Just call Brodie ‘King of the Mountain’

When millions of Australians like me are constantly despairing over the seemingly endless stream of economy busting missteps by our inept Labor Government, another magic weekend sporting event has again provided welcome relief.

I’d put the last few minutes of the classic Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama in the same category as the last three minutes of the AFL Grand Final, which I wrote about recently- the Brisbane Lions came from 17 points down to defeat the Fremantle Dockers after the Dockers’ victory anthem was already blaring  out over the huge crowd at the MCG.

But the last few minutes of The Great Race were even more dramatic, with the outcome even more miraculous for dyed-in-the-wool Ford Mustang fans and possibly more devastating for the hordes of former Holden fans who now pin their hopes on the US-based Chev Camaro.

The event which drew another huge crowd was also the 20th anniversary of the demise of Holden legend Peter Brock and all was looking good for a Camaro to clinch the Peter Brock Trophy and fill the first two spots on the podium, but with five laps remaining, the Mountain Gods intervened.

The Dick Johnson Racing car #17 pairing of Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood had been leading for much of the race and looked good for their second Bathurst win. But a slow pit stop with a botched brake disc change on lap 125 put Kostecki back in fifth place with a seemingly insurmountable gap between him and the front runners - The Chevs of Anton De Pasquale/ Lee Holdsworth, Zac Bates/ Aaron Seaton and the Ford Mustang of Will Brown/ Scott Pye.

But with five laps remaining a hard-charging Kostecki on a younger set of tyres managed to get past an elbows-out Brown to secure a possible third spot on the podium.

Ford fans had been hoping for a safety car to bunch the field but the race had already run a remarkable 156 laps with no sign of a serious crash. Then out of the blue, all Hell broke loose.

With only five laps remaining, Chaz Mostert slightly locked the rear tyres of  his Walkinshaw TWG Racing Toyota Supra, causing him to go too narrow on the corner exit at Forrest Elbow and crash heavily into the wall.

That finally brought out the safety car and then with just three laps remaining, the green flag waved. De Pasquale held his nerve at the front but a determined Kostecki overtook young rookie driver Bates and set off after the lead Camaro.

De Pasquale was still holding a clear lead into the final lap but his team had obviously badly miscalculated his fuel load at his last pit stop (just a few seconds more, guys) and his Camaro spluttered and died suddenly a few km short of the chequered flag. Very sad for him, co-driver Holdsworth, and the legion of ex-Holden fans, but great for the Blue Oval brigade.

Kostecki charged past and seized victory from the jaws of defeat, leaving his team boss, the legendary Dick Johnson, in a state of emotional teary-eyed disbelief.

I was stunned too (in a good way) and just like the mighty Brisbane Lions victory a few weeks earlier, that vision of Dick with his head in his hands and tears running down his cheeks, re-ignited my mind’s own version of Dr Who’s Tardis.