Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood claimed a dramatic victory in the 2026 Bathurst 1000, with a remarkable final-lap twist turning the race on its head after more than six hours at Mount Panorama.
What had been a relatively uneventful afternoon race came alive in the closing laps, with a late Safety Car, fierce battles for position, and a heartbreaking fuel shortage for race leader Anton De Pasquale handing Kostecki and Hazelwood an unforgettable victory.
New Zealand motorsport fans had plenty to celebrate, with three Kiwi drivers finishing inside the Top 10. Matt Payne led the charge in fifth alongside Will Davison, while Andre Heimgartner and Bryce Fullwood finished seventh, followed by Richie Stanaway and James Golding in eighth.
For Kostecki and Hazelwood, it was a victory that looked unlikely just minutes before the chequered flag.
The 161-lap race began in warm, dry conditions, with Bathurst rookie Zach Bates and co-driver Aaron Seton starting from pole position after Bates delivered a stunning lap in Saturday’s Top 10 Shootout.
It was a remarkable achievement for the Canberra driver, who was making his Bathurst 1000 debut in his first full Supercars season.
Bates and Seton shared the front row with Kostecki and Hazelwood, while Golding and Stanaway were the highest-placed Kiwi pairing in ninth, one position ahead of Payne and Davison.
Heimgartner and Fullwood started 15th, followed by Chaz Mostert and Fabian Coulthard in 16th. Meanwhile, Ryan Wood and Jaxon Evans faced an uphill battle from 26th after Wood’s heavy practice crash left their team unable to get the car repaired in time for qualifying.
Seton made the most of pole position when the lights went out, leading into Turn 1 ahead of Hazelwood, Lee Holdsworth, Lochie Dalton and Scott Pye.
Stanaway slipped from ninth to 12th on the opening lap after battling with the two Grove Racing cars, while Coulthard made a strong start, climbing three positions to 13th.
Early drama unfolded further back when Nash Morris spun at The Cutting, catching out James Moffat, who suffered a front-right puncture. Evans was also forced to take evasive action, losing valuable time but avoiding contact.
At the front, Seton settled into a rhythm, holding a narrow advantage over Hazelwood as the field remained closely matched. After six laps, the Top 10 were separated by just 6.5 seconds.
The first major pit stop sequence began shortly after Lap 19, with Evans handing over to Wood before the leading contenders began making their stops. Seton pitted from the lead on Lap 25, handing the car to Bates, while Davison also stopped, putting Payne behind the wheel.
A lap later, Hazelwood handed over to Kostecki, while Pye swapped with Will Brown. An excellent stop from the Triple Eight crew helped Brown emerge ahead of both Kostecki and Bates, giving him the advantage once the first round of stops was complete.
Payne was one of the drivers making progress through the field, although a battle with David Reynolds interrupted his charge.
The Kiwi moved on Reynolds at Forrest’s Elbow before the pair came together further down Conrod Straight, with race control handing Payne a five-second penalty for forcing Reynolds off the road.
Wood, meanwhile, struggled with significant rear tyre blistering, prompting his team to make major changes to the front end of his car to improve handling.
Despite the early incidents, all 26 cars remained circulating as the race approached the 60-lap mark, although several had already fallen off the lead lap. Payne and Davison’s race took another hit when their third pit stop came under investigation after a rear wheel appeared to get away from the crew.
The pair were subsequently handed a drive-through penalty, dropping Davison to 13th and leaving them with plenty of work to do over the remaining distance. As the race passed its halfway point, the action settled down considerably.
With 83 laps completed at the three-hour mark, the field continued circulating with little interruption, and much of the focus shifted to pit stop strategies and the battle for track position. Seton completed his final stint on Lap 90, handing the car back to Bates for the run to the chequered flag.
The battle for victory continued between Bates, Kostecki and De Pasquale, with strategy beginning to play an increasingly important role.
De Pasquale gained the upper hand with an early pit stop and a successful undercut, emerging with a significant advantage over Bates, who found himself 17 seconds behind after his own stop.
Bates began closing the gap, reducing it to 12 seconds within a handful of laps as the race entered its final stages.
Further back, Wood’s difficult afternoon continued when he struck the wall on the approach to Reid Park, damaging the left-hand side of his car and adding to an already challenging race for the Kiwi pairing, while risking Wood’s chances to advance to the finals.
With 14 laps remaining, Heimgartner was running fourth but still needed to make his final stop, while Payne had recovered to seventh with his pit stops complete.
Mostert was running 10th, Golding 12th, and Wood remained in the pits several laps down. Heimgartner eventually made his final stop, rejoined in eighth ahead of Mostert, and promoted Payne to sixth.
