The 2020 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 proved to be the perfect way to wrap to the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship season as Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander took out the great race.
And while the 161-lap race captivated audiences around Australia on Sunday, it certainly wasn’t the only category on show throughout the four day event, with a number of support categories providing a wonderful source of entertainment in the lead
up.
Thomas Randle effectively put one hand on the Dunlop Super2 Series trophy after extending his lead to 43 points over fellow contender Will Brown courtesy of a round victory on the mountain.
Both Randle and Brown were neck and neck for much of the practice and qualifying sessions, but it was Brown who secured pole position for the first race of the round.
A poor start from the Queenslander saw him lose his lead to the series leader, but some fortune came Brown’s way as Randle suffered mechanical gremlins and he was able to regain his lead with a few laps remaining, while Randle managed to reach the
finish line three second ahead of Jordan Boys and Broc Feeney.
For race two, Brown once again secured pole and put himself in a position for the outright series lead but just like he did on Friday, lost his lead on the opening lap to Boys and dropped as low as fifth before climbing his way to finish third.
As for Randle, he capitalised on the incident between Brown and Boys on the fifth lap to move into first, where he stayed for the remainder of the race to claim the victory over Jayden Ojeda.
With the series yet to decide further rounds for 2020, Randle may have sealed the title thanks to his performance.
In Super3, Jaylyn Robotham won both races ahead of Jon McCorkindale, while Brendan Strong and Declan Fraser each enjoyed a class top three.
There was an eclectic mix of cars in the Combined Historic Touring Cars with many great vehicles from yesteryear on show throughout the category’s three races on the weekend.
While many would have enjoyed the spectacle of the cars on the road, competition wise, it was pure domination from Brad Tilley as the Ford Mustang driver won all three races.
His teammate Jamie Tilley steered his Ford Mustang to three runner-up finishes, while Ben Wilkinson made it a Mustang podium lockout on two occasions after Ford Falcon driver Terry Lawlor finished the opening race in third.
From the impressive mix of historic cars to the one-make Toyota Gazoo Racing 86 Series, there were three different race winners over the course of the category’s four races.
Series star Aaron Borg started the weekend previously with a thrilling race win over the 25 other competitors, including Lachlan Gibbons and Tim Brook.
However that is as good as it got for Borg, who didn’t win a race for the rest of the weekend as Brook took out the next two wins, before Gibbons won the final race.
He may not have won a race, but Borg still gathered the most points for the round as he finished every other race on the podium. Cameron Hill made up for his two fourth place finishes to finish the last two races in second.
Like the Combined Historics, the Aussie Tin Tops Series also had three races this weekend and one clear winner as Duvashen Padayachee ended the event with two wins and a second place.
No other driver in the category managed to replicate the Porsche drivers’ multiple podiums as fellow 991 GT3 Cup drivers Tom Taplin, Andrew MacPherson and Nathan Herne each enjoyed one appearance in the top three.
In every race, two Porsches were joined by one other brand with race three winner Brad Schumacher behind the wheel of an Audi R8, race two runner-up Steven Lacey in Chevrolet Camaro and Mark Duggan in an Aston Martin DBRS9 who grabbed third in the
opener.
