'That's not an excuse': Champions debate Golding Bathurst penalty

2023 and 2024 Supercars champions Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown have weighed into the debate as to whether or not James Golding's five second penalty that ultimately cost him the Repco Bathurst 1000 was justified or not.

A dramatic crescendo to what was already one of the wildest editions of the Great Race ever seen, Golding collided with leader Cooper Murray at Griffins Bend with five laps to go, sending the Erebus Camaro into a half spin.

Matt Payne slipped by as the incident unfolded, on route to his maiden Bathurst win, however he wasn't first across the line. Those honours went to Golding, who overtook Payne on the final lap.

Golding still claimed his first Bathurst podium when he was reclassified third, however opinions have been split on whether or not the incident was caused by Golding not being far enough alongside, or Murray turning in across the nose of the #31.

Speaking with Supercars.com, Motorsport Australia Driving Standards Advisor Craig Baird said the penalty was consistent with previous rulings given the wet conditions, and Golding didn't have "sufficient overlap" at the point of contact.

Erebus Motorsport rookie Murray, who came home fourth, hit out over the incident, saying Golding deserved a heavier penalty. PremiAir boss Peter Xiberras, meanwhile, insisted Murray turned in on Golding. Speaking on the latest episode of their Lucky Dogs podcast, Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki agree with the latter side of the argument.

"It's a tough one when the leader crosses the line at the Bathurst 1000, and doesn't win it I think," Brown started.

"I'm going to go no [it didn't deserve a penalty]."

Kostecki responded: "I'm going to go no as well, because I feel like we've got this pretty bad thing at the moment where it's ok to run someone off the track on exit, but it's not ok to do what James did.

Brown, who had a run-in with Golding back in June at Perth, believes that given what was on the line, racing rules could be relaxed for Bathurst. in the future.

"I think, like you say, people say it's not okay because it's the biggest race of the year, but I nearly think it is.

"It's the biggest race of the year, you've got to let some small things go, and I didn't think it was that bad. He had overlap.

"Cooper didn't just leave him room, Cooper could see he was coming up the inside, and a lot of the time you leave a little bit of room. He's racing for the biggest race of the year."

The pair also offered up a theory that Murray mightn't have been able to see out of his rear mirrors given the difficult visibility conditions, therefore giving him no visual cue that Golding had made a move.

Brown, who came a cropper at Griffins Bend earlier in the day, and Kostecki - whose day unravelled from pole position with several mechanical and technical issues - both noted they had difficulty with rear vision in the wet conditions.

"You can't see out your mirrors, so he might not have. I couldn't see out mine, because my side mirror was blocked," Brown said.

"But then that's not an excuse to say that because he couldn't see out his mirrors he turned in, like that's another excuse to say Jimmy should be let off as well.

"Usually if someone had the overlap that Jimmy had and coming in that hot, you do leave him a bit of room don't you?"

Kostecki added: "Obviously you don't want to ruin your race, but at the same time I couldn't see out anymore, my side mirrors were completely useless, and if I had someone behind me I was hoping they had their headlights on.

"If I could see their headlights in the braking zone, I was safe, but if I couldn't see their headlights, that means they were either crashing into me or trying to pass me."

Payne, Brown and Kostecki will fight for the title in the 2025 Repco Supercars Finals Series.