Bathurst 1000: All you need to know ahead of today’s great race

All you need to know for today’s Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama

Eric Thompson’s top five picks for Bathurst 1000

Number one pick: Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup will be flying around the mountain and Feeney has a point to prove after the disappointment of last year. Whincup has the pedigree and is almost without peer at Bathurst. The pair had a good result at Sandown, finishing second, and the car looks very quick indeed. The Triple Eight cars have always been strong at Mt Panorama and will be again this year.

Odds on: Despite Scott Pye putting Will Brown’s car into the wall during practice, this pairing will be hard to beat. Brown and Pye won at Sandown and Brown leads the Supercars championship so they would be hard to bet against. Brown has a best result of eighth in the Great Race and is due for at least a podium, if not the win. Pye has two second-place finishes and will be keen to stick it to his former team after being dumped as a full-time driver.

Don’t discount: Cam Waters and James Moffit were quick at the Sandown 500 but had some bad luck to finish sixth. Waters is consistently quick at Bathurst and finished on the podium in 2021 and 2022. Moffit is regularly one of the fastest co-drivers and is always in the mix. He will do his job well if he doesn’t throw it away like last year. The Tickford cars have improved during the season and are as quick as anything else in the field.

In with a chance: Kiwi Matthew Payne has the well-respected and proven stager Garth Tander sharing driver duties this weekend. Tander will be going for his sixth Bathurst 1000 win and it should be no surprise if he and Payne put the rest of the field to the sword. Payne made the top 10 shootout last year but struggled through the race. He knows how to win a Supercars race and, if they stay out of trouble, they’ll be nicely poised at the end.

Outsider: You can’t go past James Golding and David Russell if their podium finish at Sandown is anything to go by. Golding has proved he can run with the leaders of the pack as indicated by his pole position at Darwin. Confidence-wise, the pair will be flying high and they have a very good car. Golding’s record at Bathurst isn’t stellar, but the way he’s been going this year, he and the solid Russell could put the frighteners up a few of the more fancied driver pairings.

Kiwi hopes?

Of the 52 drivers starting this year’s race, six of them happen to hail from Aotearoa.

Fourth on the grid, Richie Stanaway is the best placed to contest the chequered flag. After impressing in practice and starting qualifying well, Payne is seventh - after a mistake on his top 10 shootout lap.

Andre Heimgartner is 10th, and will be hoping to make his way up the grid after he failed to make the most of his place in Saturday’s shootout.

Up-and-comer Ryan Wood starts down in 14th, and has compatriot Fabian Coulthard as his co-driver for an all-Kiwi pair.

Lastly, Jaxon Evans is one back in 15th place, and could surprise a few if things go his way.

How long is the race?

To be blunt, it’s long.

Expect a race of up to seven hours in length, depending on delays, crashes, safety cars and all the other bits and bobs that make motorsport – and Supercars in particular – what it is.

With Bathurst consisting of 1000km (hence the “Bathurst 1000″), it takes 151 laps of the circuit, which is just over 6.2km in length.

Each driver in every pairing must complete a minimum of 54 laps between them.

Championship picture

Sunday’s race is shaping up to be a good one with several drivers in contention for the win. The points table is close, with Will Brown leading on 2280, followed by Chaz Mostert (2091), Broc Feeney (2058), Cam Waters (1834) and Payne fifth on 1659.

With 300 points on offer for the win, there could be some shuffling on the table if one of the current leaders falters.

Where to view

The race begins at 1.30pm NZ time and is live on Sky Sport 5.