The Bathurst 1000 is a race which is so often referred to as the holy grail for those involved in the Supercars series and while that means one team will enjoy a moment of glory which will long live their memory, so many are left with dreams unfulfilled.

This year's edition of the Great Race saw series leader Scott McLaughlin and his co-driver Alex Premat hoist the Peter Brock Trophy for the first time.

They shared the celebrations with their DJR Team Penske crew.

"I can't believe I won the bloody Bathurst 1000!," McLaughlin said. "I'm so proud of everyone. We made a bloody good car. I've dreamt about this, standing on that roof."

In contrast, Tickford team boss Tim Edwards said he felt the Bathurst 1000 had dealt him "a real gut punch."

He had watched two of his lead drivers - Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters - crash in the same incident at The Chase on lap 124 when seemingly on track for a podium finish.

"This place can be so brutal. We've been incredibly strong all week and really felt we were a chance for at least a step on the podium, if not the top one, but that's how quickly things can unravel when they go against you," he said.

"To have two team cars come together like that, again, is incredibly frustrating. Chaz took it on the chin and apologised to the guys, but even as he said, words can't make this easier."

Here are more thoughts from some of the drivers who did battle in the iconic 161-lap enduro.

As the co-driver for Scott McLaughlin, Premat watched on the tense final stages from the garage as his team-mates clinched victory.

Aside from one mistake - locking up when under pressure from main drivers - Premate had a solid day behind the wheel.

"That was so stressful, that was insane. We were gambling on the fuel, and it paid off. That was crazy. I am so happy to win this race," he said.

"It's magic. I'm the first Frenchman to win Bathurst, and it is amazing. Thank you so much to this team and to Scott. What a team, and what a driver. So great to be a part of this. I will remember this forever."

READ MORE: McLaughlin, Premat take out the Bathurst 1000

Holdsworth and his co-driver Thomas Randle finished the race in 10^th, but felt he was on track to do better than that.

He was one of the drivers who had looked in a strong position given their fuel load, but lost that advantage when Shell V-Power Racing driver Fabian Coulthard controversially slowed when the safety car was deployed on lap 135.

"I felt like we did everything we could to bring home a result. It was looking good for a top three there, but Coulthard held us all up and the advantage we had with fuel was no longer after that, so that really screwed our race," he said.

"I thought the guys did a brilliant job with strategy, Sammy [Scaffidi, engineer] gave us a good car, so really pleased with the performance of the team. And also Tom, he did a really good job. He was fast, he was mature, so really stoked with how he drove, and looking forward to Gold Coast.

"A top 10 is not the way you want to finish a day where nothing really went too far wrong. The potential was there to be on the podium, so I guess we'll take that positive and press on to Gold Coast."

He was desperate to win the Bathurst 1000 for the first time in his career, but alongside experienced co-driver Garth Tander, had to settle for second place.

Van Gisbergen was sitting behind Scott McLaughlin when the safety car peeled off and set up a one-lap sprint to the chequered flag, but did not get close enough to attempt a passing move.

"Unfortunately, today we just didn't get there in the end. In the final restart I knew I was going to have a go and try to keep as much temperature in the car as possible, but at the same time save fuel," he said.

"We got through the first two corners but saw that Scott had more grip. It was tough but I thought we may have had a chance as he started to save more and more fuel I was hitting better than the number I was given so I knew I had a few more on the last couple of laps but what could have been.

"We certainly did get knocked down a few times today; in the pits and then working back through the pack and got held up during the safety car by someone."

Kelly was one of the men who got home on fumes, finishing the day in ninth position.

Though double-stacking at one stage hurt the chances of himself and co-driver Dale Wood, Kelly was satisfied to finish in the top 10, clutching and coasting on the straights to ensure he made the chequered flag.

"Today's race was kind of boring for me for the first 400 kilometres but after that it really heated up. We had a great race car and we were able to use it to get up into the top 10, despite a couple of dramas like having a rear wheel nut come loose during one of Dale's stints.

"And some of the safety cars helped us then we had a double stack pit stop with one of the incidents which really hurt us and I think we were back down to 15th. We were then able to get up to fifth towards the end there, but we were in serious fuel conservation mode with the numbers I was being asked to do.

"That was seriously hard to execute to get us to the end of the race but I enjoyed the challenge and with that final safety car meant that we had enough fuel for that last lap to really push and the car was fantastic so a little bit frustrating that we had such a good car but couldn't use it in the end there because we needed to save fuel.

"But that was probably the best car we've had here for a long, long time, the crew did a fantastic job."

READ MORE: Slade crashes out on opening lap of Bathurst 1000

Waters was a frustrated man on Sunday evening as a potential podium went begging.

He was sitting in third on lap 124 when his Tickford team-mate Chaz Mostert attempted a passing on his outside into The Chase.

The two cars made contact and were both sent spinning into the sand trap, leaving them stranded. While Waters finished the race, it was in 22^nd position.

"I got back in the camper van and necked a beer to take the edge off, but it still stings. No words at the moment to describe that feeling, but I'm absolutely gutted for the boys," he said.

"I've never seen them work so hard and prep so hard for this race, we had a fast car, and we should have been on the podium, one of the steps. I really feel bad for those guys that put in all those hours to end up in the gravel trap. In the situation it happened it's pretty disappointing."

READ MORE: Tickford tangle costs team-mates a potential Bathurst podium

It was a tough day at Mount Panorama for Le Brocq and co-driver Jono Webb as they ended up in 18^th place.

They found themselves a lap down and while going on to cross the line in 15^th, a post-race penalty for a late race safety car procedure issue dropped them three spots.

"It was an interesting day today, we circulated well and made it to the finish in one piece, unlike a lot of other teams," Le Brocq said.

