Randle gives Tickford a cheer
By Andrew Clarke
Date posted: 17 October 2025
Tickford Racing left Mount Panorama with a mix of pride and frustration after a chaotic 2025 Bathurst 1000 that tested every call and every lap.
In conditions that turned strategy on its head, the Ford squad found two bright spots, Thomas Randle’s clutch drive into the Supercars finals and a composed showing from its wildcard entry, even as Cam Waters and Mark Winterbottom saw a potential podium or win slip away.
Team owner Rod Nash has been through plenty of wild Bathurst weekends, but this one ranked among the toughest.
“The weather really threw a spanner in the works,” he said. “We’ve had wet ones before, but this one was about survival. The last 50 laps showed that, it was survival of the fittest and a real race between everyone. We are a show, and that’s what it’s all about.”
For Tickford, Bathurst delivered two big positives after lean years on the mountain. The first was Randle’s determined eighth-place finish, a result that secured his spot in the end-of-season finals.
“Cam was well into the finals anyway,” Nash said. “But we were on the edge with Tom, and we’d had a couple of penalties, two five-second penalties that were plaguing us. He still managed to drive hard and sensibly in that rain. Finishing eighth was really good.”
Randle’s composure was crucial. Tickford had an unsafe release penalty early, the sort of setback that can derail a Bathurst campaign, but the 28-year-old kept the #55 Mustang in the fight through the downpours that caught out more fancied contenders.
“It does make you think about it, which is great because that’s what the finals system was prepared for,” Nash said. “At least it’s already started now, and off you go.”
Randle’s result means Tickford takes both its full-time entries into the finals, an important marker for a team. The mountain didn’t quite deliver redemption for Waters, a two-time runner-up, but Randle’s gritty run in the wet gave the team something to cheer.
As Nash summed it up: “You’ve got to take risks, you can’t play it safe if you want to win Bathurst. No one did anything wrong. It was tough, unpredictable, and that’s why it’s Bathurst.”
Image: Peter Norton Epic Sports Photography
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