Good things happen to good people

THE OLD adage in the title is, sadly, never really a universal constant, is it?

It would be nice to believe that by simply being a thoroughly decent person good things will come to you automatically, but the reality is often far from that overtly optimistic outlook on life.

But sometimes, just sometimes, the world conspires to ensure that every now and then good things do indeed come to those who actually deserve them.

Lee Holdsworth is one of those people.

You’ll not find many people in the Supercars paddock who don’t have something nice to say about Holdsworth, who for his long time at the top end of the sport has retained an ego-free approach to his motorsport.

As a direct result of that it was impossible to find anyone talking down his performance on Sunday evening following this year’s Bathurst 1000, a race which he can now claim to have won.

Just the 62^nd ever winner of the Great Race, Holdsworth’s performance was critical in Chaz Mostert ultimately bringing home their Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore in the top spot after one of the fastest ever Bathurst enduros.

Holdsworth dominated the opening co-driver stanza, peeling off consistently fast lap after consistently fast lap to put the WAU team in a superb position, able to react and change things on the fly when curve-balls like a random puncture were thrown at them.

While Chaz, now the fastest ever driver around Mount Panorama in a Supercar, was supreme all day it was Holdsworth’s ability to compete against full or part-time rival driver at any stage in the race that proved the backbone of their winning strategy.

But driving aside, just seeing someone who had thrown themselves at the mountain on 17 prior occasions for a return of only one podium and a whole lot of heartbreak finally stand on the top step was an incredible moment.

There was no false emption, no overblown celebrations; what we saw Sunday was the genuine reaction from someone who had just popped open the pressure valve and transformed his life.

Look further down the podium and Good People Stories continue.

James Moffat is one and while he and Cam Waters didn’t look like they were overly thrilled to deliver Tickford Racing their second-straight Bathurst 1000 bridesmaid performance, for Moffat it represented his best ever Bathurst drive.

Carrying a surname with the weight of the Moffat brand can’t have been easy for James, but it’s something he’s always worn with pride and passion. I’m sure his dad, a legend of the sport now tucked up and cared for in Melbourne, will have been very proud. It was a drive that lived up to the legacy of the Moffat family tradition.

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BACK in third position you found Brodie Kostecki and David Russell and perhaps the most unheralded drive of the entire Great Race.

Putting aside the outstanding season Brodie and Erebus have had, seeing D-Russ on the Mountain Podium was one of the least expected things that occurred on Sunday – perhaps only trumped by the Echidna invasion that spiced up the race in its final third.

Russell is one of those nearly drivers. He’s nearly had a good full-time drive in Supercars. He’s nearly won races in Carrera Cup Australia. He’s nearly made it full-time but never quite come close.

Yet he is outrageously talented as a driver and while he doesn’t get to race a whole heap throughout the year, whenever he does he is competitive. If you look beyond the efforts of Holdsworth and Moffat on Sunday, Russell’s co-driving stints on Sunday were phenomenal.

FOURTH place for Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes was probably as good as Triple Eight were going to do on Sunday. They just didn’t have the raw speed to keep up with the Walkinshaw machine and Shane van Gisbergen literally drove the tyres off his trying to keep up.

A few spots behind, CL and Jamie did what those two drivers to so very well – they used all of their experience to haul the car up the grid and narrowly miss a podium finish.

It seems less likely than not that Craig will end his career on seven Bathurst wins and that there’s a decent chance Jamie won’t win it again either (as team boss, will he make the call to bench Garth Tander and plonk himself alongside SVG next year?) but the fact both remain as competitive as they are is a good story in its own right.

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AND then in fifth place you find Bryce Fullwood and Warren Luff. More good stories.

Fullwood has had a shocking sophomore season with WAU that has resulted in his departing the team for Brad Jones’ equip next year – but his Bathurst performance was a handy reminder that he still has all the ability and race craft that saw him crowned Super2 Champion a few years ago.

And then there’s Luffy. Warren-freaking-Luff. A man who spends his entire year driving stunt cars at Movie World on the Gold Coast only to dust his racing helmet off once a year and return instantly to podium contention on the Mountain.

In case you’re not aware, Luffy’s Bathurst track record over the last decade reads like this:

3^rd, 3^rd, DNS, 3^rd, DNF, 2^nd, 2^nd, 7^th, 3^rd, 5^th. Outrageous

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FINALLY it would be remis of me to finish this ‘good vibes’ column without a mention to those who really give the Great Race its soul: the fans.

While they didn’t come back in big numbers – we estimated the 2021 attendance at somewhere between 60-70 per cent of the regular crush – for all the reasons you can list, they still came and revelled in a remarkable event.

Just driving into the track each day and seeing the flags flying in the campgrounds, the smoke lingering over the hill, the fans lining at the gate each morning and those taking their seats early returned Bathurst’s soul just when it needed it.

And of all the ‘Good things’ I can think of to occur to good people last weekend, that has to be number one.