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Supercars

Valo Adelaide 500 2024

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 14 – 17 November 2024 was Valo Adelaide 500, Round 12 of the 2024 Supercars Championship. This was the last round for the year held on the Adelaide Street circuit in South Australia.

The Adelaide Street Circuit was purpose built to host the Australian Grand Prix when Adelaide won the rights in 1985. The 3.80 km track combined sections constructed in Victoria Park as well as utilising city streets.

Supercars started racing at the Adelaide circuit in 1999. The event was known as The Sensational Adelaide 500 and run over 2 legs. At that very first event both races were won by legend Craig Lowndes. He won the first race from the second row of the grid and on the Sunday, he won after starting at the back of the pack. He unbelievably went from last to first.

This year marks the 25 year anniversary for Supercars at the venue.

This year it was the last event for the year, so is a milestone for two people leaving the sport as full-time drivers. Tim Slade is leaving after a 15 years career and Mark ‘Frosty’ Winterbottom ends his illustrious career after 21 years. We thank you and wish you all the very best for the future.

The event kicked off on a Thursday with warm weather. Great for the visitors but making it a hot 45 degrees plus inside the race cars.

The pre-race sessions results were:

  • James Courtney was fastest in Practice 1
  • David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 2
  • Will Brown was fastest in Qualifying. The session was cut short due to a red flag with 9 minutes 41 seconds remaining, caused by a big shunt between Richie Stanaway Cameron Hill and David Reynolds.
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 3
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the top 10 Shootout

In Race 23 Cameron Waters started on pole position, alongside him was Thomas Randle.

Dale Wood started 24th on the grid as substitute for Richie Stanaway who was receiving medical attention after his crash in qualifying.

Cooper Murray was sitting in for “Dad to Be” Jack le Brocq who was heading home to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.

Chaz Mostert was having clutch problems pre-race and had to start from the pit lane.

The two Red Bull Ampol Racing driver’s came into this event as the only 2 in contention for the season title. So, although it was a tense situation it would have been relatively a friendly competition between the two, Will Brown and Broc Feeney.

At the start of the 78 lap race Thomas Randle got the jump and took the lead. Cameron Waters tucked into second place and Matt Payne was right behind them in third. The championship contenders Will Brown and Broc Feeney were battling for 4th and 5th place.

Both Broc Feeney and Will Brown soon passed Matt Payne for 3rd and 4th position.

Last year’s reigning champ, Brodie Kostecki had moved up 4 places into 7th.

Chaz Mostert who was 3rd on the season ladder wanted to keep his place on the scoreboard. He passed David Rynolds to take the 18th spot.

The first car to pit in this race was Tim Slade from 21st position on lap 17.

Soon after Slade returned to the track he was hit by David Reynolds. Slade was able to continue but David Reynolds was slowing and had to head into the garage to resolve the problems with car 20.

Broc Feeney in 3rd place was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 27. The stop was 5.5 seconds and he re-joined in 7th position. The 6 cars ahead were yet to take their pit stops. Once they did Feeney took the lead of the race.

Mark Winterbottom was spun around and pushed out of 5th place by Cooper Murray.

By the middle of the race Broc Feeney had a comfortable lead over Thomas Randle and Cameron Waters. Will Brown was in 4th place.

Broc Feeney kept edging ahead of the pack. It seemed he was untouchable.

With 8 laps to go Broc Feeney had created an 8.7 second lead on the rest of the pack. Meanwhile, his teammate Will Brown had passed Thomas Randle and Cameron Waters to take 2nd place. For Will Brown to finish within the top 5 places would be good enough for him to wrap up the 2024 Supercars Championship.

Will Brown wanted the win but just couldn’t close the gap on Feeney.

Broc Feeney crossed the finish line an amazing 12.117 seconds clear of Will Brown to take his 12th career win, and his 6th win of the 2024 season. Cameron Waters followed in 3rd place.

With this result Will Brown was named ‘2024 Champion Elect’. What a great moment for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team. Top two drivers and top team for the year!

Race 23 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

In Race 24 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Chaz Mostert alongside him.

As they took off Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney were neck in neck until they got to turn 4 when Mostert was able to finally take the lead. Meanwhile Will Brown was right behind.

