For those of you that missed the Darwin event here is what happened on the weekend of the 17th -19th June 2016 was the Crown Bet Darwin Triple Crown.
In race 12. Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position alongside was Michael Caruso for the 42 lap race.
On lap 1 Michael Caruso got the jump and led the pack through turn 1. Craig Lowndes got spun around by Rick Kelly that was started by Tim Slade. When Craig Lowndes spun back around to get going again he re-joined at the very back of the field. Rick Kelly was the one who hit him, with help from Tim Slade. James Moffatt ran up the back of David Reynolds.
On lap 2 the pack was starting settle into a pace. Also on that lap the cars were still running around on the racetrack until the race leader had commenced the 5th lap of the race – Meaning the cars could not start peeling off into pit lane until the start of that lap.
On lap 3 the race leader was still Michael Caruso but when the safety car was deployed he decided to stay out on the track.
On lap 4 the cars further back in the pack were trying to keep out of trouble. On the restart Shane Van Gisbergen passed Michael Caruso before the control line which meant that race control gave him a pit lane drive thru penalty, also on the restart Jamie Whincup and Scott Pye came together heading down towards turn 1.
In the middle of the race no one was able to catch Michael Caruso.
Results for race 12.
1st – Michael Caruso – Nissan motorsport
2nd – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia
3rd – Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team
In race 13 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position alongside him was Todd Kelly for the 70 lap race. The start of the was nuts on lap 1 Scott Pye, Fabain Coulthard, Lee Holdsworth and Chaz Mostert all ended up in the accident on the opening lap. There was a safety car which meant everybody came in for the first of 2 stops the pit lane was a mess, Shane Van Gisbergen gave Will Davison a bump forward so that he could get into the Red Bull pit bay.
On lap 2 the cars that were in the wall got removed and the race went back to green. But Scott Pye, Fabain Coulthard and Lee Holdsworth were not able to continue because of too much damage. But Chaz Mostert was able to keep going.
On the restart Craig Lowndes was leading and made a mistake so that meant that Shane Van Gisbergen took the lead of the race.
In the middle of the race Mark Winterbottom got 2 drive thru penalties, 1st was for hitting Todd Kelly up the back side, and the 2nd one was for speeding in the pit lane. Meanwhile no one could catch Shane Van Gisbergen.
The next Event is the Castrol Edge Townsville 400. On July 8th – 10th 2016.
Let take a look back at what happened on the weekend of 19th – 21st June 2015, in Darwin.
Race 13
In race 13 James Courtney started on pole position alongside him was Chaz Mostert. On lap 1 James Courtney made a good start. But Chaz Mostert got the jump and led the field around turn 1 for the first of 21 laps. Both Jamie Whincup and Fabain Coulthard went off the track at turn 1. Then Craig Lowndes and Tim Blanchard, also Craig Lowndes along with Tim Blanchard, spun at turn 5.
On lap 2 James was having an issue with the Holden Racing Team Commodore. Also on that same lap Rick Kelly got passed Shane Van Gisbergen. Fabain Coulthard had a bent steering arm. Both the Red Bull cars were at the back of the field.
On lap 3 Dale Wood tried to go around the outside of James Moffat from Nissan Motorsport. James got down the inside of David Reynolds.
The Safety car was deployed due to a grass fire. On the exit of the 5th corner, Greg Murphy was chatting Mark Dutton about the incident that sent both Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes to the back.
The restart was on lap 6.
In the middle of the race Andre Heimgartner couldn’t pull up the Super Black Falcon, the criss-cross was on for Jason Bright, Michael Caruso had a bit of speed way action on the exit of turn 1.
Towards the end of race 13 Scott Pye and Shane Van Gisbergen were following James Courtney.
Results for race 13.
1st – Chaz Mostert – Pepsi Max Crew
2nd – Mark Winterbottom – Pepsi Max Crew
3rd – Rick Kelly – Jack Daniel’s Racing
Race 14
In race 14 Rick Kelly started on position alongside him was Fabain Coulthard of the 21 lap race.
On lap 1 Craig Lowndes led the whole way through race 2. After the front 2 cars came together at turn 1, Craig Lowndes started 5th but was leading the race by the time they got to the first turn. Andre Heimgartner ran wide towards the end of first lap taking out Nick Percat, Will Davison and Jamie Whincup. Fabain Coulthard had contact with the Jack Daniel’s racing Nissan.
On lap 2 Andre Heimgartner had damage to the Super Black Racing Ford Falcon, also on lap 2 a safety car was deployed to clean up the mess left behind by the damaged race cars.
Meanwhile Greg Murphy was interviewing Brad Jones about the start of race 2 and Riana Crehan was interviewing Mark Dutton about opening race tangles.
The restart was on lap 7. In this race it was the 888th race in V8 Supercars. Craig Lowndes was only 15 laps away from claiming his 100th win in this sport. Scott Pye got down the inside of Michael Caruso.
In the middle of the race David Reynolds tried to get down the inside of Michael Caruso at turn 5, Dale Wood and David Wall went off the track at turn 5.
Towards the end of the race Chaz Mostert tried to get up the inside of Tim Slade but in the end Craig Lowndes was the first of the current V8 drivers to reach that incredible milestone of 100 career wins.
Results for race 14
1st – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia
2nd – Tim Slade – Supercheap Auto Racing
3rd – Chaz Mosert – Pepsi Max Crew
Race 15
In race 15 David Reynolds started on pole position alongside him was Fabain Coulthard of the 70 lap race.
On lap 1 Fabain Coulthard got the jump on David Reynolds and led the field into turn 1. Fabain Coulthard was still out in front while the car to make a compulsory pit stop was Jamie Whincup.
On lap 2 then Todd Kelly was first to make a pit stop, so that the 2 Kelly boys didn’t have to double stack behind.
On lap 3 the 2 Red Bull Racing Australia had to split their strategy to stop them from doing the awful double stacking. This is Craig Lownde’s 19th season in V8 Supercars.
