It was a double dose of drama at the Bathurst 1000 for Ross Stone Racing's Tom Alexander in the #22 Caltex Delo Racing Isuzu D-MAX SuperUte, with an overheating issue and red flag in Qualifying and a crash in Race 1 plaguing the young kiwi's effort. Fortunately, Alexander managed to turn it around to climb back onto the podium, in the process winning Race 2, setting a new Bathurst lap record, and extending his 2019 ECB SuperUte Championship lead by +39 points.

Revered as Australia's premier racing circuit and the largest motorsport event of the calendar, the SuperCheap Auto Bathurst 1000 marked the sixth round for the 2019 ECB SuperUtes Championship. Tom Alexander started his Bathurst weekend in equal-first, alongside reigning-2018 SuperUtes Champion, Ryal Harris.

From the drop of the green flag in the first Practice session, Alexander's pace looked strong in the D-MAX—with Ross Stone Racing (RSR) taking the opportunity to fine tune the setup to improve the driveability out of the corners.

"In the first session, the D-MAX was good over the top of the Mountain, but I was losing time in the first and third sectors. We made some changes in the second session to help it drive out of the slower corners better, and it was definitely an improvement," reported Tom Alexander.

Saturday Qualifying dawned on cold and damp conditions, with intensifying rainfall hampering driver's efforts to lap green and ultimately, purple sectors. Unfortunately midway through the session, Alexander's D-MAX SuperUte suffered a spike in engine temperature, with the issue originating from the fan belt that had worked its way loose. Pulling into the pits for an inspection, the Team was able to fix the issue before the session was prematurely red flagged following an accident in sector 2. The session concluded with Alexander's efforts earning him a P9 start for race 1. After qualifying, the decision was made by the Team to swap the engine with a spare, ahead of Race 1—which at that stage was only 9 hours away.

Further drama ensued in Race 1, with a wet start catching Nathan Pretty out as he fishtailed his #18 Colorado out of Hell Corner (turn 1) to unavoidably dart across the mid-field. Taking evasive action, Alexander sought an escape from the chaos down the inside—but speared into the passenger side of Pretty as the Colorado slid across the track. The heavy impact caused significant damage to the front of the D-MAX SuperUte—forcing Alexander to fall into line at the back of the pack. Bruised and battered, Alexander was able to recover and nurse his SuperUte to the chequered flag, earning back a few places to finish in P6—a notion only made more miraculous after the team assessed the level of damage after the race.

Post-Race 1, the Team worked tirelessly late through the night to repair the damage to the #22 Isuzu D-MAX SuperUte; replacing front panels, the structural support for the radiator, the crash bar and the radiator assembly.

Race 2 on Saturday morning saw Alexander start on the third row, in P6, as per the reverse grid format of the category. Blitzing the start, Alexander made quick work to make some early passes—dispatching the five cars ahead to take the lead by The Dipper on lap 1. There Alexander commanded the race, lapping personal bests in the clear air—before crossing the line an astonishing 2:13.5190s ahead of 2nd place, Craig Woods.

However, Race 2 was also not without chaos. A late-race incident saw Cameron Crick locking his rears under braking into The Chase and spinning to a halt in the middle of the corner—only to leave Bayley Hall nowhere to go, but into the left side of Crick's Triton. Series rival, Ryal Harris also failed to finish Race 2 with engine overheating issues forcing his early retirement. Plagued with an engine failure, Harris was a non-starter for Race 3.

"It's really cool to win a race at Bathurst—certainly something I've dreamed about for a long time," Tom Alexander said.

"I got lucky off the start and was able to make a few spots, and I knew I had to clear the Rangers quickly. I took a few risky moves over the top of the Mountain, but credit to the guys—because they gave me room. It's a shame my title rivals Cameron (Crick) and Ryal (Harris) were out, it's not the way I wanted to build a points lead, but you never know what might happen in the last 2 rounds, so we have to keep pushing on," Alexander continued.

Race 3 saw Alexander start from the second row in third. However, Ben Walsh got an early jump for the lead on the first lap. That was until the experienced, Nathan Pretty passed Walsh through The Chase—with Alexander following closely behind. On lap 2 through The Chase, Alexander made the move on Walsh for second, but found contact with the HiLux in turn 21, forcing the D-MAX SuperUte into a tank-slapper that Alexander wrestled to control—before re-joining in fifth.

With lost ground to make up, Alexander pressed on, setting some purple sectors and a new lap record as he chased down the lead pack. On lap 3 through Griffins Bend, Alexander made the pass down the inside on Joshua Anderson for forth, then again on Ben Walsh through The Chase for third place, where he would ultimately finish just 0.3 seconds behind Crick.

"We had really good pace in Race 3 – to come away from the weekend with a lap record at Bathurst is cool. Unfortunately, I tangled with Ben (Walsh) in the Chase, but I had the pace to comeback through to third," commented Tom Alexander after Race 3.

"Championship-wise, we're very happy with our position, but there's still a long way to go. It was an awesome team effort to bounce back after Friday—and Saturday morning—so a massive thanks to RSR for all of their hard work. Bring on Gold Coast in a couple of weeks!" He reflected.

Tom Alexander in the #22 Caltex Delo® Racing Isuzu D-MAX SuperUte leads the 2019 ECB SuperUte Championship by 39 points ahead of Cameron Crick.

The Caltex Delo® Racing Isuzu D-MAX SuperUte will return to the track for Round 7 of the 2019 ECB SuperUte Championship, at the Vodafone Gold Coast 500 on 25-27 October 2019.

SuperCheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Results
Practice 1 – 4th
Practice 2 – 2nd
Qualifying – 9th
Race 1 – 6th
Race 2 – 1st
Race 3 – 3rd

Championship Points after Round 6 SuperCheap Auto Bathurst 1000
1 Caltex Delo Racing Tom Alexander Isuzu D-MAX 857
2 Total Tools Team Triton Racing Cameron Crick Mitsubishi Triton 818
3 Fat Freddy's Ben Walsh Toyota Hilux 776
4 EFS 4x4 Racing Ryal Harris Mazda BT50 764
5 Western Sydney Motorsport Craig Woods Toyota Hilux 580
6 Allgate Auto Doors Racing Christopher Formosa Ford Ranger 519
7 Sydney Motorsport Toyota Craig Thompson Toyota Hilux 504
8 Mitsubishi Motors Team Triton Toby Price Mitsubishi Triton 471
9 Tank World Benjamin Falk Holden Colorado 357
10 Mitsubishi Motors Team Triton Elliot Barbour Mitsubishi Triton 280
11 Sieders Racing Team Michael Sieders Toyota Hilux 245
12 Jeff Watters 229
13 AC Delco Nathan Pretty Holden Colorado 163
14 Sieders Racing Team Joshua Anderson Toyota Hilux 141
15 Kevin Stoopman 127
16 Gerard Maggs 127
17 Madison Dunston 123
18 Jaiden Maggs 123
19 Sieders Racing Team Luke van Herwaarde Toyota Hilux 99
20 West End Mazda Adam Dodd Mazda BT50 64
21 Ronnie Conquest 52
22 Peter Major 48
23 Mitsubishi Motors Team Triton Craig Dontas Mitsubishi Triton 19