Crows Ambassador Nick Percat and co-driver Oliver Gavin claimed a podium finish at the Bathurst 1000 on Sunday.

After starting in 11^th spot on the grid, Percat snatched third place in the dramatic last lap. In a masterful driving display, the 26-year-old passed the Erebus Mercedes of Will Davison to move up to fourth place before pouncing on the faltering Jamie Whincup, who was short of fuel, approaching the final corner.

The race was won by the Ford of Chaz Mostert and Paul Morris ahead of the Nissan of James Moffat and Taz Douglas. It wasn’t Percat’s first time on the podium at Mount Panorama. He won the Bathurst 1000 at his first attempt, co-driving for Garth Tander for the Holden Racing Team in 2011.

Percat thanked his team for their support throughout the action-packed 1,000-kilometre classic.

“I can’t thank the guys enough for what they did today, it really was them who got me across the line in the end,” said Percat.

“I was struggling a lot with the heat and to have Alex (Somerset, engineer) on the radio during the final stages of the race talking me through it was a massive help. As we were getting closer to the end the guys were telling me to keep up it. On the last lap I made a move on Will (Davison) to make sure I was ahead on Mountain Straight and across the top.

“In the end it was a credit to the whole team. We were working through a few different strategies that didn’t really look like they were going to pan out, but the call after the last fuel stop was to press on and, while others fell away, we capitalised and have claimed a podium which is fantastic.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to ‘Olly’. He’s done a great job throughout the course of the weekend and I’ve really enjoyed racing with him both at Sandown and now here. We’re really looking forward to the Gold Coast.”

The longest Bathurst 1000 race in history ran for just under eight hours after an unprecedented red flag stoppage for track surface break-up on lap 61 left all cars stopped on pit straight for nearly an hour while repairs were made.

Fellow V8 driver and Crows Ambassador Tim Slade was unfortunately unable to finish the race after bouncing his Holden off two concrete walls and writing off his car on lap 103.

Percat now moves to 11th in the V8 Supercar Championship thanks to his podium result at Mount Panorama, and now sits just 48 points away from breaking into the all-important top 10 in the championship point score with three rounds and eight individual races remaining.