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Shane van Gisbergen & Garth Tander Win 2022 Bathurst 1000

Van Gisbergen and Mostert battle to the line; the gap for victory 1.099.

Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander have won the 2022 Supercars Bathurst 1000, with a thrilling final stint from van Gisbergen delivering victory for the #97 Triple Eight Race Engineering Commodore.

“You’re singling me out. Garth… won the race too, and it’s a team effort and a fan effort,” said van Gisbergen after the race. “It’s special, I’m rapt.

“I can’t thank the team enough. Garth was on it this year… and Andrew [Edwards, engineer] this year has been epic, just every round, becoming more and more part of the team and doing such a great job. Now he’s won the most ever races of the season as an engineer.”

“I don’t really know what to say… No words right now, can’t really believe it!” said Garth. “The guys did such a great job, and Shane at the end of the race – how he can do that, his focus, his ability to punch out laps like that, was seriously impressive to watch. So such an honour to be a part of this. The last ever Commodore [win] at Bathurst, that’ll sink in a little bit later.

“I can’t believe it!”

It is van Gisbergen’s second Bathurst crown, and his second with Tander, while Tander clocks up his 5th win. Van Gisbergen also sets a new record for the number of race wins in a season, with his 19th win, and with 4 races remaining. Tander’s win is particularly poignant, with Garth taking the final Holden win at the Mountain, as the driver with the most entries in the 1000 as a Holden driver.

Chaz Mostert and Fabian Coulthard finished second in the #25 Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore. Mostert pushed van Gisbergen all the way to the line, after a late safety car resulted in a 14 lap dash to the finish. The gap between Mostert and van Gisbergen barely breached a second for the last stint, with the final gap only 1.0991. The podium was rounded out by Cameron Waters and James Moffat in the #6 Tickford Racing Mustang, who initially were in the battle for the win, but faded late to finish 6 seconds behind. It’s Waters’ third podium in three years.

While the #97 lead over 100 laps, it was anything but a dominant victory. The #97 Triple Eight Race Engineering Commodore struggled in the damp conditions in the morning, but improved as the track dried out. They had to contend with a 5 second penalty for an unsafe release early in the day, and were off strategy to try and compensate. The cards fell their way with a safety car just after they had taken their penalty, allowing them to regain track position before halfway. From there, they were able to control the race, never escaping the field, but creating just enough of a buffer to be on the edge of comfortable.

While the #97 were well positioned, the #25 Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore had to battle for track position all day. Mostert was particularly frustrated, getting caught behind Brodie Kostecki in the #99 Erebus Motorsport Commodore at both the beginning and end of the race. When the 25 was in clear track, Mostert was the fastest on track. An alternate strategy to put Coulthard in against the main-game drivers to allow Mostert the opportunity to race against the co-drivers later in the race saw them finally break through the back end of the top 10, fighting again with the #99 Erebus Motorsport Commodore, and the #6 Tickford Racing Mustang.

The #6 Tickford Racing Mustang had to recover after a spin in the early stages. James Moffat was in the car on a safety car restart, with Brodie Kostecki just behind. Kostecki made a lunge to the inside at The Cutting that Moffat seemed to see too late, as he tried to close the door, resulting in contact. The #6 was spun, but stayed of the wall, dropping to the rear of the field. It took another 80 laps for Waters to get the car back in the top 5, but a lack of outright pace in the final stages meant they couldn’t go with the leaders, having to settle for third place.

The race started in dry conditions but with standing water still on sections of the track after support category running dragged mud and water onto the circuit in the morning. Heavy rain through the week and in the morning meant that any excursion off track would likely result in bogging in the gravel, or skating across the grass. Adding a burst water main overnight on Mountain Straight meant a river of water on driver’s right, which didn’t disperse throughout the race.

It was Lee Holdsworth in the #10 Grove Racing Mustang that got the best start from the front row, taking the holeshot into Hell corner. The top half of the field got through the exit, but a complex moment in the mid pack on mountain straight saw the #9 Erebus Motorsports Commodore and the #88 Triple Eight Race Engineering Commodores spinning up the track, with collateral damage to the #55 Tickford Racing Mustang, the #100 Dick Johnson Racing Mustang, and the #18 Team 18 Commodore.

Trying to avoid the river of water on the right side of the track, Jamie Whincup in the #88 moved to the left, squeezing the #8 Brad Jones Racing Commodore of Dale Wood, and Tony D’Alberto in the #100 on the left hand side, with Jack Perkins in the #9 just ahead. Whincup hit a puddle and burst into wheelspin at the same time De Pasquale put two wheels on the grass, and in the melee the #9 got a tap and spun ahead of the group, with #88 pitched into a spin as well.

The incident brought out a safety car, with damaged cars coming into the pits, and one returning on a flatbed. The #100 suffered a bent steering arm, which the team repaired early enough to remain on the lead lap, while the #99 had a bent rear arm and a puncture, taking 2 laps to repair. The worst damaged car was the #55 Tickford Racing Mustang; Zac Best taking to the grass to avoid the spinning cars ahead, skating straight into the concrete, and damaging the car beyond repair on lap one.

