Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!
On the weekend of the 22nd to the 24th of November 2019 was the Coates Hire Newcastle 500.
The event at Newcastle has been running since 2017 so this is the third time they will be hosting the final event of the season.
The track at Newcastle is a street track and this year they tweaked it to provide better passing opportunities.
Newcastle really knows how to put on an event and had 155,000 people attend over the 3 days.
Before the weekend started Scott McLaughlin was declared ‘Driver Champion Elect’ based on a points lead that could not be caught up to with only this race remaining for the season. With that in mind, it must have been quite a fun weekend for him.
The Team Championship point spread was a little bit closer with a gap of just 116 and the Red Bull team were in a position take the lead away from the Scott McLaughlin’s Shell V Power Racing Team which made things a little more exciting.
The weekend got off to a great start. In summary the pre-race sessions took place with the following results:
- Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 1
- Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 2
- Jamie Whincup was fastest in Armour All Qualifying
- Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in the Armour All Top Ten Shootout.
In race 31 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.
At the start of the 95-lap race Shane Van Gisbergen got the jump off the line.
Scott McLaughlin was held up high and wide at the first turn which allowed Jamie Whincup to go up to 2nd spot. I was surprised that Scott McLaughlin let Jamie Whincup pass him on the opening lap.
Shane Van Gisbergen continued to hold his lead all the way except for pit stops.
Fabian Coulthard came in to pits first to not double stack with the champion elect Scott McLaughlin.
David Reynolds was battling with Anton De Pasquale for pit priority.
In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup were still running 1st and 2nd .
It was only in the last laps that Jamie Whincup came off track at turn 1. He wasnt able to get into the reverse gear and lost time slipping from 2nd to 8th place by the race finish. It was this mistake that cost the Red Bull Team the season championship. The team championship spread was now just 77 points.
I think, to the surprise of everyone there were no safety cars on Saturday.
Results for Race 31
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
3rd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
In preparation for the final race of the season:
- Cameron Waters was fastest in Armour All Qualifying
- Jamie Whincup was Fastest in the top ten shootout
In race 32 Jamie Whincup started on pole position. Alongside him was Cameron Waters.
At the start of the final race of the season Lee Holdsworth received damaged to his Ford Mustang requiring an immediate return to the pits after contact with another car.
As the rest of the pack prepped for the pits, the race leaders stayed out to avoid the dreaded double stacking.
Soon after James Courtney and Anton de Pasquale made contact in between turns 2 and 3 which required the first safety car of the weekend to be deployed to remove Anton de Pasquale’s car.
On the restart Shane Van Gisbergen was on the charge along with Will Davison after those drivers got pinged before the race and set further back on the start grid.
Regardless of efforts no could catch Jamie Whincup who dominated the race all bar pit stops. Jamie Whincup crossed the line first.
That now gives Jamie Whincup 118 career wins and 83 career poles.
Rick Kelly and Andre Heimgartner and Garry Jacobson had their final race with the Nissan Altama’s before they switch to the Ford Mustang, which will make 8 Mustangs on the Supercars grid for next year.
Results for Race 32
1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
3rd Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing
Please feel free to comment on how the Newcastle event went.