Heimgartner and Fraser climbs 12 positions in the Bathurst 1000 for top ten finish

Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner and Declane Fraser made up a total of 12 positions over the 161 lap race at Mount Panorama.

The 2025 edition of the Great Race saw 7 Safety Car periods, heavy rain and took 6 hours and 52 minutes from lights to flag.

The BJR team had its fair share of heartbreak over the course of that, with the first straight off the grid.

Brad Vaughan reported an issue with the gearbox, and had to be brought to the garage.

The crew replaced the gearbox and sent the Automotive Superstore, however Bryce Fullwood and Vaughan were nearly 30 laps down.

The pair finished in 21st, getting a few laps back from the Safety Cars.

As the rain came down, three hours into the race the R&J Batteries Camaro came to life.

Heimgartner and Declan were steady hands in the wet and the Kiwi had pace to burn, during the final 25 laps it looked like they could be a shot at a podium.

However after a few incidents that saw  Heimgartner pushed off track, Car 8 came home in 7th.

Macauley Jones and Jordan Boys had a strong run inside the top ten and were astonishing in the wet.

It all came undone when the PremiAir entry of Stanaway nudge Jones around and into the wall.

The damage was enough to bring them into the garage for extensive repairs, Jones lost a few laps and eventually finished in 16th.

It was another tale of woe for the SCT Motorsport team, both Jaxon Evans and Jack Smith looked racey in the wet.

The pair were sitting just outside the ten and looked like they were going to be a top ten contender.

The slippery conditions then caught them out and Evans backed into the wall, causing enough damage that the car had to retire.

In only a couple of weeks time the BJR team will be racing again on the streets of the Gold Coast (October 24-26).

SUPERCARS RESULTS

Warm Up
P.7 - Andre Heimgartner & Declan Fraser, #8 R&J Batteries Camaro 
P.9 - Macauley Jones & Jordan Boys, #96 Pizza Hut Racing Camaro
P.10 - Bryce Fullwood & Brad Vaughan, #14 Autmotive Superstore Racing Camaro
P.11- Jaxon Evans & Jack Smith, #12 SCT Motorsport Camaro

Race 27
7 - Andre Heimgartner & Declan Fraser, #8 R&J Batteries Camaro 
16 - Macauley Jones & Jordan Boys, #96 Pizza Hut Racing Camaro
21 - Bryce Fullwood & Brad Vaughan, #14 Autmotive Superstore Racing Camaro
DNF - Jaxon Evans & Jack Smith, #12 SCT Motorsport Camaro

 

SUPERCARS QUOTEBOARD

Andre Heimgartner
Supercars driver, #8 R&J Batteries Camaro
"I guess what could have been. Up to third at one point, just didn't do tyres in the stop. So it might be advantage, but ended up costing us in the end. Pretty devastated, but cool to be in the mix and I've had the chance, but pretty pissed off when you couldn't execute it"

Declan Fraser
Supercars co-driver, #8 R&J Batteries Camaro
" I guess pretty good weekend in the end for us, coming from where we started to where we finished in seventh. Great achievement for the team. We had fantastic pace. Just dropped off a little bit at the end, really bummed that we couldn't get on the podium. I feel like we definitely had the pace for it. Thankful for the whole R&J family and also BJR for having me this year and excited for just everything in the future."

Bryce Fullwood
Supercars driver, #14 Automotive Superstore Racing Camaro
"Bathurst is done, cruel place broke a gearbox off the starting line. Not really sure what happened. Thankfully, the boys and girls here at BJR got the car fixed, so put another gearbox in it for us. We got to go and at least see what speed the car had and the car had really good top 10 pace all day long, deep inside the 10. So it was a real shame. I think we could have really come back quite a ways, not a problem at all. Cool place wasn't meant to be. So thanks for everyone's hard work and see what happens and look forward to Gold Coast. "

Brad Vaughan
Supercars co-driver, #14 Automotive Superstore Racing Camaro
"Today sucked from half 14 side. Unfortunately blew a hole through the side of the gearbox before we even got to turn one. That was sort of the end of our day, and now I'm here eating pizza."

Macauley Jones
Supercars driver, #96 Pizza Hut Racing Camaro
"What a bloody long day. It's pretty tough conditions.  Jordan did an awesome job at the start and like, sort of hanging around the 10 there for most of that early part of the race, and then the weather sort of went to shit, which was kind of entertaining and but yes, the car felt really solid. I felt like we're having a really good day up until it wasn't, I guess it just got some contact in the rear, and that sort of ended that for me. The lads did an awesome job getting me back out there, because there was a fair bit of damage to the rear of the car. We only went down a couple laps, but and then just circulated to finish. To be still P 16 after that, still a decent result. And I think there's a lot of positives from the weekend "

Jordan Boys
Supercars co-driver, #96 Pizza Hut Racing CamaroI felt like in the dry, we're pretty strong, but in the wet, struggled a bit. Macca went really good in the wet, but pretty gut wrenching at the end. So tough to take, but cool weekend with the 96 crew.

Jaxon Evans
Supercars driver, #12 SCT Motorsport Camaro
"First of all, sorry to everyone, because unfortunately, our day ended in the garage, starting from sort of the back of the grid. We knew it was always going to be a tough day. Jack did a solid job in the opening stints, and we're kind of happy with our car in the dry, it wasn't as fast what we wanted it to be, but we knew we could make our way forward. Then the rain came down. We struggled a little bit. And then, when I got in, I felt quite comfortable, and good car speed in the wet. After one of the Safety Car restarts, unfortunately, being at the back of the queue, I couldn't see a thing, and across the top, I turned in slightly early and at the grate I hit the inside curb and lost the rear of the car. Bit too much damage to finish the race, but overall, pretty gutting for everyone involved, and not the way I wanted to finish Bathurst this year as my last time currently as a full time driver."

Jack Smith
Supercars co-driver, #12 SCT Motorsport Camaro
"There was some really promising moments. Jaxon drove really, really well when he got in the car and had really, really good speed. Was unfortunate to end up in the fence the way that we did, but he was pushing hard and had to. And that's what can happen, but overall, a disappointing result."