The race restarted 4 laps later but was almost immediately under caution again for a mega incident coming out of the chase. Zane Goddard in the #5 Tickford Racing Mustang outbraked himself trying to pass Greg Murphy at The Chase, bowling a wide and getting onto the grass. The wet grass didn’t retard the speed of the car at all, and as Goddard attempted to rejoin the track, the car began to spin out of control. Goddard speared across the track, colliding with the #8 Brad Jones Racing car of Dale Wood, and leaving Matt Campbell in the #26 Grove Racing Commodore nowhere to go.

All three drivers were unscathed, but all three cars were out of the race.

A warning from race control to control cars on rejoins rang out as the race got underway again, with rain beginning to fall up mountain straight and at the chase. Lee Holdsworth began to stretch a lead before another interruption on Lap 17.

The #56 Tickford Racing Mustang with Jake Kostecki at the wheel was discovered bogged in the run off at The Chase. Kostecki ran wide at the apex, getting on to the grass, and getting bogged in the sodden grass.

This brought almost the entire field into the pits for their first stop, with 22 of the 24 remaining cars going through the lane. In the chaos, there was an unsafe release for the #97 Triple Eight Race Engineering car, which was released into the path of the #17 Dick Johnson Racing Mustang, who had to take avoiding action. They were adjudicated a 5 second penalty to be taken under their next green-flag pit stop.

The track began to dry on the resumption of action, with the #100 Dick Johnson Racing car with Tony D’Alberto at the wheel, as the only car not to stop. There were still puddles around, punishing drivers for any small mistakes. Cameron Waters was the big mover in this phase of the race, as the leading main-game driver against the co-drivers. Waters moved from fifth through to the lead in the stint, before another safety car at lap 31, again at the Chase.

Alex Davison locked up into the Chase, firing straight through the gravel and bouncing off the tyre barrier. He managed to extract the car from the tyres, but he was unable to escape the mud, getting stuck agonisingly close to the track, forcing another safety car.

This brought the field through for another round of pit stops, with only the #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering Wildcard and the #51 Erebus Motorsports Wildcard cars staying out on track. They led the restart, with Waters in the #6, Brodie Kostecki in the #99, Mostert in the #25, and van Gisbergen in the #97 the next cars in the train.

Waters was the man on the charge again, grabbing Richie Stanaway in the #51 at Murrays corner. This backed up the group behind, with Mostert looking to break through, aborting a move at the Cutting before throwing it down the inside of Kostecki at the Elbow. The drag race was on, with van Gisbergen bump drafting Kostecki down Conrod Straight, enabling both of them to pass Mostert.

Waters made short work of Declan Fraser in the #888 to take the lead, while Van Gisbergen slipped through on Kostecki, and then Stanaway, to sit in third place. Fraser pit from second to allow van Gisbergen clear track to Waters, but his charge was interrupted by yet another safety car intervention.

The #3 CoolDrive Mustang with team owner Tim Blanchard at the wheel was seen in the tyres at The Elbow, unable to extract itself. Replays showed contact between Blanchard and Nick Percat in the #2 Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore, who had tried to make the move, nerfing Blanchard into the tyres. Stewards ruled it a racing incident, with Percat deemed far enough alongside to have commanded the corner.

This saw a significant divergence in strategies, with Waters, (#6), Kostecki (#99), and Mostert (#25) talking a pit stop, while van Gisbergen stayed out.

A mix of co-drivers and main-game drivers took the restart on lap 46, with Moffat stepping into the #6 trying to defend from the #99 Erebus car with Kostecki still at the wheel. The pair made contact at The Cutting, spearing Moffat into a spin but not into the wall. The stewards again ruled this a racing incident.

While those who had taken a pit stop tried to battle their way through the field, Van Gisbergen set about setting clean laps trying to extend his advantage to offset the 5 second penalty he was yet to take. He came in for a pit stop on lap 55, making the compulsory brake change at the same time, with Tander dropping back out in 16th place.

The fifth Safety Car of the afternoon was called immediately after, required to retrieve the #96 Brad Jones Racing Commodore from the gravel trap at Pit Entry. This brought the top 15 cars into the pits, most making the brake rotor change in the process, allowing the #97 to cycle back to the lead of the race.

Behind Tander in the #97 Triple Eight Race Engineering Commodore was the #99 Erebus Motorsports Commodore, David Russell now at the wheel, followed by the #100 Dick Johnson Racing Mustang of Tony D’Alberto, Nick Percat in the #2 Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore, and the recovering #18 Team 18 Commodore of Michael Caruso. The #25 Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore sat just outside the top 10 in 11th, while the #6 Tickford Racing Mustang was down in 16th due to it’s spin at the Cutting.

With most Co-Drivers in the car and the track almost fully dry, the race finally settled into a rhythm. As the co-drivers ticked off their minimum 54 lap requirement, some teams elected to pull them in off-sequence to put the main-game driver back in, whereas others chose to leave the co-driver in to complete the stint. There was another incident taking out a contender, with the #2 Walkinshaw Andretti United car of Nick Percat slamming the wall at The Elbow.

