Team 18 showed tremendous effort and determination during the Bathurst 1000, overcoming several hurdles to finish the iconic race.

DEWALT Racing’s Mark Winterbottom and Michael Caruso secured 18th place, while TRADIE Beer Racing’s David Reynolds and Warren Luff crossed the line in 24th.

Winterbottom had a strong start, making early progress up the field, and Caruso delivered an impressive middle stint, positioning the team well for the final push.

Despite only one safety car 30 laps from the finish, the race remained largely uninterrupted, with the Team 18 crew executing flawless pit stops and strategic calls. However, the team lacked the raw pace to challenge for higher positions.

The TRADIE Beer Racing Camaro faced early difficulties when a splitter issue compromised speed and handling. Despite this, Reynolds and Luff gave their all, and the crew’s hard work ensured the car stayed in the race throughout.

The team will head back to their Mount Waverley base and prepare for the penultimate round of the season at the Gold Coast 500 on October 25-27.

RESULTS & QUOTES

Mark Winterbottom, driver #18 DEWALT Racing Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Race 20: 18th

“Bathurst has finished. We come here full of hope and dreams of winning the big one, but that was one of the toughest weekends I think we’ve had here.

“The car, unfortunately, was probably one of the slowest that we’ve ever had here too.

“Dave and I had the same set up in, so that’s promising that we both had the same dramas but at the end of the day that’s not good enough for me.

“I’ve got two rounds to go, going to enjoy my last couple of rounds, but I’ll make sure when I come back to Bathurst next year, I’m coming here to win.”

“I appreciate the support, I’ll be back here next year, and I’ll be trying to win it next year.”

David Reynolds, driver #20 TRADIE Beer Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Race 20: 24th

“It was probably one of the worst races I’ve ever partaken in this great race.

“At no point did we have any pace and it was probably due to me crashing on the track on friday, in qualifying that sort of set our weekend in a bad stead.

“There was absolutely no lack of trying. Everything in pit lane was perfect, all our stops were great, our fuel times were great, we were just waiting for that safety car to come, or anything that was redeeming about the race.

“It was quite a boring race, Luffy did a great job for us, but our car just wasn’t underneath us today. It was very scary to drive and yet it made no grip.

“We’ll have to really sit down and think about where we go from the Gold Coast but it just didn’t happen for us today.”

Warren Luff, co-driver #20 TRADIE Beer Racing Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

“It was frustrating. We didn’t have the car that we needed to be able to do the job. As a team now we all look forward and regroup, rebuild, and get the cars back together and get them back ready for the Gold Coast in a couple of weeks for Dave and Frosty.

“I think operationally there was a lot of positives out of the weekend. The guys on the team did an amazing job to do the rebuild on Friday night. The all nighter was amazing and full credit to everyone on the team.

“Obviously, it would have been great to be able to repay them with a strong result today, but we win together, we win as a team, we lose as a team and we rebuild and we go to the Gold Coast in two weeks.”