Ford Mustang Victorious In ‘Absolutely Insane’ 2025 Bathurst 1000

Fans can count on the Bathurst 1000 – the crown jewel of the Australian Supercars Championship – to always produce incredible racing action start to finish. That was certainly the case for the 2025 running of the event on October 12^th, which, in the victor’s own words, was “absolutely insane.” In fact, the winning Ford Mustang would have never been given the honors without a little bit of drama in the closing laps.

As per a report from Supercars.com, Matt Payne and Garth Tander tag-teamed the No. 100 Ford Mustang. Technically, the team crossed the finish line second, but a late-race penalty knocked the entry ahead of them off the top spot in the standings.

Matt Payne (left) and Garth Tander (left)

That competitor was the No. 31 Chevy of James Golding and David Russel. Golding tangled with the leader with five laps to go, sending the No. 99 Chevy of Cooper Murray off the pace. Payne guided his Ford Mustang through the melee, following Golding across the line. However, the penalty from Golding’s contact with Murray dropped the No. 31 Chevy to third place, and Payne was credited with the win.

Not that it was an easy win, even with the penalty – the Ford Mustang of Tander and Payne rolled off the grid 18^th when the green flag dropped, leaving the duo to methodically pick their way toward the front.

“It’s absolutely insane, that last stint in the wet when I got back in the car it felt like forever,” Payne said in Victory Lane. “We kept getting Safety Cars and it kept stalling our race, and then I saw Jimmy [Golding] get into the side of Cooper [Murray] and I kind of predicted that was going to happen, and just managed to get through.”

He added, “I felt like I ran out of tires a bit at the end, but a win’s a win, we’ll take it. It’s just so, so good for the guys, they’ve worked so hard, so cool.”

The race, which took competitors through a challenging wet run as rain cascaded in the final laps, marked the first Bathurst 100 win for Ford’s Penrite Racing. It was also the first for The Blue Oval since 2019, killing General Motors’ five-year winning streak. Tander, meanwhile, celebrated his sixth victory in the iconic event, making him one of the winningest Bathurst 1000 drivers of all time.