"While we didn't have the ultimate car pace, the timing of the safety cars never worked in our favour."

It was shaping up to be a good day for Heimgartner as he was running in the top five for a bulk of the race.

But after coming in for a quick fuel top up then pushing hard to make up ground, he crashed at Forest's Elbow with three laps remaining.

"Obviously a pretty disappointing way to finish the race with only ten or so laps to go, I was pushing hard at the end there to try and make up a place and get in front of Frosty [Mark Winterbottom] after the late pit stop we did but these things happen, it is what it is.

"We'll take a lot of positives away from this weekend, it's the best the car has ever felt, I feel like myself, Bryce [Fullwood, co-driver] and the whole crew managed the race really well, pit stops were perfect, we drove a good race. We had the pace to be in the top five or six for the majority of the race and we had a good strategy as well."

De Pasquale went into the race with high hopes having had good car speed in practice and qualifying and a handy run in the top 10 shootout.

But the 1000 did not play out as he would have hoped. Co-driver Will Brown spun the car in his first stint while they duo also battled gear-shift issues.

Then, on lap 139, the throttle got stuck open and De Pasquale crashed out.

"Today, Sunday, just wasn't our day. Had a pretty clean first couple of stints but then things slowly unfolded, we had gears issues, things falling off and radios not working, just little things like that," de Pasquale said.

"In the end the throttle got stuck and I wrote off the car. Obviously gutted for that, the way it ended."

READ MORE: No wildcard plans, but Penske respects the Great Race

Mostert's 2019 Bathurst 1000 will be remembered for the incident involving his team-mate Cameron Waters.

Mostert, who finished the race in 16^th, admitted fault for the incident which cost both himself and Waters a potential podium.

"Obviously I'm shattered. You know, it's the biggest race of the year, the event we look forward to most, and the race we want to win most," he said.

"It was so tight up the front all day, we were just setting up for the last stint, had a good run on Cam, and just got crossed up and we hit. I didn't need to pass him, shouldn't have tried, and it ruined both our races which is the worst part.

"I'm really sorry to Cam and the whole team, we should be celebrating a podium or two right now, but we're empty handed."

Winterbottom admitted the Holden he shared with experienced co-driver Steve Richards did not quite have the speed to test the leading team. Still, they managed to place seventh and enjoyed the event.

"We had a pretty good weekend, the pace of the car I don't think wasn't as strong as it needs to be but both happy," Winterbottom said.

"The team executed really well, seventh today was probably as good as we were going to get. Richo did an amazing job, it was really cool to team up again, had a fun week."

De Silvestro and her co-driver Alex Rullo spent most of the majority of the race stuck in traffic and ultimately placed 14^th.

"Unfortunately I think we screwed ourselves a little bit with the first stop to be honest, I think we should have tried to aim for track position which we didn't do and that really put us on the back foot to be honest, after every stop we came out in traffic. After the first stop we were losing almost two seconds a lap to what we were doing in clean air at the start," De Silvestro said.

"From then on we were kind of behind the eight ball, the safety cars made things worse because of the position we were in.

"It was frustrating because we had good pace, and we showed there in the end we were easily able to keep up with the cars around us. Alex did an awesome job and I think we worked really well together but for sure walking away without a decent result is a bit annoying."

After starting from 22^nd on the grid, watching co-driver Luke Youlden struggle and go a lap down, things were not looking good for Reynolds.

But his Commodore improved as the race unfolded and they remarkably improved to place fifth.

"Started 22^nd which is a terrible starting position, we kind of battled all day, not a lot of pace in the car," Reynolds said.

"When there was a lot of sun the car was moving around a lot of the time, but towards the end of the day my car kept getting better and better and better and better. Raced a lot of people, had some decent battles with a lot of people and I ended up fifth somehow."

As the race drew towards its conclusion Whincup held the lead, but with not enough fuel to make it to the finish his team had a decision to make.

Instead of trying to conserve he attacked and attempted to open up a big enough gap to allow him to pit for a quick fuel dump and still be in contention.

Attack he did and a safety car period with 11 laps remaining looked as if it would aid his cause. He ducked into the pits and emerged in fourth, but another yellow flag followed and his was unable to improve on that spot.

"Today it was just not our day. We did what we could out there on track but there was a lot going on," he said.

"At one stage we were leading the race but as everyone knows this is Bathurst and anything can happen over the 1000 kilometres. We had a great three days leading up to the race and worked hard as a team. Unfortunately, we gave it all we had but it just didn't happen."

Hazlewood was one of the unfortunate drivers who finished this year's Bathurst 1000 with a DNF next to his name.

The young talent found himself hospitalised after crashing at Sulman Park on lap 101 of the race.

"As soon as I jumped in the medical car I could feel pain in the left side of my neck and some throbbing of the head," Hazelwood told Supercars.com.

"So I obviously told the medical staff what my issues were and they just took the safest precaution possible.

"Once I got into the medical room, they assessed what was wrong and then put a neck brace on me and put me in an ambulance to Bathurst in town."

Pairing up with his brother Alex for a shot at the Great Race, Will Davison had a tough day at the Mount before finishing in 11^th.

A braking imbalance which warped the rear brake rotors cost the team time and the flurry of safety car periods late in the race impacted their strategy.

"Just a very disappointing day to be honest. I'm just glad to bring the car to the finish line and not in the wall," he said.

"It was tricky from the word go, we just struggled with the balance and had some braking issues, so it wasn't a fun race. We had nothing go against us, a few times I thought we were getting ourselves back in the race at the end, just to have safety cars and everything happening at the wrong time, and then we were just battling to the end with some cars who were on fresher tyres.

"Very, very tough day."