Sunday Talking Points: Brodie's Bathurst redemption in historic race

Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood have become the 65th and 66th drivers to win a Bathurst 1000 after a crushing display in today's Great Race.

Whilst Broc Feeney kept the reigning Supercars champion honest in the final stint, Kostecki was in a league of his own to avenge his runner-up finish last year.

It was also a momentous day for Erebus Motorsport, who now join Tickford on two Bathurst wins, and draw a line under their tumultuous start to the season.

It was a historic day at Mount Panorama, as a frenetic race saw only one Safety Car appearance, a record finishing rate, and the longest stint from the start of the race to the first Safety Car in history.

Supercars.com takes a look at some of the key talking points from the 2024 Repco Bathurst 1000.

Erebus and Kostecki silence critics

For all of the trials and tribulations Erebus Motorsport have gone through in 2024, today's performance was a sign that they are still devastatingly brilliant when they are at their best. The #1 Chiko Camaro led 157 of 161 laps, only falling back in the pack through put stop cycles, in one of the most dominant performances ever seen at Mount Panorama. Kostecki was back to his 2023 best, and was in a league of his own in both the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout and the race today, whilst Todd Hazelwood also drove the race of his life to claim his maiden Repco Supercars Championship race win at the biggest one of them all. Whilst the start of the season has been much publicised and spoken about, a second Bathurst 1000 victory is a fitting send off for the Kostecki-Erebus partnership, and there's no reason the reigning Supercars champion can't win at either of the Gold Coast or Adelaide before the season is out.

History made in blistering race

The 2024 Repco Bathurst 1000 broke two records in a display of how far modern racing car technology and the current Gen3 Supercar package has come. For the first time in history, the Bathurst 1000 race time broke the magic six hour barrier, with Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood completing the 161 laps in 5h 58m 03.0649s. Only one car retired from the race, that being the Matt Payne/Garth Tander Mustang after the Kiwi crashed on lap 131, with the 96.15% finishing rate the highest in the event's history. Of the 25 cars that finished the race, 20 finished on the lead lap, which is yet another record that was broken on a remarkable day at Bathurst. Granted, that was aided by the wave around rule being implemented in the sole Safety Car period of the day, but it highlights just how competitive the Supercars Championship is today.

Costly mistakes for Ford contenders

The Ford challenge looked much stronger 12 months on from a tension-filled 2023 Repco Bathurst 1000, however this year not a single Mustang finished on the podium. Of the lead Mustang contenders, only the Chaz Mostert/Lee Holdsworth entry from Walkinshaw Andretti United could claim to have had a mistake-free day, but even then Chaz made contact with Brad Vaughan's lapped car. The pair didn't have the pace to challenge for a podium and claimed fifth. The lead Mustang home was Cam Waters/James Moffat in fourth, however Waters will be left to rue a silly mistake that saw him run up the Hell Corner escape road early and dump a lot of time, whilst the Matt Payne/Garth Tander entry had two excursions, the latter going down the Murray's Corner escape road, and the former ending their day against the wall at The Cutting. Anton De Pasquale emerged as a contender after a strong stint in the middle of the day, only for a botched brake change to drop them back in the order. Grove Racing's miserable day was only made worse when Richie Stanaway ran out of fuel on the last lap, dropping he and Dale Wood from sixth to ninth.

Feeney so close, yet so far

Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup immediately emerged as the only car that could pose any real threat to the dominant lead Erebus Camaro. In the penultimate stint, Feeney clawed back huge ground on Kostecki as the conditions came to the Red Bull Ampol Racing driver, with the race potentially shaping up for a grandstand finish even before the field was bunched by the Safety Car. Feeney then stayed with Kostecki as the pair traded fastest laps in a pressure-filled conclusion to the race, but didn't quite have the edge to steal the Peter Brock Trophy away. Whilst second is redemption from last year's late-race heartbreak, Feeney will no doubt believe that he had a shot at winning today, and maybe in another world he would have done if Erebus didn't make an important set-up change to Kostecki's car at the final stop. A silver lining for Feeney is that he did claw back ground on Will Brown in the championship, and now sits second heading into the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.

Championship-calibre consistency for Brown

Another podium for Will Brown continues his trend of claiming at least one podium finish in every round this season. Whilst the sister #88 was clearly the better car across the weekend, Brown and Scott Pye were always in the hunt for a podium, with Pye recovering from a heavy crash on Thursday in Practice 2. Another podium for the championship leader has seen his points lead grow from 198 to 204 points, with Broc Feeney now ahead of Chaz Mostert in second. Brown's consistency this season hasn't allowed any of his championship rivals to have even an average day, and a win at Sandown really turned the tide back in Brown's favour. Brown has developed an ability this year to maximise whatever result is on the table in races, and it's a trait that has taken him to within touching distance of a maiden Repco Supercars Championship victory.