On lap 4 Scott McLaughlin ran wide on the exit of turn 1, then he went onto grass out of the first corner. The Red Bull Racing Australia team thought that they could do the whole race on the soft compound tyres, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
In the middle of the race both the Red Bull cars came back due to flat spots on both tyres on the front left.
Towards the end of the race, David Reynolds was the leader of the race all the way to the end.
The commentators were Greg Rust and Neil Crompton the pit reporters were Greg Murphy and Riana Crehan.
Results for 15
1st – David Reynolds – Bottle ‘O’ Racing
2nd – Chaz Mostert – Pepsi Max Crew
3rd – Fabain Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing
On the weekend of the 20th – 22nd May was Woodstock Winton Supersprint.
Dad and I left on Thursday the 19th and headed for Beechworth were we would be staying for the weekend. We hired a wheelchair accessible car from Freedom Motors as usual and we stayed at Armour Motor Inn. It was our first time to Beechworth and I have to say it’s the most beautiful spot.
On the Friday we headed out to the track early to catch up with the action. We had box seats to watch all the practice matches. Say hello to all our V8 Supercar friends that arrived early. Eddie Mostert was there to stir me up and put ‘Mossie ’55’ bumper sticker on the back of my wheelchair and now I can’t reach it to take it off… Thanks a lot Eddie.
Greg Murphy’s hot lap
In race 10 Tim Slade started on pole position alongside him was Mark Winterbottom for the 40 lap race.
On lap 1 Tim Slade got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2. Scott McLaughlin passed Mark Winterbottom to move into second place on the opening lap and James Courtney was in no man’s land (meaning he was out where there was not much grip). Lee Holdsworth got bumped out of position by James Courtney behind, but Tim Slade was still in control of the race.
On lap 2 Tim Slade had 0.8 of a second as a margin. The Holden Racing Team were laying up to bring in Garth Tander. James Moffat had a drama and went straight in the garage. Rick Kelly got up the inside of the Rookie Cameron Waters.
On lap 3 Neil Crompton and Mark Skaife showed different angles of the race start.
On lap 4 the cars were settling down into a race pace. Scott McLaughlin was putting the pressure on the race leader and Mark Winterbottom was putting the pressure on him. Chaz Mostert was following Lee Holdsworth. Shane Van Gisbergen got passed Chaz Mostert at turn 10. Cameron Waters, Shane Van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes all came in.
On lap 5 the leader was still Tim Slade. On departure back on the race track Shane Van Gisbergen was on cold trying to hold off his affective teammate Craig Lowndes.
On lap 6 Jason Bright was holding up the next group of cars. Scott Pye tried to get down the inside of Fabain Coulthard at turn 12.
On lap 7 Dale Wood had damage on the front and the front left hand corner.
On lap 8 Jamie Whincup was still behind James Courtney battling for position 6 and 7.
On lap 9 Greg Rust reported that James Moffat had a broken right front steering arm but the GRM team didn’t know what caused the steering arm to break.
On lap 10 Jamie Whincup, Rick Kelly and Michael Caruso all made there pit stop on lap, also on that lap Rick Kelly rejoined behind Cameron Waters. Then while cars 15 and 6 were getting up to speed, Tim Slade entered the pits for his top. Tim Slade rejoined with cold fresh rubber for the race leader.
In the middle of the race Chris Pither was battling with James Courtney.
Towards the end of the race the top 3 cars were just pulling away, in the end Tim Slade managed to hold on for his first ever V8 Supercars victory.
Results for race 10
1st – Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing
2nd – Scott McLaughlin – Volvo Polstar Racing
3rd – Mark Winterbottom – Rod Nash Racing
In race 11 Chaz Mostert started on pole position alongside him was Fabain Coulthard for the 67 lap race.
On lap 1 Chaz Mostert made a weird start which allowed Fabain Coulthard to take the race lead at turn 1 and 2. Shane Van Gisbergen gave Cameron Waters a hit in between turns 3 and 4. Chris Pither had 2 wheels in the sand meaning Dale Wood could not see where he was going due to the dust and the dirt getting brought up onto the racing line, then Dale Wood went straight across the track and in the sand on the left hand side by Andre Heimgartner.
On lap 2 Craig Lowndes was putting pressure on Chaz Mostert for 2nd place. Mark Winterbottom, Shane Van Gisbergen and James Courtney all came in early. Will Davison got up the inside of Jamie Whincup at turn 3 which resulted in him going off the racetrack and into the dust. (that was testing their mateship.) On the same lap Chaz Mostert came into the pits for the first of his 2 stops.
On lap 3 Jamie Whincup was behind Cameron Waters
On lap 4 Jamie Whincup finally got up the inside of Cameron Waters along with Scott Pye and Garth Tander. Craig Lowndes did a 21.2 second lap, that was the fastest lap of the race.
On lap 5 Dale Wood made contact with the back of Andre Heimgartners. Craig Lowndes pitted on the 5th lap as well as Rick Kelly and Cam Waters.
On lap 6 Shane Van Gisbergen got up the back of James Courtney at turn 3. His next target was Will Davison.
On lap 7 David Reynolds came in to the pits for his first stop. Michael Caruso was putting the pressure on Scott McLaughlin.
On lap 8 the on board telemetry of Michael Caruso shows the gears the and the throttle and the speed of how fast he was going.
On lap 9 Lee Holdsworth was catching Rick Kelly. Mark Skaife said he just wanted to get a shot of Ricks steering wheel just to make sure it was still straight and it was.
On lap 10 Lee Holdsworth made his first stop, then rejoined with clear track.
In the middle of the race the cars started to settle into a rhythm for the run to the Checkered flag.
Towards the end of the race the cars were getting ready for run to the end of the race no could catch Tim Slade who had dominated the whole weekend at Winton.
