THE Shell V-Power Racing Team is the Repco Bathurst 1000 winner following a stunning last-lap triumph in the 2026 edition of the iconic Supercars race.
Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood claimed their second victories in the event after snatching the lead on lap 161, capping a stunning recovery drive after a delayed penultimate pitstop appeared to cost them the victory.
From second on the grid, Car 17 had been the dominant force throughout the race. At the end of his final stint on lap 98, Hazelwood had turned a two-second lead to a margin of over 10 – not withstanding a pinched nerve that left him losing feeling in his foot.
Brodie continued to extend their margin out to 20 seconds by the time Car 17 made its penultimate stop on lap 125, but a slow right-front brake change added roughly 30 seconds to the stop. The delay left him just under 30 seconds off the lead when he returned to the circuit.
In his favour was that Car 17’s fuel tank had been filled to the brim during the extended stop, allowing for a much later final stop than their rivals.
While others pitted with around 20 laps or more to go, Brodie headed to the lane on lap 150 for enough fuel to the finish and a fresh set of tyres.
He returned to the track in fourth place, 18 seconds off the lead, and immediately began carving down his deficit to the cars ahead.
Brodie reset the lap record twice in running down Will Brown, arrowing past at Murray’s Corner at the end of lap 156 to move to third place.
Moments later came the race’s first and only Safety Car period, which eliminated the gaps between the leaders and set up a three-lap dash to the finish.
Murray’s Corner was again where Brodie struck, exploiting Zach Bates’ slow exit from the Chase to take second place, 1.6s behind race leader Anton De Pasquale.
The margin grew early in lap 160 to well over two seconds, but the leader was in fuel trouble.
Brodie took the lead up Mountain Straight on the final tour when De Pasquale’s car ran dry, eventually taking the chequered flag 1.1844s clear of the field.
The last lap was the 77th lap that Car 17 had led all day, the most of any in the field.
Brodie and Todd were joined on the podium by Dick and Jill Johnson as well as Dr. Ryan Story to accept the team’s victory trophy.
While Car 17 enjoyed the highest of highs, the crew of Car 38 were subjected to the kind of tough day that only Mount Panorama can provide.
Rylan Gray and Tony D’Alberto started 25th on the grid after missing Friday’s qualifying session, and encountered trouble on the opening lap.
Tony was an innocent victim in a three-wide squeeze at the Cutting, with Car 38 lucky to escape undamaged after contact that left the other two cars damaged and delayed.
He and Rylan gradually made up positions through the subsequent stints until lap 47, when a left-rear suspension problem forced Tony to limp Car 38 back to the pits for repairs.
Four laps were lost and, with no Safety Car periods in the middle of the race, there were no ‘free passes’ to help them get back on the lead lap.
They ran otherwise trouble-free to the finish in 22nd place, four laps down.
Car 17’s victory was the Shell V-Power Racing Team’s fifth in the ‘Great Race’, following triumphs for Johnson and John French in 1981, Johnson and John Bowe in 1989 and 1994, and Scott McLaughlin and Alexandre Prémat in 2019.
And in a neat mirroring of history, Car 17 started from second on the grid alongside a polesitting Camaro before going on to victory – just as Johnson and French had in 1981.
Brodie and Todd also reset the record for the fastest running of the Repco Bathurst 1000 in history, with Car 17 taking the chequered flag after only 5h54m04.7490s to pip the mark they set when they won in 2024.
The Shell V-Power Mustangs will next hit the track at the Gold Coast 500 on October 23-25.
