The 2011 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was an Australian touring car motor race for V8 Supercars. The race was on Sunday, 9 October 2011 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia and was Race 20 of the 2011 International V8 Supercars Championship. It was the fifteenth running of the Australian 1000 race, first held after the organisational split over the Bathurst 1000 that occurred in 1997. It was also the 54th race for which the lineage can be traced back to the 1960 Armstrong 500 held at Phillip Island.

The race was won by Garth Tander and Nick Percat of the Holden Racing Team by 0.3 of a second over defending race winners Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife of the Triple Eight Race Engineering team. Tander was forced to resist a last minute charge from Lowndes as Tander's car faded in the closing laps. The Kelly Racing car of Greg Murphy and Allan Simonsen finished third, completing a Holden Commodore clean sweep of the podium positions. Percat became the first South Australian born driver to win the Bathurst 1000, although South Australian raised Russell Ingall had won the race previously.

Entry list The race saw the entry of one wildcard, through Kelly Racing's Shannons Supercar Showdown television show. Cam Waters, one of the drivers of the wildcard entry, would become the youngest ever Bathurst 1000 starter at 17 years, 2 months and 6 days old - beating the previous record (set by Paul Dumbrell in 1999) by 8 days.

Drivers Team (Sponsor) Car Drivers Team (Sponsor) Car 1 James Courtney Cameron McConville 18 James Moffat Matthew Halliday 2 Garth Tander Nick Percat 19 Jonathon Webb Richard Lyons 3 Tony D'Alberto Dale Wood 21 Karl Reindler David Wall 4 Alex Davison David Brabham 30 Warren Luff Nathan Pretty 5 Mark Winterbottom Steven Richards 33 Lee Holdsworth Greg Ritter 6 Will Davison Luke Youlden 34 Michael Caruso Marcus Marshall 7 Todd Kelly David Russell 47 Tim Slade Daniel Gaunt 8 Jason Bright Andrew Jones 49 Steve Owen Paul Morris 9 Shane van Gisbergen John McIntyre 55 Paul Dumbrell Dean Canto 11 Greg Murphy Allan Simonsen 61 Fabian Coulthard Craig Baird 12 Dean Fiore Michael Patrizi 77 Grant Denyer Cam Waters 14 Jason Bargwanna Shane Price 88 Jamie Whincup Andrew Thompson 15 Rick Kelly Owen Kelly 200 Russell Ingall Jack Perkins 16 David Reynolds Tim Blanchard 888 Craig Lowndes Mark Skaife 17 Steven Johnson David Besnard *Entries with a grey background were wildcard entries which did not compete in the full championship season.

Practice Thursday practice was plagued by rain and rumours over the condition of Dunlop's supply of wet weather tyres. Fog caused the third practice session to be cancelled while the tyre supply situation was clarified.

Tim Slade in the James Rosenberg Racing Falcon was fastest in the first session on Thursday, setting a 2:24.2255 lap time in damp conditions. Slade's Stone Brothers Racing teammate Shane van Gisbergen was second fastest ahead of James Moffat. Reigning series champion James Courtney was the fastest Holden, 1.4 seconds behind Slade. The second session, only for co-drivers, was slower and wetter. Ford Performance Racing's Steven Richards was fastest at 2:27.8960, over three seconds behind the previous session. David Besnard (Dick Johnson Racing) was second fastest ahead of the first Holden, David Russell of Kelly Racing who was just ahead of 2010 Bathurst winner, Mark Skaife.

The Friday morning session gained new importance when V8 Supercar series points leader Jamie Whincup crashed at the Cutting, crashing hard enough to bend his car's chassis rails. Cameron McConville took his Holden Racing Team Commodore to the top of the co-driver practice session ahead of Skaife and Richards, with McConville setting a 2:09.8765 in the dry, while Shane van Gisbergen set the fastest time of the meeting thus far at 2:07.6035, ahead of Whincup prior to his crash and Mark Winterbottom, while Brad Jones Racing left the #14 Holden of Jason Bargwanna and Shane Price on the sidelines, changing an engine.

Qualifying Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander set the fastest lap time during the qualifying session on Friday. Tander set a 2:07.6640 lap time to secure the prime final position in the Top Ten Shootout to be held on Saturday morning. Tander set the time late in the session and was good enough to hold off a last lap effort from Mark Winterbottom. Winterbottom was five hundredths of a second slower than Tander with Jamie Whincup three hundredths further away in his repaired Commodore. David Reynolds and Kelly Racing teammate Greg Murphy climbed up the order on their final laps. Craig Lowndes (Triple Eight Race Engineering), James Courtney, Lee Holdsworth (Garry Rogers Motorsport), Shane van Gisbergen and Steve Owen (Paul Morris Motorsport) secured the other positions in the top ten shootout. Will Davison just missed out on the top ten by five hundredths of a second with his Ford Performance Racing teammate Paul Dumbrell also just missing out in the final moments. Alex Davison (Stone Brothers Racing), Michael Caruso (Garry Rogers Motorsport) and Tim Slade completed the top 15. Following the session, Lee Holdsworth was demoted five grid positions after he missed the scales at the end of qualifying. The penalty sees Will Davison move into the top ten shootout.

29th and last was the Kelly Racing Commodore of TV weather presenter Grant Denyer who made a return to racing after a long layoff to mentor the winner of a reality TV competition aimed at discovering young racing drivers. The winner, Cam Waters, became the youngest driver to ever compete for the race.

