'Knew we were cooked': Last-lap drama as Bathurst leader De Pasquale runs out of fuel

A shattered Anton De Pasquale has said he knew his hopes of winning the Bathurst 1000 "were cooked", moments before his car ran out of fuel while leading on the final lap.Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood took full advantage of De Pasquale's misfortune, securing a victory for Dick Johnson Racing that they appeared to have blown earlier in the race.The number 18 car, by Team 18, appeared to have played a blinder late in the race when De Pasquale held a big lead in the final laps.But his team urged him to "maximum fuel save" as the chequered flag neared.A late safety car with five laps to go, the only one of the race, appeared to have potentially saved Team 18 and secured De Pasquale and co-driver Lee Holdsworth a famous win.But the number 18 ran out of fuel on the 161st and final lap, allowing Kostecki to breeze by in the number 17 car and claim the most dramatic of victories."Once I knew how much fuel short we were, I knew we were cooked," De Pasquale said in the aftermath of his dramatic final lap."Very disappointed. We had a really good day, and the chequered flag was 6km away."The car was amazing at the back end of the race, where we wanted it; everything went our way, until it didn't."De Pasquale and Holdsworth had driven a wonderful race on Sunday, and were in a fight with the number 10 Matt Stone Racing entry of Zach Bates and Aaron Seton for the race lead late.Team 18 had saved fuel well at Mount Panorama and took the lead of the race after the final pit stop, with Matt Stone Racing having the fuel pump in their number 10 car for 15 more seconds than their rivals.But Team 18 got their sums wrong and were pleading with De Pasquale to save fuel with less than 10 laps remaining."I can't believe it. I didn't know we were so close on fuel, or what happened," Holdsworth said after watching from the garage as his teammate was left helpless in a spluttering car."Massive disappointment. I've got no words."Anton De PasqualeRobert CianfloneKostecki and Hazelwood were in control of the Bathurst 1000 for much of Sunday, but their second-to-last pit stop was slow and dropped them from the lead to fifth.Kostecki roared in the final laps, and then was gifted the chance to win when the late safety car was deployed."We executed so well up until that second-last pit stop with the brake change," Kostecki said."But, like I've always said, the mountain chooses the winner."We definitely had the fastest car today - so super proud of everyone … this Ford Mustang was on rails."Dick Johnson was holding back tears in the DJR garage, while those from Team 18 were left devastated."That's amazing," an emotional Johnson said after the race."I tell you what, I want a couple more before I fall off the perch."Will Brown and Scott Pye were second for the Triple Eight team, while Matt Stone Racing's pole sitters Zach Bates and Aaron Seton were third.Bates and Seton were able to snag a tremendous third place, but will leave Mount Panorama with the knowledge they would have won the race had the safety car never come out.On the third-last lap, Bates was pushed wide by Kostecki into the final corner for second, and Will Brown was able to take advantage to relegate Bates to fourth, before Team 18's fuel drama.- ABC