A close friend of Supercars legend Allan Moffat has revealed the four-time Bathurst champion’s daily battle with dementia.
Moffat, 85, first showed signs of the disease in 2016 – but initially kept it from his family.
Eventually, his deteriorating condition became too much to bear, and Moffat later became a Dementia Australia Ambassador.
Sadly, Moffat can no longer recall winning races at Mount Panorama, including his unforgettable one-two formation finish with teammate Colin Bond in 1977.
His long-time friend and advisor Phil Grant admitted the inductee into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2018 faces a grim future.
‘I don’t think he even knows that he was a race car driver, let alone a legendary one,’ he told News Corp ahead of Sunday’s main race.
‘He is not in a good way… Allan has been in full-time care for a while.
‘It has progressed to a stage where he hasn’t been able to walk for 12 months and has now just about lost his speech. It is just a terrible disease.’
On Friday, Chaz Mostert bounced back from a horror start to go fastest in the final practice session before qualifying.
A day after crashing his car at the iconic track, Mostert redeemed himself by knocking off defending champion Brodie Kostecki with a lap time of two minutes 4.659 seconds.
Kostecki has started at the top of the Bathurst 1000 grid since 2023 and will join legendary duo Allan Moffat and Peter Brock in the history books if he claims three consecutive pole positions.
He finished third during practice, after Matt Stone Racing’s Nick Percat pipped him by 0.075 seconds with a last-gasp effort.
In Friday’s first practice session, Supercars championship leader Broc Feeney was the last car to cross the finish line, but became the first to clock a time under two minutes five seconds.
The entire grid ran out at Mount Panorama after two late casualties from Thursday were repaired in time.
Team 18 worked overtime to have Anton De Pasquale’s car back on the grid after co-driver Harri Jones crashed into the concrete wall at The Chase.
Matt Stone Racing driver Cam Hill also participated in practice after co-driver Cam McLeod damaged the No.4 car following side-on contact at McPhillamy Park.
De Pasquale and Brad Jones Racing’s Maucaley Jones both nudged the wall at Griffins Bend, but the pair avoided significant damage.
PremiAir Nulon’s Golding also side-swiped the wall at Griffins Bend in the second practice but recovered to go fourth-fastest.
