By James Bennett
Ladies and gentlemen start your engines! It’s Bathurst time again and every petrol head in Australasia will be geared up for hours of V8 heaven. The mountain will be as unforgiving as ever in the 2012 edition, so strap on your seatbelt and get ready for Bathurst live updates.
Refresh your browser occasionally for the latest updates. We will have video up of the crucial moments, highlights and finish as soon as the race concludes.
Ford and Holden fans, here’s a blast from the past to get you revved up for The Great Race.
While you wait for race footage you can watch the video to see the Top 10 Shootout's fastest lap.
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LIVE COMMENTARY… Pole position: Will Davison. Race start at 12.30pm.
BE A PART OF THE ACTION. SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE AND COMMENT IN!
Final Lap - Here we go, Whincup leads, Reynolds chasing...It's go for broke time Reynolds is pushing very hard....Whincup holding off...Here they come....WHINCUP WINS BATHURST 2012! VIDEO TO COME.
Lap 160 - It's all on Ford and Holden at the top of the pack. Whincup looking a bit more comfy on this lap. Does he have enough fuel though?
Lap 159 - Boom, Lowndes takes third on the final turn of the lap...Great move, super pass. Meanwhile Reynolds keeps it tight on Whincup.
Lap 158 - Whincup is being told to conserve fuel while Reynolds can give it full noise. This is going to be a tight finish. Lowndes passes Caruso and now eyes Courtney for third spot.
Lap 156 - It's a classic Holden vs Ford battle here at the top of the field. Holden winning it at present with Whincup behind the wheel. A healthy battle is going on for third, Lowndes and Caruso duking it out for fourth with Courtney in third.
Lap 154 - Jamie Whincup and Dave Reynolds battling it out for the lead. Reynolds is really pushing Whincup in the # 1 car to the limit here. All at stake now after more than six hours of racing. Only 0.8 of a second between the top two.
Lap 151 - Radio over to leading cars saying that fuel is good for now. Into the final ten laps!
Lap 149 - Reynolds running the car to the limit, really pushing here. Some concern over Courtney's tyres, potentially needs to pit. Reynolds makes a pass at 300kms, hair raising stuff!
Lap 146 - Fuel saving all part of it as we come down to the final laps. A splash could be the difference here so drivers are being told to conserve where possible.
Lap 145 - Here's the Top 10: Whincup, Courtney, Reynolds, Caruso, Lowndes, Webb, Slade, Rick Kelly, Holdsworth, Ingall.
Lap 143 - Nothing in it between the top two...The Giz is once again proving his worth, quickest lap of the race again from him.
Lap 142 - Boom! Courtney is going for it and he takes Reynolds coming down the hill. He's in second spot now and can make a push for the top spot. Fuel not an issue.
Lap 140 - Whincup, Reynolds and Courtney make up the top three. This is a fight to the finish. Van Gisbergen is back behind the wheel and doing quickest laps but looks like he's too far back.
Lap 136 - The shuffle is on for position with some cars not yet having gone to the pits. It will sort itself out soon enough and the race to the line will be all on.
Lap 134 - About to see an absolute flurry of activity in the pits. Cars will be making their final stop, fueling up and going for the line. All the teams are out in pit lane. Incident free for the front runners.
Lap 131 - Will Davison comes off the road in a hair raising ride nearly clipping another car at pace. Davison was locked up and going backwards. It was a broken watts linkage in the rear of his Ford. That just about sums up the day for the pole sitter.
Lap 129 - Dumbrell takes a seat in the team garage, it's all up to Whincup now for the #1 car. Everything is geared around that 135 lap and the final stop. Then it will be all on.
Lap 123 - Those crowd numbers we gave you before are a new attendance record, great stuff! No change up the front of the race.
Lap 121 - Reynolds pushing hard still and looking good. Update on Murph, he's in 8th and maybe just falling back a little bit. Lap 135 will be the final scramble in the pits as the cars fuel up for a final shot at the finish.
Lap 118 - Massive crowds in over the four days, official figure 207,205 and I'm sure they loved every minute of it!
Lap 118 - Whincup, Reynolds, Courtney, Caruso, Winterbottom, Webb, Rick Kelly, Murphy, Lowndes, Slade make up the top ten with Reynolds pushing the #1 car hard for the lead.
