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When Anton De Pasquale’s No. 18 DEWALT Chevrolet Camaro ran out of fuel on Mountain Straight during the final lap of the 2026 Repco Bathurst 1000, it lost momentum, slowed, and failed to reach the chequered flag. Brodie Kostecki passed the stricken car and won the race with co-driver Todd Hazelwood.
Team 18 later said its investigation found an issue in the team’s fuel-strategy software. According to the team, that problem made the final fuel fill smaller than the amount needed to finish. The incident shows the immediate consequence of fuel starvation in this race, but it does not establish a universal outcome for every Bathurst car that runs dry.
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What happened to the Bathurst car
The decisive incident occurred on the last lap of the 2026 Repco Bathurst 1000. De Pasquale was leading the No. 18 Chevrolet Camaro for Team 18 when the car ran out of fuel on Mountain Straight, the long uphill section after Hell Corner and before Griffins Bend.
As the car lost usable fuel, it slowed dramatically. Kostecki was able to pass and take the lead, then complete the final lap to win with co-driver Todd Hazelwood. Supercars described the finish as a three-lap green-flag run after a late safety-car period, so the closing laps were raced at speed rather than ending under caution.
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ABC News reported that the stoppage happened on lap 161, with approximately six kilometres still left before the chequered flag. Those figures describe this particular race; they are not a normal distance or lap at which Bathurst cars run out of fuel.
| Event detail | What was reported |
|---|---|
| Car | Team 18’s No. 18 DEWALT Chevrolet Camaro |
| Driver at the stoppage | Anton De Pasquale |
| Location | Mountain Straight |
| Lap | Lap 161, according to ABC News |
| Distance remaining | About six kilometres, according to ABC News |
| Race winner | Brodie Kostecki with co-driver Todd Hazelwood |
| Green-flag finish | Three laps after the late safety-car period, according to Supercars |
Why did it run out of fuel?
Team 18’s post-race explanation was a fuel-calculation failure rather than a deliberate gamble that simply came up short. The team said its investigation identified “an issue within the team’s fuel strategy software, which resulted in the final fuel fill being less than the amount required to finish the race.” Team 18 also said the issue had been resolved.
That is the team’s own stated finding, reproduced in Supercars’ report. It should be presented as the result of Team 18’s investigation, not as an independently published technical finding by the race organiser or a regulator. The available reports do not give the software error, the intended fuel quantity, the actual quantity added, or the precise arithmetic used in the final calculation.
The team had been managing what appeared to be a favourable fuel position late in the race. A safety-car period changed the context by reducing the distance covered at racing speed, but the team’s calculation still did not leave enough fuel to reach the finish once green-flag running resumed.
De Pasquale told ABC News: “Once I knew how much fuel short we were, I knew we were cooked.” His co-driver, Lee Holdsworth, said: “I can’t believe it. I didn’t know we were so close on fuel, or what happened.” Those comments convey how suddenly the strategic margin disappeared from the drivers’ perspective; they do not provide a measured fuel quantity or a general rule about fuel warnings in Supercars.
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What a fuel shortage does on the track
The confirmed on-track sequence in this case is simple: the Camaro could no longer continue at its previous pace, slowed on Mountain Straight, and was passed before the finish. It did not reach the chequered flag.
Reports do not establish whether the engine stopped in one instant, whether the car briefly recovered fuel under braking or cornering, or how far it could have coasted under ideal conditions. Fuel-system design, engine load, gradient, throttle position and the amount of fuel left in the system can all affect what a driver feels, but the Bathurst reports do not document those technical details for this car.
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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteIt is therefore unsafe to turn this incident into a universal statement that every fuel-starved Bathurst car stops immediately, always coasts to a particular place, or can reliably reach the pits. The only supported conclusion is that this Camaro lost enough propulsion to be overtaken and did not finish.
Did the safety car save the leader?
No. The late safety car reduced the speed of the field and altered the distance that could be covered during the neutralised period, but it did not provide a guaranteed fuel rescue. Once racing resumed, the No. 18 car still needed enough fuel for the remaining green-flag laps.
Supercars’ account of the finish says the race had a three-lap green-flag run to the chequered flag. That restart exposed the shortfall: a calculation that looked sufficient during slower running was not sufficient for the actual remaining distance and pace.
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A safety car can change a fuel strategy in either direction. It may reduce consumption while cars circulate slowly, yet it can also alter pit-stop timing, the number of laps remaining after a restart, and the assumptions used by a team’s software. The 2026 reports establish that those circumstances mattered to Team 18’s calculation; they do not publish a general formula for how much fuel any safety-car period saves.
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Supercars’ explainer on the grandstand finish quoted Rule 10.2.13.1. The quoted provision says:
“Should a SC deployment end eight (8) laps or less from the last lap of a race, or ten (10) minutes or less prior to the time certain finish time of a race as published in the Supplementary Regulations or as amended by the Stewards, any Car that is one (1) or more laps behind the leader must reposition itself by driving through the Pit Lane so that it is not in front of any Car that is on the lead lap.”
