Round 7 Re-cap: Woods Conquers the Mountain

But before the Supercars took centre stage, the Porsches lit the fuse. What followed was a night full of tension, aggression and drama. Across both races, rival teams kept finding each other at the same spot on the circuit, and the Mountain made sure every incident had massive consequences.

King of the virtual Mountain? Woods makes his case

It was a week to remember for Damon Woods. It all began on Wednesday night in the Porsches where he returned to pole position — his sixth from seven rounds — and immediately converted it into his eighth race victory of the season in the opening seven-lap dash. His second place in the feature was enough to secure another round win, extending a season of relentless dominance and stretching his advantage over Rattray‑White to 244 points.

But Bathurst week didn’t end with Porsche supremacy. On Sunday, Woods climbed the Mountain again — this time in the V8PRO Series — and was crowned the Bathurst 1000 champion. It completed a remarkable double: victories at Bathurst in two of Australia’s elite sim racing categories within the same week.

Add his win at this year’s Oceanic Sim Racing (OSR) Bathurst 12 Hour in the GT3, and Woods’ 2026 Bathurst resume becomes something unmatched. Three major Bathurst victories, across three different disciplines, in a single calendar year. Peter Brock was the King of the Mountain — Woods may be defining what that title means in the sim racing world.

Rattray-White grabs another win to stay in touch

Zach Rattray‑White entered Bathurst sitting second in the standings — more than 200 points behind Woods, but only six clear of Vermillion Esports duo Ric Kuznetsov and Zak Kerr. His night didn’t begin the way he would’ve hoped, but it ended with exactly what he needed.

Starting third in Race 1, Rattray‑White launched an ambitious move around the outside of OPR x Gammaflare Sim Racing’s Reece Wakefield at Turn 2 on the opening lap. The two made contact, sending the Eclipse car wide and dropping him to fourth. It was the opening act of a Turn 2 saga that would define the night for these two teams.

A similar attempt on another OPR car, this time Dean Mackay, at the Cutting on Lap 4 saw the rear step out on exit — a superb save kept the car out of the wall, but he still slipped to fifth.

Then came the moment where the drama threatened to explode. On Lap 5, in a bid to reclaim fourth from Kuznetsov, Rattray‑White tapped the Vermillion car under brakes at the Chase, sending Ric off the road. He redressed the position, but not before teammate Marino Morella slipped past under the bridge. The trio narrowly avoided a modern-day replay of the infamous Whincup redress / McLaughlin re‑join incident from 2016, with Rattray‑White ultimately crossing the line in sixth.

But that result came with one crucial upside: it handed Rattray-White the upper hand for the reverse‑grid feature. The Eclipse Simsports driver charged to the front by the end of Lap 6 and never looked back, securing his fifth victory of the season and keeping his championship hopes alive.

Not all roses for Eclipse

Morella stormed through the field in the opening seven-lap dash moving from tenth to fifth. However, the feature race did not go as well.

And once again it was an Eclipse car, an OPR car, and Turn 2.

After passing OPR’s Dylan Shepherd at Hell Corner, Shepherd attempted to immediately regain the position with a late lunge at Turn 2. He made it only as far as Morella’s rear bumper though, sending the Eclipse Simsports Porsche into the outside wall. Morella was able to continue to salvage some points, finishing in 28th, while Shepherd was given a post-race 30-second penalty for the collision.

It was an eerily similar tale for Morella’s teammate Seth Brown. Starting the feature from 11th, Brown would move inside the top 10 before also coming to grief at Turn 2 in another collision with an OPR car - this time it was Dean Mackay. Brown tried to continue but only made it as far as Reid Park before contact with wildcard Cameron McLeod triggered a heavy crash at the top of the Mountain and dealt Brown his first DNF of the season.

The poor night leaves Morella and Brown more than 150 points behind their teammate Rattray-White in the battle for second.

Vermillion’s fight for second takes a twist

Vermillion Esports’ pair Zak Kerr and Ric Kuznetsov arrived at Bathurst level on points - they leave the Mountain separated by over 100 points.

