LIVE: It’s time for one of the biggest sessions on the Australian sporting calendar – the Top 10 Shootout for the Bathurst 1000 (5.05pm AEDT).
After two and a half days of wild weather wreaking havoc on the track, the drivers had good conditions in Saturday afternoon’s practice, the final practice session of the weekend.
But the rain came back at 3pm and lit up the track, with the possibility of the Shootout being postponed. The Shootout has never been canceled on a Saturday in the long history of the Bathurst 1000.
However, rivers of water led to the cancellation of a Porsche Carrera Cup and a Super2 race, with desperate hopes that the rain would subside before 5pm. Judging will take place at 4.30pm AEDT.
“Some people have pretty cheap river views,” joked Penrite’s Lee Holdsworth on Fox Sports. He said the “pretty hairy” conditions left him worried about driving into the Shootout, adding: “It’s going to be pretty dangerous.”
James Golding, who was unlucky to miss the Shootout after qualifying on Friday the 13th, told foxsports.com.au in the rain: “If there’s ever a time I think you need floaties in your life, it’s now.”
In the Shootout, the 10 fastest drivers from Friday’s qualifying session each complete a lap around Mount Panorama, in reverse order, from slowest to fastest, to decide the top of the grid for Sunday’s Grand Race .
Follow the action on our live blog below!
RACING CENTER: LIVE SCHEDULES AND RESULTS OF THE COMPLETE SESSION
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The young driver turns sideways! | 01:29
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WEATHER REPORT
After heavy rain on Friday, things are likely to get even worse on Saturday. The rain arrived at 9.30am on Saturday, with around 40mm expected to fall during the day. There was a brief break in the middle of the day, in time for the final practices (6), but the storm hit full force around 3pm.
The Met Office reports: “The chance of a possibly severe thunderstorm with heavy rain that may lead to flash flooding this afternoon and evening.”
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Bathurst Practice 5 – Highlights | 01:26
FULL TIME (ALL TIME AEDT)
SATURDAY
10.20 a.m. to 11.20 a.m.: Practice 5 (co-drivers)
1pm – 2pm: Supercar Practice 6 (all drivers)
5:05 p.m: Top 10 shootout
SUNDAY
From 8 to 8.20 am: Supercar warm-up
8.40 a.m. to 9 a.m.: Parade of drivers
11.15 a.m.: Start of the race (161 laps)
TOP 10 SHOOTOUT CONTENDERS (qualifying times from Friday)
1. Cameron Waters (Tickford Racing) 2:23.6168
2. Lee Holdsworth (Grove Racing) 2:23.8296 +0.2128s
3. Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw Andretti United) 2:23.8360 +0.2913s
4. Shane van Gisbergen (Triple Eight Race Engineering) 2:24.0664 +0.4497s
5. Richie Stanaway (Erebus Motorsport) 2:24.3527 +0.7359s
6. Will Davison (Dick Johnson Racing) 2:24.4223 +0.8055s
7. Nick Percat (Walkinshaw Andretti United) 2:24.5634 +0.9466s
8. James Courtney (Tickford Racing) 2:24.6455 +1.0287s
9. Brodie Kostecki (Erebus Motorsport) 2: 24.7897 + 1.1729s
10. Will Brown (Erebus Motorsport) 2:25.0004 +1.3836s
LIVE BLOG
Follow the action on our live blog below. If you can’t see the blog, click here.
SIXTH PRACTICE REPORT
Saturday morning’s co-driver-only practice session took less than 10 minutes to produce a crash in wet conditions, and two more red flags followed in another hectic session.
But it was a rare and relatively easy session in the afternoon as the rain subsided, although it ended with another red flag.
And it was reigning Bathurst 1000 champion Chaz Mostert who made a statement of intent ahead of the Shootout, finishing first in 2:05.51s ahead of reigning Supercars champion and series leader Shane van Gisbergen by 0.103s .
“Probably the happiest I’ve been all weekend,” said Mostert, describing himself as “a little frustrated” with the car’s setup earlier in the week.
Van Gisbergen, who has enjoyed a roller-coaster weekend so far, receiving a three-place grid penalty, said he was happy despite “still struggling a bit with the brakes”.
While van Gisbergen was happy with his effort, Broc Feeney in the other Triple Eight entry again struggled for pace, managing only 16th.
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David Reynolds raced away in The Chase early, before Jordan Boys, co-driver of birthday boy Macauley Jones in the BJR entry, hit the wall and was grounded in the final minutes, watching as a red flag ended the session. The car had been damaged on Friday when van Gisbergen hit Jones in the final minutes of qualifying, forcing BJR to repair the car until almost 2am AEDT that night.
