Blanchard young guns shine bright in gloomy Bathurst

The continued progress of Blanchard Racing Team took another huge step forward at the Repco Bathurst 1000, as both of their Mustangs came to life in the rain.

Both the CoolDrive Mustang of Aaron Cameron/Zak Best and the Snowy River Caravans entry of James Courtney/Jack Perkins worked their way inside the top 10 as the heavens opened and some of the heavy hitters struck trouble.

Indeed, the #3 entry at one stage looked like a genuine threat for victory, as Best starred in the wet and began to close on the #2 Walkinshaw Andretti United Mustang that was the dominant car in that phase of the race with Jayden Ojeda at the helm.

That was despite a wild start to the day for 24-year-old Best, first getting away with a wild off at McPhillamy Park in the morning Warm Up, before being launched skywards early in the race at Griffins Bend after contact with Harri Jones.

Coming to a Safety Car restart on lap 126, Cameron was still right at the pointy end in fourth, whilst Courtney, in his final Bathurst start as a full-time Supercars driver, had fought his way from 22nd on the grid to seventh.

However, that's where the #7's day would end, with Courtney forced into the lane as the field rolled around back to green with a gearbox failure.

Cameron would also slip back, and fought Kai Allen in the dying laps of the race, with the Penrite Racing rookie fighting to keep his Finals dream alive. Despite a close call with a kangaroo, Allen would ultimately succeed, with Cameron/Best claiming ninth at the flag.

It represented a remarkable turnaround year-on-year, where both BRT Mustangs finished off the lead lap and outside the top 20, in a race that only had one Safety Car interruption compared to seven on Sunday.

“To have two cars running in the top 10 at one stage, after what happened here a year ago, was a huge step up for the whole team," Tim Blanchard said.

“We were a bit damaged at the start and that put us on the back foot, but we made some great strategy calls in the rain and had good pace in both cars.

“It was unfortunate that a gearbox problem took James Courtney and Jack Perkins out of the race, and it was great to see Aaron Cameron bring his car home inside the 10.

“We had all sorts of issues but we were far more competitive and the whole weekend shows we’re heading in the right direction.”

It was by far the brightest day on the Mountain in BRT's short yet rollercoaster life as a fully-fledged team. On debut at Mount Panorama in 2021, Tim Slade infamously crashed chasing a podium, while Todd Hazelwood was forced into a frightening late retirement in 2023.

Come 2025, and BRT was the little team that could, with Team Manager Kate Harrington seeing the positives despite the race falling away from the team.

"Incredibly proud of what everyone's achieved and the work that they've put in to be here, especially since Tailem Bend to here, it's been a massive difference," Harrington said the Cool Down Lap presented by Moza Racing.

"Really unlucky, we had two really speedy cars. Unfortunate for car #7, but awesome result to be in the top 10 for car #3.

"We believe it's a gearbox issue, so we obviously can't diagnose it here, so we'll take it back to the workshop, pull it apart and go from there."

Track action commences on the Gold Coast on October 24-26. Tickets are on sale now.