Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!
On the weekend of September 12 – 14 was the Air Touch 500 at The Bend.
It was round 9 of the 2025 Supercars championship and the first of the two Endurance races for the year. The second endurance race will be The Bathurst 1000.
It is the first time that The Bend hosted a Supercars endurance event and was a single race of 102 laps / 500km.
Supercars started racing at the venue in 2018 soon after development was completed. Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup dominated that year. It has been an annual venue for Supercars sprint events.
The Talem Bend circuit (aka The Bend) was opened in 2018. It was developed from an abandoned Mitsubishi test track and is probably the most significant development in Australian motorsport. It includes up to 7 different track configurations ranging between 1.101km and 7.77km in length and supports a multitude of motor sports including motor cars, karts and motorcycles. It even boasts a 100 room hotel over the pits.
The pre-race events were far more extensive than usual allowing for driver and co-driver practice sessions. They were great fun to watch and there was only one major incident occurring in Practice 4. It was a co-driver session and while performing a safety car procedure drill, Jamie Whincup co-driving for championship leader Broc Feeney hit Scott Pye co-driver for defending champ Will Brown. It was most embarrassing because both cars are in the Red Bull Ampol Racing team. The Brown/Pye car headed to the pits but was unable to complete the session.
The results for all the sessions were:
- Aaron Cameron was fastest in Practice 1
- Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 2
- Will Brown was fastest in Practice 3
- James Moffat was fastest in Practice 4
- Ryan Wood was fastest in Practice 5
- Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying
- Broc Feeney was fastest in the Shootout
- Ryan Wood and Jayden Ojeda were fastest in the Warmup
Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup started on pole position. Alongside them was Cameron Hill and Cameron McLeod. Out of the 26 cars there were 22 co-drivers behind the wheel at the start.
Jamie Whincup got the jump off the start and led the first of 102 laps. There was a lot of chopping and changing of positions in the early stages.
David Russell was the first of many to receive a penalty for driving infringements.
After making contact with Jack Smith on lap 1, Nash Morris was the first car to stop on lap 5 due to a flat tyre.
Jamie Whincup’s lead was less than 1 second and he wasn’t able to break away from the pack. By lap 15 he had Todd Hazelwood right on his tail and chose to let him pass to reduce risks so early in the race.
Mark Winterbottom was in 3rd place approximately 2 seconds further back.
On lap 16 Dale Wood was the first car to pit from 18th place. When he came back out he was in 26th place.
Jamie Whincup pitted on lap 23 from 2nd place for tyres and fuel. The team were having issues with the fuel rig and only managed to fill 18 litres of fuel. When Whincup rejoined he was down the order in position 20.
Whincup’s pit stop left a gap between leader Todd Hazelwood and Mark Winterbottom. Winterbottom pitted shortly after and by the time Todd Hazelwood pitted on lap 28 he had an 8+ second lead over Cooper Murray.
By the middle of the race Chaz Mostert had a 4.2 second lead over Brodie Kostecki. Cameron Waters was in 3rd place 1.3 seconds further back.
Towards the end of the race after Chaz Mostert took his final stop, Brodie Kostecki and Cameron Waters were left in first and second place with a reasonable gap back to Matt Payne in 3rd.
As they battled each other in the final laps they were able to keep their distance from the rest of the pack.
It soon became obvious they were unreachable and the challenge for the win was down to the two leading drivers.
Brodie Kostecki showed exceptional form and was able to break away from the bumper to bumper attack from Waters and create a 1+ second gap. He was soon flying to the finish line at an incredible speed and continually increasing his lead.
In the end Brodie Kostecki crossed the finish line with a 3.018 second win over Cameron Waters. Matt Payne came in 3rd place 7.6 seconds later.
What an incredible finish to the 500km race.
After starting in pole position and having the lead in the early stages Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup came in 19th place. They seemed to really struggle to find their way back to the front after their fuel issue on the first pit stop.
Race 26 Results:
1st Brodie Kostecki / Todd Hazelwood – Shell V-Power Racing
2nd Cameron Waters / Mark Winterbottom – Monster Castrol Racing
3rd Matt Payne / Garth Tander – Grove Racing
The next event will be the Repco Bathurst 1000 on 9 – 12 October 2025.
I hope you will join me for the biggest race of the season, The Bathurst 1000. The Bathurst channel begins on Monday October 6, 2025, on channel 506.
Until then; Live It, Breathe It, Dream It, Drive It !!
Awesome!
Another perfect ride!!!