I got photos taken with Jamie Whincup, Shane Van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes, Will Davison, Lee Holdsworth, Scott McLaughlin, James Courtney, Garth Tander, Fabain Coulthard, Jason Bright, Tim Slade, Jim Richards and also John Bowe. Also John’s Touring Car Masters race car, car 18. The only 2 we didn’t get were Glenn Seton and Steven Johnson.
Results for race 11.
1st – Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing
2nd – Mark Winterbottom – Rod Nash Racing
3rd – Fabain Coulthard – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske
The next event is the Crown bet Darwin Supersprint on the 17th – 19th June 2016.
This weekend 20th – 22nd May, is the Woodstock Winton Supersprint.
Let’s take a look at what happened at Winton in 2015.
On the weekend of the 15th – 17th May 2015 was the Winton Supersprint.
In race 10 Chaz Mostert started on pole position alongside him was Michael Caruso.
On lap 1 Michael Caruso made a brilliant start due to him starting right up the pointy end of the starting grid, in second spot the Nissan Altama was coloured in red because Nissan Narvra were the main sponsor for the Winton Supersprint, weekend. David Reynolds had a tough start, the two Pepsi Max Crew Ford Falcons led into turns 1 and 2. A couple of cars were trying to run side by side on the opening lap. Craig Lowndes was putting the pressure on Jason Bright. While the front Runners were just pulling away. Chaz Mostert had a 1.2 second lead after the opening lap.
On lap 2 Mark Winterbottom had gone from 4th to 2nd. Shane Van Gisbergen had passed Jamie Whincup to put him up into 8th and Jamie Whincup back 1 spot to 9th Craig Lowndes was still following the Team BOC car. The Margin after 2 laps was 1.55 seconds.
On lap 3 Mark Winterbottom had the grip and then he took off. Todd Kelly was hunting down David Reynolds. Dick Johnson once described the Winton track as like running an F1/11 around your clothes line. Scott McLaughlin went backwards after contact with Dale Wood, Scott McLaughlin’s s60 spun around approaching the halfway mark, (Dutto said they had no car pace. No one could catch the 2 Pepsi Max Crew Prodrive Racing Australia. Cars 5 and 6.)
Results for race 10
1st – Chaz Mostert – Prodrive Racing Australia
2nd – Mark Winterbottom – Prodrive Racing Australia
3rd – Michael Caruso – Nissan Motorsport
In race 11 Chaz Mostert started on pole position alongside him was his teammate Mark Winterbottom.
On lap 1 of 20 the 3 Walkinshaw racing cars of cars 2 22 and 18 of Garth Tander James Courtney and also involved was Lee Holdsworth on approach to turns 1, 2 and 3 for the first time Andre Heimgartner went off the racetrack and onto the grass, Michael Caruso was holding off Scott McLaughlin in the Volvo. Rick Kelly ran the fastest lap of the race, after the race 11 start, Shane Van Gisbergen did the over and under manoeuvre on Jamie Whincup.
That was on lap 2 also on that same lap Craig Lowndes tried to get down the inside of Will Davison. Lee Holdsworth had to watch the rest of the race from the pit lane. James Courtney got a drive thru penalty for making contact with Garth Tander. After he served his pit lane penalty he then came back in again, the team put wet tyres on the car then sent him back out again onto the circuit.
In the middle of the race Craig Lowndes was still putting pressure on the Mercedes E63 AMG.
Towards the end of race, no one could catch the 2 race leaders.
Results for race 11
1st – Mark Winterbottom – Prodrive Racing Australia
2nd – Rick Kelly – Jack Daniel’s Racing
3rd – Chaz Mostert – Prodrive Racing Australia
In race 12 Chaz Mostert started on pole position alongside him was Mark Winterbottom.
On lap 1 of 67 Chaz Mostert got the jump off the line and led the field through turns 1 and 2 turns. Micheal Caruso got swamped off the starting grid by Will Davison. Scott Pye tried to go around the outside at turns 1 and 2 Michael Caruso. Craig Lowndes got in position 3 by turn 3. Rick Kelly tried to make space to get down the inside during the opening lap, Scotty McLaughlin found himself in no man’s land, on the outside. but then the Volvo driver had to Yield. Rick Kelly had a lot of oversteer on the exit of turn 5. Craig Lowndes went from 3rd to 2nd in between turns 8 and 9. Will Davison had the inside line for turn 10. Scott McLaughlin was on the dirty side of the Winton racetrack.
On lap 2 Craig Lowndes took the race lead at turn 3. David Wall in the Volvo s60 also come in on the 2nd lap, the 2 Holden Racing team cars were side by side into turn 8. Tim Slade was on the wrong side for turns 8, but on the right side for turn 9 meaning he was able to pass easier at the hairpin. James Courtney was on the outside of the Scott McLaughlin. But James Courtney managed to cover him around the outside. Garth Tander tried to pass Tim Slade at turn 10, but he didn’t. he managed to pass him in between turns 11 and 12. Craig Lowndes started race 12 (race 3 for the weekend) on soft compound tyre.
On lap 3 Fox Sports had a replay of the start. Craig Lowndes cleared the cars that were in front of him. Early on in the 3rd and final race
On lap 4 Garth Tander went down the inside of Will Davison at turn 3. Craig Lowndes had a 1.4 second lead in front of the field. Towards the end of lap 4 both Fabain Coulthard and Scott Pye got down the inside of David Reynolds.
On lap 5, Marcos Ambrose was watching on from the Dick Johnson Racing Team, Penske Garage.
On lap 6 Greg Murphy was chatting to Adrain Burgess at the SP Tools Holden Racing Team about the Strategy, the HRT guys, the Walkinshaw racing guys and Triple 8 guys, all of those teams were going for track position, meaning they were trying to get towards the front to not get caught up in any incidents or accidents. Jamie Whincup started the last race in 22nd on the grid, he was the first driver to make a pit stop, the double stacking issues happen, when a team that runs 2 cars if the second car is behind on the track that means when it comes to pit the other car has to sit in the cue and wait for the car that is in front to exit the pit lane so the 2nd car can enter and get serviced.
