HOLDEN Racing Team drivers Garth Tander and Will Davison, led a 1-2-3 finish for Holden breaking a four-year drought and ending Ford's chance at history with a thrilling Bathurst 1000 victory.
The factory backed pair overcame ever-changing weather conditions and the battle of pitstop strategies to conquer the 1,000km, 161-lap enduro in front of 180,000 spectators, Holden's first win at Bathurst since 2005.
Jason Richards and Cameron McConville had a trouble free run thoughout the classic to claim second in front of an unlucky Lee Holdsworth and Michael Caruso, who claimed the minor rung on the podium, fighting back after an early Caruso mistake nearly nearly ended the pairs chances.
Ford duo and race favorites, Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes, failed in their bid for an unprecedented fourth successive Bathurst, enduring late race clutch problems as they limped home in fifth place.
For Tander, 32, it was his second win to add to his 2000 victory with Gary Rogers motorsport, while Davison, 27, won at Mount Panorama for the first time. "What a great day for Holden and what a way to come back," Tander said.
"We had a terrific car and did a really good job in the pit stops.
"To finally come to Bathurst and have everything fall into place was fantastic.
"To have a car which could go fast in the dry and the wet was a credit to the team," Tander said.
Crashes, intermittent showers and sunshine turned the six-and-a-half-hour event into a virtual 20-lap sprint, then a three-lap dash to the wire.
Strategies changed like the weather and Tander and Davison's Holden Racing Team, who started from pole and led the majority of the race, made the right calls at the right times.
Sentimental favourites Greg Murphy and Mark Skaife finished an unlucky fourth, after just missing a crucial pace car inspired pit stop after Dean Canto crashed the remaining Ford Performance Falcon with 20 laps remaining.
Davison's win also helps his V8 Supercar championship aspirations cutting Whincup's lead to just 93 points.
MOTORSPORT MONTH
AUSTRALIA is known throughout the sporting world as a country of high achievers.
Our Olympic and Commonwealth teams always finish towards the top of medal counts, Sir Jack Brabham, Jeff Fenech, Cathy Freeman, Sir Donald Bradman and more recently Kosta Tszyu, Leyton Hewitt, Ian Thorpe and Shane Warne have all reached the pinnacle in their chosen sports.
During October Australian talent of a different kind is beamed into millions of homes around the globe.
Aussie television technology and professional sports telecasting leads the world in innovation.
Lipstick cameras, in car vision, fly cam and a host of gizmos and gadgets now common place overseas, were all developed in Australia.
Australia's massive month of motorsport including the Bathurst 1000, MotoGP from Phillip Island and the A1 Grand Prix carnival from the Gold Coast will go live or on delay into the lounge rooms of millions of viewers in 60 countries world wide, featuring some of the best technical TV innovation of not only the speed and excitement generated by these world class motorsport events, the projected image has added benefits.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words and with the technical wizardry displayed by our television networks, second to none, the live vision will have long lasting effects in the promotion of this great country, showing off Australia better than and having a far greater impact than any travel brochure, shrimp on the barbie commercial or government tourist campaign.
PORSCHE-A-THON
A trio of Melbourne drivers will join the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge for November's Shannons Nationals season finale at Sandown Raceway, as the all-Porsche series continues its impressive growth.
Aaron Silluzio, Mark Seamons and John Morriss will be among the newcomers at Sandown, where the second-year series will be joined by five other categories in round nine of the 2009 nationals.
The three recently purchased Porsche 997 GT3 Cup Cars will race in the 997 Trophy Class at Sandown before becoming eligible for the outright championship in 2010.
Silluzio has purchased one of the most-successful Porsches in Australia - the car driven by Craig Baird to the 2006 and 2008 Carrera Cup titles.
The 997 Trophy Class was introduced to the GT3 Cup Challenge this year to accommodate 997-generation Cup Cars following the late demise of the Carrera Cup.
With a mix of new and older Porsches, a strong field is expected to line up at Sandown, where Matt Kingsley will look to wrap up the title.
Kingsley holds a 68-point advantage over last year's champ Sven Burchartz with 90 on offer across three races.
The Porsches will be joined by the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship, Australian Manufacturers Championship, Commodore Cup National Series, Australian Saloon Car Series and the V8 Touring Car Series.
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