On lap 4 Matt Payne went into a tyre wall at turn 11. Payne couldn’t get the car into reverse and the front end was buried under the mountain of tyres. The safety car was deployed to rescue him & after a short stint in the garage returned to the race.

The restart was on lap 8 and Chaz Mostert still had control of the race. Broc Feeney in 2nd was looking very racy after the restart and put in several challenges for the lead but Mostert defended well.

At turn 7 Will Brown was hit and spun around by Brodie Kostecki trying to make a pass for 3rd place. The new Champion Elect, Will Brown dropped from 3rd all the way down to 22nd. Although already named champ aft the previous race, being at the back of the pack was surely not how he wanted to finish the season.

Thomas Randle took advantage of the mayhem, and he was now the driver in 3rd place.

Later in the race after the officials reviewed the incident, Brodie Kostecki was issued a 15 second time penalty.

Ryan Wood in 5th place got turned around by Anton de Pasquale at turn 9. Cameron Waters trying to avoid the incident hit Pasquale and went up onto 2 wheels which looked extremely scary.

The first car to pit was James Golding on lap 20 from 20th place.

By the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was out front with a 3 + second lead over Broc Feeney. There was then a 9.927 seconds gap back to Will Davison in third place.

On lap 50 the 3 leaders pitted for the final time. On exit there was contact between Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney. Officials deemed it Feeney’s error and issued him with 15 second time penalty.

With 13 laps to go the lead pack had changed order. Anton de Pasquale was in the number 1 spot, followed by Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert and Will Brown.

Take note that Brown was in 4th place after working his way back to the front after being pushed to the rear of the pack early on in the race. I guess that shows why he earned the championship crown.

Anton de Pasquale’s car was showing the strain of the gruelling 78 lap race. The spoiler on his car was hanging loose and scraping the track. He had to relinquish the lead and head to the pits for repairs before the officials gave him a mechanical black flag.

The lead had changed once again; Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert then Will Brown. Although Feeney was in the lead he still had a 15 second time penalty that would be added post race. He knew he wouldn’t be standing on the podium.

Chaz Mostert in 2nd place looked like he would inherit the win from Feeney.  With 4 laps to go Mostert exceeded track limits and was issued a drive through penalty.

Once Mostert left the track to serve the penalty, Will Brown moved into 2nd place on the track.

Brown knew of the impending 15 second penalty hanging over Feeney, so he took no risks to challenge him. He would win by default.

When Mostert returned to the track after serving the drive through penalty he was miraculously in 3rd place.

Broc Feeney crossed the line first, followed by teammate Will Brown, Chaz Mostert and then Thomas Randle.

Feeney’s time penalty dropped him down to 7th place in the final results. Will Brown claimed the win, Chaz Mostert was declared 2nd and Thomas Randle 3rd.

It was bad luck for Feeney but what a great finish to Will Brown as the season champ.

Race 24 Results:

1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

Well, that’s it for the 2024 Supercars season.

The Sydney 500 will be the first event to kick off the new season in Feb 2025. I can’t wait and hope you will join me in the new year.

In the meantime, I wish you all a very safe and happy festive season and new year.

Supercars

Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 2024

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of October 25 – 27 was the round 11 of the 2024 Supercars Championship, Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 held in Surfers Paradise in Queensland.

The Surfers Paradise street circuit was opened on the 15th March 1991 for the 1991 Gold Coast Indycar Grand Prix. The track layout stretching along the local beaches and other main streets was a tricky 4.47km circuit with 20 turns. In 2010 its length was shortened to 2.96 km with 15 turns.

In 1994 the V8 Supercars started racing at the Gold Coast as a support category to the Indy 300. So, this year marks the 30th Supercars anniversary.

It wasn’t until 2002 that it became an official championship round in the Supercars competition.

Coming into this year’s Gold Coast 500 as the second last event of the year, there were 4 drivers in contention for the championship; Will Brown, Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters.

Things were set to be a super competitive event.

In the pre – race sessions the results were:

  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 1
  • Thomas Randle was Fastest in Practice 2
  • Richie Stanaway was fastest in Qualifying
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

In Race 21 Cameron Waters started on Pole Position with Richie Stanaway alongside him. Season leader, Will Brown started 11th on the grid due to crashing in Qualifying at turn 11.