In the middle of the race Chaz Mostert put on the back of the tyre Bundle after getting turned around by himself and the front of the car was full of sand.
Towards the end of the race the 2 Red Bull cars were coming through the field because they were behind. The Pepsi Max crew was leading, chasing him was Fabain Coulthard.
Results for race 12
1st – Mark Winterbottom – Prodrive Racing Australia
2nd – Fabain Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing
3rd – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia
On the weekend of the 6th – 8th May 2016 was the Perth Supersprint.
In qualifying both Michael Caruso and David Reynolds both caused a red flag which meant those 2 cars started from the back of the pack.
In race 8 Cameron Waters started on pole position alongside him was Chaz Mostert for the 50 lap race.
On lap 1, Cameron Waters got the jump and led the field into turn 1 for the first lap. Shane Van Gisbergen looked for the long way around the outside at turn 1 but it didn’t work because Craig Lowndes held onto 2nd place, also on the opening lap Shane Van Gisbergen got passed Craig Lowndes. Cameron Waters had checked out – meaning he had pulled away.
On lap 2 Mark Winterbottom was in front of Aaren Russell. Shane Van Gisbergen was right behind the monster falcon car 6 with Cameron Waters driving. Shane Van Gisbergen took the race lead and then pulled away.
On lap 3 Shane Van Gisbergen was the new race leader. Craig Lowndes was struggling, Jamie Whincup tried to get up the inside at turn 1 but that wasn’t able to be executed because Craig Lowndes was looking for grip on a wet racetrack. Craig Lowndes got too much wheel spin on the exit of turn 7 on the very, very slippery painted curb.
On lap 4 Mark Winterbottom had dropped 3 places. Jason Bright got passed Scott McLaughlin the replay of the start showed that Mark Winterbottom got massive amount of wheel spin off the start line.
On lap 5 Michael Caruso was near the back of the pack along with David Reynolds, Scott McLaughlin had bent steering as a result of contact with Dale Wood.
On lap 6 the teams could start doing their pit stops. Scott McLaughlin had a bunch cars behind him forming a Queue. Scott Pye got passed him at turn 1. Craig Lowndes did the fastest lap of the race, Shane Van Gisbergen moved over to the right hand side of the track to keep his tyres cool on a wet road. The Red Bull Racing Australia team were re-pressuring the dry tyres – slick tyres just in case, to have them on standby.
On lap 7 Jamie Whincup was following Chaz Mostert. The teams were doing their best to get rid out some the water that was still in the pit boxers where the cars have to stop.
On lap 8 James Moffatt got up the inside of Nick Percat.
In the middle of the race Craig Lowndes came in twice the first stop was for tyres, no fuel and the 2nd one was for tyres only.
Towards the end of the Craig Lowndes passed 16 cars in the final 21 laps, it was enough for him to get into the lead of the race.
That now Craig Lowndes’s race win tally go up to 16 and his career tally 104.
Results for race 8
1st – Craig Lowndes – Team Vortex
2nd – Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Racing Australia
3rd – Jamie Whincup. – Red Bull Racing Australia
Before race 9 started Scott McLaughlin and James Moffatt did 2 hot laps. After they had completed them Neil Crompton said good news the Logies are coming up pretty soon so those 2 blokes will be up for an Overacting award.
In race 9 Chaz Mostert started on pole position alongside him was Craig Lowndes for the 83 lap race. Craig Lowndes got jump and led the through the first 5 turns, Fabain Coulthard was putting pressure on Mark Winterbottom. Shane Van Gisbergen got down the inside of Chris Pither at turn 7.
On lap 2 Jamie Whincup got passed Chris Pither at turn 1. Chris Pither dropped 2 spots to the Red Bull cars, Chaz was trying to put pressure on the race leader.
On lap 3 both Cameron Waters and James Courtney passed Lee Holdsworth on the downhill into turn 7.
On lap 4 James Moffatt was up the inside of Dale Wood. Dylan Talabarni who is Chris Pither’s race engineer was reminding him about his throttle use.
On lap 5 the replay of the start showed that Fabain Coulthard had all 4 wheels out in the Boones – out in the grass that is a racing term that Mark Skaife often uses.
On lap 6 Chris Pither was back on Jamie Whipcup’s rear bumper.
On lap 7 James Courtney putting pressure on Will Davison. Back to the front of the field, the cars stayed in there spot early on.
On lap 8 Mark Winterbottom was trying to catch Chris Pither and put some pressure on him.
On lap 9 Chaz Mostert was right on the back of Craig Lowndes watching his car slide.
On lap 10 the order for the front group of cars remained the same. Craig Lowndes looked a lot tidier the next time around. Jamie Whincup was the first of the 2 Red Bull cars to stop.
In the middle of the race both Chaz Mostert and Shane Van Gisbergen got passed Jamie Whincup.
Towards the end of the race Mark Winterbottom said that lapped car of Aaren Russell, he thought that he had ruined Mark Winterbottoms race as a result of Craig Lowndes finishing on the podium on Sunday in Perth Western Australia. He now leads the V8 Supercars championship by 42 points over his teammate Jamie Whincup.
The commentators were Neil Crompton, Mark Skaife, Greg Murphy, Greg Rust and Riana Crehan.
The next event is the Woodstock Winton Supersprint on the 20th – 22nd of May 2016.
Results for race 9
1st – Mark Winterbottom – Rod Nash Racing
2nd – Scott McLaughlin – Volvo Garry Rogers Motorsport
3rd – Craig Lowndes – Team Vortex
This weekend 6th – 8th May 2016 is the Perth Supersprint.
Let’s take look back at what happened in 2015.
On the weekend of the 1st – 3rd of May was the Ubet Perth Super Sprint.
In race 7 Chaz Mostert started on pole position alongside him was his teammate Mark Winterbottom (Frosty).
