The shocking moments that threatened Holden's Bathurst fairytale
Thrilling 2022 Repco Bathurst 1000 available on Throwback
Epic race featured eight Safety Cars, several incidents
Shane van Gisbergen defeated Chaz Mostert, Cam Waters
"When Chaz got into second, I got worried..."
Shane van Gisbergen didn't have it easy on his way to the 2022 Repco Bathurst 1000, in fact far from it. Weather, car troubles, penalties, and speedy rivals. just about everything conspired against the #97 Commodore.
However, come the end of a gruelling encounter, van Gisbergen stood on the top step over an adoring crowd, with Garth Tander alongside.
One of the more memorable modern classics, it marked the last hurrah for the iconic Holden brand, who had maintained an unbroken presence at Bathurst dating all the way back to the first enduro in 1963.
The 2022 Great Race is now available to watch in its entirety via Supercars' YouTube channel, as part of the recently expanded Supercars Throwback initiative.
Early setbacks
It was a shaky start to van Gisbergen's 2022 Bathurst campaign, a collision with Macauley Jones in qualifying seeing the Kiwi slapped with a three-place grid penalty.
The wily Tander started and was ahead of all the chaos in the opening laps, as Jamie Whincup and Zane Goddard both triggered multi-car incidents on laps 1 and 5 respectively on the fringes of the top 10.
A third Safety Car would be called for a car off at The Chase on lap 17, triggering an influx of stops. It was here that the usually bulletproof Triple Eight squad slipped.
Following a driver change, van Gisbergen was sent out into the path of Alex Davison, co-driving brother Will's #17 Shell V-Power Racing Mustang.
Contact was inevitable, and the Kiwi was quickly slapped with a five second penalty once the race went back to green, a setback the team could've done without fighting on the back foot.
Though van Gisbergen would come back in under the fourth Safety Car of the day, his penalty could not be served. However, with the field bunched, there was opportunity for SVG to do what he does best.
The SVG charge begins
Aggression was immediately shown from the restart, with van Gisbergen hounding the rear of Chaz Mostert, the defending Bathurst champion.
Just two laps after the restart, van Gisbergen used the most of a slipstream to bump draft his way by Mostert on Conrod Straight.
Another Safety Car would follow shortly after, however engineer Andrew Edwards played the game to stay out, leaving the #97 at the head of the field.
In clear air, the Kiwi blazed to an eight second lead prior to a green flag stop on lap 56, which was followed just two laps later by the sixth Safety Car period in the opening 60 laps.
The Bathurst gods finally smiled on the pair, who were now leading the way.
The fight to the flag
From that moment onwards, van Gisbergen and Tander remained at the head of the field, however it was never comfortable, in fact far from it.
Throughout, van Gisbergen was complaining of a gearbox gremlin, however a bigger problem arose when Will Davison crashed out with 20 laps to go.
A 15-lap shootout would decide the winner of the 2022 Repco Bathurst 1000. Behind van Gisbergen, was Mostert, Kostecki, and Cam Waters.
The #25 Mobil 1 Optus Commodore would be the biggest threat, Mostert looking to go back-to-back. What followed was tense, compelling, and of the highest class.
Both men threw their Commodores at Mount Panorama, leaving nothing to chance. Mistakes were made by both, but by the end of the best part of seven hours, it was van Gisbergen who would claim the spoils by 1.1s.
Amidst all the Mountain threw at van Gisbergen, it was Mostert who he feared posed the biggest risk of all.
“It’s pretty cool [being the last Holden winner], however Garth won the race too and it was team effort and a fan effort. All the support for Holden was special,” van Gisbergen said. “I can’t thank the team enough. Garth was on it this year, as was Andrew Edwards. He does a great job. “When Chaz got into second, I got worried because we know how fast he is here, but once the gap stayed at around a second, I knew we were okay. “For the last couple of laps, I got Andrew to talk me through it and keep me focused. “It was epic. I am rapt.”
