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BATHURST, Australia — Updated: Sunday, April 26, 2026.
The first lap of the Bathurst 1000 did what Bathurst always does. It made a hero out of one driver and a mess for everyone else. Aaron Seton launched cleanly from pole in Zach Bates’ pole-winning #10 Bendix Chevrolet, while behind him the opening lap turned ugly at The Cutting.
Seton, a third-generation racer, held off Todd Hazelwood at the start. Lee Holdsworth joined the fight for the lead group, keeping Anton De Pasquale’s #18 DEWALT Camaro from getting too comfortable. Within a lap, that front trio had pulled clear of Lochie Dalton and Scott Pye, putting themselves into clean air before the rest of the field had finished arguing over the same pieces of track.
The trouble began at The Cutting, one of the mountain’s most dangerous moments of commitment. James Moffat and Tony D’Alberto made contact, and D’Alberto’s front bumper collected Nash Morris’ #777 PremiAir Camaro. Morris was spun around, losing several positions in the kind of incident that usually leaves race day shaped by a single corner.
Moffat came away the worst of the three at that moment. His Team Valvoline Camaro picked up a right-front puncture, and he was forced to make an early trip down the pit lane. Morris did not stop cleanly either. He ran off the road at McPhillamy Park while trying to close back on the damaged Garry Rogers Motorsport entry. To make matters messier, Moffat’s tire left debris near the exit of The Chase.
Race control made a significant call. They kept the race under green. Bathurst often throws out a safety car in the opening laps, and that would have reset the race and erased Seton’s early gap. Instead, the leaders were free to stretch the lead and build a buffer that could be decisive at the first pit window.
There was also an early mechanical story that had nothing to do with contact. Jackson Walls and Jack Perkins were sharing the #11 Objective Ford, which had been fitted with a new engine overnight. The power-steering pump then failed, forcing Perkins back into the pit lane repeatedly while the crew tried to replace the component. It was not the kind of start any team wants at Bathurst, where time lost in the lane is rarely recovered.
Kai Allen, the only primary driver to take the green flag from the opening order, was quietly working his way forward from 11th. While others fought through traffic and debris, Allen found clean lines and made steady progress. It was not the flashiest move of the afternoon, but it was exactly the kind of patient driving Bathurst rewards after the race settles down.
From a strategy standpoint, the opening-lap incidents changed the arithmetic more than the leaderboard. The front group now has clean air, which helps tire temperatures and gives the engineers better data. The cars caught in the chaos are already burning energy on recovery, and any additional stops will only add to their problems.
The focus now moves to the first fuel window and tire management. If the race stays green, Seton can control the tempo and pick his pit stop. If a safety car appears later, the gap created on lap one disappears. That is Bathurst math: the mountain is always waiting to reuse the past against you.
Moffat’s puncture is not necessarily a race-ender, but every extra stop in a 1000-kilometer race compounds. Morris has to hope his car didn’t pick up suspension damage at McPhillamy Park. The #11 Ford’s power-steering trouble is more concerning because it was a pure mechanical failure, not something caused by another driver’s mistake.
Seton has done exactly what he needed to do at the start. The car is where it belongs, the pace is strong, and the opening traffic was avoided. But Bathurst is not decided on the first lap. It is decided later, when the tires are falling off and the mountain starts asking its own questions. The drama at The Cutting has already made sure this race has its first layer of intrigue before the leaders even reached the first pit stop.