The only serious set-back in qualifying was a last lap crash when Jason Bargwanna hit the wall at the Esses, heavily damaging the front end of his Brad Jones Racing Commodore.

Shootout Will Davison was the first driver out in the shootout, setting a time of 2:08.8821. Steve Owen, Shane van Gisbergen, James Courtney and Craig Lowndes all failed to better Davison's time, Lowndes coming closest with a 2:09.2197. 2003 pole-sitter Greg Murphy was three tenths up at the first split and went on to beat Davison by eight one hundredths of a second with a 2:08.8009, which would prove to be the pole time. Murphy's teammate David Reynolds complained of smoke in the cabin from a gearbox issue at the start of his lap, going slowest with a 2:10.1570. Jamie Whincup, Mark Winterbottom and Garth Tander all had their laps ruined when rain started to fall, Whincup having a few moments on his lap. Winterbottom coasted around to take tenth place while Tander pushed a bit harder to take ninth.

Results

Qualifying Pos No Name Car Team Time12 Garth Tander Nick PercatHolden VE CommodoreHolden Racing Team2:07.664025 Mark Winterbottom Steven RichardsFord FG FalconFord Performance Racing2:07.7187388 Jamie Whincup Andrew ThompsonHolden VE CommodoreTriple Eight Race Engineering2:07.7408416 David Reynolds Tim BlanchardHolden VE CommodoreKelly Racing2:07.8371511 Greg Murphy Allan SimonsenHolden VE CommodoreKelly Racing2:07.91266888 Craig Lowndes Mark SkaifeHolden VE CommodoreTriple Eight Race Engineering2:08.002471 James Courtney Cameron McConvilleHolden VE CommodoreHolden Racing Team2:08.003589 Shane van Gisbergen John McIntyreFord FG FalconStone Brothers Racing2:08.0955949 Steve Owen Paul MorrisHolden VE CommodorePaul Morris Motorsport2:08.1411106 Will Davison Luke YouldenFord FG FalconFord Performance Racing2:08.19821155 Paul Dumbrell Dean CantoFord FG FalconRod Nash Racing2:08.2443124 Alex Davison David BrabhamFord FG FalconStone Brothers Racing2:08.28871333 Lee Holdsworth Greg RitterHolden VE CommodoreGarry Rogers Motorsport2:08.09421434 Michael Caruso Marcus MarshallHolden VE CommodoreGarry Rogers Motorsport2:08.44641547 Tim Slade Daniel GauntFord FG FalconJames Rosenberg Racing2:08.47211615 Rick Kelly Owen KellyHolden VE CommodoreKelly Racing2:08.52501718 James Moffat Matt HallidayFord FG FalconDick Johnson Racing2:08.6631188 Jason Bright Andrew JonesHolden VE CommodoreBrad Jones Racing2:08.6681197 Todd Kelly David RussellHolden VE CommodoreKelly Racing2:08.72712061 Fabian Coulthard Craig BairdHolden VE CommodoreWalkinshaw Racing2:08.77462114 Jason Bargwanna Shane PriceHolden VE CommodoreBrad Jones Racing2:09.11552230 Warren Luff Nathan PrettyHolden VE CommodoreLucas Dumbrell Motorsport2:09.1503233 Tony D'Alberto Dale WoodFord FG FalconTony D'Alberto Racing2:09.15032417 Steven Johnson David BesnardFord FG FalconDick Johnson Racing2:09.307625200 Russell Ingall Jack PerkinsHolden VE CommodorePaul Morris Motorsport2:09.33282619 Jonathon Webb Richard LyonsFord FG FalconTekno Autosports2:09.40172721 Karl Reindler David WallHolden VE CommodoreBritek Motorsport2:09.40202812 Dean Fiore Michael PatriziFord FG FalconTriple F Racing2:10.01912977 Grant Denyer Cam WatersHolden VE CommodoreKelly Racing—Shannons-Mars Racing2:11.7371 sourcehttp://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?09/10/2011.MOUN.Q4 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 - 2011 V8 Supercars - Race 20 Mount Panorama - Bathurst V8 Supercars - Qualifying Notes: – Lee Holdsworth qualified eighth and was eligible to take part in the Top Ten Shootout, but failed to present his car to the race stewards after qualifying and was given a five-place grid penalty. Will Davison was promoted to tenth and the Shootout in his place.

Top ten shootout Pos No Driver Team Time 111 Greg MurphyKelly Racing2:08.8009 26 Will DavisonFord Performance Racing2:08.8821 3888 Craig LowndesTriple Eight Race Engineering2:09.2197 41 James CourtneyHolden Racing Team2:09.2359 59 Shane van GisbergenStone Brothers Racing2:09.3820 649 Steve OwenPaul Morris Motorsport2:09.5177 716 David ReynoldsKelly Racing2:10.1570 888 Jamie WhincupTriple Eight Race Engineering2:26.6012 92 Garth TanderHolden Racing Team2:31.3934 105 Mark WinterbottomFord Performance Racing2:52.0682 sourcehttp://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?09/10/2011.MOUN.Q7 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 - 2011 V8 Supercars - Race 20 Mount Panorama - Bathurst V8 Supercars - Top 10 Shoot Out

Starting grid The following table represents the final starting grid for the race on Sunday: 1 11 6 2 3 888 1 4 5 9 49 6 7 16 88 8 9 2 5 10 11 55 4 12 13 33 34 14 15 47 15 16 17 18 8 18 19 7 61 20 21 14 30 22 23 3 17 24 25 200 19 26 27 21 12 28 29 77 Source:

Race results