Lap 116 - Not an ideal situation for Shane van Gisbergen and team. The nature of the stops has meant Youlden will be in the drivers seat for a bit longer than wanted. The team looking at the positives though thinking there will be no fuel issues for Shane when he takes over for the final stint. Whincup leads them round the mountain.
Lap 115 - Another safety car snuck in there as car #6 went for a spin. Davison can't believe his luck today. Pit crew console him "when it rains it pours mate".
COMMENT -Lloyd says: Go FORD...Go the Geizz/Youlden. i've thort for the last week that Renoylds will b the dark horse and be up there..great racing >>keep Hydrated everyone<<. Good call Lloyd, you need to work on your spelling though mate! Closing in on the pointy end now.
Lap 111 - There is an investigation into car #888's departure from the last pit stop. Lowndes was released into traffic and it was a close call for contact. Not really the drivers fault more the crew. Courtney gunning with Whincup for the lead. Car #1 in the lead. News just in, no penalty for Lowndes on that pit.
Lap 109 - Restart number five and we are back underway. Everyone back in the game, that safety car was a little off in timing for fuel, so it'll be touch and go for some of these cars in that regard. Many picking there will only be just one stop left.
Lap 105 - Dumbrell keeping the car out in front, he has six seconds on the field at this stage. Big move from Courtney and McConville today, they started in 14th and are now in second spot. Ohhh Andrew Jones has comes off and is into the tyre wall. That's the Commodore Jason Bright is in. Safety car is on, the pits will see some action.
Lap 102 - Whincup with the helmet on and just about to jump in the #1 car for a stint. His co-driver will hand over in the best possible position.
Lap 100 - There's the century of laps and still plenty to go. Reindler and Pither were having a bit of a battle on the previous lap. Good Holden on Holden action!
Lap 97 - Update on Murphy and he's moved into 7th place! Pits and tyres will play a part though. Whincup in the lead.
Lap 95 - Slight bit of drama for car #6 McIntyre and/Davison - they got a nudge and were turned facing the traffic. However, McIntyre was able to bring it round and get back on track luckily the pack were elsewhere. Davison not stoked back at base, they lose position.
Lap 91 - Aww the race is over for car #14, that's Fabian Coulthard/Besnard, the co-driver was in the seat when they lost control and went into the sand. Coulthard is measured in his response "not a lot I can do from here". Safety car now in operation. Field to bunch up, pit stops to be taken.
Lap 88 - Yeah car #9 The Giz hits the pits soon, giving up the lead
Lap 86 -Kiwi Shane van Gizbergen continues to hold the lead but it's like a pack of cards being shuffled now with the jockeying for the pits and strategy coming into play. He last stopped on lap 63 so his 8.8 seconds lead is a little of a false gap. He's expected to pit in the next couple of laps.
Lap 84 - Pit Lane starting to see some action as #34 of Michael Caruso/Greg Ritter take their Holden about a metre and a half past the mark to add some extra pressure on the pit crew. They respond and there's no drama. The Giz now has the lead. Meanwhile Steven Richards and Warren Luff are into a bit of too and fro.
Lap 81 - Davison into 12th, don't count him out, says the car is in good nick over the radio. At the front it's still Dumbrell/Whincup leading, Reynolds/Canto in second. Passing the halfway mark in the race, things will only get hotter from here on in!
Lap 77 - Winterbottom moves into fifth spot, taking Bright. Lowndes and Luff hit the pits and swap over.
Lap 76 - Bit of a fun fact for you, the drivers consume 13.5 litres of water throughout the course of a Bathurst race. Thirsty work!
Lap 75 - Here's how they all stand, 1st - Dumbrell, Reynolds, Caruso, Courtney, Bright, Winterbottom, Webb, Lowndes, Johnson, Murphy, D'Alberto, Coulthard, Murphy, Kelly, Klien, Wall, Gaunt, Douglas, Premat, Davison, van Gisbergen, Slade, Waters, Russell, Holdsworth, Fiore, Owen, Percat, Reid.
