Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!
On the weekend of the 2nd – 5th of March 2017 was the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide South Australia.
As the first race of the season it was interesting to note:
- New season equals new cars. Many teams invest in new cars allowing their engineers to really show what they are made of. It’s always interesting to see how they tweak cars to get the best performance.
- Alex Rullo was the youngest driver to make his debut in the V8 Supercars Championship at just 16 years and 8 months.
- It was Jason Bright’s first race in the Prodrive Racing Australia team.
- Scott McLaughlin did pretty well for his debut with the Shell V Power Racing Team and with Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
- The space he left in Garry Rogers Motorsport Team has been taken up by Garth Tander.
- This was Simona De Silvestro’s 3rd race in V8 Supercars. It was good to see her do well in her first event and first race as a full time V8 Supercars driver.
At the start of the 78 laps in race 1, Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position with Fabian Coulthard alongside him.
Fabian Coulthard got the jump off the start line and led the opening laps.
On Lap 2 Todd Kelly tried to go through turn 8 with three cars wide. As a result, Will Davison hit the wall and copped some bad damage. The red lights came on and he drove his car back to the pit lane. He was out of the race.
The safety came out to put the wall back in place. On restart Scott McLaughlin was weaving side to side, which is not allowed after the safety car lights have gone out and the race has gone back to green. Not sure what he was thinking but officials served him a pit lane penalty, sending him to the 24th spot at the back of the pack.
Meanwhile, Shane Van Gisbergen was putting as much pressure as possible on his fellow Kiwi, but Fabian Coulthard kept his position and the champion wasn’t able to pass.
At the start of lap 3 Jamie Whincup took an early pit stop. Once he re-joined the race he was clear of surrounding traffic and able to press on to gain valuable time.
On lap 4 Simona De Silvestro (what a honey-I want to take her home, cook her dinner & eat swiss chocolate from her clavicle) seemed to be enjoying her 3rd race in a V8 Supercar and also her first race in Adelaide.
On lap 5 Fabian Coulthard made a mistake running wide at a turn. It was just what Shane Van Gisbergen was waiting for. He passed on the inside and took the lead.
On lap 6 Mark Winterbottom was waiting for a clear pit lane to make the first of his 2 pit stops. When Mark Winterbottom came out of the pits he had to look for space to re-join the race and managed to pull in behind his teammate.
On lap 7 Chaz Mostert had taken his pit stop and really found his rhythm (playing the bongos and singing the banana boat song, ‘Daaay-0h, Da-a-a-ay oh, come Mr tally mon, tally me banana’!?) and was moving up through the pack with ease.
On lap 8 Craig Lowndes was able to pit at his own choosing. He didn’t have to worry about a double stack with Will Davison as he was out of the race after crashing on lap 1.
On lap 11 David Reynolds was feeling the need to take his pit, but was forced to stay out longer so he wouldn’t double stack with teammate, Dale Wood.
On lap 13 the cars back in the pack came in to pits to get out of the traffic.
On lap 14 Mark Winterbottom was caught up in a tight pack of cars. Due to the aggressive competition, he nearly ended up making contact with a wall but managed to stay out of trouble. The incident scared the hell out of the Prodrive Racing Australia team. (Only their dry cleaners’ will know just how much it scared them.)
On lap 16 Shane Van Gisbergen pitted after Jamie Whincup. Meanwhile Garth Tander had a good pace going in his new Holden Commodore, number 33.
On lap 17 Craig Lowndes also put his new Team Vortex Holden Commodore to the test and pushed it to its limits.
In the middle of the race at turn 5, Jamie Whincup spun Mark Winterbottom’s car around. With the new season’s rules in place, Jamie Whincup didn’t receive a drive through penalty.
Towards the end of the race Craig Lowndes was struggling. He was running out of fuel and he had to compensate by altering his driving technique.
Shane Van Gisbergen had such a good lead he was virtually unstoppable. The other drivers were not put off and competition for placings was still heated.
It all made for exciting racing with Shane Van Gisbergen comfortably crossing the finish line first.
Results for race 1
1st – Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd – Fabain Coulthard – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
3rd – James Courtney – Mobil 1 HSV Racing.
At the start of the 78 laps in race No. 2, Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.
Jamie Whincup started 10th due to putting all 4 wheels over the curb at turn 2 in the qualifying race, which meant his lap was taken away from him.
On lap 1, Fabian Coulthard took the lead. Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t get a good start from pole position so Scott McLaughlin overtook into second place. Nick Percat hit the wall at turn 8 and as a result limped the car back to the pits for repairs.
On lap 2 the leaders were pulling away from the rest of the pack; Scott McLaughlin, James Courtney and Shane Van Gisbergen.
On lap 3 Jamie Whincup again came into the pits early. This appeared to be a good call because of where Jamie Whincup had qualified. Once again, he would be able to re-join the race and concentrate on gaining valuable ground. Scott McLaughlin was doing a great job for his new team, Shell V Power Racing Team. As the newbie to V8 Supercars, Alex Rullo was getting used to being around everybody else. Shane Van Gisbergen was battling with Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin to maintain the lead. Mark Winterbottom was doing his best to keep out of trouble.
On lap 4 Simona De Silvestro was doing very well in her first weekend as a fulltime female driver in the V8 Supercars Championship.
On lap 5 James Courtney had a close call with the wall. A hit into the wall like that would have been an all-night repair job for the Mobil 1 HSV Racing team.
On lap 6 Scott Pye was trying to find a way to get passed his teammate, James Courtney to gain pit priority.
On lap 7 Tim Slade was having a ‘friendly’ battle with his teammate, Nick Percat.
On lap 8 Shane Van Gisbergen wanted to keep track position so stayed out on track a bit longer.
On lap 9 Mark Winterbottom was chasing Cameron Waters for pit priority. Garth Tander and James Moffatt were praying for smooth sailing; if the Safety Car came out their cars 33 and 34 would have had to double stack one behind the other.
On lap 10 Shane Van Gisbergen seemed happy with his car set up for the two races.
On lap 11 Simona De Silvestro got spun around by James Courtney on her way into the pit lane.
On lap 12 Michael Caruso nearly hit the tyres at the first turn. If this did happen it would have an adverse effect on the aerodynamics his Nissan Altama.
Jason Bright’s Cool Suit failed. In emergency response, The Mega Racing Crew, a part of the Prodrive Racing Australia Team had to take out the two windows on the driver’s and passenger’s side.
On lap 13 Alex Rullo was following teammate, Taz Douglas.
In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin was leading and Shane Van Gisbergen was working hard to keep up the chase for the lead.
Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin looked sure to be the winner. However, a mistake on Scott McLaughlin’s part gave Shane Van Gisbergen his second great opportunity for the day. He took the lead in the last minutes and went on to win his second race of the day.
Results for race 2.
1st – Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd – Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
3rd – Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.
The next event is the non-Championship round at Albert Park in Melbourne Victoria, 23rd – 26th of March 2017. The next Championship race is Symmons Plains raceway in Tasmania, on the 7th – 9th of April 2017.