I wrote last year that Bathurst chews you up and spits you out, and critically, you need to have that happen at the right time.
At 5:26pm AEDT on Sunday October 11, that couldn't have been more pertinent.
I’m still trying to work it out. I know you all are too. What does it really mean? How are we supposed to feel? What happens next?
It’s inherently human to be gripped by such questions. What happened on Sunday afternoon, at its core, was inherently human: big mistakes, nerves, uncertainty, and bold decision-making.
A botched pit stop on lap 125 looked to have cost Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood. It was human error, and Kostecki’s frustrated reaction was naturally human. Dick Johnson Racing should have been down for the count.
Team 18 erroneously Anton De Pasquale’s Camaro at the final stop. A miscalculation proved costly. It was human error, and the reaction from those in the Team 18 garage, and those of us watching on, was as human as it gets.
Charlie Schwerkolt didn’t need to speak to us on the Equip Super Cool Down Lap podcast, nor did Team Principal Adrian Burgess to media. But they did, and they should be commended for that. Same too for their heartbroken drivers.
In sports journalism, at least in my experience, you understand the significance of a news story through the reactions of people. Their eyes, their remarks, the questions they ask. I’m still fielding texts from many people, who are also trying to make sense of Sunday.
Even I couldn't hold it together. I leapt out of my chair and repeatedly slapped my colleague Zac Dowdell — who rewrote the lede on the race report at least four times — on the back. Sorry Zac.
Then, there’s the human reaction from DJR, when reality kicked in. Todd Hazelwood went through several emotions in the space of three seconds. Shock, realisation, celebration. He ran so quickly to the pit wall, he could have busted his ACL.
The reaction that caught my eye most was that of Kostecki, who leapt into the arms of crew screaming, a moment captured by his team and put on social media.
Being on the ground at sports events offers you the privilege to witness micro-moments, which stick with you. Like a brief chat I had with Burgess pre-race. He was pumped, yet coy.
Later, I was in the Shell V-Power garage when Dr Ryan Story moved to shake hands with every single DJR team member before the race start, wishing them luck. He was standing closest to Hazelwood when 5:26pm went down.
Replying to a text last night, Dr Story said he was "still in shock."
"Holy crap," Hazelwood texted back on this afternoon.
Those at Team 18 who I offered commiserations to, all had similar responses: they were lost for words, crestfallen. Despite the fierce rivalry up and down pit lane, people understood the impact of the outcome.
As we interviewed Schwerkolt on the podcast, Will Davison was one of many to offer commiserations to Burgess. They were tough scenes.
Had they got it right, those commiserations would likely have been offered to DJR instead. The botched brake change should have killed them. If anything, it awakened a beast in Kostecki, who despite De Pasquale’s heartbreak, had to extract the best of his racecraft to deny the likes of Will Brown and Zach Bates to put himself in that position.
And so it was, Bathurst chewing you up and spitting you out, albeit needing it to happen at the right time. DJR had their disaster, but recovered. Unfortunately for Team 18, when they had theirs, there was no turning back.
If you’ve made it this far and you still don’t know what yesterday means, look no further than Dick Johnson’s reaction as Kostecki cleared De Pasquale. Hands on his face, tears welling. That’s someone who has been going to Bathurst for 50 years.
"You want to know what Bathurst means? That," said Garth Tander in commentary, after Johnson was interviewed.
Bloody Bathurst, hey?
The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of Supercars, teams or drivers.
