Fuel gamble falls as Stanaway runs out on final lap

Supercars

13 Oct

Richie Stanaway ran out of fuel on the final lap of the race, but managed to get home

2 mins by James Pavey

Repco Bathurst 1000

Bathurst

Richie Stanaway

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Richie Stanaway ran out of fuel on final lap of Bathurst 1000
Stanaway dropped from sixth to ninth on last lap of race
Matt Payne was the only DNF of the race after crashing at The Cutting

It was a cruel ending to the Repco Bathurst 1000 for Richie Stanaway, who dropped from sixth to ninth on the final lap after running out of fuel.

Stanaway, who challenged for the race lead on the opening lap, ran sixth heading into the final lap, before dropping behind James Golding, Anton De Pasquale and Jack Le Brocq.

It was a bitter end to the race for not only Stanaway, but Penrite Racing, which lost Matt Payne altogether after a shock crash at The Cutting on lap 132.

For the second year running, there was final-lap fuel-related trauma, following Mark Winterbottom's heartbreaking DNF last year.

Speaking after the race, Penrite Racing Team Principal David Cauchi said the team took a "risk" on fuel with Stanaway, and it didn't pay off.

"Not a really good ending for us, unfortunately," Cauchi told Supercars.com's Schick Cool Down Lap podcast.

"Matt not finishing the race and, yeah, Richie run out of a bit of fuel right at the end there. We took a bit of a risk on that.

"Real shame for the team because today, all the guys and girls did a pretty flawless job in terms of pit stops and all that sort of stuff. Just missing a little bits at the end there, so not a very rewarding day."

It was a stunning twist of fate for Cauchi, who was Race Engineer for Jamie Whincup a decade ago in the infamous end to the 2014 Bathurst 1000.

On the Stanaway shortage, Cauchi added: "I wouldn't say it was a surprise. We knew we were tight.

"Obviously our numbers must have been just a little bit on the wrong side. We'll just have to go back and work through that. But we knew it was we'd taken a bit of a gamble."

When asked about having last-lap fuel nightmares further down the line, Cauchi joked: "I don't need to wait till I'm an old man for that. I'm having it right now!

"As we know, it's a tough place and you have to have all your things working for you to win this race. And, we certainly didn't have that today."

Payne dropped from fifth to sixth in the points with the DNF, with Stanaway 17th.