In his first ever Bathurst 1000km race, Tim Blanchard continued his great run with David Reynolds in the Stratco Kelly Racing Commodore with a top 20 place, As recent years have shown, the race runs on a knife edge right to the finish with just a car length separating the winning car of Garth Tander from Craig Lowndes.

Starting in the top 10, the #16 Stratco Commodore ran solidly in the lead group until the first round of pit stops. Tim was in the car on lap 25 and set about consolidating the cars position. A major battle developed with Tim and the two GRM Commodores and Steve Richards in the FPR Falcon. After settling into some good lap times Tim sat in 13th place. He pitted on lap 40 when he joined nearly the whole field in pit lane when a Safety Car was deployed.

The car continued to hover around P13 for the next long stint and Tim pitted again from P11 on Lap 64 - again under a Safety Car period. Blanchard was back in the car for the next stint but ran into trouble just one lap after the pit stop with a loose electrical cable to the alternator.

This was the turning point as the #16 Commodore fell off the lead lap with the extra stop. From that point Blanchard and Reynolds fought hard eventually getting back on the lead lap but nearly two thirds of the Mt Panorama circuit behind the leaders.

 

Eventually Reynolds crossed the line in 19th place to give the combination a 100% finishing record in the two major 2011 V8 Supercar endurance races.

"I am a little disappointed but glad to get my first Bathurst under my belt. The car had good pace but we had an issue with the alternator cable. If it wasn't for that I think we really could have given the Top 10 a shake up. My first Bathurst was not by any means a disaster but the potential was there for a great result' Tim said at the finish of the 1000km Classic.

The race was won by Tander / Percat from Lowndes / Skaife and Tim's Kelly Racing Team Mates Murphy and Simonsen.