Erebus Motorsport left to rue early switch to dry tyres after running 1-2
Erebus Academy prospect Jarrod Hughes starred in wet running
Jobe Stewart/Hughes 14th, Cooper Murray/Lochie Dalton 18th
For a brief moment on Sunday, it looked as though Erebus Motorsport was on the verge of pulling off the ultimate strategy gamble at The Bend.
Under the third, and what turned out to be final Safety Car of the AirTouch 500 at The Bend, a vast majority of co-drivers dived into the pit lane as soon as their 54 lap requirement was cleared.
However, staying out were both of Erebus' co-drivers, Jarrod Hughes in first after a starring performance, and Lochie Dalton promoted to second.
Jaxon Evans was another to stay out, though he had pitted for fuel and tyres under the previous Safety Car not even 10 laps prior. Both of the Erebus cars hadn't pitted since lap 25, almost 30 laps prior.
As it turned out, Evans would go on to finish third alongside Ryan Wood, timing their switch to dry tyres perfectly, whilst Jobe Stewart/Hughes would drop to 14th, and Cooper Murray/Dalton 18th in the final classification.
"I think from when we didn't pit and everyone else did, it kind of put us out of sequence, and out of track position," reflected Stewart on the Equip Super Cool Down Lap.
"I mean, we had first and second, but by the time we pitted we were a long way back, and then we just didn't quite make the window to where the track dried, unfortunately, on fuel.
"So we had to come in and put slicks on, and just lost too much time, so it is what it is, but our coeys were probably the best, some of the best two coeys out there.
"We can at least take that into Bathurst."
It was a bitter pill to swallow after Hughes put in the drive of his young Supercars career in just his third start, flying from ninth to the lead through his stint of the race, and looking right at home in the treacherous conditions.
Dalton would only make his way to the front in the middle of the pit cycle under that final Safety Car, but once he was there he also held his own, pitting from fifth on lap 75.
Murray said of both Dalton and Hughes: "They did faultless, those were near impossible conditions at some points, so to bring the car back in one piece and in good position, massive credit to those two. That was very impressive.
"Ultimately, not our go with strategy, and we move on to Bathurst."
The Bend marked the first round for Erebus with Team Principal Brad Tremain back in the fold, Tremain having flown back from the previous weekend's IndyCar finale at Laguna Seca at the conclusion of his tenure with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
How much of it is just a coincidence, or down to Erebus' tradition of strong performances in enduro season remains to be seen, but there's no question that The Bend was Erebus' most impressive weekend of the season to date.
"We were looking good, but you know, that's racing," Tremain said on the Equip Super Cool Down Lap.
"Four to five laps, either way really. If it dried up five laps earlier we would've been fine, but we had to pit then because we were running out of fuel, we had to make a choice.
"Go to slicks, stay out, or go to wets and come back in 10 laps later."
The 2026 season resumes in Bathurst on October 8-11.
