BJR take Bathurst podium.

BJR's Brad Jones and John Bowe, aboard their OzEmail Falcon drove well to come home third in Sunday's Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 at Bathurst.

It was a well deserved podium place for the two drivers that fought incredibly hard during the epic battle. Greg Murphy and Rick Kelly eventually taking the 2004 honours, with Craig Lowndes and Glen Seton claiming second.

It was so close for the OzEmail pair, who were in the running for victory until six laps to go, when, with John Bowe in the car, the right hand front tyre started to vibrate.

"Greg [Murphy] had come out of the pits from the last pit stop just in front on me. I was able to match his pace and also hold off [Craig] Lowndes at the same time but with six laps to go, my right hand front tyre started to wear badly," said John Bowe. "I was then forced to take it cautiously which meant letting Lowndes go through. We had put a big gap on the rest of the field, so we decided to just coast home to make the podium."

"It was one of the most strategic Bathurst's that I have ever done. The BJR crew did a great job and it was their efforts that put us in this position," Bowe concluded.

For Brad Jones, he now extends his record of the most successful Bathurst driver never to win the event. His now six podium finishes is a fact that Jones finds difficult to put behind him but the former nine time Australian champ was still happy with the result.

"It was a tough race. The start was weird and somehow I ended up third on the opening lap. From there we were always in the race, hovering in the top three or so all day. We definitely had a car capable of winning but the safety car periods really didn't fall our way," said Jones.

"A podium result at Bathurst is always special though. This is a great result for the hardest working bunch of guys in pit lane. They did a fantastic job today," Jones concluded.

Jones and Bowe's third place was somewhat overshadowed by a major incident involving the second OzEmail Falcon of John Cleland and Andrew Jones. On lap 30, with Cleland at the wheel, the car collided heavily with # 05 Commodore that was limping back to the pits, resulting in the white OzEmail Ford flipping and landing on its roof.

Although uninjured, Cleland was enraged at the irresponsibility of fellow international driver Jason Plato's lack of circuit etiquette.

"I couldn't believe that he was in the middle of the track on the fastest part of the circuit and doing 40 kph, it's just ridiculous behaviour," said Cleland.

Approaching 'The Chase' with two other cars, Cleland had no where else to go but slam into the Brock/Plato Holden, causing major damage as the car landed and skidded on its roof for 100 metres. The OzEmail Falcon now in serious doubt for the next round in two weeks, the Indy 300.

"The crew have had a good look at it and I don't think we will be using at Indy. We'll have to put Brad [Jones] into our spare car," said Team Manager Kim Jones.