Triple Eight Racing's Will Brown has taken out the second Bathurst 500 after a pit lane malfunction cost Chaz Mostert his first Supercars win in more than a year.
Mostert was charging home in the second 250km event on Sunday until a frantic visit to the garage resulted in the Walkinshaw Andretti United driver returning to the fray with a compromised tyre at Mount Panorama.
With Mostert held back by a worn wheel, Brown bolted out of pit lane to cut off his rival on the 30th lap of 40 and deny him the top spot on the podium.
Mostert hounded Brown right to the end in search of his first triumph since the 2022 Adelaide 500 but could not close the buffer of 1.553 seconds.
"Supercars is all about millimetres and inches," Mostert said.
"By the time I came into pit lane, I made a little mistake at The Chase (turn 20 to 22) and we had a wheel nut go as well.
"It just wasn't our day."
Brown now leads the championship after notching career win number six and his 15th podium finish.
"I'm absolutely knackered. It was pretty hard out there," Brown said.
"I had Chaz just pushing me along. I was thinking, 'Can you piss off?' but he wouldn't.
"I was glad to get out in front of him. I thought he was going to have a lunge at me. God, he's quick up the hill."
Meanwhile, polesitter Broc Feeney was denied a fairytale ending to the weekend after Mostert and James Golding jumped the gun on the Triple Eight driver.
With Brown stuck behind a rattled Feeney at the start, Golding made the most of the opportunity and surged from his grid position of four to second.
Feeney never reclaimed the top spot and was slapped with a five-second penalty for diving on Golding during the second lap to force the PremiAir Nulon Racing driver into the sand.
In the end, Feeney was made to settle for third while Golding finished fifth.
Without star driver Brodie Kostecki, reigning team champions Erebus Motorsport were hardly in the contest throughout the weekend.
Brown's replacement Jack Le Brocq finished in eighth on Sunday while Kostecki's stand-in Tom Hazelwood crossed the line 13th.
Whether Kostecki returns to the Erebus garage for the Melbourne SuperSprint remains in the air as his contract dispute drags on.
Triple Eight now sit at the top of the standings boasting a 201-point lead on Penrite Racing.
RACE TWO RESULTS:
1. Will Brown (Triple Eight Racing)
2. Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw Andretti United)
3. Broc Feeney (Triple Eight Racing)
4. Thomas Randle (Tickford Racing)
5. James Golding (PremiAir Nulon Racing)
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
1. Will Brown (Triple Eight Racing) 288 pts
2. Broc Feeney (Triple Eight Racing) 279 pts
3. Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw Andretti United) 267 pts
4. Richie Stanaway (Grove Racing) 192 pts
5. David Reynolds (Team 18) 192 pts.
