'We f***ed up': Team 18 lament Bathurst 1000 fuel flop
Team 18 principal Adrian Burgess admitted to a critical fuel miscalculation that cost driver Anton De Pasquale a victory at the Bathurst 1000. The team led the race until the final lap when the car ran out of fuel.
Why it matters
It captures a significant moment in professional motorsport, highlighting the high-stakes nature of race strategy and human error.
<p>There's no dancing around Anton De Pasquale's last-lap fuel disaster at the <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/10/11/kostecki-prevails-in-second-bathurst-1000-crown/" target="_blank">Bathurst 1000.</a></p> <p>"We f***ed up," Team 18 team principal Adrian Burgess said.</p> <p>A distraught Burgess could barely digest the heartbreak at Mount Panorama after a fuel miscalculation cost De Pasquale and Team 18 a maiden Bathurst 1000 victory on Sunday.</p> <p>It was Brodie Kostecki who took the chequered flag thanks to defending Supercars champion Chaz Mostert, who set up an electrifying finish when he crashed out at Forrest's Elbow with five laps to go.</p> <p>Triple Eight star Will Brown and co-driver Scott Pyne finished second, followed by Matt Stone Racing <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/10/10/supercars-rookie-takes-bathurst-1000-provisional-pole/" target="_blank">rookie Zach Bates</a> in third with Aaron Seton.</p> <p>Mostert's crash brought out the first safety car of the famously carnage-riddled marathon, but Burgess couldn't even pinpoint exactly when the crew realised they were in trouble.</p> <p>"We were f***ed already.
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