Shannons ambassador, Dale Wood, claimed a third-place finish in Round 6 of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia at the Bathurst 1000, over the weekend.

Wood again performed double duties during the Supercars endurance season finale, alongside Kiwi Ritchie Stanaway in the #26 Penrite Ford Mustang GT. The pair featured prominently within the Top10 in a race that reset numerous statistical records, but more on that later.

Shannons was largely represented at the famed annual endurance race, with prominent signage at Turn 1 (Hell Corner), and the Shannons Super Rig parked up along the Trade Alley at the bottom of the circuit.

Along with Wood, fellow Shannons ambassador, two-time Bathurst 1000 winning driver, John Bowe, was entered in the Heritage Touring Cars support category driving a famous Allan Grice Group C Holden Commodore with in-period STP livery.

Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Round 6 – Mount Panorama

Wood was keen to put behind him a character-building weekend at the Sandown 500 and press on to recover as much ground as possible on his championship combatants, at the famed Mount Panorama circuit.

In qualifying, Wood narrowly missed out on pole position, setting a time of 2m 05.21s to be 0.0499s adrift of Harri Jones in P1.

With a strong starting position, Wood carried the momentum through to Races 1 and 2 on Friday and Saturday respectively, taking P3 in both and showing promise to take the challenge to points tally leader, Jones, and David Russell in the final race on Sunday.

The finale was the most dramatic Porsche race of the weekend, with Jones coming unstuck while leading the race.

Following a great start, Jones struck debris at The Chase and tore off the front splitter of his Porsche, temporarily spearing off track and dropping him to P4. Russell, Wood, and a flying Jackson Walls took advantage of the incident to slip by.

Russell drove well to defend from a pursuing Wood, eventually coming home to take the win, with Wood in second just 0.3s behind.

The three podiums netted Wood a podium result for the round and sees him P5 in the points tally with 605 points.

Jones meanwhile recovered to be P3 in the finale, handing him the round win by a solitary point from Russell – Jones’ fourth consecutive round victory.

"What a weekend at Bathurst!" Said Wood.

"Personally, it was a hectic one, constantly running between the Porsche and the Supercar all weekend, but the results were well worth it in both categories."

"In the Porsche, it was a strong weekend run of podiums, however for the final race on Sunday morning, I started P3 and had a great launch, though still not quite enough to make a move into Turn 1."

"Heading into the Chase, the leader (Jones) had a front splitter failure and ran off, gifting me an easy move into second place. I then had to fend off pressure from behind, especially an attempted pass into the last turn, which didn’t work for them. We crossed the line in P2, securing a podium finish for third overall for the round."

"Next up is the always thrilling Gold Coast event, where Porsches seem to spend more time on two wheels than four!"

"The opportunity to race in two of the most prestigious categories during the Bathurst weekend is something I’ll never forget."

Two rounds remain in the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia calendar. Round 7 takes place at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500, October 25 – 27, while Round 8 will visit the Vailo Adelaide 500, November 14 – 17.

Repco Supercars Championship Race 20 – Bathurst 1000

There was action aplenty before competitive action got underway, with several high-profile drivers making significant contact with the treacherous Mount Panorama concrete walls in the Practice and Qualifying sessions leading into the Great Race on Sunday.

Teams tasked with making urgent repairs to the cars did a stellar job, ensuring all 26-entries started the race on Sunday morning.

Although the number of pre-race incidents was relatively high, the amount of action in the race was a stark contrast.

Stanaway confirmed his maiden appearance in the Top10 Shootout on Saturday afternoon, claiming 10^th in Friday’s qualifying.

Despite it being his first attempt in the Shootout, Stanaway looked comfortable, mastering his single lap opportunity to convert his provisional P10 into a P4 starting position for the 1000.

Main drivers were mandated to start the race, leaving Wood to watch from the garage for the opening stint.

Thankfully, measures taken by Ford to mitigate crankshaft issues that sidelined the #26 Penrite Mustang at Sandown meant Wood could take over from Stanaway following a solid opening segment from the Kiwi.

Although Bathurst is notorious for its Safety Car interruptions, incredibly, the race ran under Green Flag conditions until Lap 131. The Safety Car made its first appearance after Matt Payne collided with the wall at The Cutting, missing a downshift and spearing into the wall on the drivers’ right.

Critically, this occurred within the fuel strategy window, the final stop of the race to guarantee enough fuel in all cars to make it to the end.

Moreover, it ensured a 29-lap sprint to the finish.

Race-long leaders Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood were dominant for the entire race, and with Kostecki behind the wheel for the final stint, he had a large task at hand keeping Broc Feeney at bay in his #88 Red Bull Racing Chev Camaro.

Despite the sustained pressure, Kostecki was too good, crossing the line to claim his and Hazelwood’s first victory in the 1000km enduro, going one better than last year’s performance of second place.

Feeney and co-driver, Jamie Whincup, took P2, a consolation prize for last year’s mechanical issues that dropped them out of contention. Triple-Eight Race Engineering stablemates, Will Brown and Scott Pye, came home in third.

Stanaway and Wood meanwhile finished in P9. Despite flashes of speed and strong pace, they couldn’t match the eventual podium winners for a trophy on Sunday afternoon.

25 of 26 starters completing the race, it confirmed the highest percentage of finishers for the Bathurst 1000, at 96.2%.

It was also the fastest race ever recorded in terms of overall duration, with a new benchmark of 5 hours 58 minutes and 3 seconds thanks entirely to the frantic pace of the leaders, and lack of Safety Cars.

Races 21 and 22 of the Supercars Championship will take place at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500, in two weeks' time.