17.9 C
Mount Panorama
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsBathurstTHE CARS WITH THE MOST BATHURST SUCCESS ON THE 2020 GRID

THE CARS WITH THE MOST BATHURST SUCCESS ON THE 2020 GRID

THE 2020 Bathurst 1000 will be won by a car that has never won the race or started from pole position before.

For the first time since the 2016 race, the grid will not feature a car that has previously claimed the ‘Peter Brock Trophy’.

Seven cars will tackle the race for the first time leaving 18 chassis that have made at least one start in the ‘Great Race’, and only two of those have finished on the podium – and Scott Pye has a link with both!

ENTRY LIST: Every car and driver for the 2020 Bathurst 1000

TV GUIDE: Where and when you can watch the Bathurst 1000 on TV

LIVE BLOG: Follow every Supercars session of the Bathurst 1000 with V8 Sleuth

The #20 Team18 Holden Commodore ZB that Pye will share with Dean Fiore is the same car that came second in last year’s race.

On that occasion it was the #97 entry for Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander, and carried a retro ‘1971’ livery in honour of Holden’s 50th year of factory-backed racing in the Bathurst 1000.

This year represents its third trip to Mount Panorama after making its debut in the 2018 race, when van Gisbergen and Le Mans 24 Hours winner Earl Bamber raced to fifth place.

The only other car on the 2020 grid to have posted a podium finish did so with Pye at the wheel.

Pic: an1images.com / Dirk Klynsmith

The #2 Walkinshaw Andretti United Holden Commodore ZB that Bryce Fullwood and Kurt Kostecki will race this weekend was Pye’s car for the last two Bathurst 1000s.

The car made its Mount Panorama debut in 2018, when Pye and Warren Luff notched up their second consecutive second-place finish in the race; last year the same combo came home seventh.

SWITCH: The ‘Nissan’ Mustang in the 2020 Bathurst 1000

In terms of qualifying success, this year’s field also does not feature a car that has started the race from grid position #1 – but it does have a car that won the Pole Award!

Pic: an1images.com / Dirk Klynsmith

The #55 Tickford Racing Ford Mustang that Jack Le Brocq and James Moffat will share in this year’s race is actually one of the oldest cars in the field, having made its Bathurst 1000 debut in 2016.

Chaz Mostert has been its primary driver in all four of its previous starts, including last year’s race where he set the second-fastest time in the Top 10 Shootout and started the race from second on the grid.

However, the history books reflect that Mostert received the Pole Award for last year’s Bathurst 1000 in the wake of Scott McLaughlin’s retrospective exclusion from qualifying and the Top 10 Shootout.

This car also holds the official Supercars lap record of Mount Panorama, set late in last year’s race by Mostert with a 2m04.7602s lap.

It was then badly damaged at its very next race meeting when Mostert crashed during the Top 10 Shootout at the Gold Coast 600.

Initially expected to be a write-off, it was slowly repaired by Tickford and has been used by Le Brocq throughout 2020 – including for his maiden Supercars Championship race win at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Want to read more?

Subscribe to V8 Sleuth to receive regular updates of news and products delivered straight to you.



Latest News