Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world
On the Weekend of the 21st – 23rd of October 2016 was the Gold Coast 600 for those of you who missed it here is what happened.
In race 22 Alex Premat started on pole position alongside him was David Wall for this 102-lap race.
On lap 1, Alex Premat got the jump on David Wall to lead through 1, 2 and 3 chicane, also on the opening lap the cars further back came in early to try and get track position, the cars further back in the pack were trying to keep the cars straight. Meanwhile the leaders were up front pulling away.
On lap 2, the drivers back in the pack got damage as a result of a concertina effect. The drivers involved were Jonathon Webb, Dean Fiore, Karl Reindler, Craig Baird and Steve Owen. Steven Richards backed off so he wouldn’t get involved in the incident
On lap 3, the Red Bull cars were up front dominating the race early on.
On lap 4, the cars back in the pack pitted so they would not get held up in traffic.
On lap 5, Paul Dumbrell was behind Alex Premat, the only thing that would get him closer to Shane Van Gisbergen would have been a Safety car, but it didn’t come.
On lap 6, when the leaders caught up to the cars that were a lap down the Officials had to wave a blue flag to inform them to move out of the way of the race leaders.
On lap 7, Alex Premat was up front until he got held up by traffic. There was only one main driver and that which was Mark Winterbottom.
On lap 8, Mark Winterbottom was coming through the pack big time.
On lap 9, at one point Alex Premat had a big lead over Paul Dumbrell which meant that the main drivers Shane Van Gisbergen had pit priority over Jamie Whincup.
On lap 10, the field was still under green flag, Mark Winterbottom was still coming through the pack, because of where he qualified near the back of the field.
On lap 11, the field was starting to settle down into a race pace.
On lap 12, Paul Dumbrell needed to clear Shane Van Gisbergen to get some fresh air in car 88 also to come in first.
On lap 13, the race was still under green until there was an incident between Jack Le Brocq and Ash Walsh.
On lap 14, Red Bull dominated the first half of this race.
On lap 15, the cars were pushing hard early on.
On lap 16, Alex Premat was still up front under pressure from Paul Dumbrell.
On lap 17, Paul Dumbrell tried to pass Alex Premat but wasn’t able to get it done.
On lap 18, the Red Bull team didn’t want the two cars to get together. The team needed Championship points. Russell Ingall was involved in the incident at turn 3 with Tony Dalberto
On lap 19, Cameron Mcconville got a whack up the rear end by another that car driven by with Ash Walsh at the wheel. Which unfortunately put them back in the garage.
On lap 20, the Nissan Motorsport crew had to change the steering arm for Rick Kelly.
In the middle of the race everyone came in for their final pit stops for the run to the checker flag. When the Safety car pulled away Alex Premat followed him so that meant Shane Van Gisbergen had to serve a 10 second time penalty at his next stop.
Towards the end of the race Garth Tander and Fabain Coulthard came together in a massive crash.
In the end, no one could catch Shane Van Gisgbergen.
Results for race 22
1st – Shane Van Gisbergen & Alex Premat – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd – Scott McLaughlin & David Wall – Volvo Polstar Racing.
3rd – Jamie Whincup & Paul Dumbrell – Red Bull Racing Australia.
In Qualifying for race 23, Shae Davies who was driving at the time hit the wall towards the end of the warm up lap which resulted in a red flag (meaning he could take no further part in the session.) Because of the amount of damage to car 4 from Erebus Motorsport they couldn’t compete in Sundays race due to bad damage.
Jamie Whincup claimed his 72nd career pole position in the top ten shootouts then he handed the car to Paul Dumbrell.
Race 23
Paul Dumbrell started from pole position alongside him was Alex Premat for the 102-lap race.
On lap 1, Paul Dumbrell beat Alex Premat to the turns 1, 2 and 3 chicane, David Russell hit the on the wall exit of the back Chicane as a result he managed to get going again which meant no need for a yellow flag – Safety car. Steve Owen got passed the youngster James Golding.
On lap 2, everybody was settling into a race pace.
On lap 3, David Russell was in the way of Paul Dumbrell, Craig Baird and Steven Richards were battling for 3rd and 4th.
On lap 4, Warren Luff ran in to the back of Luke Youlden for the 2nd day in a row.
On lap 5, Steve Richards got the move doneon Craig Baird down at turn 4 for 3rd place.
On lap 6, the two Red Bull cars were dominating the early stages of the race. The race was still under green until there was an accident between the Aaren Russell and Chris Van Der Drift.
On lap 7, Alex Premat was putting pressure on the sister Red Bull car who was leading the race. But both Red Bull cars sent the rest of the pack a big message “catch us if you can”.
On lap 8, Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton were enjoying the race as well as commentating on it.
On lap 9, the cars back in the pack pitted to stay out of trouble and get track position and then just run their own race.
On lap 10, Matt Campbell was many laps down meaning he had to get out of the leader’s way.
On lap 11, no one hit the wall and kept the cars straight so that the teams didn’t have to repair them when they got back to the workshop.
On lap 12, Dean Canto was still near the front but not where he wanted to be.
On lap 13, Mark Winterbottom was trying to not end up in the wall.
On lap 14, all the main drivers were sitting back in the garage watching their respective co drivers do the first stint,
On lap 15, no one made contact with each other. Which meant that if the Safety car came out the teams with 2 cars would have too double stack which is never what you want, but unfortunately the drivers have no choice.
On lap 16, Rick Kelly was watching Russell Ingall do his stint and hoping the Enforcer didn’t put a mark on the car.
On lap 17, Paul Dumbrell was in front of the sister Red Bull car driven by Alex Premat, meaning the combination of Paul Dumbrell and Jamie Whincup would get pit priority first.
On lap 18, the cars further back were pitted to avoid double stacking.
On lap 19, the cars up front stayed out on the track a little bit longer.
On lap 20, everyone was settling down after the first round of pit stops.
In the middle of the race Will Davison got a bad sportsmanship flag for using too much curb at the back chicane. When the main drivers jumped back into their cars the drivers were ready to catch the cars in front of them. Scott McLaughlin was further back than what he would have liked due to putting more fuel on board, towards the end of the race. Mark Winterbottom tried to hold on to his podium spot but couldn’t get it because Scott MacLaughin was on fresh new tyres. The move that Mark Winterbottom put on Scott MacLaughlin down at turn 11 was remarkable. I thought that Scott MacLaughlin was going to go straight ahead into the wall. Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen were already in front. Shane Van Gisbergen got the Bad Sportsman flag for too much curb use at turns 1, 2 and 3 then had to back off.
Well done to everybody during the Gold Coast 600 weekend.
Results for race 23
1st – Jamie Whincup & Paul Dumbrell – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen & Alex Premat – Red Bull Racing Australia.
3rd Scott McLaughlin & David Wall – Volvo Polstar Racing.
The next event is the ITM Auckland Super sprint 4th – 6th Of November 2016.