Lap 73 - Dumbrell still leads the way, that pit stop for tyres has really hurt Van Gisbergen, he's back in the 20's now and a good 40 odd seconds off the lead...Lowndes in 8th place.
Lap 70 - Nearing the three hour mark in the race and there's been pockets of drama so far. Whincup and Dumbrell are in the lead once more. Greg Murphy is making some waves in the middle of the pack, he's up to 10th position having started in 22nd. Great work from the Kiwi!
Lap 68 - Car #6 of Davison and McIntyre forced to do a drive through penalty after their wheels were spinning in the pits. Team not happy about it either "it's a joke".
Lap 64 - Reynolds and Canto into third at this stage...Van Gisbergen had to pit after only a few laps, a delaminated tyre the culprit there. Once again it's tyres causing the issues.
Lap 62 - Slade and Thompson now lead the race, Whincup's car in second place. Earlier Jason Bright copped some contact from Courtney, Bright doing well to correct and keep things on track.
Lap 59 - Back racing and a change at the top after the safety car. Holdsworth/Baird have taken up top spot, Whincup now in third. Most of the primary drivers are out there. The Giz is in 8th spot while Lowndes is back in 12th. Safety cars will always cause a shakeup.
Lap 55 - Turn two is a real hot spot today, there's plenty of debris down there now and drivers have been told to watch the curb as it seems to be the main problem for tyre damage. Owen is fine after the crash but the car is a bit beat up, front left took most of the impact.
Lap 54 - The lead just keeps growing for Whincup, 17 seconds...Awww! We have a crash, #49 Steve Owen has munched his car going into a turn. "Switch it off mate, we're not getting that back" is the call from the radio, looks like his day is over. We have a safety car and the usual scramble to the pits is on now.
Lap 53 - An update on the reigning champs: Percat is back in the car but he is burried in the pack. Back to back titles not happening.
Lap 52 - Wow! Whincup has really opened up a lead on the rest of the pack, it's 13 seconds at this stage. He is enjoying driving against all of these co-drivers it seems!
Lap 49 - Whincup really throwing his Commodore around the track. The suggestion is that he's testing out how the tyres will go at a high pace. Preparation for later in the day perhaps.
Lap 47 - Canto is now giving the Falcon of McIntyre a real go for second place, Youlden and Lowndes sit in behind that lot. Things seems quite settles at the moment.
Lap 44 - He leads the championship and now he leads at Bathurst. Whincup is up front where he likes it. He's starting to pull away from McIntyre in second spot.
Lap 42 - Green flag and we are back racing. The Falcon of Davison/McIntyre is sitting in behind Whincup at this stage...Weather still a picture - it seems that won't play a part today... What are all the teams talking about? Tyres, tyres, tyres. Keeping the load off the tyres is key here today. Certain corners are causing issues also.
Lap 42 - The safety car and action in the pits means the number #1 Car of Whincup/Dumbrell take the lead. The were out of sequence with the rest of the field.
Lap 41 - Under safety car and the top ten come in to the pits...It's all go down there, plenty of traffic.
Lap 39 - Tander has a chat to the tele commentators and he knows the day is over for them. Tander doesn't think it was Percat's fault more a car failure.
Lap 37 - Drama for the reigning champs, Car #2 of Tander and Percat have a real issue on the front left, the tyre is just about coming off the car. Percat was behind the wheel and takes it on to the pits, over the radio "sorry guys".
Lap 35 - McIntyre/Davison forced to pit and a change of tyres required. That shakes things up a bit. 888 of Lowndes and Luff take over the lead. A look at the tyres off McIntyres car and there wasn't anything wrong with them. Hard to read for the drivers.
Lap 33 - Whincups has to pit, more tyre problems, this time it was his left front. Call over the radio "cold tyres, curbs are causing the problems". McIntyre/Davison still leads the way early in this one.
Lap 30 - The Giz is having a break and hopes everyone in NZ is enjoying their racing. Tyres continuing to be a hot topic of discussion on track.
Lap 29 - #6 John McIntyre/Will Davison still leading the way and we're into a real rhythm here after the safety car has let them go. Cars really fizzing by as the day heats up and the track starts to burn. McIntyre's pit crew calling through, "Mate, good pace". So they're liking what they see. Just gone past the 1 hour 5 minute mark. A battle is brewing at the front though, as 888 sits in behind McIntyre (a Kiwi). The co-drivers have the honours and Warren Luff continues to track McIntyre.
