Chance for young guns to achieve rare Bathurst feat

Seven drivers have the chance to join an exclusive club at this weekend's Repco Bathurst 1000.

Should they finish on the podium, Kai Allen, Cooper Murray, Cameron McLeod, Cameron Crick, Aaron Cameron, Matt Chahda, and Brad Vaughan would all join six drivers to have claimed a Bathurst podium whilst being on active Dunlop Series duty in the same season.

Of the seven, only Allen, Cameron, and Vaughan will be completing double duties in Super2 this weekend, with Murray and McLeod focusing solely on Supercars commitments, and Crick and Chahda having sat out Sandown as well.

Of the six drivers to have achieved the feat, two are Super2 champions, while one stands out as the only driver to win the Bathurst 1000 while on active Super2 duty.

To be considered for this list, drivers must have completed at least three rounds of the corresponding Super2 season.

Supercars.com looks at the six drivers who have finished on the podium at the Bathurst 1000 whilst competing in the Super2 Series in the same season.

Honourable mentions

Current Grove Racing main game star Matt Payne impressed on his Bathurst debut to finish sixth alongside Lee Holdsworth in 2022, a feat matched by three-time Super2 Series runner-up Zak Best last season. Two-time champion Paul Dumbrell finished fifth in the years of his successful Super2 campaigns in 2002 and 2014, whilst Jack Le Brocq was a whisker away from recording a podium in his second Bathurst start in 2016, finishing fourth.

Jack Perkins (3rd, 2019)

The son of six-time Bathurst 1000 winner Larry Perkins had carved a reputation as a reliable co-driver in the endurance races, but didn't break through for a podium of his own on the Mountain until 2019. In his fourth season paired with James Courtney at Walkinshaw Andretti United, the pair finished third at the Bathurst 1000, overcoming a heavy collision with the wall on the run to McPhillamy Park for Courtney. Perkins also completed a partial season in that year's Dunlop Super2 Series, claiming a round win at Sandown despite not winning a race. That round win would be his last until he took a commanding victory at the NTI Townsville 500 earlier this season for Blanchard Racing Team, where he reunites with Courtney for this year's Great Race.

Luke Youlden (3rd, 2003)

The 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner climbed the rostrum in his fourth Bathurst 1000 start, finishing third alongside Steven Ellery for the privateer Steven Ellery Racing outfit. The Bathurst podium was the conclusion of a stunning enduro campaign for the team, with Ellery and Youlden claiming second at the preceding Sandown 500 behind Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly's Holden Racing Team Commodore. Youlden was also completing his first full season of Super2 that year in one of the team's previous generation AU Falcons, finishing fifth in a season won by Mark Winterbottom. Youlden then finished lost a tiebreak for the 2004 Super2 Series, with Andrew Jones beating him to the title.

Adam Macrow (3rd, 2005)

Craig Lowndes stole the headlines for Triple Eight's 2005 Bathurst campaign, scoring pole position before his race unravelled with an unforced error before famously having his windscreen smashed by an errant wheel. It's often overlooked that Steven Ellery claimed Triple Eight's first Bathurst podium that year alongside then-Super2 rookie Adam Macrow. Macrow was by no means a Bathurst rookie, having made seven previous starts (with no finishes), the then 23-year-old Macrow was contesting his first Super2 season, finishing fourth with Triple Eight-aligned Howard Racing. Macrow dominated the following year's Super2 season, winning eight of sixteen races, to claim the title with the Howard squad.

Taz Douglas (2nd, 2014)

In the most remarkable of Bathurst 1000's, Taz Douglas paired with James Moffat to claim the most unlikely of runner-up finishes in 2014. Douglas found the wall twice at Griffin's Bend, first after contact with Cam Waters, and second after becoming a victim of the track breaking up. The heavily race-taped Norton Nissan soldiered on, with Moffat surviving a close shave with the wall on the entry to The Dipper late in the race, and making the most of a chaotic final 10 laps to trail Chaz Mostert home. Douglas competed in the first two rounds of that year's Dunlop Series for Image Racing, claiming a runner-up finish at the second race in Adelaide, and also competed in the final round at Homebush.

Steve Owen (2nd, 2010)

In the midst of his second title-winning campaign in Super2, Steve Owen scored a plumb drive alongside twice defending Supercars champion Jamie Whincup at Triple Eight. Owen and Whincup would finish second to teammates Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife in a formation finish. Owen also finished second in the first Super2 race of the weekend with Greg Murphy Racing, and comfortably beat Tim Blanchard to the title at Homebush. Owen would also finish second in 2015 with Mark Winterbottom, with the latter going on to claim the Supercars title at Homebush.

Nick Percat (1st, 2011)

The only Super2 driver to claim a Bathurst win whilst on active development series duty is Nick Percat, who claimed victory on debut in 2011. With wily veteran Garth Tander acting as mentor and primary driver, the long-time Walkinshaw junior driver was handed the difficult task of debuting in the Holden Racing Team's flagship entry. Percat escaped a hairy moment at Griffin's Bend to hand the car back to Tander, who went on to fend off a hard-charging Craig Lowndes to secure a dramatic victory. Percat became the first rookie since former Ferrari F1 driver Jacky Ickx in 1977 to claim victory on debut, which firmly thrust the then 23-year-old into the spotlight. Percat wouldn't make his full-time Supercars debut until 2014 in a fourth Walkinshaw Commodore, and has won two races this season with Matt Stone Racing.