The night started well enough for Kuznetsov, recording a season-best fifth in qualifying and following it up in Race 1 with his first top-five finish since his victory at Hockenheim at the beginning of the season. However, it was all downhill from there.

And once again, Turn 2 and an OPR car were at the centre of the drama.

On Lap 2, Kuznetsov was defending from OPR’s Reece Wakefield before he was judged to have moved under braking, leaving Wakefield with nowhere to go but straight into the back of the Vermillion Esports Porsche. The resulting contact sent Kuznetsov hard into the Turn 2 barriers and handed him his first DNF of the season.

Kerr, meanwhile, enjoyed a far more productive evening. Crossing the line tenth in the opening race meant he would start from pole position for the feature — and he made full use of it — leading the opening five laps before settling for third. It was his second podium of the campaign and enough to keep him within striking distance of second in the championship, while opening a significant gap over his teammate.

Further down the Vermillion stable, Tyce Hodge continued his impressive rise with a season‑best fourth in the feature, extending his streak to six consecutive top‑ten finishes. Jacob O’Reilly also enjoyed a breakthrough evening, scoring his first top‑ten of the season with ninth in the feature.

OPR’s inside line at the championship’s pressure point

If Bathurst had a recurring storyline, OPR’s involvement in the Turn 2 drama was unquestionably it. Across both races, the same pattern kept emerging: an OPR car on the inside, a rival car on the outside, and contact at Turn 2. In Race 1 it was Wakefield and Rattray‑White and in Race 2 it was Wakefield and Kuznetsov, Mackay and Brown, Shepherd and Morella.

Four incidents. One corner. And, in every case, an OPR car on the inside. Coincidence? Perhaps. But there was method to the madness.

At this level, every driver knows the outside at Turn 2 is the danger zone — the camber and the narrow exit all favour the car hugging the inside. OPR seemed intent on exploiting that knowledge, repeatedly putting their cars in the one piece of real estate where Bathurst offers the most protection.

But when OPR cars stay protected on the inside and their rivals keep paying the price, the pattern naturally invites scrutiny. Were OPR enforcing the reality of Turn 2, or were their rivals daring the Mountain to bite? According to race control, the answer was a little of both.

Of the four incidents at Turn 2, only one was deemed the fault of an OPR car. Wakefield’s clashes were both deemed no further action, as was Mackay’s contact with Brown. The only Turn 2 penalty issued was for Shepherd’s move on Morella — and unfortunately for Shepherd, it wasn’t his only sanction of the night. Contact with Vermillion’s Lewis Greathead at Forrest’s Elbow in Race 1 earned him a five‑second penalty, pushing him over the first licence‑point threshold. As a result, he’ll start rear‑of‑grid next round at Phillip Island.

But OPR’s night wasn’t defined solely by controversy.

Reece Wakefield delivered one of his strongest rounds of the season. He extended his remarkable qualifying streak — starting inside the top ten at every round — with his first front‑row start of 2026. He converted that into second place in Race 1, his second podium of the campaign, before finishing fifth in the feature. The results put him back within reach of the championship top ten.

Teammate Stef McCartin produced one of the drives of the night in the feature. After a DNF in Race 1, McCartin faced the daunting task of starting at the very rear of the field for the feature race. Instead of letting the disappointment define his round, he charged forward to finish 12th, gaining 21 positions in the process.

From the Mountain to the Island

Bathurst week delivered everything we’ve come to expect from the Mountain — history‑making brilliance at the front, bitter rivalries behind, and a single corner that defined the fortunes for many. Damon Woods reached the highest of highs, conquering the Mountain twice in a single week, while the tensions in the battle behind reached a tipping point.

Eclipse leave Bathurst bruised and with scores to settle, Vermillion leave with their title hopes split between triumph and trouble, and OPR leave carrying a spotlight they never asked for but couldn’t avoid.

And now the field has barely two weeks to reset before Phillip Island demands a completely different kind of precision. The Island is fast, flowing, and merciless in its own way. It’s a circuit that strips away excuses, magnifies confidence, and will undoubtedly clarify who’s truly in the fight and who’s just hanging on.

Bathurst opened some wounds - Phillip Island will test how deep they really go.