Bathurst 1000: Van Gisbergen/Tander take final Holden win

Van Gisbergen put in a flawless triple stint to secure what was his second Great Race victory, while Tander added a fifth Bathurst triumph to his impressive record.

The win marked an ideal send-off for the Holden brand at Mount Panorama; with Chaz Mostert and Fabian Coulthard finishing second for Walkinshaw Andretti United, it was a one-two for former factory Holden teams.

Adding to the fairytale is that both van Gisbergen and Tander have won all seven of their collective Bathurst crowns in Holdens, including Tander's two for the famous Holden Racing Team brand in 2009 and 2011.

Cam Waters and James Moffat were the best-placed Ford drivers, rounding out the podium in their Tickford Racing Mustang.

Van Gisbergen now has the 2022 Supercars title all but sealed thanks to a record-breaking 19th win of the season, his margin over Waters 567 points with just two rounds left.

Van Gisbergen takes the chequered flag

Photo by: Mark Horsburgh

The second half of the race resumed with Tander in control ahead of David Russell in the #99 Erebus Holden, Jamie Whincup third in the #88 Triple Eight Holden and Moffat fourth in the #6 Tickford Mustang.

Moffat was the first of that lead group to take his next service, pitting on Lap 96 to hand the car over to Cam Waters.

On Lap 101 the two leading cars took to the lane, Tander handing over to van Gisbergen as Brodie Kostecki jumped into the #99 Commodore.

That left Mostert in the lead until he stopped for a brake rotor change on Lap 104.

The next stint was mostly green running, van Gisbergen initially leading Kostecki and Broc Feeney, until Mostert ran down Feeney for third at The Chase.

But the Lap 117 Feeney was starting to come under pressure from a fourth-placed Waters, before Waters decided to stop the following lap.

On Lap 119 the safety car emerged for a seventh time after Todd Hazelwood buried his Matt Stone Racing Holden in the wall at Griffins Bend.

By that point van Gisbergen had built a 17s lead over Kostecki, which evaporated due to the caution.

With the lead group all hitting the lane there was little change in the order, van Gisbergen leading Kostecki, Mostert, Feeney and Waters at the Lap 123 restart.

On Lap 125 Waters made a play for fourth place, he and Feeney running side-by-side up Mountain Straight.

However, Waters couldn't find a way through, the Tickford driver left complaining on the radio about Feeney moving under braking.

At the same time Mostert was glued to the back of Kostecki, their tense battle for second allowing van Gisbergen to pull clear in the lead.

On Lap 127 Waters had another crack at Feeney, hustling the Triple Eight Holden into the Elbow before getting next to him through The Chase.

That forced Feeney to out-brake himself, the rookie running wide as Waters swept into fourth place.

Lee Holdsworth was able to profit from Feeney's mistake as well, following Waters through into fifth.

The lead group held station across the remainder of the stint, when Mostert and Waters took their final stops from third and fourth.

Moments later there was an eighth safety car when Will Davison fenced his DJR Mustang hard at Griffins.

Chaz Mostert followed van Gisbergen home in second for a Holden one-two

Photo by: Mark Horsburgh

The rest of the leaders pitted that same lap, van Gisbergen re-emerging with the lead while Kostecki came out next to Mostert, who had just completed his out-lap.

Being on the racing line proved critical for Mostert, with Kostecki forced out of the throttle before the control line due to a recovery vehicle that was on the track.

That helped Mostert executive a controversial pass, leaving the order as van Gisbergen, Mostert, Kostecki and Waters.

The race went green for a final time on Lap 147, Waters wasting little time jumping Kostecki for third at Griffins.

He initially looked like he might challenge Mostert for second, too, however Mostert was able to weather the storm and eventually established himself in second.

At the same time van Gisbergen was able to pull a small, but critical, margin out front.

From there he could manage the gap back to Mostert, van Gisbergen what was needed as he crossed the line a second clear of his Holden rival.

Waters ended up the best part of five seconds off the leader in third while Kostecki was another five seconds back in fourth.

Feeney managed to get back through Holdsworth to seal fifth, while Anton De Pasquale, who had been in podium contention midway through the race, could manage just seventh after a slow stop for new brakes.

Craig Lowndes was a fine eighth in Triple Eight's wildcard entry he shared with rookie Declan Fraser as Bryce Fullwood and Will Brown rounded out the Top 10.

Richie Stanaway and Greg Murphy almost made it two wildcards in the Top 10, the Erebus entry falling just short in a credible 11th.

The 2022 Supercars season continues with the Gold Coast 500 on October 28-30.