'Full steam ahead': Ford's Bathurst vow after Bend sweep

Ford is keeping one eye on being competitive at Mount Panorama despite snapping a six-year enduro drought at The Bend Motorsport Park.

Mustangs swept the podium at the AirTouch 500 at The Bend, with Brodie Kostecki/Todd Hazelwood winning for Dick Johnson Racing.

Cam Waters/Mark Winterbottom (Tickford Racing) and Matt Payne/Garth Tander (Grove Racing) rounded out the top three, in what was Ford’s first enduro win since the 2019 Bathurst 1000.

The Ford sweep was aided by a disaster for the pole-sitting Camaro of Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup, which was undone by a refuelling issue.

Still, Kostecki/Hazelwood were class of the field in the first race since parity changes were made to the Mustang, namely a revised aerodynamic package and a shift-cut offset.

“It’s a happy day for Ford and Ford Racing with three Mustangs locking out the podium,” Ford Racing's Australian motorsport manager Brendan McGinniskin said.

“It was great to see we could compete with Chevrolets in a straight line, as that’s been a long time coming.

“But we’re under no illusions. The Bend isn’t Bathurst, and now we’re full steam ahead to ensure we’re in the same fighting position at Mount Panorama.”

Kostecki has now won consecutive enduros in different cars, having dominated last year’s Great Race with Erebus Motorsport and Chevrolet.

He is also now four wins on the bounce at The Bend, having swept the three sprint races at the venue in 2023.

"Brodie and Todd both did an awesome job to get the win. It was so great to get Ford back on top,” DJR CEO David Noble said.

“The win was a great reward for a lot of internal effort, by the people at the race shop in Queensland and the crew at the race. It’s a collective effort and it’s the sum of all the parts that ends up getting you the win.

“I don’t think we’ll get too carried away. It’s important as we move to the big one at Bathurst to have momentum and take that into the new Finals Series.”