8,” Le Brocq posted to social media.
"Still a solid finish but a long way off what could have been.”
Ojeda added: "We had a dip today! My best finish at Bathurst of eighth.
“Our team ran a great race to run fourth for majority of the day till the last 30 laps where an unfortunate timed FCY dropped us back in the pack."
The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on October 25-27. Tickets for the event are on sale now.
