Craig Lowndes wins Bathurst 1000 Peter Brock Trophy

The Falcon drivers battled from sixth on the grid, steered cleared of continuing carnage around them, and sprinted home in the final seven-lap dash to take the chequered flag.

Holden drivers Rick and Todd Kelly finished a close second, with Ford pairing James Courtney and Glenn Seton third. Lowndes built a six-second lead over Kelly with 10 laps remaining, but Holden driver Jason Richards speared off the track prompting a safety car for three laps and ensuring a grandstand sprint finish.

But Lowndes didn't give Kelly a chance, posting the fastest lap of the day on lap 158 to charge to an emotional win.

The victory, the second at Bathurst for Lowndes, a decade after his 1996 win with Holden. capped an emotional day for the Victorian.

He broke down in tears during a moving tribute service to Brock shortly before the race and then cried again in the car immediately after crossing the finishing line.

Co-driver Whincup claimed his maiden Bathurst win 12 months after he burst onto the scene with a runner's-up place in a Holden last year.

Whincup's mid-race stints proved decisive as he claimed the lead from Todd Kelly off a safety car re-start on lap 110.

"It means everything to me," Whincup said.

"It's why I compete and why I drive cars. This is our grand final.

Kelly, in the HSV Dealer Commodore, crossed the line 0,5sec behind Lowndes, while Courtney was a further nine seconds back in claiming his first podium result at Bathurst in just his second race at Mount Panorama.

Courtney's partner, Seton, added to his three runner's-up results from 23 Bathurst starts.

Russell Ingall and Luke Youlden finished fourth in a Falcon while Steven Richards and Paul Dumbrell recovered from a mechanical black flag that cost them a podium result to finish fifth in a Commodore.

While it was a glorious day for Lowndes-Whincup, the day soon turned pear-shaped for two of the pre-race favourites.

Pole sitter and overwhelming pre-race favourite Mark Skaife crashed out after less than 30 seconds of racing, while Jason Bright, who assumed the lead after his Holden rival's misfortune, saw his car retired by teammate Mark Winterbottom dur to mechanical failure on lap 15.

Safety car periods dominated the middle period of the race, with only six laps under race conditions during the fourth hour after a spectacular accident involving Paul Radisich.

The New Zealander slammed head-on into a tyre wall and his car flipped onto the side, the driver pinned in the vehicle.

Radisich was trapped in his car for 20 minutes before emergency crews were able to cut him free, pulling him out through the roof.

The Kiwi did not suffer serious injury but he was put into a neck brace and flown by helicopter to a Sydney hospital as a precaution because of chest and abdominal pains.

AAP