Holden exits Supercars on top

Holden’s time in ATCC/Supercars competition is officially over, but the famous lion has gone out with a roar, ending its time in Australia’s top racing category in the best way possible. A pair of wins at the 2022 season finale in Adelaide capped off a farewell year that included victory at the Bathurst 1000, along with drivers’ and teams’ championships.

In 2023, teams that had been running the Holden ZB Commodore will race the new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, but some, like Walkinshaw Andretti United (WAU), have opted to switch allegiances and drive the Ford Mustang GT, which has been given a major makeover for the Gen3 era.

Replacing the Commodore with the Camaro next year means the end of the Ford v Holden rivalry that has defined Australian touring car racing for more than 50 years.

Out on a High

With the knowledge that the Adelaide 500, the thirteenth and final round of the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship, would be the last official appearance for Holden, teams like Red Bull Ampol Racing (RBAR), WAU, Brad Jones Racing, Erebus Motorsport and Matt Stone Racing came to Adelaide’s Victoria Park Street circuit determined to send the brand off with a victory in the city where it was founded.

Ahead of the event, RBAR’s Shane van Gisbergen had already secured the last ever Drivers’ Championship for Holden, as well as the last ever Bathurst 1000 win for Holden, so was looking to keep that winning streak going.

Both RBAR and WAU have been the factory Holden team at various points in their history, so both ran tribute liveries on their cars at Adelaide. RBAR’s design combined watermarked Holden logos of the past with their current sponsor graphics, while WAU referenced the Holden Racing Team cars of the early 1990s (WAU evolved from the Holden Racing Team), with matching race suits for drivers Chaz Mostert and Nick Percat.

“We wanted to do something special for the last ever Holden race, and it just wouldn’t be right if we didn’t have the lion and the helmet on the side of our cars for one last time,” said WAU Team Principal, Bruce Stewart. “We know how much it means to so many people.”

Speaking on RBAR’s Holden connections before the race, van Gisbergen said: "Hopefully, it will be a meaningful tribute to the many [Holden] employees. It would be great to win the last race for sure, but if it can’t be me, hopefully it’s another Holden.”

Broc Feeney, van Gisbergen’s team mate, added: “It feels surreal that this is going to be the last time. You grow up watching all the heroes running in a Holden. To race the final ever event in a Holden is going to be pretty special.”

Saturday – A 1-2 Win for Holden

Qualifying for the first 250km race of the weekend saw van Gisbergen fluff an easy entry into the Top Ten Shootout at the final corner, forcing him to start from the last spot on the grid.

It was better news for Mostert, whose late 1:18.676 lap not only set a new record for the Adelaide street circuit, but also gave him – and Holden - provisional pole over Shell V-Power Racing’s Anton de Pasquale.

In the Top Ten Shootout, Penrite Racing’s David Reynolds looked strong and topped the first four runners, but his 1:19.723 would be eclipsed by both Monster Energy Racing’s Cam Waters (Mustang) and Toyota Forklifts Racing’s Scott Pye (Commodore) with 1:19.371 and 1:19.714 laps, respectively.

Mostert couldn’t replicate his time from qualifying, only going eighth fastest in the shootout, while team mate Percat was down in 20th.

In extreme heat, the penultimate race for 2022 was incident-free for the first handful of laps, but Adelaide’s infamous Turn 8 bit, James Golding (Subway PremiAir Racing Commodore) being the first victim as van Gisbergen was on the cusp of the top ten after starting from 25th.

A Safety Car intervention midway through the 78-lap race saw a flurry of pit stops, after which Mostert nudged van Gisbergen into the wall at turn 6, but escaped a penalty. On Lap 50, van Gisbergen put his Commodore into the wall at Turn 11 without assistance, ending his charge and any chance of a win.

With 25 laps to go, Mostert was leading from Andre Heimgartner (RJ Batteries Racing) and Percat, setting up a potential Holden 1-2-3 that was aided when Waters nudged Todd Hazelwood (Truck Assist Racing Commodore) into the fence and copped a penalty.

A few laps later, Percat pounced on an error from Heimgartner to take second, but had James Courtney (Snowy River Caravans Mustang) close behind. As Mostert skipped away to an easy win, Percat did enough to hold off Courtney and make it a Holden 1-2.

Setting a new race record of 1:20.288 on his way to victory, Mostert's win was his fourth of the season and first since Darwin in June, while WAU’s 188th win in a Holden moved them to within one of RBAR’s (aka Triple Eight Race Engineering) winning record with Holden.

"It was a tough race... these 250km races, they never pan out how you think,” Mostert said. "So good to get a one-two for the team [and] so good for Nick for the year he's had."

Sunday – a First Win and a Last Win

The final day of the 2022 Adelaide 500 was the hottest of the weekend, with Waters and van Gisbergen running fast in qualifying, but de Pasquale and Mostert would nudge the 2022 champion down the order for the Top Ten Shootout.

A decent Saturday for RBAR’s Broc Feeney (17th in qualifying, eighth in the race) looked set to improve on Sunday with eighth in qualifying and a very strong third in the Top Ten Shootout.

A 1:19.382 lap from de Pasquale saw him take pole ahead of his Shell V-Power Racing team mate Will Davison, with Feeney and van Gisbergen on the second row and Mostert and Waters on Row 3.

Early in the race, strategy calls saw Shell V-Power Racing bring Davison in, with RBAR doing the same for Feeney, leaving de Pasquale and van Gisbergen to duke it out at the head of the field.

When Jake Kostecki (Tradie Racing Mustang) hit the wall at Turn 8 on lap 18, it brought out the race’s first Safety Car and a rush to pitlane, after which van Gisbergen lost two places, then regained them a few laps later, while Feeney inherited the lead when Davison ran wide on lap 24.

When Davison ran wide again at turn 11 on lap 40, it became a Feeney and de Pasquale battle for the win, turning into an RBAR fight when van Gisbergen passed de Pasquale two laps later.

After another Safety Car intervention, Feeney led from Mostert and de Pasquale, while van Gisbergen had improved from twelfth to fourth before he was hit with a controversial pit lane drive through penalty for overtaking ahead of the control line before the restart.

Holding his nerve with a handful of laps remaining, Feeney was also holding Mostert at bay, who had closed to within a second of the lead. Ultimately, the 20-year-old Supercars rookie did enough to take his first ever race win, which was also the last ever win for Holden, ahead of Mostert. Completing the podium was de Pasquale.

“I felt like the win was always so close, and to get it at the last race – in front of all these fans for Holden - means so much,” Feeney said. “Those last few laps were pretty tough, just trying to stay focussed.

“I’m always going to remember this one, the last one for Holden [and] my first ever win. . . it’s been an awesome weekend.”

While Feeney did a few doughnuts to celebrate his win, van Gisbergen engaged in an epic, tyre-destroying burnout along the main straight with the trophy for the 2022 drivers’ champion in the cabin.

“I wanted to make it a Holden 1-2-3 . . . but I’m so glad Holden won, Broc get his first win and the team go out on top.”