Lap 26 - Davison still holds the lead but Lowndes and Luff have moved up into second. The Giz falls back only one into third.
Lap 24 - Back underway, safety car didn't hurt the front runners too much. Whincup in that top ten and always a threat. Whincup and Kelly are driving while most of the big boys are having a rest.
Lap 20 - Massive crowd in attendance as we are still under safety car conditions. The field closes up. Luke Youlden in the hot seat, taking over from The Giz. Chatting to Frosty in the pits and he says it's a long day and it's all about making sure the car is right for the later laps.
Lap 20 - We have a safety car as Jonny Reid pulls up on track...It's all go in the pits as plenty of the field go in for a stop.
Lap 18 - Winterbottom is in 7th place and struggling to get past Tim Slade. A massive frustration with Richards set to get in the driver's seat next. As we stay with Winterbottom, his tyres have failed and he needs to hit the pits.
Lap 16 - Our leader extends the lead by another second... We just had a look at some wrecked tyres in the pits, the explanation was that the drivers probably over did things in qualifying.
Lap 14 - Davison with a 3.1 second lead now over The Giz. Great work from the leader. Ohh as James Courtney takes his Commodore a little off track. He gets the call from radio to hit the pits.
Lap 13 - A bit of tyre drama for Jamie Whincup team. He has to hit the pits about 10 laps earlier than he should be. Is this a sign of things to come? It appears others may be in the same boat. Far from ideal.
COMMENT - Sue Fitzgerald Winhaggo says: "go holden win today for brocky sure he will be watching you guys no matter where he is" Yeah, good call Sue...Peter Brock in 05 should be here for the 50th. You're right, he'll be watching for sure with a cold one in hand!
Lap 9 - Davison has now clocked the fastest lap of the race so far, quality stuff from the leader. These V8's are enjoying the fine conditions and are tearing around the mountain!
Lap 8 - No change up the front, crystal clear blue skies overhead at this stage...
Lap 6 - Davison still out in front but The Giz is letting him know he's right in behind.
Lap 4 - Murph is up a couple of spots into 18th, Murph magic in the making? Shane van Gisbergen's car showing plenty of pace early on, closing the gap on the leader. He has the quickest lap of the lot at this stage.
Lap 2 - Cars reaching speeds of up to 300kms and hour! Davison has a slight lead over The Giz. Plenty of racing left in this one. Coulthard has also moved up a spot into fourth.
Start - Cars are back on the grid and ready to go...WE ARE OFF...Davison and Dumbrell go side by side in the first couple of turns before Davison claims the lead into the cutting. Shane van Gisbergen has snuck up into second place over Dumbrell. Nice work from the Kiwi. Davison leads after first lap.
12:32pm Cars are on the grid, "one minute signal" comes through the radio...The cars head off on the formation lap before we line up and get going for 2012.
12:25am Prayer calls for safety today, let's hope so. Now its the Australian anthem. Under five minutes now!
12:21pm Last minute preparations before the 50th Bathurst gets underway, we are only minutes away! Just about to have the prayer.
The crowd gearing up for a big day of racing
11:49am Can a Kiwi top the podium? Only time will tell. News in from Aussie - the weather is looking great and should stay fine for the race.
11:42am Who's everyone picking to be King of the Mountain this year? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
11:37am Driver's going round the track on the back of utes to see the fans for one last time. Bathurst is filling up and it looks like we have blue skies overhead. Should be a great day of racing.
11:27am Are you ready! We are just over an hour away from the start of the Bathurst 1000 for 2012. The drivers were just being introduced to the crowd. This is petrol head heaven!
