Teams swing changes as 1000km of racing looms
Four teams changed engines overnight ahead of Sunday's race
2026 Great Race to commence at 11:30am AEDT
Teams head into the unknown on Sunday as 161 gruelling laps loom, with four engines changed overnight.
This weekend's event has largely been held in warm conditions, with race day set to run under sunny skies.
Heading into the race, just two cars — the Ryan Wood Toyota and Rylan Gray Ford — have found the concrete in a big way, but that hasn't stopped teams ringing the changes.
Triple Eight (#88 Ford), Dick Johnson Racing (#38 Ford), Brad Jones Racing (#14 Toyota) and Objective Racing (#11 Ford) all changed engines overnight in a bid to leave no stone unturned.
Triple Eight boss Jamie Whincup said his team was "throwing the kitchen sink" at the Broc Feeney/Nick Percat Ford, which has been off the pace relative to the weekend front-runners.
It's been a similar story for Penrite Racing, the defending Bathurst winners, which caught a power steering issue on the Matt Payne/Will Davison Ford on Thursday, before changing the engine on Friday, and gearbox before the Shootout.
The Shell V-Power Racing Team has been busy from the outset, not only repairing the Gray/Tony D'Alberto Mustang, but changing the engine on the Brodie Kostecki Ford on Friday, and the transaxle on Saturday. After the gut-busting #38 repairs, DJR also opted to replace the engine in the #38.
It's been a much busier weekend than expected for Walkinshaw TWG Racing, which was forced into 15 hours of repairs on the Wood car after a 42G accident on Friday morning. Given there is no chassis jig at the track, the team — just as DJR did, also on Friday — got the angle grinders out, and replaced bars.
Every corner on the #2 Mobil 1 Truck Assist Supra was replaced, as was the transaxle and front clip. The engine was also changed, while the team swung a precautionary engine change on the Chaz Mostert/Fabian Coulthard car on Friday.
When asked how the team is feeling by Supercars.com on Sunday morning, Walkinshaw TWG Team Principal Carl Faux grinned: "We have 161 things to think about today."
Fellow Toyota squad Brad Jones Racing also swung a precautionary engine change on the Cameron Hill/Brad Vaughan Supra overnight. BJR, though, was very pleased to be top Toyota in qualifying with Andre Heimgartner.
Objective Racing, which is allied with Triple Eight, also changed the Ford motor on the Jackson Walls/Jack Perkins Mustang overnight.
Garry Rogers Motorsport, which is running an ex-Triple Eight Camaro for James Moffat and Nathan Herne, had a calm, simple process: they cleaned the car, gave it a service, and it's ready to go.
Tickford Racing, Team 18, Matt Stone Racing, Blanchard Racing Team, PremiAir Racing, Erebus Motorsport and Garry Rogers Motorsport all head into the race with the same engines.
The field rolls out for the Warm Up at 8:30am for a final systems check, followed by race start at 11:30am.
