Bathurst 1000 Hour 3: Kostecki grows lead
The 2024 Bathurst 1000 has breached the halfway mark and Brodie Kostecki is the runaway favourite.
Kostecki put the foot down in the third stint and ballooned his advantage over Jamie Whincup to 16s.
Will Brown and Jack Le Brocq have consolidated themselves in the top four, while Anton De Pasquale got as high as fifth before pitting.
At the start of the third hour the next pit stop cycle was sparked on Lap 55 when Ojeda boxed from fourth for a brake pad change.
The leaders then shadowed each other on Lap 56, but this is where their strategies switched
In addition to gaining 3s in the lane, Whincup stayed in the #88 as Kostecki returned to the #1.
Brown also jumped into the #87 and was a further 17s adrift following Payne’s stint where he focused on fuel saving.
Just before his third stop, Fraser had a wild moment sliding through the Skyline sand and emerged right in front of the battling Moffat and Payne.
The Monster Mustang then did something similar, touring the Esses and being lucky to avoid repeating the same mistake he made at The Dipper last year.
Earlier in the day it became apparent Wood had a “rookie mistake.”
The Kiwi on Great Race debut slid into the outside tyre barrier on pit exit, which led to a door change on the #2.
“I just overcooked it coming into the pits. It was a bit of a rookie mistake so sorry to the team. Pretty gutted about that. The car is pretty speedy and fine after that,’ Wood said.
De Pasquale put the foot down at the start of the second stint, being the fastest car on the track and picking off Lowndes with ease to put a Mustang back into the top five.
It did not take long for the DJR driver to hunt down Ojeda and challenge for fourth, but he could not quote catch him before pitting on Lap 77.
Chahda, who was running 14 laps down, put himself into the bad books of Moffat and Holdsworth.
The wildcard received a bad sportsmanship flag for failing to get out of the way of the two Mustangs.
When he did, it was dangerous with Chahda suddenly backing off right in front of Moffat as they approached The Chase, in what was an “absolute disgrace” according to the Tickford driver.
Holdsworth then found himself alongside the #118 and purposely nudged it off at the left hander to send a message.
Davison had a big lunge on Wood for seventh, but the pair clashed, forcing the Grove Racing driver off at The Chase. The DJR driver received a 5s penalty as a result.
“I just ran out of brakes. The tyres are so hot and that was my one spot to pass,” Davison said.
“I thought Dale would not make it too difficult, but he went very, very deep and I had already committed to the move.
“The brakes were on their limit and I squeezed a left front and unfortunately touched him, which was not the plan. It just got a bit awkward.”
Meanwhile, Kostecki was in complete control and pushed the margin to a race-high 10s as the race rapidly went past the halfway mark.
Image: Peter Norton
Bathurst 1000 leaderboard
READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF AUTO ACTION HERE
Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.
