It was a win that shouldn’t have come as a surprise, however, because Reynolds’ Erebus Commodore had been consistently the fastest Holden during qualifying, just as it had also been in the pre-Bathurst Sandown 500 enduro in early September.

But the small Erebus team, which had yet to win more than two races during its five years in Supercars racing, is not among the established powerhouse professional outfits of the sport.

The car had the speed, however, and Reynolds and Youlden were both fast and mistake free on a perilous day on the Mountain that saw most of the race run in wet conditions.

“I have got nothing left to give, I am absolutely spent,” Reynolds said afterwards. “My crew was faultless, it was just a perfect day, so good. I was struggling to hold in the tears the last couple of laps but I thought I had it under control.”


“For a bloke who races once a year he’s not bad,” Reynolds said of co-driver Youlden.

“We have had this same core team for a while now, I love this sport for working with them and I love my job for working with them. It just makes it so enjoyable.

“I have been wanting to pay them back but we haven’t had a lot of luck so this is now the icing on the cake.”

Remarkably given the treacherous conditions, the race was for the most part free of incident.

The early lack of Safety Car periods played into the hands of PRA Falcon pair Cam Waters and Richie Stanaway, who led the race for many laps and were clearly the quickest combo in the wet.

They looked dominant right up until the late stages, emerging near the end as one of the few front runners capable of getting home without a further stop for fuel. But Waters got tangled up in a restart shunt that also ended the chances of PRA team-mates Chaz Mostert/Steve Owen.

What had after qualifying looked like being a Ford whitewash began to turn sour as the race unfolded.

Pole winner and pre-race favourite Scott McLaughlin seemed to struggle early on in the conditions, but ultimately a day that promised so much for the young Kiwi would be one to forget, as the Shell V-Power Racing Falcon retired with an engine related problem with co-driver Alex Premat at the wheel.

With Safety Car appearances for such oddities as a rock and a kangaroo on the track, the closing stages were chaotic as teams tried to second-guess the weather and try to conserve enough fuel to avoid an extra pitstop.

Second place for Mobil 1 HSV Racing’s Scott Pye and Warren Luff was a great result for that team on a weekend when it was announced that American teams Andretti Autosport and United Autosport had bought into the struggling Walkinshaw outfit.

Third for Fabian Coulthard and Tony D’Alberto was some comfort to Shell V-Power Racing. It also changed the dynamic of the championship, because with both his team-mate McLaughlin as well as Commodore driver Jamie Whincup each suffering engine dramas at Bathurst, Coulthard has stormed back into the lead in the championship.