Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!
On the weekend of July 18th and 19th, 2020 was the Truck Assist Sydney Supersprint.
Before I get into the race article, the hot news in Supercars is that Channel 10 has confirmed it will not be renewing its broadcasting contract after this season. It looks to be going to Channel 7 next year. You can find out more in this article https://www.speedcafe.com/2020/07/24/network-10-confirms-supercars-exit/?fbclid=IwAR3uG9J-FXhX8NK8gFL3X05ELRfv9wuQSE0siN6PSBB1NKIlDUOD5vpSKq4
As COVID-19 causes havoc through Australia (especially Victoria) teams have had to temporarily relocate and operate out of Queensland. This is in an effort to stay in a COVID low risk state so they can join races avoiding border closures in other states (i.e. Victoria).
Now back to the race.
As the teams entered the weekend, Shell V-Power Racing Team led the team’s ladder by 22 points and Scott McLaughlin led the driver’s ladder, 107 points over Jamie Whincup.
There were three races, each being 125kms over 32 laps. The only change to the race setup was tyre changes had to be done with one gun.
Scott McLaughlin was aiming for his own milestone with the opportunity to equal legend Peter Brock’s race win tally.
With all this in mind, Supercars were primed for a great weekend of racing.
In the Pre-race sessions results were as follows:
- Macauley Jones was fastest in the Rookie Only Practice.
- Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 1.
- Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2.
- Scott McLaughlin took out the Armor All Qualifying for Race 10. This eaned him his 9th Pole Position at Sydney Motorsport Park.
In race 10 Scott McLaughlin was on Pole Position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.
At first Scott McLaughlin got the jump off the start line but then got passed into turn 2 by Shane Van Gisbrgen.
Cameron Waters then went down the inside of Scott McLaughlin at turn 3.
During the early laps Shane Van Gisbrgen was pulling away, while the drivers behind him came in to Pit to get out of the traffic.
When Scott McLaughlin came in to the pits they changed car 17 over to soft tyres. I assume this would help his grip in the turns (where he could overtake) and gain track position. Shane Van Gisbergen was still leading the race at that stage.
Shane Van Gisbergen did 20 laps on the soft tyre before pitting to go on the hard tyre. However, staying out longer was not his best strategy because now Scott McLaughlin had the number 1 track position.
It now looked very good for Scott McLaughlin to extend his series lead and be psyched for the rest of the weekend.
As it came to the closing laps Scott McLaughlin secured his lead and noone could catch him. His nearest competitor, Lee Holdsworth was just over 1.3 seconds behind. Anton de Pasquale in 3rd was well over 4 seconds behind that. Shane Van Gisbergen had slipped into 4th position just ahead of his teammate Jamie Whincup. Im sure that it was not the result the Red Bull Team was expecting.
Results for Race 10
1st Scott McLaughlin –Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Lee Holdsworth – Tickford Racing
3rd Anton de Pasquale – Penrite Racing
Once again Scott McLaughlin took out the Qualifying for Race 11 earning him Pole Position. Once again he had Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him at the start line.
Scott McLaughlin led into turn 1 with the cars behind him desperately trying to keep up with the series leader.
During the opening stages the drivers that had track position stayed out longer but the cars back in the pack pitted for clear track and to stay out of trouble.
A lot of the drivers got warnings from Motorsport Australia Race Control for ‘track limits’ at turn 5.
In the middle of the race Nick Percat was leading and continued to increase his lead. The cars behind simply ran out of laps to pass him.
Nick Percat just kept pulling ahead and finished in first position nearly 9 seconds ahead of Fabian Coulthard and surprisingly 19.6363 seconds ahead of Scott McLaughlin. A great result for Nick Percat and the Brad Jones Racing Team.
Results for Race 11
1st Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing
3rd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing
In Race 12 Andre Heimgartner started on pole position. Alongside him was Jamie Whincup.
As the lights went out and the cars left the start line Andre Heimgartner led for the opening stint.
Meanwhile, Scott McLaughlin who started from 3rd position made contact with another car. He now had smoke coming out of the right rear corner which meant he had to pit to fix it.
After he re-joined he came out near the back of the pack which I thought he was going to get stuck in the pack and not be able to make a break for the lead.
In the middle of the race drivers were fighting for the lead.
The 3 leading cars seemed to be firmly ahead of the pack. Andre Heimgartner who started in pole position slipped 1 place coming behind a very happy Jack Le Broq. Todd Hazelwood followed in third, also very close behind. It was a great finish.
Results for Race 12
1st Jack Le Brocq – Tickford Racing
2nd Andre Heimgartner – Kelly Racing
3rd Todd Hazelwood – Brad Jones Racing
The next race is the BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown on August 15 and 16.
But who knows what will happen in the strange times. So in the meantime be safe and check out my facebook fanpage and Youtube channel.