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Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood have claimed a terrific Bathurst 1000 victory, completing a remarkable comeback for Erebus Motorsport who began the season marred in scandal.
Kostecki held firm in a final-stint duel with Broc Feeney to claim victory, with Feeney and Jamie Whincup finishing second and Will Brown/Scott Pye rounding out the podium.
It is the first Bathurst 1000 win for both Kostecki and Hazelwood, making them the 65th and 66th different winners of the great race.
Following a record 131 laps of uninterrupted racing, Matt Payne triggered the first safety car of the race when he shunted into the concrete on the outside of turn three.
The resulting safety car precipitated a 27-lap sprint to finish the race, with Kostecki holding on under severe pressure from Feeney.
The Bathurst 1000 win for Erebus Motorsport came after Kostecki sat out the opening rounds of the season amid a stoush with team owners.
Hazelwood replaced the defending Supercars champion for the first six races of the season, a stint in the car that paid dividends on Sunday around Mount Panorama.
"This guy here (Hazelwood) here did a stellar job the whole week," Kostecki said in pit lane.
"I knew we had a faster car.
"I just can't believe it. I'm in awe."
With just one safety car, this year's edition of the Bathurst 1000 was the fastest in history. It was the first race to be completed in less than six hours.
Pole sitter Kostecki got a decent getaway, but it was Feeney in the Triple Eight Race Engineering number 88 who flew off the grid from third.
Kostecki and Feeney were side-by-side up Mountain Straight before the pole sitter was able to get his nose in front and take the lead.
Kostecki was able to maintain that lead through his first stint in the car, which lasted 27 laps.
Feeney lost second place to last year's winner Richie Stanaway, but the Triple Eight Race Engineering driver took the place back a few laps later.
Brodie Kostecki had to fight to keep the lead from Broc Feeney. (Getty Images: Morgan Hancock)
Kostecki and Feeney were able to get a gap to the rest of the field, and the cars remained first and second when co-drivers Todd Hazelwood (number one) and Jamie Whincup (number 88) jumped into the race at the start of lap 28.
Further back, another Triple Eight Race Engineering entry, number 888 of Craig Lowndes and Cooper Murray, made consistent progress over the first quarter of the lap.
The duo had made up 12 places over the opening 41 laps to move into sixth and threaten a podium finish.
With most teams putting co-drivers in the car, the race settled into a nice rhythm.
Murray and Jayden Ojeda (number nine, Erebus Motorsport) were stars for their teams.
Ojeda had climbed up to fourth and Murray was up to fifth after 54 laps, one-third distance.
Hazlewood was able to hold off Whincup and maintain a 5 second lead over the stint, before both followed each other into the pits on lap 57.
Whincup stayed in the driver's, while Kostecki jumped back in his car for the third stint of the race.
The defending Supercars champion put the foot down and stretched the gap at the front to 16 seconds, setting up a strong platform for Erebus.
Both cars came in at the end of lap 85, with Hazlewood jumping into the Erebus while number 88's main driver, Broc Feeney, got into the driver's seat to try and wrestle back the margin.
Meanwhile, the race went by at break-neck speed as no safety cares were called. The previous record for the latest maiden safety car was 92 laps, but once the race completed over 100 laps of clean racing, it appeared the race might be completed entirely under green-flag conditions.
Meanwhile, Lowndes in number 888 fell down the grid, hindered by a couple of mistakes including overshooting the final corner just after 90 laps.
The other Triple Eight Race Engineering entrant, number 87, had plotted its way into third with Will Brown and Scott Pye behind the wheel.
Kostecki saw his lead gradually eroded by a superb stint from Broc Feeney, aided by some backmarker traffic as much as the inspired 88 car, capitalising on a minor balance change at the front of the car.
However, the race finally exploded into drama with the deployment of the race's first safety car 131 laps into the race.
Matt Payne crashed into the concrete on top of the mountain, setting up a sprint race to conclude the day's racing in the most dramatic of fashions.
Brodie Kostecki led from the off at Bathurst. (Getty Images: Morgan Hancock)
With the cars backed up, Kostecki's gap was the smallest it had been since the opening laps, with 27 flat-out laps to go.
Both drivers exchanged fastest laps in a blistering assault on the Mount Panorama circuit as the great race went right down to the wire.
Neither driver gave an inch and were millimetre perfect lap after lap.
But Kostecki was good enough to hold off Feeney, who could not have done any more to claim the win.
It was the second Bathurst 1000 win for the Erebus Motorsport team, which conquered the mountain in 2017.
Relive the action of the Bathurst 1000 with the ABC Sport blog.
Thanks for reading
(Getty Images)
Well, you know what, that was a thrilling conclusion to a race that was, too perfect?
The skill of the drivers were exemplary, the conditions were superb, it all combined for a flat our battle for over 130 laps.
The safety car came at the best possible time to really shake up the finale and add a degree of jeopardy that had otherwise been missing, if we're honest.
