Coulthard strives for mountain summit
THE GIZ STALLING IN THE PITS
Greg Murphy was seeking a phenomenal three-peat at the Mountain in 2005 but his race came to a spectacular end when he collided with long-time rival Marcos Ambrose. The two drivers were never the best of friends and the contact incited some of the most emotionally driven moments the race has ever seen. Ambrose got out of his car and confronted a fired up Murphy, the conversation became heated and they got in each other’s face
— yelling and gesturing over what had happened as other cars tried to find a path through the carnage. Mt Panorama has produced some of the most heart-breaking moments in sport over the years and New Zealander Shane van Scott McLaughlin was a kid watching Greg Murphy complete his ‘lap of the gods’ in 2003, but he etched his own name into Bathurst history last year when he posted the fastest ever lap around the famous circuit. Having already asserted himself as the king of qualifying leading up to Bathurst the Shell V-Power racer posted a stunning time of 2.03.831min during the top 10 shootout to secure pole position and blitz the field. His celebration evoked scenes similar to that of Murphy’s famous lap 14 years earlier. Gisbergen found that out the hard way in 2014. Having started from pole, van Gisbergen found himself carving through the field late in the race. He made it to the front with just over 10 laps remaining but like the majority of the field he would need to make a late splash and dash stop to get home. He entered pit lane knowing a solid stop would see him exit in third place behind Jamie Whincup and Mark Winterbottom, who were gambling on fuel to get home. With a fast car he was favoured to win the race at that point. But the pit stop was a nightmare, Paul Radisich had a couple of scary crashes at Bathurst during a long and successful racing career. In 2006 he was driving for Team Kiwi Racing and he executed a move on Nathan Pretty at The Chase while the car was travelling in excess of 200km/h. Pretty ran Radisich out of room and the Team Kiwi car had nowhere to go and crashed into a barrier at high speed, flipping the car upside down and destroying it. Safety crews had to cut the roof off the car to free the stricken Kiwi, who broke an ankle and sternum in the incident and missed the rest of the season. he flooded the engine in the lane and a starter motor failure saw the car unable to launch off the line — his chance of winning a maiden Bathurst over. The two greatest winners in Bathurst history secured a stunning three-peat of victories from 1978-1980. In 1978 they qualified on pole and drove a perfect race to win comfortably. They followed that up with an even more dominant win a year later when they finished six laps ahead of second place. Brock made contact passing a back-marker in 1980 and the pair had to fight back to win their third race. The combination of Brock and Richards changed the way the Bathurst 1000 was held with co-drivers taking on as big a role as the main drivers. Richards is the most successful Kiwi at the Mountain with seven wins and is second overall to Brock with nine. Kiwi racer Fabian Coulthard feels he has as good a chance as any at securing a career-defining win and standing on the top step of the Bathurst 1000 podium on Sunday evening.
The 36-year-old has a hard luck Bathurst story or two like just about everybody in the Supercars field but feels he is in a position to secure what would be a win that would turn around an otherwise disappointing year to date.
The Shell V-Power Ford racer lies sixth in the championship standings and is all but out of the title running now but he has some recent success at the mountain that suggests he should be considered a genuine victory chance.
Coulthard and co-driver Tony D’Alberto finished third at the Great Race last season and boast plenty of experience. Coulthard has finished fourth and fifth in the race in previous seasons as well while he secured fastest times in qualifying in recent years as well.
“You have to have an element of luck — you make your own luck as well — but you have to have a good strategy,” Coulthard told the Herald on Sunday. “You need to get through the first part of the race unscathed and get to that last hour because that is where the race really begins.
“We have some smart guys here [at DJR Team Penske Racing] — they are good with strategy and things like that — and hopefully we can play that game and get ourselves in a good position.”
A win would be a welcome boost to Coulthard’s career. While he’s become one of the most consistent performers in the championship he has been overshadowed by compatriot and teammate Scott McLaughlin over the past couple of seasons.
McLaughlin remains right in the championship hunt while Coulthard would need others to run into misfortune.
But a win at Bathurst would be career-defining.
“It is a race that everybody wants to win,” he explained.
“I have tried many times and have come as close as third so I have been lucky enough to stand on that podium and get a taste of what it is actually like.
“I think to actually win that race it would be pretty hard to describe. Everyone you speak to that has won it says that it does change your life a little bit.
“It is instant recognition. It is a whole heap of people that would see this race and recognise the achievement of winning it. You instantly go on a list of legends pretty much — it is a pretty iconic race and renowned worldwide.”