The Supercars field was in shock during Sunday's Bathurst 1000 when the Triple Eight Race Engineering entry had its race ended after just 33 laps when Whincup crashed at The Cutting.

Brodie Kostecki, Whincup and Chaz Mostert were engaged in a close battle for fourth place when the dramatic moment unfolded.

Whincup's Triple Eight teammate Garth Tander had recently passed Kostecki for third place and Whincup was fighting hard to get around the Erebus Motorsport entry.

Kostecki made a slight error out of turn two, briefly losing rear grip exiting the bend, and it gave Whincup the window he needed to make a move around the outside on the entry into The Cutting.

Whincup had easily made the move around Kostecki but when he got off the racing line he couldn't get the car turned in.

He ploughed into the outside wall, causing damage to the right side of the car.

Whincup, who was chasing his fourth Bathurst 1000 victory alongside Lowndes, said he was simply impatient in his bid to get around Kostecki.

"Obviously Brodie was making it pretty difficult out there - that's not his fault, he's entitled to go as hard as he can and was doing nothing untoward," said Whincup.

"I was pushing hard to get through and to try to get up the road and on reflection I think I smoked the rears pretty heavily out of The Chase trying to get through and I probably underestimated the surface temp going into The Cutting.

"In hindsight I should have just waited another lap, I probably would have got him back down at Conrod on the next lap.

"I'm disappointed for everyone. I'm fine but obviously everyone has put in a lot of effort here in this garage and engineers in particular, they deserve better."

The incident also had ramifications for the Supercars championship podium.

While Scott McLaughlin couldn't be caught in the race for first place, regardless of how the Bathurst 1000 played out, the second place bragging rights were still on the line.

And Whincup forfeited second place in that battle after Tickford Racing driver Cam Waters finished runner-up in Sydney's race, leaping the Triple Eight driver in the process.

Shane Van Gisbergen sent Whincup from second to fourth by claiming victory in Sunday's race.

"It's one of those places you have got to have respect for [otherwise] it bites you," Whincup's co-driver Lowndes said.

"We've all made mistakes here. It is a shame, the car was working extremely well."