Exclusive: Chaz Mostert chats the Bathurst 1000 and the Supercars season so far

The big race is almost here. The Bathurst 1000 is one of the most famous motor racing challenges in the world, blending cutting-edge supercars with a 6-hour long endurance race. It takes a lot of skill to compete, and one of the few champions to ever win at Mount Panorama is Chaz Mostert – who will be driving the No. 1 Mobil 1 Optus Racing Toyota GR Supra this year.

Ahead of the big race, Optus’ Well Connected blog sat down with Chaz to talk about the season so far, which has been an absolute ripper. Chaz has put in some blinders, and we’re keen to pick his brain about the Supercars in 2026 and the lead-up to the big race.

This is a massively exciting Bathurst Chaz, particularly because it's the first time the Toyota Supra will compete at the big race. How's this year going to play out different?

Chaz: Every year Bathurst seems to get more and more exciting! This year is obviously a pretty special one of us as it’s our first time taking the Toyota GR Supra to The Mountain and racing 1,000kms, the longest distance we have raced these cars.

I was pretty lucky at the beginning of the year to take the Mobil 1 Optus Racing Supra to Bathurst for some testing, and that was awesome! But there’s been a lot of development since then, so I’m excited to head back there with our improved package.

Thursday is going to be a very important day for us as a Team. It’s our first practice day and where we learn a lot about our car, our philosophy and how our car responds to set-up changes. We want to gather as much data as possible on this day so that we can go into qualifying on Friday and then the race on Sunday, as confident in our package as possible.

The win you earned at The Bend surely has you feeling pretty good about Bathurst this year. How are you feeling going into the Bathurst 1000 and off such a massive win?

Chaz: We have a whole new level of confidence going into Bathurst after a win like that, not only in the performance of the car but that also boosts the morale and passion of our Team as well. We learnt a lot about our cars at The Bend so we have had plenty to work on over the last few weeks heading into Bathurst and that’s really positive.

Now that we are locked into the finals as well, it means we can fully send it at Bathurst because we don’t have to stress about collecting points to keep us in the Top 10. This means we can take more risks with strategy across the weekend, which we know that’s what you need to do to have a shot at winning the Bathurst 1000.

Obviously there's your feature length races, and then there's your endurance races. Which do you prefer, and do you reckon the car is set to perform better in one over the other?

Chaz: That’s like asking your parents who their favourite child is, it’s impossible to pick one!

That being said, endurance races feel like even more of a Team event because we get to bring our co-drivers into the mix. This year, I’m lucky enough to have Fabian Coulthard back on board with me. He’s not only a great driver on track, but a great mate off track too, so we have a lot of fun together.

Endurance races also allow for a lot more strategy calls to come into play, so the fastest car may not always win on the day. It’s all about cooking up the perfect mix of speed and strategy which our Team are incredible at.

How does someone prep for an endurance race? Do you have any particular rituals you need to do, how do you get focused for a race that long?

Chaz: There’s a lot of preparation for any race weekend. I am on the phone constantly with my race engineer, Sam Scaffidi, talking about set-up and strategy for the weekend.
I have been upping my training in the lead-up to this event too, doing a lot of [virtual cycling] training sessions with some of our pit crew in the Team, we are all very competitive!

But for our biggest race weekend of the year, it’s also important for me to make sure I have time to rest as well. I spend a lot of time going for walks with my lovely wife and daughter, which is a good way for me to reset before the big one.

Give us a little idea of what's going on under the hood – how drastically has the car setup changed over the last year?

Chaz: While the chassis and front and rear componentry haven’t changed, pretty much everything else has. From the engine to aerodynamics of the car, there’s been a lot of change.

This year we are running Toyota 2UR-GSE engine, so nearly everything is different. That’s meant there’s been a lot for us to learn about how the car performs in certain conditions and at different tracks.

What's been the hardest part of this year in the sport?

Chaz: I think one of the most challenging but rewarding parts of this year has been learning a whole new package.

Essentially, we came into this year three years behind the other two Gen3 manufacturers in terms of development, so it’s been a huge challenge for not only us drivers, but our entire engineering team as well.

We’ve learnt the power of working together as a Team and together with Brad Jones Racing, the other Toyota Team on the grid, more than ever and I am so proud of everything we’ve achieved in such a short period of time.

And talking about Bathurst, one of the world's most iconic circuits, what's the best part and the most challenging part in your opinion?

Chaz: Bathurst is one of the best tracks in the world. When we do our first laps on Thursday, I don’t think I blink once during the lap!

It’s one of the few tracks that it’s nearly impossible to put the perfect lap together. As a street track, you need to make sure you’re millimeter-perfect every second of every lap, otherwise you could be eating a concrete sandwich for lunch

The best part of the track? That would have to be the atmosphere and the fans. When we drive over the top of The Mountain you can hear the crowd cheer, it’s a feeling like no other.

Anything else you want to say before you get back to Bathurst prep?

Chaz: I can’t wait to get out on track and catch-up with all of the fans that are lucky enough to make it to the track. For those of you watching at home, put your feet up, grab a cold one and enjoy the best day of the year!

Here comes Bathurst

Good luck at Bathurst this year Chaz and the entire Walkinshaw TWG team. We’re keen to see the Optus teal gliding around the track on Sunday October 11, with the race kicking off at 11:30am AEDT.

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