On lap 1, Frosty led the field through turns 1, 2 and 3. Will Davison tried to pass Tim Slade on the run up to turns 2 and 3, but wasn’t able to get it done, Jamie Whincup (JDUB) went from 21st to 19th during the opening lap, Scott McLaughlin passed Todd Kelly at turn 7.
On lap 2 the 2 Pepsi Max Crew, Prodrive Racing Australia cars 5 and 6 were just pulling away. Jason Bright had the line for the next corner which was turn 7. David Reynolds thought that James Courtney was going to leave him some room at the final turn to go down the inside.
On lap 3 the Falcons were still leading the opening race on Saturday.
On lap 4 Craig Lowndes was starting to close the gap down to the 2 Fords.
On lap 5 Craig Lowndes was still following those 2 cars like a hawk and getting closer and closer, Jamie Whincup was right near the back of the pack but moving forward, Garth Tander had a left rear suspension, car 888 closed right up on the back of car 6 coming out of turn 6.
In the middle of the race Nick Percat pushed Andre Heimgartner towards the old pit lane entry. Towards the end of the race JDUB braked really late and avoided hitting the back of the Erebus Motorsport V8. In the end nobody could catch the 2 Pepsi Max Crew Fords.
Results for race 7
1st – Mark Winterbottom – Pepsi Max Crew
2nd – Chaz Mostert – Pepsi Max Crew
3rd – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia.
Race 8
In race 8 Mark Winterbottom started on pole position alongside him was Jamie Whincup for the 25 lap race.
On lap 1 Frosty again got the jump off the start line, and led the field through turns 1, 2 and 3, Fabain Coulthard passed Craig Lowndes approaching turn 7.
On lap 2 James Moffat was trying to maintain his position in front of David Wall. David was lucky to save that big tank slapper that he had on the exit of turn 5.
On lap 4 Jamie Whincup held off Fabain,Coulthard.
On lap 6, JDUB was struggling in sector 1 only because the car wasn’t set up the way that he wanted, that’s why he had to look at the setup on Craig’s Car. Scott McLaughlin had a drama with the throttle sensor, after 7 laps were complete.
In the middle of the race Mark Winterbottom had command of race 8.
Towards the end of race 8 no one was able to catch car 5. In the end Frosty made it 2 from 2.
Results for race 8.
1st – Mark Winterbottom – Pepsi Max Crew
2nd – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.
3rd – Fabain Coulthard – Freightliner Racing.
Race 9
In race 9 Chaz Mostert started on pole position alongside him was Mark Winterbottom.
On lap 1 Frosty got the jump off the line for 3rd straight race. Garth Tander made contact with the back of Chaz Mostert. Red Bull didn’t have a great weekend in Perth.
On lap 2 Craig Lowndes was having a look at his teammate Jamie Whincup.
On lap 3 Jamie went into the sand trap down at turn 6.
On lap 4 JDUB was down in 24th place and 17 seconds behind the race leader.
On lap 5 Craig Lowndes was near the front of the pack.
On lap 6 Scott McLaughlin was under pressure from Tim Blanchard. Craig Lowndes pitted on lap 26 for his first pit stop.
In the middle of the race Craig Lowndes was being hunted down by Todd Kelly. Craig made his 2nd and final stop on lap 43.
Towards the end of race Will Davison was hunting Craig Lowndes down for his first race win with Erebus Motorsport V8.
The next event is the Winton Super Sprint on the 15th – 17th of May 2015.
Results for race 9.
1st – Will Davison – Erebus Motorsport V8.
2nd – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia.
3rd – Fabain Coulthard – Frieghtliner Racing.
On the weekend of the 15th – 17th of April 2016 was the Phillip Island Supersprint. Last year this event was held in November.
Dad and I headed down to Phillip Island on the 13th April which was a Wednesday, so that we could stop over night at Wangaratta then go to the Cowes Hotel on the Thursday. Upon arriving in Cowes, we went to the hotel. The Pelican Hotel, this place was deserted and Dad kept ringing them, at 5pm we went and found a new hotel to stay in… While we had booked the accessible room at the Pelican Hotel, we had to settle for a room that was not. This made it difficult for me to have a shower each day as the bathroom wasn’t set up for my shower chair. Dad is my hero, he managed to get things done… This problem cost us more money than we had budgeted for… I would also like to thank you to the Tropicana Hotel that looked after us…
Practice 1
Practice 2
Practice 3
In race 6 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Chaz Mostert on the 27 lap race.
Scott McLaughlin got the jump to be the front runner, but Michael Caruso had a shocking start, Will Davison was in behind Lee Holdsworth they were all making contact with each other. Jason Bright and Nick Percat were pushed wide. Michael Caruso was way back in the pack after the drama at the start. Jamie Whincup made a very good move down the inside of Mark Winterbottom at turn 1.
On lap 2 both Craig Lowndes and Shane Van Gisbergen had a wheel locked going into turn 2. Meanwhile James Moffatt just pulled out from the car in front to get some fresh air to make the engine water and oil temperatures didn’t spike too much.
On lap 3 Rick Kelly was behind David Reynolds. Greg Rust was telling Neil Crompton and Mark Skaife that he been to see Barry Rogers at GRM Volvo, they told him that it was a water temperature light but there was no issue with it.
On lap 4 Fabain Coulthard was trying to get the big toe in behind James Courtney going into turn 1. Then James Moffatt a had big lockup on the left hand front corner. Three cars came in for their compulsory pit stop on lap 5 because that was when the pits opened after Shane Van Gisbergen completed his stop he was very racy against Mark Winterbottom.
In the middle of the race Mark Winterbottom had both Shane Van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes right behind him.
Towards the end of the race no one could catch Scott Mclaughlin or Jamie Whincup.