But the stunning last 27-lap shootout from Brodie Kostecki and Broc Feeney was almost worth watching on its own.
A superb result of Erebus, the fastest ever race at under six hours.
And all the laughs and fun we had along the way.
Thanks for being with us, from myself and Mick Doyle, good evening.
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Todd Hazelwood's excitable parents steal the show
Lovely interview on Channel 7 with Todd Hazelwood's parents.
Mum Sharon has stolen the show.
"Oh, just... ah... Just in disbelief .... amazed ... Everything. I don't even know! I'm just so excited!"
That's an awesome response to seeing your son win Bathurst for the first time.
"So proud. I was so nervous all day. Please, Todd, just don't... Don't do anything silly! He did it. I'm so proud," she adds.
Her assertion that they had a flight at 10am the next morning, with a shrug that her husband vocalised as meaning "yeah that ain't happening" says everything.
I wouldn't have drunk it...
Great response to the 'Shoey' chant - here, you drink it!
- Mike
It's the fastest Bathurst of all time, but it's still almost six hours of racing.
Both of those drivers have, since, thrown their shoes off and into the crowd.
(Getty Images)
As you say Mike, you want a shoey? You do it...
'I drove my heart out': Broc Feeney
Here's Broc Feeney.
"I'm pretty knackered," he tells Channel 7.
"These guys next to me absolutely killed it today. They were faultless, absolutely killed it today.
"Congrats to them and their whole team, a fantastic day.
"I drove my heart out, I didn't leave anything on the table. I had no tyres left at the end.
"I can't thank the team enough. We will be back, get up on the top step."
Will Brown: 'I was too slow'
The championship leader says he wasn't thinking about the championship, only that he was too slow.
"I was too slow, these guys were too fast," he says.
"It was crazy to have only one Safety Car there. It made it a tough day.
"Brodie Kostecki drove amazing all day."
'Shoey, shoey, shoey' is the chant
The trophy is being presented.
(Channel 7)
And the shoe is being filled!
Give the people what they want...
In fact, Brodie Kostecki has just thrown said shoe into the crowd.
Fastest Bathurst 1000 ever
Five hours, 58 minutes and 3 seconds.
That's the first time that the Bathurst 1000 has been completed in under six hours.
Just having one safety car will do that.
'It was balls to the wall': Kostecki gets his bucket list ticked off
More from Brodie Kostecki.
"We had a good car for the
middle stint when the sun was out. As soon as the clouds came we struggled," Kostecki says.
"Lost a bit of front. George tuned it up to interest last one. It was just enough to stay in front of Broc there.
"Broc was breathing down my neck the whole time.
"They were 32 shoot-out laps or 31 shoot-out laps, whatever it was, just ball to the walls the whole time.
"It is funny here. You can bring your pace back and you can actually get yourself into trouble.
"I knew if I did shoot-out laps every lap, I knew I wouldn't make a mistake.
"Glad to get this one ticked off the bucket list.
Can't wait to celebrate with the guys and girls tonight."
Good day for Chevrolet
How good for Brodie Kostecki to convert pole position into his first ever Bathurst 1000 win as part of an all-Chevrolet podium.
- Adam
'I can't believe it': Brodie Kostecki
(Channel 7)
"I can't believe it," Kostecki says after getting out the car.
"This guy here [Hazelwood] here did a stellar job the whole week.
"I knew we had a faster car.
"I just can't believe it. I'm in awe."
Brodie Kostecki takes a moment in the car
(Channel 7)
What must be going through his mind right now?
Could he have even imagined being here at the start of the year?
'I think I'm hallucinating': Hazelwood on cloud nine
Here's Todd Hazelwood on Channel 7.
"Unbelievable," he says.
"I think I'm hallucinating.
"I've just crossed my fingers are purple.
"Bush, he's an absolute legend. To do this together with him. We have been mates since day one. We've got an absolutely rocket ship of a car.
"It's been a tough year, but when you win Bathurst it makes up for it."
Brodie Kostecki wins the Bathurst 1000!
(Getty Images)
He has had to work for it - and not just today.
Bathurst is his first win of 2024, a season that started with him at loggerheads with his own team, kicked out of the car in favour of the man who will stand on the podium with him, Todd Hazelwood.
But he has led this one from start to finish!
Kostecki is the king of the mountain for Erebus Motorsport!
Last lap
The gap is 1.3 seconds and there are backmarker cars ahead!
Surely there will not be a twist in this.
The blue flags are waving furiously to this pair of cars ahead, engaged in their own battle together.
2 laps to go
As it stands it's an all Chevrolet podium.
Kostecki leads Feeney leads Brown.
3 laps to go
(Getty Images)
The gap is holding at 1.5 seconds.
Brown, the championship leader, is nine seconds back.
The top five remains as it was.
1.1 — Brodie Kostecki/Todd Hazelwood, Erebus Motorsport, Chevrolet Camaro
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