60th Anniversary Of the Great Race - Bathurst 1000 - 2023 - (Spoilers)

[AlbertM]

Lets kick this off with a bit of updated nostalgia.

1990s motorsport commentator previews the 2023 Repco Bathurst 1000
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LBB-HmeO8o

[Sonic]

Thanks for that Albert. I saw the link earlier in the day but couldn't stop to check it out.

Sadly I won't be making the trip this year. No 1000 for me so you don't need to watch for the dreads on the tv! ***truth is the drivers all chipped in and told me to stay home with my magnet...

If you're on the hill for the weekend, I hope it's a ripper for you and that it's a damned good race that we can talk about on both sides of the fence.

Who is your tip for the weekend? (Let's chuck in a tip now before Thu and then adjust if necessary after the shootout)

My 'in with a shots' are Waters, Brown, Mostert, Reynolds, Feeney, Giz and Kostecki.

I'm going to start with a lean to Kostecki.

[stevo qld]

I would like it very much to be Lowndes or Tander, still two top drivers. Tander, in particular, I still rate in the top 10 Supercar drivers in the race. Either could be let down by their co-drivers.

[AlbertM]

I will be no where near a TV from Thursday through to Tuesday. I'm off to ride the Queensland rails with my rail gang car. From Miles to Charleville and return.

Favorites have to be 9, 88, 97, and 99. Unless something changes with Mustang or by shear dumb luck, no Ford will place. 6 and 25 will give it a good run though. I hope Waters and Moffat can pull off a miracle. I'll go into orbit if they do.

[mikeamerica84]

Unless the Mustangs get one hell of a concession in the 11th hour from Supercars, it is hard to bet against Red Bull.  The co-drivers are definitely the key this year.

I'll take Feeney & Whincup to sweep the enduros.  SVG and Richie for place.  Brown and Perkins for show.

But ANYTHING can happen!

[muz]

I think Matt Payne and Kevin Estre are the Smokey for first Ford home.

No real buzz about them, good team and Payne was super solid last year and at Sandown.

Others will throw it away trying too hard to bring the Ford to the front.

[Trevor]

I was there for the 50th, won't be there for the 60th.  Last year was probably my last year travelling the 8.5 hours to get there.  Gonna watch it at my sons in his theatre room.

My prediction?  A Chev white wash

[murph_fan51]

I think Matt Payne and Kevin Estre are the Smokey for first Ford home.

No real buzz about them, good team and Payne was super solid last year and at Sandown.

Others will throw it away trying too hard to bring the Ford to the front.

This is Bathurst and for Estre he will get tripped up by the track. Expect to see him in the wall at some point.

Fords best chances are #5 or #26.
Chev - #9, #97 or #99. 88 will have some weird occurrence with Whincup at the wheel preventing the win.

Honestly I think #26 will win it.

[Sonic]

Who picked 86s for first wall contact?

Seems to be settling in ok so far.

Cool weather should be good for them. Times should be doing ok for the afternoon as it starts to get the rubber down.

[skaifeman]

Very smart move by Ford releasing the statement they have this morning.
Ford win = Supercars look silly (still reasonably possible).
Ford lose = Supercars look silly.

For me, the usual suspects are highly likely - 88, 97, 9, 99.
Dark horse is 26 or maaaaybe 25.

[AlbertM]

Supercars: We found a problem,  we have a fix ready to go. But we are not going to fix the problem.

As if you needed any proof Supercars is biased.

Ford, its teams, its fans, have had all their suspicions confirmed. How embarrassing is for those that trusted Supercars they were "working on it".

[skaifeman]

Supercars: We found a problem,  we have a fix ready to go. But we are not going to fix the problem.

As if you needed any proof Supercars is biased.

Ford, its teams, its fans, have had all their suspicions confirmed. How embarrassing is for those that trusted Supercars they were "working on it".

Agreed. Their statement also kills plenty of fanfare for what is Supercars biggest weekend of the year.

[Sonic]

And when all of this could have been sorted prior to the start of the season...

[Sonic]

is it glare or do the lenses on a few of the cameras need a good clean? some of the shots are shocking!

[stevo qld]

It is the old PR stunt whereby teams claim underdog status.

There was a trigger on the parity question a while back. Ford, a huge corporation, could have presented all this information for the last adjustment. Ford could have done all the CFD work early this year or even last year.

They could have flown the 2 cars to Europe or USA and run them in a wind tunnel.


let's not forget that Ford and DJR were part of the 2 year long design process and they choose to make demands in the last week.

I do wonder if Ford choices about using heavy components such as panels and the admirable engine that still weighs like a boat anchor. The Camaro, without anywhere near the apparent GM assistance as with Ford was made to add weight in a lot of places and this has been adjusted many times at Ford request, along with a lot of shift cut changes.

In all this, Walkinshaws only have themselves to blame as they made the car choice. The other established Ford teams had less choice.

And a couple of old sayings to finish off.

"To win, one must first finish." Reliability comes into the result.
and a favorite of my Mothers "Whinge and Win", although she was talking about Pokies, not cars.

"Run what ya brung" and "may the Best Team win".

I still like Tander as a winner, even though he has a mid-fielder co-driver.