At the front, De Pasquale appeared to have the race under control, although his advantage over Bates was steadily shrinking. With nine laps remaining, De Pasquale was instructed to begin saving fuel, raising concerns about whether he had enough to reach the finish.
Behind him, Kostecki and Brown were locked in a fierce battle for the final podium position. The pair traded blows and made contact while fighting for third, with Brown defending heavily enough to receive a bad sportsmanship flag from race control.
Kostecki eventually found a way through with four laps remaining, moving into third as De Pasquale continued trying to conserve fuel. By then, Bates had reduced the gap to the leader to just 5.9 seconds, but the biggest twist was still to come.
With five laps remaining, Mostert crashed heavily at Forrest’s Elbow, bringing out the first Safety Car of the race and ending what had been a promising recovery for himself and Kiwi co-driver Coulthard. The incident wiped out De Pasquale’s advantage and brought the field back together for a three-lap sprint to the finish.
De Pasquale led the restart ahead of Bates, Kostecki, Brown and Jack Le Brocq, with Payne sixth, Cooper Murray seventh, Heimgartner eighth and Golding ninth.
The closing laps delivered more action than much of the preceding six hours. Kostecki made his move on Bates at the final corner to take second, with Brown also capitalising on the battle to move into third, dropping Bates off the podium.
But on the final lap, disaster struck for De Pasquale.
After spending the closing stages desperately trying to save fuel, the race leader ran dry, surrendering what had looked like a certain Bathurst 1000 victory. Kostecki swept through to take the lead, with Brown moving into second and Bates recovering to third.
After 161 laps of racing, Kostecki crossed the line to secure an extraordinary Bathurst 1000 victory for himself, Hazelwood and Dick Johnson Racing. The emotion was clear as Kostecki broke down in tears over the team radio, while celebrations erupted in the garage.
For De Pasquale and Holdsworth, it was a devastating end to a race they had controlled in the closing stages, only to have victory slip away on the final lap. Brown and Pye finished second, while Bates and Seton completed the podium, capping off an outstanding Bathurst 1000 debut for the young pole-sitter.
Le Brocq and Harri Jones finished fourth, with Payne and Davison completing the Top 5 after recovering from their earlier penalties. Murray and Dalton finished sixth, followed by Heimgartner and Fullwood in seventh and Golding and Stanaway in eighth.
Thomas Randle and Reuben Goodall finished ninth, while Craig Lowndes and Brad Hall rounded out the Top 10. Payne and Davison had a strong finish, fighting back from a drive-through penalty to claim fifth in one of the season’s biggest races.
Heimgartner and Fullwood also delivered a solid result after starting 15th, gaining eight positions to finish seventh, while Stanaway and Golding improved one place from their ninth-place grid position to finish eighth.
For Wood and Evans, it was a weekend to forget. After starting from the back of the grid following their practice crash, the pair battled handling issues and further damage during the race, eventually finishing 16 laps down.
Mostert and Coulthard were classified as non-finishers following Mostert’s late crash, which ultimately triggered the dramatic conclusion.
While the middle stages offered little on-track drama, the final laps more than made up for it, delivering a finish that will be remembered for years to come. And with three Kiwis inside the Top 10, there was plenty to celebrate from a New Zealand perspective at Mount Panorama.
Despite a challenging race at Mount Panorama, Payne has maintained his lead in the 2026 Supercars Championship standings, sitting on 2,490 points following his fifth-place finish at Bathurst.
Feeney remains his closest rival in second, 205 points behind, while Kostecki sits third, 219 points adrift of the Kiwi championship leader.
Brown holds fourth in the standings, followed by Allen, Waters, De Pasquale, Mostert, Wood and Le Brocq rounding out the Top 10.
Brown and Pye have strengthened their lead in the 2026 Supercars Enduro Cup standings following their second-place finish at Bathurst, sitting on 510 points.
Payne and Davison remain second on 413 points, 97 points behind the leaders, while Kostecki and Hazelwood sit third on 393 points. Le Brocq and Jones hold fourth with 376 points, followed by Heimgartner and Fullwood in fifth on 349 points.
Mostert and Coulthard sit just five points behind in sixth on 344, despite their late retirement at Bathurst.
Bates and Seton occupy seventh with 340 points, followed by Jayden Ojeda and David Russell on 335, Allen and Slade on 333, and Wood and Evans rounding out the Top 10 on 291 points.
With three Kiwi drivers represented among the top six pairings, New Zealand remains firmly in the Enduro Cup fight.
The Supercars Championship returns for the Gold Coast 500 on October 23–25.
Header Image: Daniel Kelzke/Kelzke Optics
