One of the most requested Bathursts ever, the 2017 classic, is now free for all to watch on Supercars' official YouTube channel — and what a race it was.
More than 60 hours of Bathurst content is being released, and that includes the 2017 race, one which fans have been crying out for for years.
It had rain, Safety Cars, incidents, drama, and championship leaders struck down. Sounds familiar, right?
The 2017 race walked so 2025 could run, and in many respects, deserves its own standing as one of the best Great Races ever.
What 2017 has over other Bathursts, is stories which hinge on the weird to downright bizarre, with Supercars.com highlighting five of the wildest.
Premat stranded
Scott McLaughlin’s co-driver Alex Premat sat stranded at the top of Mount Panorama for almost four hours.
Why? The pole-sitting Shell V-Power Ford stopped at The Cutting on lap 75. Premat was towed to the inside of the track, and wasn’t allowed to cross the track.
The Frenchman was struck the tow-truck watching the race on an iPad, with McLaughlin playfully tweeting to fans to offer his mate a beverage and umbrella.
“I stayed 100 laps on the top. And they were slow laps! I didn’t have any phone numbers for anyone, I don’t know his (McLaughlin’s) number by memory, so I couldn’t call any one,” joked Premat, who won the race with McLaughlin two years later.
The squeegee
“I can't see a thing,” Paul Dumbrell said over team radio.
Looking back, you can’t blame him.
Visibility was so poor conditions that Triple Eight gave Dumbrell a squeegee to clear condensation building inside the #88 Holden’s cabin.
"There's no problem. We cleared it with officials [before the race],” Triple Eight Team Manager Mark Dutton said at the time.
Engine dramas finished off the Jamie Whincup car, but the humble squeegee made sure they finished altogether.
Restart from hell
With 15 laps to go, Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander led the field to Murray’s Corner for a restart. Neither left the corner in the lead.
Van Gisbergen ran down the escape road, and Tander off the track. Nick Percat emerged in the lead, with Tander turned around by Chaz Mostert, who collected teammate Cam Waters.
Of those five drivers mentioned, none finished on the podium!
SVG nearly rolls
Van Gisbergen, a wet weather master, clawed back through the field, and closed on Scott Pye with 10 laps left.
He lost control trying to make a pass, flew off the field, and sailed through the wet sand. Any other day, van Gisbergen would have rolled.
“I knew I was going off at a rate of knots, but I had to aim it left so that I could carry back on the track down the hill," van Gisbergen said after the race.
“As soon as I tried to point the nose it just snapped sideways on me. I was looking out the side window at the sand trap thinking I was going over."
He survived, but it was the final death knell on a day he should have won the race. He would have to wait three more years before finally cracking victory.
Dave’s distraction
During a late Safety Car period, eventual David Reynolds had a look around.
Just as the Safety Car lights went out and the field was driving single-file down Conrod Straight, Reynolds looked to his left, and saw something… interesting.
Reynolds claimed he saw two scantily-clad women, which was a brave decision in itself given the cold, wet conditions.
Luckily, victory proved his standout memory of the day!
