Holden’s David Reynolds wins wet and wild Bathurst 1000

In what has been termed “a David versus Goliath victory”, Holden driver David Reynolds claimed his maiden Bathurst 1000 at a wet and wild Mount Panorama on Sunday. Reynolds finished almost four seconds ahead of fellow Holden driver Scott Pye, with Ford’s Fabian Coulthard third in the 161-lap classic.

The 32-year-old’s best previous finish in the Great Race had been last year’s second placing. With co-driver Luke Youlden, he lifted the spirits of his Erebus Motorsport team which were forced to switch from Mercedes to Holden last season after a horror run of results. Yet the battling outfit – owned by Betty Klimenko – emerged triumphant in a race held in treacherous conditions.

Reynolds finished ahead of Pye – from the cashed-up Walkinshaw Racing outfit – while Coulthard is from Ford powerhouse DJR Team Penske, owned by US motorsport giant Roger Penske. “This is a David versus Goliath victory. What a win,” Supercars great Mark Skaife said.

Reynolds had been more well known for making the “shoey” celebration popular on the Supercars podium and he showed off the move again when he celebrated his victory that lifted him from 10th to sixth in the drivers’ season standings.

Reynolds fought back tears as he thanked an overwhelmed Klimenko track-side. He snapped up a Supercars lifeline from her when he was dumped from Ford’s heavyweight Prodrive Racing Australia at the end of 2015 despite finishing third in the series.

“This is the icing on the cake,” Reynolds said. “I had been wanting to pay them back [Erebus] but I had not had a lot of results lately but this ticks every box. It hasn’t really hit me yet, but the last couple of laps I was trying to hold back the tears and I was half throwing up because I was so nervous.”

Co-driver Youlden won on his 18th attempt, while it was Holden’s 32nd Bathurst win.

The stage was set for a thrilling final six-lap sprint to the chequered flag when the sixth safety car emerged after Nissan’s Simona de Silvestro hit the pit straight wall. Defending Supercars series champion Shane van Gisbergen blew his chance when he slid his Holden off at The Chase and suffered a puncture vying for second with 11 laps left.

At one stage the race resembled dodgem cars as even six-time Bathurst champion Craig Lowndes slipped and slided around the mountain as rain fell throughout the seven hour-plus epic.

Record-breaking Ford driver Scott McLaughlin did not survive the horror conditions, lasting just 74 laps before engine dramas ended his race. McLaughlin came crashing back to earth a day after taking pole in two minutes, 03.83 seconds – the fastest Supercars lap ever seen on the famous Mount Panorama street circuit.

McLaughlin’s gaffe cost him the series lead. His Ford team-mate Coulthard now leads the series, 91 points ahead of Holden’s Jamie Whincup. McLaughlin is third, 97 points adrift of Coulthard.

Despite the wet, 56,042 fans flocked to the track on Sunday pushing total four-day attendance to 205,693 – the second-biggest overall crowd.