Fortunately, Nick was able to crawl the car back to the pits, preventing a safety car intervention. On board replays suggested a missed downshift while braking for the Elbow caused the car to burst into wheelspin, with Nick unable to control the slide, tagging the wall on both sides of the track.

A problem in the pit lane relegated another front runner; The #100 Dick Johnson Racing had a nightmare of a brake rotor change, taking 50 seconds longer than a standard pit stop due a delay on the front left corner, dropping Anton De Pasquale from the lead of the race outside the top 10.

Walkinshaw Andretti United were one of the earliest to clear their co-driver laps, and installed Chaz Mostert in the #25 Commodore at lap 81 to complete a long stint to the finish. Mostert got to work, moving through the field against the co-drivers still in the car, moving from outside the top 10 into 4th place before the next round of pit stops, all at around lap 100. Tander handed the #97 over to van Gisbergen with a 13 second lead over the #99 of Brodie Kostecki, with the #88 Triple Eight Race Engineering Commodore of Broc Feeney a further 14 seconds back. Two seconds behind was Mostert, who came out of the pits in between Feeney and the recovering #6 of Cameron Waters, four seconds covering the trio. Mostert kept the pace on, passing Feeney around the outside of The Chase to go into the top 3, before the 6th Safety Car intervention was called at lap 119.

Todd Hazelwood had buried the #35 Matt Stone Racing Commodore into the tyres at Griffins Bend, locking up under brakes into the right hander. The #35 was able to be pulled from the tyres and returned to the race, laps down.

This compressed the front of the field, with Van Gisbergen’s 17 second gap evaporating to nothing, and the top 5 nose-to-tail on the restart. The top three began to escape, with Feeney holding up Waters, Holdsworth and the pair of Dick Johnson Mustangs, until a wide moment at The Chase allowed Waters and Holdsworth to pass. Waters tacked on to the back of the battle for second, Mostert once again behind Kostecki, with the final round of stops looming. Feeney was the first of the lead group to pit with 20 laps remaining, followed by Mostert, Waters and Davison the lap later.

Immediately out of the pits, Davison went to brake the #17 Mustang into Griffins Bend. The car missed a downshift, spearing off track and into the tyre barriers at turn 2, bringing out another safety car.

Will stepped out of the car under his own steam. The car, however, was out of the race.

This gave Van Gisbergen and Kostecki the chance to pit from the lead of the race, with the Safety Car waiting to pick van Gisbergen up after the pit stop. The key rejoin would be Mostert against Kostecki, with Mostert looking to undercut the #99 Erebus Motorsport Commodore. As the #99 came out of the pits, a recovery vehicle was allowed onto the track from the Turn 1 run off. Brodie exited the pit lane just behind the recovery vehicle, forcing him to pull up, and allowing Mostert to wrap around and take the position before the safety car line. The stewards deemed that Mostert would have gotten to the safety car line first regardless, but Erebus Motorsport were understandably frustrated to lose the position through the pit sequence.

This set up a grandstand finish, with van Gisbergen, Mostert, Kostecki and Waters, the four fastest drivers of the day, in the top four positions. The restart was called with 14 laps remaining, and immediately Waters fired the #6 Mustang down the inside at Griffins, making it stick into third place. The top 3 started to separate themselves from the field, setting a series of 2:06’s, the fastest laps of the race, to build a gap. Van Gisbergen started to stretch an advantage, setting a 2:06.2 to set the fastest lap of the race, to which Mostert responded with a 2:06.3 the next lap around.

The pair dropped Waters, and traded fastest sectors; van Gisbergen faster in sector 1 and 3, and Mostert faster in sector 2. The gap remained at approximately 1 second, with minor variances as both drivers tested the limits of the track and the limits of their cars. In the end, Van Gisbergen withstood the pressure, taking the chequered flag after 6 Hours and 41 minutes of racing.

Brodie Kostecki and David Russell were unlucky to miss a podium, backing up their performance from last year, putting the #99 Erebus Motorsport Commodore in 8th, while the top 5 was completed by Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup in the #88 Triple Eight Race Engineering Commodore. Lee Holdsworth and Matt Payne put the #10 Grove Racing Mustang in 6th place with Payne as the top rookie; their early pace in the wet was unable to be maintained in the dry. Anton De Pasquale and Tony D’Alberto finished in 7th in the #100 Dick Johnson Racing Mustang, ahead of the #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering Wildcard entry of Fraser and Lowndes. The top 10 was completed by the Brad Jones Racing #14 of Fullwood and Fiore, and the #9 Erebus Motorsport Commodore of Brown and Perkins.

Thanks to the wave-around rules introduced for this year, 19 of the 28 cars finished on the lead lap, while there were 6 retirements; Jack Smith and Jaxon Evans crashing out on lap 138 after Smith tagged the wall at Metal Grate in the #4 Brad Jones Racing car.

Shane Van Gisbergen now holds a 567 point lead in the championship over Cameron Waters with two rounds left, both street races. Next round for the Supercars is on the 28th-30th of October at the Gold Coast, with the finale on the streets of Adelaide on December 1-4.

RACE RESULT >>

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