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2012 Bathurst 1000 – Grid Positions
(Top 10 positions determined by Top 10 Shootout on Saturday)
1. Will Davison/John McIntyre, #6 Tradingpost Falcon, 2m08.0693s
2. Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell, #1 TeamVodafone Commodore, 2m08.1008s
3. Shane van Gisbergen/Luke Youlden, #9 SP Tools Falcon, 2m08.1791s
4. Mark Winterbottom/Steve Richards, #5 Orrcon Falcon, 2m08.1963s
5. Fabian Coulthard/David Besnard, #14 Lockwood Commodore, 2m08.3385s
6. Garth Tander/Nick Percat, #2 HRT Commodore, 2m08.4755s
7. Tim Slade/Andrew Thompson, #47 Lucky 7 Falcon, 2m08.5995s
8. David Reynolds/Dean Canto, #52 The Bottle-O Falcon, 2m08.8866s
9. Craig Lowndes/Warren Luff, #888 TeamVodafone Commodore, 2m09.0997s
10. Steve Owen/Paul Morris, #49 VIP Petfoods Falcon, 2m10.0723s
11. Jonathon Webb/Scott McLaughlin, #19 Tekno Commodore, 2m08.3040s
12. Jason Bright/Andrew Jones, #8 BOC Commodore, 2m08.3571s
13. Rick Kelly/David Russell, #15 Jack Daniel’s Commodore, 2m08.3925s
14. James Courtney/Cam McConville, #22 HRT Commodore, 2m08.4692s
15. Lee Holdsworth/Craig Baird, #4 IRWIN Falcon, 2m08.5379s
16. Michael Caruso/Greg Ritter, #34 Fujitsu Commodore, 2m08.5409s
17. James Moffat/Alex Davison, #17 Norton Falcon, 2m08.5849s
18. Steven Johnson/Allan Simonsen, #18 Jim Beam Falcon, 2m08.6011s
19. Todd Kelly/Tim Blanchard, #7 Jack Daniel’s Commodore, 2m08.8235s
20. Dean Fiore/Matt Halliday, #12 Jim Beam Falcon, 2m08.8253s
21. David Wall/Chris Pither, #21 Wilson Security Commodore, 2m08.9091s
22. Greg Murphy/Owen Kelly, #51 Pepsi Max Commodore, 2m08.9327s
23. Tony D’Alberto/Dale Wood, #3 HIFLEX Falcon, 2m08.9341s
24. Russell Ingall/Christian Klien, #66 Supercheap Auto Commodore, 2m08.9822s
25. Michael Patrizi/Jonny Reid, #91 Tekno Commodore, 2m08.8240s (including penalty)
26. Jack Perkins/Alex Premat, #33 Fujitsu Commodore, 2m09.1725s
27. Taz Douglas/Scott Pye, #30 iSelect Commodore, 2m09.2376s
28. Karl Reindler/Daniel Gaunt, #11 Fair Dinkum Sheds Commodore, 2m09.3767s
29. Cameron Waters/Jesse Dixon, #23 Shannons Commodore, 2m10.4865s
Prerace banter:
He's the man on pole position for Sunday's Bathurst 1000 but Ford's Will Davison still firmly believes Holden's Craig Lowndes is the man to beat in the V8 Supercars race.
The 6.2km course will be full of action as the course comes alive, streaming fans pouring the gates early to get the best view of the good oil – the smell of burning rubber, the rev of engines and the need for speed.
Lowndes, trying for a sixth crown in the 50th year of touring car endurance racing at Mount Panorama, could only qualify in ninth position.
But Davison, who claimed pole position by the narrowest of margins from Holden ace Jamie Whincup in Saturday's top 10 shootout, said a poor one-lap run by Lowndes doesn't mean the 38-year-old can be discounted.
"Lowndesy's just a machine round here come the race," said Davison, the 2009 Bathurst champion.
"He certainly hasn't been, over one lap, super-fast this year but generally come race time it's a whole new ball game.
"You know he'll be very fast in race trim. Absolutely I think he's one of the key threats."
Aside from Lowndes, defending champion Garth Tander cannot be ruled out of contention either and will start his Holden Racing Team Commodore from sixth.
Davison's Ford Performance Racing teammate Mark Winterbottom will start from fourth in an all-Ford second row with young New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen in third spot.
Whincup said all the main contenders will go into Sunday's race believing they can take out the great race.
"Let's not disrespect this race," the three-time winner said.
"The fastest guy doesn't always win, sometimes even someone out of the top 10 can win this race depending on what curve balls are thrown."
3 News/NZN