'It's gone, far out': The hidden car failure for Payne/Tander
Matt Payne/Garth Tander car finished Bathurst with broken spindle
Car would have been sidelined had it made another pit stop in the race
Payne crossed line second, reclassified as winner after James Golding penalty
Penrite Racing had a day to remember at Mount Panorama, but post-race inspections revealed the team could have been in for a wildly different fate.
Matt Payne/Garth Tander claimed a stunning victory from 18th in a rain-marred race, beating Team 18 veteran duo David Reynolds/Lee Holdsworth.
PremiAir Racing driver James Golding crossed the line first, but a five-second penalty over an earlier clash with Erebus Motorsport rookie Cooper Murray delivered victory to Payne.
Penrite Racing and Ford celebrated, with Payne and Tander victorious. However, when the team's Mustangs returned to base in Melbourne, the team made a grisly discovery.
The front left spindle had been torn to pieces, and had the #100 Penrite Ford been forced to make a late pit stop, the wheel wouldn't have fastened. The end result? Stuck in the pits, race over, no win.
Tander revealed the drama on the Bathurst winners Drivers Only special, included a photo supplied below, leaving Reynolds and Holdsworth in disbelief.
"When they took the wheel off the car, the end of the spindle fell off," now six-time winner Tander said.
"Literally, if we had to do another pit stop, we weren't going again... that's Bathurst for you."
Tander showed the photo to his fellow hosts, a shocked Reynolds saying: "It's gone... far out."
"Way to rub it in any more," Tander laughed.
It was the ninth of a barely-believable nine lives the #100 Mustang survived on the day.
Tander started 18th and buried in the pack, with co-drivers boxing on in a dramatic opening stanza. On lap 6, Tander drilled Golding's co-driver David Russell at Griffins Bend, with Tander then hung out to dry at The Cutting in a battle that also featured Tim Slade, Jordan Boys, Harri Jones and Scott Pye.
Two laps later, Tander tripped over Russell and Craig Lowndes on pit straight.
Later, the #100 ran over an errant shock absorber dispatched by the crashed Shell V-Power Ford on Tony D'Alberto at Forrest's Elbow, before Payne survived a series of scares en route to victory in the final 20 laps.
The post-race drama didn't end there — the sister Kai Allen car, which sustained major in-race damage and missed a kangaroo, also finished the race with a shattered shock absorber.
"Kai got into the finals got into The Finals by three points," Tander added.
"They pulled the left front shock out of the car and it literally fell apart. The shaft came out.
"Literally the damper was broken when he finished the race."
Payne and Allen will fight for the title in the 2025 Repco Supercars Finals Series, which commences on the Gold Coast on October 24-26. Tickets are on sale now.
Matt Payne/Garth Tander's nine lives in 2025 Bathurst 1000
Race start: Tander starts buried in the pack in 18th
Lap 6: Tander hits David Russell at Griffins Bend, aborts at The Cutting with Lee Holdsworth
Lap 8: Tander trips over Craig Lowndes, Russell on pit straight
Lap 56: Payne runs over crashed #17's shock absorber at Forrest's Elbow
Lap 141: Golding baulks Payne, Cooper Murray gets through
Lap 153: Payne hits Murray at Forrest’s Elbow, avoids puncture; Murray escorts Payne onto wet grass at The Chase, Payne runs off
Lap 157: Payne avoids wild Golding/Murray collision at Griffins Bend, takes the lead
Lap 161: Golding gets past on final lap, contact with David Reynolds at The Cutting
Post-race: Broken spindle revealed at workshop