The entry of Jack LeBrocq (Matt Stone Racing) did not make it to the session after co-driver Aaron Seton’s brutal crash in Saturday morning’s practice. Tim Slade also missed the session to complete repairs to an air intake problem.
COMPLETE REPORT
Wet and wild scenes in practice four! | 01:38
FIFTH PRACTICE: CHAOS BEGINS ON SATURDAY
Tickford Racing’s Kurt Kostecki needed to use the safety road at Murray’s Corner inside the first five minutes, and his nightmare session continued when he hit the wall at Turn 2 shortly after while going up the hill. With brother Jake Kostecki, the pair hope to improve on their thirteenth place finish in 2021.
Four-time Bathurst 1000 winner Jamie Whincup had topped the timesheets after the session resumed with a time of 2:27.266 only to slide into the wall at Turn 2 (Griffins Bend).
He was able to continue after the car bounced off the barriers, but was unable to return to the track during the session, although Whincup himself helped repair the car.
The damaged MSR #34 Commodore after practice five. Source: FOX SPORTS
It follows the shock decision by Whincup, now Red Bull Ampol Racing team principal, to qualify instead of full-time driver Broc Feeney. Whincup managed just 14th (MORE BELOW).
The third – and worst – major incident of the session saw Matt Stone Racing’s Aaron Seton (Jack le Brocq’s co-driver) hit the wall at the top of the mountain, earning himself another red flag.
Bathurst veteran Michael Caruso, Mark Winterbottom’s co-driver for Team 18, also closed in The Chase and got stuck in the dirt, another red flag ending the session early.
Dale Wood finished fastest with a time of 2:26.222 (co-driver for Andre Heimgartner, who missed out on the top 10 by a hundredth of a second). Fabian Coulthard was second, just 0.065 seconds behind. Coulthard is co-driver for Bathurst 1000 winner Chaz Mostert in the WAU entry.
Youngster Jordan Boys was an impressive third, rewarding the hard work of the BJR mechanics to repair Macauley Jones’ car into the early hours of the morning after a crash with Van Gisbergen.
There was another impressive young gun in the form of debutant Declan Fraser in fourth, the rookie who partners veteran Craig Lowndes in the Supercheap Auto/Triple Eight wild card.
COMPLETE REPORT
The moment that cost SVG 3 positions! | 00:47
FRIDAY RE-WIND
Friday saw the rain arrive and cause chaos among the field. The aptly named Cameron Waters, perhaps, rode out the storm to qualify for provisional pole.
Meanwhile, reigning Supercars champion and runaway series leader Shane van Gisbergen was handed a three-place grid penalty for crashing into Macauley Jones in the closing seconds of qualifying, the latest setback in a series of strikes to his campaign to climb the most famous mountain in Australian sport. .
He wasn’t the only star to receive a penalty after Friday’s drama. Jake Kostecki’s own stuttering weekend took a turn for the worse on Friday night when it was revealed he had earned a $10,000 ticket from the marshals for speeding in Practice Four under red flag conditions.
The session was marked for the third time on Friday when Will Brown crashed, but Kostecki still clocked 220 km/h and even overtook Chaz Mostert on the Conrod Straight. Half of the fine is suspended until December 31, 2023.
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Qualifying Highlights – Bathurst | 01:35
VAN GISBERGEN WENT
Reigning Supercars champion and runaway series leader Shane van Gisbergen earned a three-place grid penalty for crashing into Macauley Jones on his final timed lap.
With no room for van Gisbergen to overtake at Turn 13, the hard drift sent Jones into the wall and required plenty of repairs ahead of Saturday’s action.
Brad Jones Racing worked until 1.30am on the damaged car but successfully completed the repairs.
Team owner Brad Jones said: “You can win the race here from last place … it’s disappointing.
“Even in the dry, you can’t pass two cars on this part of the track. So I think Shane, I’m a little unsure what he was thinking. He was obviously engaged and trying to pass.
“Maybe it was a bit of blood on his side, I’m not sure. Look, it’s a shame, he’s done so much damage to the car, but we’ll fix it and get it going again tomorrow.
“The administrators said he (van Gisbergen) apologized for it, it’s a shame.”
Van Gisbergen took to social media to defend his actions.
“Weird ending with quali contact with car 96,” he wrote.
“From my side, I saw that he made a big mistake in T1 and was out, so I knew his lap was ruined.
“At Skyline he braked really early and went off the line, so I thought he let me pass.
“Once I…