In the context in which Supercars published it, that rule explains how lapped cars are repositioned near the end of a race. It is not a rule that refuels a leading car, extends the race for a car that runs dry, or guarantees recovery of a stranded vehicle.
The wording above was reported in connection with the event explainer and should be checked against the applicable event regulations before being treated as current rule text for another race. The 2025 Bathurst supplementary regulations are historical documents and are not a substitute for the 2026 regulations.
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How fuel strategy creates this kind of risk
Endurance-race fuel planning is a moving estimate rather than a single number. A team has to relate the fuel added to the distance remaining, expected consumption, pace, traffic, caution periods and the number of laps that will be run after the final stop.
- Fuel added: The final fill must contain enough usable fuel for the planned distance, not merely enough for the estimate at the moment the car enters pit lane.
- Distance remaining: The team must know how many laps and kilometres remain after the stop, including any change caused by a safety-car restart or a time-certain finish.
- Consumption estimate: Software turns previous running and current assumptions into a projected requirement. A data or logic error can make that projection wrong even when the crew follows it correctly.
- Race pace: Green-flag running generally demands a different consumption rate from a slow safety-car period. The final calculation has to match the running that is actually expected before the flag.
- Margin: A small buffer protects against traffic, extra laps, increased pace or an under-read fuel measurement. The reports do not state what margin Team 18 intended or had available.
None of the published accounts supplies a verified fuel volume or a complete lap-by-lap calculation for the No. 18 car. Any precise claim about litres short, litres remaining or the number of laps a full tank should cover would go beyond the evidence available for this incident.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Could the driver have coasted to the finish?
There was no successful coast to the finish in this case. The car slowed on Mountain Straight and was passed, with roughly six kilometres still reported to be remaining.
Whether a fuel-starved race car can coast any meaningful distance depends on the slope, speed at the moment power is lost, the transmission state, steering and braking demands, and whether intermittent fuel pickup allows the engine to run again. The reports about the 2026 race do not establish a repeatable coasting distance for a Supercars Camaro.
That is why “it ran out of fuel” should not be interpreted as a precise mechanical description of an instant stop. In this event it describes the strategic result: the car no longer had enough fuel to complete the race under the conditions that remained.
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What happened to the race result?
The immediate sporting consequence was decisive. Kostecki passed De Pasquale’s slowing Camaro and won with Hazelwood. Team 18’s car did not finish the race.
The available reports do not set out a general classification rule for every car that stops with an empty tank, nor do they specify the No. 18 car’s final official classification in a way that supports a broader explanation. A car’s recorded result can depend on whether it crosses the line, completes the required distance, is classified under the event regulations, or is formally retired. Those details must be taken from the official results and regulations for the specific event rather than inferred from this incident alone.
What teams can learn from the incident
The most concrete lesson is that a fuel strategy is only as reliable as the data and logic behind it. Team 18 attributed the shortfall to software and said the problem was resolved. That points to a process issue, not evidence that fuel strategy itself is inherently unpredictable.
For a professional team, sensible controls would include independently checking the final-fill requirement, confirming the number of laps remaining after a restart, comparing software output with live consumption, and ensuring the driver and pit wall share the same understanding of the margin. These are practical safeguards implied by the failure mode; the published reports do not claim that Team 18 used or failed to use each specific check.
The incident also demonstrates why a late safety car is not automatically good news for the leader. Slower laps can reduce consumption, but the decisive question is whether the car has enough fuel for the entire period after racing resumes. A calculation that survives neutralised running can still fail during the final green-flag sprint.
What is established—and what is not
| Question | Supported answer |
|---|---|
| Did the car lose fuel on the final lap? | Yes. The No. 18 Camaro ran out on Mountain Straight during the final lap of the 2026 Bathurst 1000. |
| Did it finish? | No. It slowed and failed to reach the chequered flag. |
| Who benefited? | Brodie Kostecki passed and won with Todd Hazelwood. |
| What cause did the team give? | An issue in Team 18’s fuel-strategy software made the final fill smaller than required to finish. |
| How much fuel was missing? | Not stated in the published reports. |
| How far could the car coast? | Not established. |
| Is this the normal result whenever a Bathurst car runs dry? | No universal outcome is established by this single event. |
| Did the safety-car rule provide a refuelling remedy? | No. The quoted rule concerns repositioning lapped cars near the finish. |
The direct answer
In the 2026 Bathurst 1000, running out of fuel meant the leading No. 18 Camaro lost speed on Mountain Straight, was passed, and failed to finish. Team 18 said a fuel-strategy software issue left the final fill short. The late safety car did not change that outcome, and the reports do not support a broader claim about how every Bathurst car behaves when its tank runs dry.
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