Race 1
Results for 6
1st – Scott McLaughlin – Volvo Polstar racing
2nd – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia
3rd – Fabain Coulthard – Dick Johnson racing Team Penske
In race 7 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Jamie Whincup of the 45 lap race. Scott McLaughlin got the jump and led the pack down to turn 1. Fabain Coulthard got a horrible start and pulled over to the left hand side of the track. Jamie Whincup tried to go around the outside of Scott McLaughlin, but it did not work. Also on the first lap Chaz Mosert got turned around the turn 4 hairpin by Garth Tander and Will Davison.
On lap 2 Tim Blanchard ran wide coming onto the Wayne Gardner pit straight, then James Moffatt was the first of the Volvos to pit. Mark Winterbottom was in front of Shane Van Gisbergen.
On lap 3 the replay of Chaz Mostert spining showed that both Garth Tander and Will Davison turned Chaz Mostert around.
On lap 4 Shane Van Gisbergen was the first of the 2 Red Bull cars to pit.
On lap 5 Jamie Whincup was closing the gap to the race leader Scott McLaughlin the front runners had not pitted at that time to keep track position, when the leaders did finally pit they still had plenty of gap to the cars back in the pack.
In the middle of the race Scott Pye and Michael Caruso were the first 2 cars to make their final stops. The next 3 cars to pits for the last time were James Moffatt, Lee Holdsworth and Nick Percat.
Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin was very hard to catch and also near the end Cameron Waters nearly had big moment, on entry to the pit straight were the right front tyre had delaminated big time and as a result the Safety Car was deployed the first one for the weekend. While the cars were behind the Safety Car Jason Bright had a problem with no power steering. The restart was on lap 39. Jamie Whincup tried to get a good run on Scott McLaughlin to be able to take the lead after the yellow flag was withdrawn. Jamie Whincup was throwing dirt to the other competitors behind him and he had dropped to 4th place.
Results for race 7.
1st – Scott Mclaughlin – Volvo Polstar Racing
2nd – Mark Winterbottom – Rod Nash Racing
3rd – Scott Pye – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske
I was lucky enough to get photos taken with Josh Kean from the Dunlop Series. Lee Holdsworth from the V8 Supercars. Charlie Schwerkolt team owner for Lee Holdsworth, Jonathon Webb team owner for Tekno Autosports, Greg Murphy pit reporter, Renee Gracie from the Dunlop Series. Chelsea Angelo from the Dunlop Series. Jamie Whincup, Shane Van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes at the autograph session on the Friday. and Chris Kean is the father of Josh Kean and also Paul Dumbrell.
The next event is Perth Supersprint May 6th – 8th 2016.
This weekend event 3 of the 2016 V8 Supercars it is also the 500th round in the Australian Touring Car history – V8 supercars championship. The WD 40 Phillip Island Supersprint.
Let’s take a look back at what happened in 2015.
Before the event started both the Pepsi Max Crew had to change the engine of Mark Winterbottom’s car and the Red Bull Racing Australia team had to bleed the brakes on Jamie Whincup’s car to make sure there was no air leaking from the brakes. Welcome back to James Courtney after his terrible accident at Eastern Creek… Meanwhile Paul Dumbrell is generously driving car 222 for Nick Percat…
Jamie Whincup started on pole position alongside him was Scott McLaughlin on lap 1 of 14 Craig Lowndes started from 3rd position and got the jump on everyone else and led the whole race. With his teammate behind him, there were 3 cars out in the weeds Chris Pither, Dale Wood and Rick Kelly. Tim Blanchard and David Wall ran wide on the exit of the last turn.
On lap 2 Shane Van Gisbergen turned around David Reynolds and got a 25 point penalty as a result, which ruined his chances of increasing his total points…
On lap 3 everybody was settling down into a race rhythm, no incidents on this lap.
On lap 4 Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup and Scott McLaughlin were just pulling away from the rest of the pack.
On lap 5 Jamie Whincup was helping Craig Lowndes to close the gap on Frosty for 2015 V8 Supercars championship.
The top 3 cars were just pulling away on lap 6.
In the middle of the race Tim Slade and Todd Kelly were battling for positions 10th and 11th. Rick Kelly locked a brake while battling with Lee Holdsworth approaching MG Corner.
Towards the end of the race Todd Kelly and Tim Slade touched which sent Todd Kelly out into the boonies, but in the end no one could catch the top 3 cars of Craig Lowndes, Jamie Wnincup and Scott Mclaughlin.
Results for race 31
1st – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia
2nd – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia
3rd – Scott Mclaughlin – Volvo Polstar Racing
In race 32 Scott Mclaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Jamie Whincup on lap 1 of 14. Jamie got the jump meaning he got a better launch and reaction time and his teammate Craig Lowndes had dropped down to 3rd. The 2 Holden Racing team Commodores of Garth Tander and James Courtney were side by side on approach to the Southern Loop turn 2.
Tim Slade was battling with Will Davison further back in the pack, but he was on the wrong side of the track for the hairpin at turn 4. Jason Bright had to get back the Nissan Altama driven by James Moffatt car 99, then Garth Tander passed Fabain Coulthard at turn 5, then he tried to do the same maneuver that Garth did 1 corner before. Towards the end of the first lap he and Cameron Waters made contact coming out of the 2nd last corner.
On lap 2 Todd Kelly, Dale Wood, Tim Blanchard and David Wall along with Paul Dumbrell were battling together near the back of the field James Moffatt gave Fabain Coulthard a little bump, just to remind him that he was there.
On lap 3 Scott Pye was battling with the two Nissans of Micheal Caruso and Rick Kelly, also on that same lap Jamie Whincup’s race start was under investigation.
On lap 4 Foxsports showed a replay of the start of the race and there was no one breach for him so that meant he could press on.
In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin was chasing David Reynolds.
Towards the end of the race no one could catch the race leaders. That race win for Jamie Whincup took his career tally up to 95.
