Kostecki/Hazelwood fend off Feeney to win rapid Great Race

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: 13 October 2024

Brodie Kostecki has given Erebus Motorsport the ultimate farewell gift after he and Todd Hazelwood held off a fast Broc Feeney to win the fastest ever Bathurst 1000.

Kostecki and Hazelwood were the dominant combination of the 64th Great Race at Mount Panorama, leading 157 of the 161 laps and leading home Feeney and Jamie Whincup by just over a second.

However, they had to contend with a late challenge from Feeney, who produced a triple stint for the ages to slash a 30s deficit into a grandstand finish.

Following the one and only Safety Car on Lap 132 caused by Matt Payne’s Cutting crash, what was a slow burn became a thriller.

In the intense 27-lap dash to the flag, Kostecki and Feeney put on a show for the crowd of 193,219, trading fastest laps.

Feeney never left the rear of Kostecki, but ultimately fell a 2s short in the first Great Race to finish within six hours, eclipsing the record set in 2018 after 05h58m03.0649s of sprint racing.

Will Brown could not keep up with the leading pair, but scored a maiden Bathurst 1000 podium with Scott Pye 13s adrift.

Completing the top five were the leading Mustangs of Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert.

The success cements the legacy of Kostecki and Erebus after winning the championship in 2023 and now the Great Race in 2024, putting the pain from earlier in the year away, while Hazelwood finally gets on the top step in his 194th start.

After a mammoth green-flag run of 132 laps, the race was suddenly alive as Kostecki led a fast Feeney, plus Brown, Waters, Stanaway, Mostert and Murray.

Racing resumed with 27 laps remaining and Feeney made his intentions clear by having a small look around the outside of Griffins Bend.

Despite Feeney having all the momentum, Kostecki responded by posting the fastest lap of the race on Lap 138 and rebuilding his lead to beyond a second in a heartbeat.

However, Feeney also had plenty of pace up his sleeve, going even faster on the very next lap, only for Kostecki to be the first to record an impressive 2m07s time, one tour before his Triple Eight rival did the same.

With the pair trading fastest laps and dropping Brown, it was a clear demonstration of how hard they were pushing for Great Race glory.

After dropping from fourth to eighth after pitting before the SC, Le Brocq was further ganged up by a group of Mustangs with De Pasquale demoting him to eighth.

Having impressively risen from 18th to seventh, Murray’s promising race was destroyed by a drive through penalty for an FCY infringement.

Mostert was determined to regain ground on his championship rivals and muscled his way into the top five after an aggressive tussle with Stanaway.

He then turned his attention to long time rival Waters in the contest for the best Mustang runner.

Waters looked vulnerable when he made a mistake coming out of Hell Corner at the start of Lap 143, but was able to keep Mostert behind.

Up front, Kostecki and Feeney were not giving an inch, flying at breakneck speed.

But after 11 foot to the floor laps, Kostecki finally pushed his advantage to beyond a second.

Despite the best efforts of Feeney, the Erebus driver was able to hold the margin until the finish, whilst there was little position change elsewhere.

Mostert could not challenge Waters in the fight for fourth, ahead of Golding, who made up five spots to rise to sixth as the likes of De Pasquale, Le Brocq, Stanaway and Hill completed the top 10.

Stanaway started the last lap sixth, but ran out of fuel and fell to ninth.

Image: peter Norton

2024 Bathurst 1000 results

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Kostecki/Hazelwood fend off Feeney to win rapid Great Race

Brodie Kostecki has given Erebus Motorsport the ultimate farewell gift after he and Todd Hazelwood held off a fast Broc Feeney to win the fastest ever Bathurst 1000.

Following the one and only Safety Car on Lap 132 caused by Matt Payne’s Cutting crash, what was a slow burn became a thriller.

Completing the top five were the leading Mustangs of Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert.

Despite Feeney having all the momentum, Kostecki responded by posting the fastest lap of the race on Lap 138 and rebuilding his lead to beyond a second in a heartbeat.

Having impressively risen from 18th to seventh, Murray’s promising race was destroyed by a drive through penalty for an FCY infringement.

Waters looked vulnerable when he made a mistake coming out of Hell Corner at the start of Lap 143, but was able to keep Mostert behind.

2024 Bathurst 1000 results

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