Heimgartner and Fullwood deliver Toyota GR Supra’s first Bathurst 1000 top ten
Brad Jones Racing has recorded the first top-ten finish for the GR Supra at the Bathurst 1000, with Andre Heimgartner and Bryce Fullwood.
In a relatively clean race that saw only a short Safety Car period in the final ten laps, the BJR crew pulled together excellent strategy and pitlane work to push the R&J Batteries Supra into the top ten.
Race 30
161 laps
Safety Car laps: 2
Starting positions
#8 R&J Batteries Racing GR Supra: 15th (Bryce Fullwood started)
#14 Dare Racing GR Supra: 19th (Brad Vaughan started)
#96 Automotive Superstore GR Supra: 20th (Jordan Boys started)
The #8 R&J Batteries GR Supra had incredible race pace at times, and both Heimgartner and Fullwood made some great overtakes throughout the race. The team opted for six stops, which was the prevailing choice down pitlane.
Hill and Vaughan were hampered by a couple of brake issues during the middle part of the race but were quite competitive overall. Their side of the garage went for a five-stop strategy, which meant they were fuel saving quite late in the race.
Macaulay Jones and Jordan Boys had a good early run. However, on lap 43 Jones tagged the wall. While the car didn’t need repairs, the #96 Automotive Superstore Supra had quite a bit of damage, which affected their race from there on in.
Heimgartner’s seventh-place finish at Bathurst eliminates him from the Finals series and solidifies his spot in 11th in the Championship.
Next event: Gold Coast 500, October 23-25
QUOTEBOARD
SUPERCARS
Andre Heimgartner, #8 R&J Batteries Toyota GR Supra
“A solid day but a bit disappointed I guess. In the end, we just weren't able to get there and get in the finals. But hey, I think we gave it a red hot crack. Sort of had one hand tied behind our back and we really came out punching and executed that race really, really well. It's probably the best race from the team side that I've had in a long time and everything was executed well. So, to go from 17th or 18th at one point to 7thh by the end of the race is pretty impressive. So, I'm happy.”
Co-driver | Bryce Fullwood, #8 R&J Batteries Toyota GR Supra
“Bathurst 1000 2026 done and dusted. Obviously a really strange race, pretty unheard of for a race to go green that long. We had a really fast car today. It was really slow in the first stint but we made a couple of changes that really turned it on, and the car had really good speed. Was really gutted to make a mistake in my stint but otherwise they were really strong. And Andre was really fast. We had a few a few battles technically behind the scenes, but I think all in all to come out P7 basically with a completely green race having passed all the cars we passed basically completely green was really cool. I think obviously a safety car anywhere in the race would have changed things a lot for us. I think we had a lot of speed, but it is what it is. Really enjoyed working with Phil and Andre and the team here at BJR. Obviously, it's very easy for me to fit back in and I feel like we worked together well all weekend. We tuned a good car today and I don't feel like we really got the fruits for all the work that went in and for the speed the car had. But all in all, we should be happy with that. It was a shame for Andre to miss out on the on the top 10 moving out of this event for his championship. But we tried hard and I think we can all hold our heads high for what it was.
Cameron Hill, #14 Dare Racing Toyota GR Supra
“Big week here at the mountain and all in all, reasonably solid for us. We finished 14th. We moved up. Probably got a little bit boxed in with a shorter stint early in the day which meant we had to save some fuel at the end. But the car was pretty speedy today. Brad did a really good job and the team put together a great car for me. So, I'm excited to come back here. I feel like there's some unfinished business, so we’ll keep chipping away.”
Co-driver | Brad Vaughan, #14 Dare Racing Toyota GR Supra
“Bathurst 1000 started P19 and had a cool first stint. Then sort of just chipped into the day. Reasonably boring race from the outsider’s perspective but ended up P14 in the end. So, Cam did a good job. Thanks to everyone at BJR and bring on next year.”
Macauley Jones, #96 Automotive Superstore Racing Toyota GR Supra
“My day was a bit average to be honest; a bit disappointed with it. The car was a little bit difficult at the start of the race in the heat and then just made a big mistake there and that kind of sort of ruined our day a little bit. Just the rear bodywork was a bit of a parachute, so we struggled from then on and what a hectic, weird race it was setting records for the most number of green laps at Bathurst in a race. Probably not the most exciting stat, but it is a stat. Appreciate the crew and all their work this week. It's been a long week for us.”
Co-driver | Jordan Boys, #96 Automotive Superstore Racing Toyota GR Supra
“Average day. We felt like we were going to be better at the start and then once we had damage, it was pretty average from there. So yeah, that's Bathurst unfortunately. Frustrating but interesting.”