Ford Performance Racing's pair won by under half a second from Jamie Whincup in a 1000 km race that set a new record time for a full-distance event.
On 13 October 2013 at Mount Panorama Circuit, Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards took a record-fast win in the twenty-ninth race of the championship. Jamie Whincup finished less than half a second behind them in second, after a race of pit strategy and late battles.
In 2013 the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was a V8 Supercars touring car race, the twenty-ninth round of the International championship that year. The Ford Performance Racing pairing of Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards set a record for a full 1000 kilometre race. Jamie Whincup finished second, less than half a second behind.
Where and when was the 2013 race held?
Mount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst hosted the race on 13 October 2013. This was the seventeenth Australian 1000 and the 53rd race at Mount Panorama, in a lineage running back to the 1960 Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island. Winterbottom and Richards took the flag for Ford Performance Racing.
It was also the 56th race in that lineage. The modern race traces back to a dispute between the Australian Racing Drivers Club and the body that ran V8 Supercars, which led to two Bathurst 1000 events in 1997 and 1998.
A record-fast 1000 km race that Winterbottom and Richards took by less than half a second over Whincup.
What was new on the entry list?
Mercedes-Benz and Nissan cars entered the race for the first time in years. Cars other than Fords or Holdens had not entered since 1998, and this time there were four Nissan Altimas from Nissan Motorsport and three Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs from Erebus Motorsport.
The Nissans were the first to race at Bathurst since the 1998 AMP Bathurst 1000, and the Mercedes-Benz cars were the first of their make to race since the 1994 Tooheys 1000.
Triple Eight Race Engineering also added a wildcard car for Andy Priaulx and Mattias Ekstrom, running under the Xbox One Racing banner. Whincup and Dumbrell, Triple Eight's regular pairing, had won the previous year.
Several teams ran special liveries. Dick Johnson Racing marked thirty years since Dick Johnson's 1983 crash in the Top 10 Shootout, Garry Rogers Motorsport celebrated its fiftieth year in motor racing, and Britek Motorsport ran a pink livery for the McGrath Foundation.
Michael Caruso and Daniel Gaunt used number 300 for a donation of A$300,000 to Beyond Blue. Britek's line-up had also changed, because Danish driver Allan Simonsen had died at Le Mans four months earlier, and Chris Pither replaced him.
How did the practice sessions go?
Craig Lowndes set the fastest time in the first free practice session on the Thursday morning, ahead of Mark Winterbottom and Jason Bright. Winterbottom's co-driver Steven Richards topped the second session, which was open only to co-drivers. The third session was open to all drivers.
Andrew Thompson's Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG was damaged after debris cut a brake line, and he struck the Chase wall.
In the third session Whincup was fastest, three-quarters of a second clear of Winterbottom, with Reynolds third. A heavy crash by Tim Slade at the Cutting brought out a red flag.
Chaz Mostert had a major accident at Reid Park on Friday, which ruled his car out of qualifying. David Reynolds finished the final session on Saturday fastest, ahead of Whincup and Fabian Coulthard.
Who was fastest in qualifying and the shootout?
Jamie Whincup took pole with a lap of 2:07.8825 in the Top 10 Shootout, and he had also set the fastest time in the forty-minute qualifying session, six hundredths ahead of Mark Winterbottom. The shootout began at 17:00 local time, later than in previous years.
Only twenty-seven cars took part in qualifying. Slade and Thompson, together with Mostert and Wood, missed qualifying after practice crashes, but the stewards let both cars start the race.
Steven Johnson qualified the number 9 Erebus Mercedes-Benz instead of the regular driver Maro Engel, because of his greater experience at the circuit. Alexandre Premat and Scott McLaughlin made the Top 10 Shootout on their first attempt at the race.
In the shootout, Premat set the first benchmark at 2:10.4145 as the first driver on track. Will Davison managed 2:09.0023 and Shane van Gisbergen 2:08.2804, before Whincup finished the session with the fastest lap.
Reynolds said the later start was unfair, reasoning that the track improved toward the end of the hour.
How did the race unfold?
Before the start, Mostert and Wood, and Thompson and Slade, both took their cars into the pit lane straight after the warm-up lap to take on fuel. That gave them a more flexible strategy, although Mostert and Wood were given a drive-through penalty because the car was not jacked up while it was refuelled.
Racing got under way at 10:30 local time. Dumbrell made a fine getaway from pole, while Winterbottom faded to the back of the top ten and Reynolds was pushed wide at Griffins Bend on lap one.
Lap 21 brought the first safety car, after David Russell struck a kangaroo leaving Griffins Bend. Every leading car pitted, and Dumbrell handed the car over to Jamie Whincup. Todd Kelly and David Russell were officially retired because of the damage from the kangaroo incident.
On lap 85 a second safety car came out when Greg Murphy ran wide at Reid Park and hit the wall hard. Reynolds was caught behind it unable to pit, which left him on an alternative fuel strategy.
Dumbrell ran off at the Chase on lap 93 and again on lap 97; he was then pitted at once so Whincup could take over for the finish. Lowndes had also taken over from Luff for the run to the finish.
Tander pitted on lap 126 and Ekstrom on lap 134, which handed the car to Andy Priaulx for the finish. Winterbottom was then just under two seconds clear of Whincup.
Whincup made a late attempt on the outside at Griffins Bend on the last lap, but he slid wide and lost ground. Winterbottom held his buffer to the flag and won by under half a second.
Who finished where?
The Ford pairing took the honours, with Jamie Whincup second and Craig Lowndes third ahead of Garth Tander and Jason Bright. Lowndes, Tander and Bright fought for places through the closing laps, and Lee Holdsworth was the best of the Mercedes-Benz cars.
| Finish | Driver | Note |
|---|---|---|
| First | Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards | Winterbottom's first win, Richards' third |
| Second | Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell | Pole sitter who finished under half a second behind |
| Third | Craig Lowndes and Warren Luff | Held on ahead of Tander and Bright |
| Fourth | Garth Tander and Lee Holdsworth | Fast late in the race |
| Fifth | Jason Bright | Close battle with Tander and Lowndes |
| Sixth | Scott Pye and Paul Morris | Fuel strategy paid off |
| Tenth | Andy Priaulx | Finished the race with Ekstrom's car |
| Fourteenth | Lee Holdsworth | Best of the Mercedes-Benz cars |
Will Davison finished seventh ahead of Scott McLaughlin, David Reynolds and Andy Priaulx. Van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb finished eleventh and twelfth, with Alex Davison thirteenth and Lee Holdsworth fourteenth, the best of the Mercedes-Benz cars.
What did the result mean?
The win was Winterbottom's first Bathurst 1000 victory and Richards' third. The winning time beat the record set in 2010 by 84 seconds, and the race was only the second to be run at an average above 160 km/h (100 mph), after 2010.
The championship standings after 29 of 36 races showed how the result fitted into the season. The Seven Network televised the race for a seventh consecutive season.