Results for race 32
1st – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia
2nd – Scott Mclaughlin – Volvo Polstar racing
3rd – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia
In race 33 Mark Winterbottom started on pole position alongside him was Craig Lowndes on lap 1 of 45 Mark Winterbottom got the jump off the start line from position 1. Scott Mclaughlin got swamped by the two Red Bull cars. Dale Wood and Lee Holdsworth on the exit of turn 2. Rick Kelly ran wide at turn 4, he and Cameron Waters made contact on approach to Lukie height and they both went off as a result. Then when Cameron Waters rejoined he was limping around the track due to the damage that was on his car.
On lap 2 Jamie Whincup was the first of the two Red Bull cars to pit so that Craig did not have to double stack. In the pits,
Jason Bright got a drive thru penalty for an unsafe pit release by the car controller at Brad Jones Racing. Scott Pye also came in as well for his pit stop, along with David Reynolds, James Courtney, Tim Blanchard and also Cameron Waters and David Wall.
On lap 3 Frosty had a lead of 1.3 seconds over Scott Pye. Meanwhile Craig Lowndes was trying to getup close and personal to Scott McLaughlin to be able to pass him. At this time Jamie Whincup was doing a pit stop and his car dropped off the jacks the car controller at Red Bull had hold him so that he didn’t end up being released into oncoming traffic, in the fast lane. Tim Slade and Fabain Coulthard were battling for positions 9th and 10th.
On lap 4 Garth Tander and Shane Van Gisbergen were battling till Shane had to come into the pit lane for the first of his two pit stops that took them into lap 5.
Todd Kelly and Will Davison joined him as well, when he rejoined James Moffatt tried to come up the inside at turn 2 which he did. But then Shane Van Gisbergen tried to go around the outside which didn’t work.
On lap 6 Garth Tander came in for his pit stop along with Paul Dumbrell and Chris Pither. Chris Pither had damage on the front of Superblack racing Ford Falcon car 111.
On lap 7 James Courtney left space for Shane Van Gisbergen to go up the inside at turn 4. Lee Holdsworth was not a very happy chappy about the fact that he was out of race 33.
In the middle of the race Greg Murphy was talking to Mark Dutton about the Red Bull cars tyre lifespan and why Craig Lowndes appeared had good tyre life and how Jamie Whincup didn’t.
Towards the end of the race no one could catch the top 3, Craig Lowndes, Scott Mclaughlin and Jamie Whincup. Tim Edwards was not very happy with the move that Jamie put on Frosty.
Results for race 33
1st – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd – Scott Mclaughlin – Volvo Polstar racing.
3rd – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.
Congratulations to Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup and Scott Mclaughlin for a fantastic weekend, No one could take these guys out…
The next and final event is the Coates Hire Sydney 500 on the 4th – 6th of December 2015. There is only 71 points now between the Pepsi Max Crew and Red Bull Racing Australia in terms of the teams championship and in terms of the drivers’ championship there is only 179 points between Mark Winterbottom and Craig Lowndes, there are now only 2 drivers left in contention.
Who will win the championship?
Lowndesy is now on 102 career wins. There are just 3 races left this season Red Bull took 60 point out of leader over the Phillip Island race weekend.
The commentators were Greg Rust and Neil Crompton, the pit reporters were Greg Murphy and Riana Crehan. 1 race meeting to go.
On the weekend of 1st – 3rd of April 2016 was Tyrepower Tasmania Supersprint.
In race 4 Mark Winterbottom was on pole position, alongside him was Craig Lowndes for the 50 lap race.
On lap 1 Mark Winterbottom got the jump and led the race, but Craig Lowndes tried to take it off him. But that didn’t work so he had to sit in behind Mark Winterbottom. Then everybody else settled down into a rhythm and a race pace.
On lap 2 Mark Winterbottom was still the leader while the cars behind were trying to catch him.
On lap 3 everybody was just sorting out their positions on track, because cars further back were trying to improve their positions and move up inside the top 10.
On lap 4 the cars up the front didn’t push too hard too early because otherwise a car would have ended up down in the sand trap down at turn 4 or in-between turns 6 and 7.
On lap 5 the pit stops for four tyres could start, Jamie Whincup was the first car to come in to pit to get the undercut which mean get the tyres on and get out before the team car comes in. When Mark Winterbottom made his stop it was slow because the Rod Nash crew had to move all the gear forward because Mark over shot the box on the entry.
On lap 6 Jamie Whincup had gone from 7th up to the affective race lead. When the rest of the pack pitted and then came back out on the track they were all overshooting the pit exit. (Meaning missing the turn to Re-join the circuit.)
On lap 7 the leader was Shane Van Gisbergen then he did the same thing, he pitted for 4 tyres. In the middle of the race the 2 Red Bull Racing Australia cars were battling for the race lead, Shane Van Gisbergen was putting pressure on Jamie Whincup for the lead. Roland Dane would have been sweating watching Jamie and Shane battle for the lead and the win.
Towards the end of the race no could catch Shane Van Gisbergen. He gave Holden there 500th Australian touring car – V8 Supercars championship win. and 146th win for Triple 8 race Engineering.
Results for race 4
1st – Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Racing Australia
2nd – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia
3rd – Will Davison – Tekno Autosports
Before the race started, in qualifying Will Davison got a 2 grid spot penalty from Race Control for holding up James Courtney when he was on a flying lap. So Will went from 1st to 3rd in race 5.
In race 5 Mark Winterbottom again started from pole position alongside him this time was Shane Van Gisbergen for the 84 lap race.
On lap 1 Shane Van Gisbergen got the right amount of bite from the clutch with no wheel spin but then Mark Winterbottom wanted to get back up the inside at turn 2, which he did until Shane Van Gisbergen put enough pressure on him that he made a mistake.
On lap 2 he was still in position 1 with Shane Van Gisbergen doing absolutely everything he could to take the lead off the champ.
On lap 3 the cars were still under green racing conditions (meaning the Safety car had not been deployed at that point), because no cars had gone off the race track.
On lap 4 Shane Van Gisbergen tried to take the race lead off Mark Winterbottom.
