Grove Racing wins epic Bathurst 1000

At the finish, Matt Payne's calm contrasted with the fury that gripped Mount Panorama as his number 100 Ford Mustang crossed the finish line. This 66th edition of the great Australian race has made a lasting impression and will long be remembered as one of the most competitive races of recent years. 

18th on the starting grid!

The race seemed to have started badly for Matt Payne and the legendary Garth Tander. Poorly qualified, the two drivers Whole grained Racing knew they would have to work hard to make a comeback during the 27th round of the season. Fortunately, the race events aligned in their favor. The 161 laps were interrupted numerous times by the safety car. Tander perfectly fulfilled his role as teammate for the day, completing a flawless first stint that allowed the Penrite Mustang to return to the top 10 well before the halfway point. Matt Payne then demonstrated his pedigree as a pure Australian championship talent. The race reached its peak of excitement in the last 10 laps when Payne had to put his elbows out when his pursuers appeared threatening. The final battle for victory between Payne, James Golding (Chevrolet Camaro - PrimeAir racing) and Cooper Murray's 99 (Camaro) of Erebus Motorsport kept the crowd on the edge of their seats until the final corners. With five laps to go, the 99 was in the lead, but Golding collided with him while trying to take the lead. Murray fell back to fourth place in the standings, while Payne took the lead! David Reynolds (Ford-Team 18) then moved onto the podium. Nothing would change except for the five-second penalty imposed on Golding for his contact with Murray. Erebus crossed the finish line in third place. Payne and Tander (the veteran's sixth victory at Bathurst, editor's note) won by half a second over Reynolds.  

Favorites caught in the rain

Although the race began in sunshine, the meteorologists were not mistaken. Shortly before the halfway point, rain arrived on the southern hemisphere's toboggan run. The flurry of pit stops and tire choices quickly became a headache for all the teams. Several big names were caught out on track, including Brodie Kostecki (Ford Mustang-Dick Johnson Racing). Experiencing electrical issues, the driver of the No. 38 Mustang lost concentration. He violently collided with the No. 26 car of Kai Allen (Grove Racing), who had not asked for it. Kostecki, who was dreaming of a second consecutive victory, saw his Sunday turn into a nightmare. DJR finished at the bottom of the standings with the No. 38 car, while Alberto-Davison's No. 17 car was the first retirement of the race (crash on lap 55). The other team that missed out on the 66th edition of the great race was none other than Triple Eight Racing. Broc Feeney and Will Brown made some very damaging mistakes that affected their results. Brown/Pye finished 17th, while Feeney/Whincup fared better, crossing the finish line in 6th position despite the championship leader crashing out. In the general classification, Feeney, who was expected to finish the season in peace, is starting to feel Matt Payne's hot breath on the back of his neck. 56 points separate the two men with three meetings remaining. 

What we will remember from this 2025 edition of the Bathurst 1000 kilometers is the emergence of the young generation with boys like Ryan Wood (Fords Mustang-Walkinshaw Andretti United) forced to retire 22 laps from the finish, while he was battling for victory! For many laps, the young man will have held his own against the future protagonists of the podium. Supercars takes a short break before competing in one of the other monuments of the season on the streets of Gold Coast for the Surfers Paradise round from October 22 to 25.    

Supercars - Race Results

Championship standings