Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander have given the iconic Holden brand the perfect Bathurst send off after winning the 2022 Repco Bathurst 1000 – their second in three years.
 
In what was a incident-filled affair, which saw eight safety car interventions over the course of the day, van Gisbergen and Tander were consistent throughout, claiming victory by just over a second.
 
Taking out second place behind the #97 winning Holden Commodore was last year’s winner in Chaz Mostert, who had Fabian Coulthard as his co-driver, while polesitters Cam Waters and James Moffat rounded out the podium.
 
With all 161-laps eventually completed, fittingly it went down to the wire as van Gisbergen held off a fast charging Mostert, who had been one of the fastest throughout the day.
 

Both contenders had problems at different stages during the race – the #97 handed a time-penalty for an unsafe release while the Walkinshaw Andretti United #25 had been stuck behind a stubborn Brodie Kostecki for large portions – however by the final stint, both were deserving of the win.
 
Having started from sixth, it took van Gisbergen around 45 laps to take the lead after race leader Moffat was tagged by Kostecki.
 
From that point on, van Gisbergen and Tander did everything they needed to do in each of their stints and did a superb job in defending all pressure  
 
It was a result that gave Holden a victory in its last ever appearance at Mount Panorama, as well as giving the Kiwi a record-breaking 19th win of the season – his 73rd career win.
 
“It’s pretty cool (being last Holden winner), however Garth won the race too and it was team effort and a fan effort. All the support for Holden was special,” van Gisbergen said.
 
“I can’t thank the team enough. Garth was on it this year, as was Andrew Edwards (engineer). He does a great job.
 
“When Chaz got into second, I got worried because we know how fast he is here, but once the gap stayed at around a second, I knew we were okay.
 
“For the last couple of laps, I got Andrew to talk me through it and keep me focused.
 
“It was epic. I am rapt.”

 
For Tander, it was his 57th win and 100th podium at the top level in Australia – one that he was thrilled to get especially after the thrilling conclusion.
 
“Don’t know what to say. No words right now. Can’t really believe it to be honest. The guys did such a great job,” Tander said.
 
“Shane at the end of the race, how can he do that? His focus and ability to punch out laps like that. Seriously impressive to watch.
 
“Such an honour to be part of the last ever Commodore to win here at Bathurst That will sink in a bit later. Can’t believe it.”
 
As for the race itself, it was one of pure drama. Even before it had begun, there was uncertainty due to the wet weather which prevented Saturday’s Top 10 shootout from taking place.
 
However, on Sunday the rain stayed away and the race began on time.
 
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the first incident with a multi-car pile up occurring right after the first turn causing the safety car to be deployed for the first time.
 
Remarkably, Thomas Randle and Zak Best’s #55 Mustang was the only casualty.
 
The second incident came shortly after the first restart, with Zane Goddard going off track and re-joining unsafely – the youngster hitting the Holden Commodore of Andre Heimgartner and Dale Wood as well as the Ford Mustang of David Reynolds and Matt Campbell – all three cars were out for the rest of the race.
 
Just two other cars would eventually fail to finish the rest of the day, despite a further six safety car periods as it settled down after the second restart.
 
Those casualties were Jack Smith and Jaxon Evans, who retired after 138 laps, while the final DNF of Will and Alex Davison’s day ended on lap 141, which set up the final sprint following their recovery.
 
Click here to view the full results from the 2022 Repco Bathurst 1000.
 
After securing his record-breaking 19th win, van Gisbergen edged closer to a third Supercars title, however with Waters finishing on the podium, the championship leader will now have to wait until Gold Coast to be crowned champion.
 
The Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 takes place around the streets of Surfers Paradise on 28-30 October.