NICK Percat completed a dominant lights-to-flag victory in the opening race of the Dunlop Series for V8 Supercars round at Bathurst, leading home Chaz Mostert and Scott Pye.
The big news however was a damaged left-rear tyre that forced series leader Scott McLaughlin to pit late in the race, changing the dynamic of the championship fight.
While it was straightforward for Percat, who was never troubled, Mostert had to recover from a poor start and an ordinary opening few laps to claim second.
It was McLaughlin in the Fujitsu Falcon, starting from the second row, who made the best getaway of all off the line, splitting the front row of Mostert and Percat.
Percat moved his Coates Hire Commodore from the outside across to the very inside of the circuit, keeping McLaughlin at bay as they went into Hell corner.
Mostert’s Ford Performance Racing Falcon bogged down and he was back in fourth behind the AzNew Commodore of Andrew Jones.
Percat was already clear of the field by the time they hit Skyline and the signs were ominous.
But the race didn’t even last a full lap without incident. Rodney Jane’s Bob Jane T Marts Falcon was punted into the sand trap and the Safety Car was deployed for two laps.
When the race re-started on lap four Percat took up where he left off. He was again clear by Skyline and would eventually build out a lead of over five seconds.
Mostert again started slow and was pounced on at Hell corner by Scott Pye in the Triple Eight Commodore and Dale Wood in the GB Galvanizing/Wilson Tech Commodore, dropping him to sixth.
While Mostert and Wood battled, with Luke Youlden in the Jayco Falcon right behind them, the first four spread out and the race at the front was looking pedestrian.
After being re-passed on his previous attempts, Mostert finally managed to get ahead at the Chase and hold fifth position on lap five.
He then immediately set the fastest lap of the race so far, a 2m10.06s and began to hunt down Andrew Jones, who was beginning to struggle with a mechanical issue.
By the very next lap Mostert had caught Jones and was practically waved past at McPhillamy. Jones then pitted to have it addressed, eventually re-joining to finish 18th.
Mostert then set the race’s fastest lap, a 2m09.9291s, the only one to get into the nines, to close the gap to Pye to under a second.
But by this stage McLaughlin was struggling and both Pye and Mostert were right behind him as they went over the mountain on lap nine. Both passed him under brakes at Caltex Chase before McLaughlin pitted to change the left-rear tyre and re-join, finishing 13th and putting a massive dent in his championship lead.
Mostert continued to pressure Pye and on lap 11 it yielded a reward. Pye was off line on approach to McPhillamy and then put two wheels on the grass on exit, allowing the FPR driver to pass on the approach to Skyline and take second place.
Over the final few laps Percat eased off the pace as Mostert pushed on, the final gap dropping to 4.1 seconds but there was no questioning the authority of this victory.
Mostert was over five seconds clear of Pye who completed the podium. Dale Wood earned fourth position, seeing off Luke Youlden after a spirited battle, while Tim Blanchard (Jaylec Automotive Electrical Falcon) and George Miedecke (Bob Jane T Marts Falcon) fought hard to the end for sixth and seventh.
The Go Karts Go Falcons of brothers Drew and Aaren Russell finished eighth and 10th respectively, split by Geoff Emery in the R&J Batteries/EarthEx Logistic Commodore.
McLaughlin’s bad luck allowed Mostert to close the championship gap to only 16 points and the young factory Ford driver will be favourite to claim the lead by the end of the weekend.
Scott Pye retains third position from Nick Percat with a slightly reduced points difference while Luke Youlden moved into fifth in the title race at the expense of Ashley Walsh, who’s tough weekend continued with a 20th place finish.
The Dunlop Series cars return to the track tomorrow for their final appearance. Race 2 starts at 2.10pm Saturday.
The Dunlop Series races will be telecast as part of Seven Sport’s coverage of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 which continues from midday Saturday and then from 7am Sunday morning.
