Sunday, 12 October 2025

Engine failure leaves Percat and Slade last at Bathurst

Original by Supercars, cropped by me.
 Nick Percat picked up the 14th last-place finish of his career. Co-driver Tim Slade picked up the 13th last-place finish of his career. They retired from the Bathurst 1000 when their #10 Bendix Chevrolet suffered engine failure after 50 of the race’s 161 laps. The finish came in Percat’s 373rd start, and Slade’s 453rd.


Nick Percat and Tim Slade are at similar stages of their careers. Tim Slade retired from full-time racing last year, while this year is Nick Percat’s last full-time.

Slade ran for 14 full-time seasons, debuting in 2009 with Paul Morris Motorsports. He switched to James Rosenberg Racing in 2010, spending 3 years in a Ford Falcon before switching to Mercedes for the 2014 season. Slade spent two years at Walkinshaw Racing. He spent the next four years at Brad Jones Racing, but Todd Hazelwood replaced him in 2020. He only got a co-drive for DJR Team Penske that year. But Slade returned in 2021 for the Blanchard Racing Team. He stayed there for two years before finishing his career at PremiAir Hire Racing. Tim Slade has two wins for Brad Jones Racing at Winton in 2016.

After retiring, Slade would join Matt Stone Racing as co-driver.


Percat’s first four years were at co-driver, firstly to Andrew Thompson, though only for Philip Island.

Percat would contest the next three years with Garth Tander and won Bathurst on debut. A brilliant result for the young racer from South Australia.

In 2013, Percat would additionally run the Sydney 500 for James Courtney after the latter’s massive crash with Alex Premat the previous round fractured his leg.

Percat would debut full time with James Rosenberg Racing, which would merge with Walkinshaw Racing in 2014 before closing at season’s end. Percat would move to Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports.

This would be a low point in Percat’s career, a tough season leaving him with the most last-place finishes of 2016, despite winning a race at home in Adelaide.

Greener pastures would await Percat in 2017 when he moved to Brad Jones Racing, securing two wins in 2020 for the team. In 2021, Andre Heimgartner would replace Percat. Percat would endure a tough 2 years at Walkinshaw Andretti United before moving to Matt Stone racing where he found his feet again, getting another two wins.

They were 23rd in Practice 1, and Slade slipped to 25th in Practice 2. They were slowest in Practice 3, but skyrocketed to 2nd in Practice 4. Percat then qualified for the Top 10 shootout in 9th. Slade backed it up with 8th in Practice 5, though they slipped to 11th in Practice 6. Percat would struggle in the shootout and started the race 10th. They then slid to 24th in the warmup.

 

Rylan Gray (#5 World Gym/Club Lime 24/7 Gym Ford) started last. Brad Vaughn (#14 Automotive Superstore/Welding Solutions Chevrolet) stalled at the start with a gearbox issue. The officials towed Vaughn’s car to the garage, where the team discovered a hole in the transaxle. Vaughn and Fullwood would lose 25 laps, but attrition, especially late in the race, would lift them out of the bottom five.

 

Early on, Jack Smith (#12 SCT Logistics Chevrolet) was the last car running, while pit stops would see a bunch of drivers hold last for a lap or two. Including Tim Slade and Nick Percat (#10 Bendix Chevrolet).

The race settled down, and positions largely remained static until Tim Slade (#10 Bendix Chevrolet) pulled into the garage on Lap 51 with a terminal engine issue. He wasn’t the only one, as Chaz Mostert and Fabian Coulthard (#25 Mobil 1/NTI Ford) also had engine issues. By Lap 75, Percat and Slade ranked last, with three bottom-five positions already determined.

 

The first safety car of the race came a few laps after the #10’s retirement when Tony D’Alberto, co-driver to Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Ford), crashed out at Forest Elbow. Tony clipped the inside wall, which fired him into the outside wall, destroying the right-side of the car. The crash was in a similar location to where their boss, racing legend Dick Johnson, crashed many years ago. The first safety car was called.

Just as the first safety car ended, Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1/NTI Ford) pulled over to the side of Conrod Straight with engine failure. This triggered an immediate second safety car.

