Bathurst 1000: McLaughlin Triumphs in Supercars Epic

The 2019 Bathurst 1000 saw Kiwi Scott McLaughlin enjoy a maiden victory at Mount Panorama in a race stacked with drama and surprise.

In an incident-filled race, pitstops ultimately decided the victor, with Shell V-Power Racing Team’s risky and controversial fuelling strategies paying off in the final laps. Jamie Whincup and co-driver Craig Lowndes, however, ironically sacrificed their Bathurst win by playing it safe in pitlane.

His win in Race 25 increases McLaughlin’s lead in the Supercars Championship, and now sits comfortably ahead of rival Shane van Gisbergen by 622 points, himself finishing 2nd in The Great Race.

The multiple practices in the days prior to the race fulfilled the pundits’ predictions, as new lap records were registered by McLaughlin in his rapid Ford Mustang GT. Qualifying provided the only wet conditions of the weekend, and threw many favourites off their Top Ten Shootout ambitions, such as David Reynolds, who had to settle for P22 with a dodgy car setup. The shootout itself saw McLaughlin launch into pole position with a record-breaking time of 2m03.39s. Holden, Ford’s and Nissan’s all occupied spaces on the front five rows for race day.

The warm-up tour of the track caused delays when rookie Kostecki suffered mechanical faults, but after lengthy waiting, the lights went out, and 2019’s Bathurst 1000 was underway. Scott McLaughlin maintained the lead from launch, with Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert following suit in their Mustangs. However, a car in the mid pack found the wall heavily after contact, and the safety car was released on the opening lap, somewhat foreshadowing the climax of the race.

The racing remained fast and clean for the next 100 laps or so, with one highlight coming from van Gisbergen’s door refusing to close properly – the Red Bull racer was forced to navigate the Mountain once with one hand keeping it shut until it finally locked. James Moffat, co-driver to Mostert, stalled his Mustang after a routine pitstop, the blunder costing the team a position to McLaughlin’s partner Alex Premat.

Lap 101 initiated the brutal end to the endurance, with cars crashing all over the track, and prompting teams to decide when to bring their cars in for fuel, which was arguably the key factor to McLaughlin’s success. On lap 135, Fabian Coulthard slowed the pack of cars behind right down during a safety car period, allowing for teammate McLaughlin to refuel ahead without losing track position. This decision gave Coulthard a pitlane penalty, and has since been subject to scrutiny from both drivers and fans.

One major incident towards the end of the race was the coming together between teammates Waters and Mostert, who were in P3 and P4 respectively at the time. Both dropped far down the order and cost the team vital points towards the championship. Mostert clipped the rear of Water’s car, and forced them both off at the bottom of the Chase, landing them in the gravel trap. Mostert later said to supercars.com, “I didn’t need to pass him [and] shouldn’t have tried”. This is the third time in a row the two have tangled at Mount Panorama, and certainly gave the Holden fans a lot to cheer about.

Safety cars in the final ten laps once again tested teams with their fuel plans, and race leader Whincup entered the pitlane, but left in fourth place, gifting McLaughlin the lead. However, the Kiwi was desperately low on petrol, and it was unsure whether he would make it to the chequered flag. One more safety car on lap 158 created a last lap sprint, with van Gisbergen attacking the Ford’s bumper throughout. However, McLaughlin just held on to secure his first Bathurst victory, and ended a truly entertaining event.

Scott McLaughlin, and his Ford Mustang, were totally unrivalled all weekend; no one got close to him and his numbers. Throughout the practices, he was posting rapid times and frequently dipped into the 2m 03s. Even in the wet, the car’s setup was fantastic. Furthermore, this was an endurance round, with co-drivers and pitstops aplenty to negotiate, yet everything seemed to slot perfectly into place. There were arguably more competitive co-drivers than Alex Premat (Craig Lowndes, Garth Tander, Steven Richards etc.) in the field, but the seasoned racer managed to extract the same pace out of the car as the Kiwi, and together they demonstrated an ideal performance.

There are still two more endurance meetings in this year’s Supercars calendar, with the Gold Coast and Sandown next on the agenda. If McLaughlin and Premat can carry this highly impressive cohesion they have into the next rounds, it’s hard to see anyone else lifting the trophies.

Finishing P2 at Bathurst is something to be proud of, but for Shane van Gisbergen, coming second only to McLaughlin has been the story of his championship thus far. The ZB Commodore’s pace is much improved at this stage of the season that it was at the first race meetings, but it is too late in the day to make any progress on his title contention – McLaughlin might as well not show up to the next events, he is that far ahead. Nevertheless, he and Tander produced a spirited performance, and will be looking to reciprocate in the upcoming endurances.

James Courtney hasn’t really ever looked the same driver since his 2010 Championship-winning year, but alongside Jack Perkins, he raced well to finish in third. Hopefully this good form will continue in to the Gold Coast, a track that he usually struggles at.

P4 went the way of Whincup and Lowndes, somewhere they’ll see as a failure – something tells me that Whincup’s famous finish in the 2014 race was plaguing his mind, and felt it necessary to refuel more than his pit crew in fact did.

Fifth place went the way of David Reynolds and Luke Youlden, my initial prediction for the race’s winners. After Youlden suffered a heavy crash at Mcphillamy in Practice 2, the weekend spiralled away from them. The car struggled in the wet, shown by their qualifying position, but raced very well to gain 17 places and ultimately finish in the top five.

IndyCar drivers James Hinchcliffe and Alexander Rossi showed that, if anything, how difficult Mount Panorama is to negotiate. The duo featured as a wildcard entry, and spent most of the sessions ahead of the actual race understanding the track, and their pace did improve. However, as summarised perfectly by Hinchcliffe during practice, the whole experience was; “like drinking from a firehose”. Rossi did spin off at Murray’s towards the tail-end of the race, but the pair succeeded by crossing the finish line in 19th place.

One of the major talking points about the race was Fabian Coulthard’s deliberate strategy to slow the field behind him way down, and in doing so, allowed for teammate McLaughlin to pit without losing track position. Since the event, he has received criticism from many fans, a vocal majority of which appear to be Holden supporters. The ‘go-slow’ incident has induced a penalty for DJRTP, and speaking to supercars.com, Coulthard admits he is “a little bit pissed off” by the whole situation.

The coming together between teammates Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert is another key event – the two Mustang drivers were fast all weekend, and sat comfortably in P3 and P4, looking towards a great finish. However, Mostert’s brash approach at the Chase ruined both of their chances of Bathurst glory, and disappointed Ford fans around the Mountain. Mostert admitted; “I’m really sorry to Cam and the whole team, we should be celebrating a podium or two right now, but we’re empty handed”.

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Following on from that incident, this year’s Great Race surely gave both Holden and Ford fans a lot to cheer about. Watching the final lap, with van Gisbergen hunting the back of McLaughlin’s Mustang, the crowd are so vocal and driven purely by the prospect of their manufacturer claiming the trophy – it was a classic Holden vs Ford moment that the Aussies travel to see year in year out.

2019’s Bathurst 1000 totally lived up to expectation; there were great passes, controversy, crashes, and a worthy winner of Australia’s most coveted automotive trophy. To me, it was the most complete race at the Mountain since 2014, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, despite being a massive fan of the Holdens. Hopefully 2020’s race delivers much the same, and comes around the corner sooner than later.