Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!
On the weekend of the 3rd to the 4th of August 2018 was the Red Rooster Sydney SuperNight 300.
This year will be first time in a long time that the Supercars have raced at night. The last time the Supercars raced under lights was 1997 at Calder Park Melbourne, Victoria.
It was an exceptional setup with a new lighting system that seemed to work really well. Check out the video links below to see just how much light they threw onto the track.
The other change to the weekend is that there will be only one V8 Supercars race. In previous years the Red Rooster SuperSprint has had two.
As well as only being one night race, it will also be longer – 300 kilometres over 77 laps.
In the race preliminaries before even taking off for the warm up lap, Jamie Whincup had a flat battery while stationary out on the grid. How this happened between driving out onto the grid and taking off is a mystery to me.
On Friday night in Practice 1, Chaz Mostert was fastest.
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2 on Saturday.
Before the race started the drivers were introduced to the crowd in the dark. It was a fantastic spectacle which everyone seemed to enjoy (drivers, teams and crowd).
As they come out to the grid for race 21, it was no surprise to see Scott McLaughlin started on pole position for the 11th time in 2018. Alongside was his teammate, Fabian Coulthard.
As they took off Shane Van Gisbergen tried to split the two Shell V Power Fords up but unfortunately he had tuck back into 3rd place during the opening laps.
Fabian Coulthard and Jamie Whincup made contact at turn 1. The angle of connection had me thinking that Jamie Whincup would be off the track and spun around. Commentators, Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton also thought it would be an incident at 270kmp/h and in the dark. I reckon it was Jamie Whincup’s experience that saved Fabian Coulthard from a penalty.
Andre Heimgartner lost control out on track and then made contact with Garth Tander. The Nissan Motorsport Team had to push his car number 7 into the garage for some serious repairs before re-joining the race.
Garth Tander didn’t have a very good race at all. He got hit left right and centre from the start of the race all the way through. In fact, Garth Tander started 22nd and finished 20th. A result I am sure he won’t be happy with.
Craig Lowndes was made to come in on lap 7 to get clear track. Pit reporter, Mark Larkham calls it the undercut, meaning if a driver thinks he is getting held up by the car in front of him the Engineers will call the drivers in to get them out of the traffic.
Richie Stanaway having started in position 24 chose to stay a bit longer to see how far he could move up before pitting. It worked well for the first year rookie, by the end of the race he did gain 3 spots.
When the 2 Shell V Power cars took turns to pit they had go around the Red Bull garage. Whereas Tickford Racing let Craig Lowndes drive underneath there pit bay for a straight entry to his. Shell V Power and Red Bull just don’t share that kind of relationship.
In the middle of the race Lee Holdsworth was battling it out with Todd Hazelwood. As the came down the main straight the rear wing separated from Todd Hazelwood’s Ford Falcon causing him to leave the track at top speed of 270 killermeters an hour. SCARY!!!
My first thought was, ‘Oh no! He is about to hit the wall. Somehow, he managed to re-join safely but the Supercars Officials wouldn’t let him continue until the team put the wing back in place.
If you have an opinion on How Todd Hazelwood’s rear wing come off and how you thought the race went you can let me via my Facebook Fan page. Here is the link for you to make an express expression of your thoughts and opinions. https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/
On Lap 52 of 77 James Courtney had to slow down after getting a flat tyre and then hitting a curb which mangled his wheel and suspension. The damage was extensive enough to result in him retiring from race 21. He was the only one out of 26 cars that started Saturday night’s to not finish the race.
Anton De Pasquale was docked 35 points for contact with Michael Caruso.
As the final stint began Craig Lowndes had a margin of 5. 9 Seconds over Scott McLaughlin, so I thought, ‘Ok, time to look after tyres and save fuel’.
When Garth Tander got spun by Simona De Silvestro at turn 4 she wasn’t given a drive thru penalty.
As it came to the close of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was battling with Scott McLaughlin for the lead. How Craig Lowndes lost his 5.9 second lead is another mystery to me.
Shane Van Gisbergen seemed to get the better of ‘Speedie Scott’ McLaughlin to take the lead. It was later revealed the Scott McLaughlin felt like some debris was lodged in his tyre and it was going down.
With Scott McLaughlin slowing down it now looked like Triple 8 were to finish 1, 2 and 3 with Jamie Whincup also overtaking him and Craig Lowndes close behind. However, Scott McLaughlin did manage to hold off Craig Lowndes and avoid the Triple 8 trifecta.
Fabian Coulthard finished 11th after he started 2nd due a buckled wheel on the left rear.
The gap between the championship leader, Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen is now just 89 points.
Triple 8 now lead the Teams Championship by 262 points.
The next is the OTR Bend Supersprint on the 24 to the 26th of August 2018.
results for race 21
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing team
3rd Scott Mclaughlin – Shell V Power Racing team
4th Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.
Here is a video for the lead up to the Red Rooster Sydney Supernight 300
Who will lead the Championship after the next Supercars Races?