Chaz Mostert exited the vehicle, approached the watching crowd, and had a beer. A funny silver lining to a frustrating end to the race.

 

The final 2 spots in the Bottom Five would take most of the race to determine, as several drivers hit issues during the middle of the race that left them in contention.

First among them was Anton De Pasquale (#18 DeWalt/Fuchs Chevrolet), who crashed at Skyline on Lap 106, leaving him only one lap ahead of Fullwood and Vaughn.

Brodie Kostecki (#38 Shell V-Power Ford) would also contend for the Bottom Five on Lap 97. A lap after a pit-stop, Kostecki slammed into the back of Kai Allen (#26 Penrite 100 Ford), causing damage and a pit-lane penalty that left them a lap down. Lap 113 would see Kostecki pull the #38 into the garage with electrical issues. The right-rear wheel was off the #38, showing Kostecki may have crashed the previous lap. Kostecki would lose an additional 9 laps.

However, Lap 127 would see the race end for James Courtney and Jack Perkins (#7 Snowy River Caravans Ford). They had been running in the top 10 for much of the race before a gearbox failure ended their run.

Jaxon Evans and Jack Smith (#12 SCT Logistics Chevrolet) would fill the Bottom Five after the former crashed out at Reed Park on Lap 129.

 

The Bottom Five

Nick Percat/Tim Slade

50 Laps

Engine

Will Davison/Tony D’Alberto

53 Laps

Crash

Chaz Mostert/Fabian Coulthard

57 Laps

Engine

James Courtney/Jack Perkins

127 Laps

Gearbox

Jaxon Evans/Jack Smith

129 Laps

Crash

 

 

Driver’s Championship

Pos

Driver

Last

Bottom 3

Bottom 5

1

Aaron Cameron

3

6

12

2

Jaxon Evans

3

5

6

3

Richie Stanaway

2

4

7

4

James Golding

2

4

5

5

Jack LeBrocq

2

3

5

6

Macauley Jones

2

3

4

7

Cameron Crick

2

3

3

8

Cooper Murray

1

6

9

9

Will Davison

1

5

9

10

Nick Percat

1

3

5

11

Cameron Hill

1

3

4

12

Bryce Fullwood

1

2

4

13

Kai Allen

1

2

3

14

Aaron Love

1

2

2

15

Cameron Waters

1

1

2

16T

Andre Heimgartner

1

1

1

16T

Declan Fraser

1

1

1

16T

Tim Slade

1

1

1

19

David Reynolds

0

3

7

20

Chaz Mostert

0

3

3

21

James Courtney

0

2

8

22

Thomas Randle

0

2

4

23

Brodie Kostecki

0

2

2

24T

Anton De Pasquale

0

1

2

24T

Ryan Wood

0

1

2

26T

Cameron Crick

0

1

1

26T

Aaron Seton

0

1

1

26T

Tony D’Alberto

0

1

1

26T

Fabian Coulthard

0

1

1

27

Rylan Gray

0

0

2

28T

Will Brown

0

0

1

28T

Zak Best

0

0

1

28T

Nash Morris

0

0

1

28T

Jack Perkins

0

0

1

28T

Jack Smith

0

0

1

 

Team’s Championship

Pos

Team

Drivers

Last

Bottom 3

Bottom 5

1

Nulon Racing

4

4/4

9/4

15/4

2

Brad Jones Racing

8

8/8

12/8

17/8

3

Matt Stone Racing

6

5/6

13/6

15/6

4

Erebus Motorsports

4

3/4

8/4

14/4

5

Blanchard Racing Team

5

3/5

11/5

23/5

6

Dick Johnson Racing

4

1/4

9/4

13/4

7

Grove Racing

4

1/4

2/4

3/4

8

Tickford Racing

6

1/6

3/6

8/6

9

Walkinshaw Andretti United

4

0

6/4

6/4

10

Team 18

4

0

4/4

9/4

11

Red Bull Racing

5

0

0

1/5

 

Constructor’s Championship

Pos

Manufacturer

Drivers

Last

Bottom 3

Bottom 5

1

Chevrolet

31

20/31

44/31

72/31

2

Ford

23

5/23

29/23

53/23

 

No comments:

Post a Comment