Tyre failure ruins van Gisbergen’s race

Shane van Gisbergen suffered a Bathurst 1000 heartbreak five laps from the finish as Chaz Mostert won the Peter Brock Trophy for the second time, alongside his Walkinshaw Andretti United codriver Lee Holdsworth.

It was a quiet affair for the first half of the 161-lap race around Mt Panorama but it came to life over the second half, oddly enough after an echidna on the circuit led to a safety car being needed.

Then after several pitstops and other safety cars it became a battle between van Gisbergen and Mostert.

But just as had been the case all week, Mostert’s car had more pace and for all of van Gisbergen’s efforts he couldn’t get past Mostert.

It was never a case of van

Gisbergen settling for second place and he continued to push his Holden Commodore to its limits.

But five laps from the finish van Gisbergen’s front right tyre started to surrender and after being overtaken by the eventual runner-up Cam Waters and Brodie Kostecki, van Gisbergen headed into the pits, robbing him of a spot on the podium.

The leading Kiwi was Chris Pither

as he and Macauley Jones finished 12th. Van Gisbergen was 18th and Andre Heimgartner 19th.

This won’t go down as one of the great Bathurst 1000s and not a match on the last time Mostert won it in 2014, where Jamie Whincup ran out of fuel on the final lap.

But it was still entertaining all the same, building up to a tense finish from 60 laps out. However, in the end it was a convincing win for Mostert.

Holdsworth, who is finally a

Bathurst 1000 champion at his 18th attempt, and Mostert were the quickest and most consistent drivers at Mount Panorama all weekend.

But their golden run from pole appeared to be in tatters after Mostert was forced to bring his Commodore into the garage on lap 49 due to a left-wheel puncture.

However, there was no panic in the WAU ranks as Mostert recovered and was able to cross the line almost four seconds ahead of Ford ace Waters, who finished runner-up for the second year in a row.

Whincup, a seven-time Supercars champion, finished fourth in his final race before he transitions into offtrack management as Red Bull Ampol’s new boss.

While it was a disappointing end to the season for van Gisbergen, he can console himself with the fact that he won this year’s Supercars Championship.

GETTY IMAGES Lee Holdsworth, left, has won the Bathurst 1000 for the first time, while it’s Chaz Mostert’s second victory at Mt Panorama in the Great Race.