There was a safety car on lap 5 due to Chris Pither’s nasty incident on the exit of the turn 4 hairpin. As a result, his Superblack Racing Ford Falcon FGX was a bloody mess and then when it came time for the first round of pit stops Jamie Whincup had to double stack behind Shane Van Gisbergen. the front runners were playing for keeps.
The restart was on lap 10, Fabain Coulthard got up the inside of James Courtney. Jamie Whincup was back in 12th after the double stack.
On lap 11 the cars up the front were just pushing on. Rick Kelly caught up to the top 3 as a result of the front 2 cars battling.
On lap 12, Mark Winterbottom nearly took the race lead off Shane Van Gisbergen and got crossed up at turns 1 and 2.
On lap 13 Mark Winterbottom gave Shane Van Gisbergen a nudge and almost spun him around.
On lap 14 the cars further back were trying to get into the top 10.
On lap 15 Shane Van Gisbergen tried to maintain the lead, but Mark Winterbottom was putting pressure on him.
On lap 16, Shane Van Gisbergen was still leading by point 4 of a second.
On lap 17 the leaders were pulling away up the front and staying there.
On lap 18 the pack were settling down after the restart. On lap 19 Jamie Whincup was moving up through the field.
On lap 20 Scott Pye was sitting in behind Jamie Whincup.
On lap 21 the cars in the mid pack were trying to stay in contact.
On lap 22 Jamie Whincup was trying to knock the rivets off the fence.
On lap 23 Jamie Whincup had a fast car in the opening stages.
In the middle of the race James Courtney rejoined the race in front of Jamie Whincup.
Towards the end of the race there was an oil slick that came out of Cameron Waters car, which meant other cars got caught up on it including the race leader Shane Van Gisbergen, Tim Blanchard, Jamie Whincup and Andre Heimgartner.
Will Davison is now the championship leader but only by 15 points over Craig Lowndes.
The next event is the WD 40 Phillip Island Supersprint. on the 15th to the 17th of April 2016.
Results for race 5
1st – Will Davison – Tekno Autpsports
2nd – Craig Lowndes – Team Vortex
3rd – Mark Winterbottom – Rod Nash racing
This weekend is the Tyrepower Tasmainia Supersprint.
Event 2 of the 2016 V8 Supercars championship.
Let’s take a look at what happened in 2015.
On the 27th – 29th of March 2015 was the Tasmania Super sprint. In race 4 Craig Lowndes started on pole position, alongside him was Mark Winterbottom.
On lap 1 Craig led them through turn 1 and 2 for the first of 25 laps. Will Davison got spun around by James Courtney at turn 4 and the hairpin. Betty Klimenko, team boss was not happy about it.
On lap 2, Scott Pye was on the inside for turns 1 and 2. Scott jumped to the left immediately, to cover Scott Mclaughlin parked in the Volvo s60 Garage to fix the problems.
On lap 3, Tim Slade, was holding his position from Fabain Coulthard.
In the middle of the race Craig was still leading the race Scott was back in the pack.
Towards the end of race 4 no one could catch the Red Bull Racing Australia Holden Commodore VF Car 888.
Results for race 4
1st – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd – Mark Winterbottom – Pepsi Max Crew – PRA. Racing.
3rd – James Courtney – HRT.
Race 5
In race 5 Craig Lowndes started on pole position alongside him was teammate Jamie Whincup.
On lap 1 JDUB followed his teammate into turns 1 and 2. Garth Tander made a spot on young Andre Heimgardner.
On lap 2 Jamie had a great 2nd sector of race 2 Jason Bright and and Dale Wood are affectively teammates but the paint Scheme’s are different.
On lap 3 Fabain Coulthard was running in 12th spot, but he was moving through the pack.
On lap 4 Andre Heimgardner in the Superblack Racing Ford Falcon FGX and as a result the yellow flag and the Safety car was deployed Dale copped a hard hit and got a flat tyre as a result. The restart was on lap number 8, in the middle of the race Will lost the rear window for 2 races in a row, towards the end of the race no one Could Catch Craig or Jamie.
Results for Race 5
1st – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull racing Australia.
2nd – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.
3rd – David Reynolds – Rod Nash Racing.
Race 6
In race 6 Craig Lowndes started on pole postion alongside him was David Reynolds.
On lap 1 when Craig tagged David he spun around as a result he got a pit lane penalty.
On lap 2 the 888 car was still out in front leading the race. David Wall in had a drama in the Volvo, Will had smoke coming out of the back of Erebus Merc E63 AMG. Both Scott Mclaughlin and Tim Slade went down the inside of Andre Heimgardner at turn 7.
On lap 3 Will went into the Garage and got out of the car (this means his day is over).
On lap 4 Dale Wood got up to 13th after starting towards the back of the pack.
On lap 5 Craig Lowndes came through the pitlane for a pit Lane penalty, for a driving infringement.
On lap 6 Craig realized that he wasn’t far enough up to make the move.
On lap 7 the Triple 8 car started move through the field.
On lap 8 Chaz Mostert was chasing the HRT car, of Garth Tander on.
Lap 9 the Erebus Motorsport team were trying to replace Will’s steering rack on the E63. James Courtney was chasing 1 of the Nissan Altimas of James Moffat.
On lap 10 the Superblack Racing Falcon was chasing the Volvo car number 33.
On lap 11 Scott made 1st of 2 compulsory pit stops. Mark Winterbottom made a move down at the hairpin turn 4 on Micheal Caruso, his teammate Chaz Mostert was trying to pass Garth Tander.
In the middle of the race the Red Bull car was charging through the field, after the final round of pit stops, the order of the race was back to normal.
Towards the end of the race no one could catch Jamie for the top step of the podium.
The next event is the Perth Super Sprint. On the 1st – 3rd of May 2015. Red Bull racing Australia dominated in 2014, and 2015.
Results of Race 6
1st – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing
2nd – Chaz Mostert – Pepsi Max
3rd – Shane Van Gisbergen – Techno