The first lap was a little messy. Cameron Waters got the jump off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 85 laps and 250kms. The cars back in the pack were crowded with no room so were forced off track at the first chicane. Broc Feeney was one of them with all wheels out of bounds. The manovuer was called into question by fellow driver Thomas Randle. Officials let it go without penalty.

Chaz Mostert moved up to 3rd place. James Golding was battling with Broc Feeney for 4th and 5th. Ryan Wood made contact with Jack le Brocq at turn 11 and ended up in the barrier wall. Wood was able to push on, but Jack le Brocq suffered damage and went straight into the garage to have repairs undertaken.

Richie Stanaway was still in 2nd place behind Cameron Waters on lap 7 but things were going to go badly over the next handful of laps.

First Chaz Mostert overtook Stanaway at turn 11. On the next lap James Golding also passed him at turn 11. Not long after Broc Feeney did the same. This was followed up by Thomas Randle. Richie Stanaway was now moved back from 2nd to 6th place.

Jaxson Evans was the first to pit on lap 20 returning in 23rd place.

The fierce competition between the top 5 drivers continued.

Broc Feeney and Thomas Randle pitted on lap 26 probably in efforts to move out the intensity up front.

James Golding pitted on lap 27. The team couldn’t get the left rear wheel off cleanly costing him time and any chance of a decent result. He was now out of the top 5.

Around the middle of the race Chaz Mostert did the fastest lap, 111.389 seconds.

Cameron Waters was still in the lead but now had Thomas Randle behind him followed by Broc Feeney.

From that point on Cameron Waters kept edging ahead. By the time they were coming closer to the finish he had a 10+ second lead.

Waters made no errors and proved to be uncatchable. He crossed the finish line 9.8 seconds ahead of his teammate Thomas Randle followed by Broc Feeney.

It was an incredible finish.

Race 21Results:

1st Cameron Waters – Monster Castrol Racing

2nd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

In Race 22 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position. Alongside him was Will Brown.

Brodie Kostecki got the jump off the start line and led into turns 1 and 2 over Will Brown for the first of 85 laps.

At turn 11 Anton de Pasquale spun. The car behind could not avoid crashing into him. It had a dominos effect and a total of 8 cars became part of the pile up. Most cars were severely damaged. The safety car was deployed to clear the track of what now looked like a wrecking yard.

All except Anton de Pasquale were able to get repairs and return to the action later. They would of course be at least a lap behind.

The restart was on lap 7. Brodie Kostecki was still leading followed by Will Brown and Chaz Mostert.

On lap 11 James Golding was the first to make a pit stop by choice. His crew, Nulon Racing Team dropped the car on the ground without the right rear wheel on. They had to jack the car up and refit the fourth wheel. The lost time resulted in returning to the race in 20th place.

Officials immediately started an investigation as to why Nulon Racing tried to send a car out with only three wheels. It wasn’t long before they issued a drive through penalty for the error.

Thomas Randle pulled off his impersonation of a pinball machine. He bounced off the tyre barriers from one side of the track to the other through turns 1 and 2. How he got out of it without any damage was just a miracle!

On lap 17 James Courtney’s car looked a mess after the damage sustained in the lap 1 pile up. It didn’t seem to stop him recording the fastest circuit time in the race so far.

Soon after Broc Feeney’s car had smoke coming from the right front corner. It was so noticeable there were concerns but as quickly as it started, it quickly disappeared.

Brodie Kostecki pitted from his leading position on lap 30. There were still 5 cars yet to pit including Will Davison who now had the lead. Before Will Davison was able to take his mandatory pit stop he received a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits going through the back chicanes; turns 8, 9 and 10.

Brodie Kostecki had resumed lead and control by the middle of race. He was followed by Will Brown, Chaz Mostert, and Broc Feeney. They were packed tightly together.

Within the last dozen laps Broc Feeney passed Chaz Mostert to sit behind teammate, Will Brown. Cameron Waters also managed to get by Chaz Mostert to take 4th position. Cameron Waters side-swiped the tyre bundles at turn 1 and 2 losing aerodynamic fittings. It didn’t help the downforce of the car as he made a bid for a podium finish.

With 11 laps to go Brodie Kostecki was looking strong and in a dominant position. I couldn’t believe that he led from start to finish.

Just like at the Bathurst 1000, Brodie Kostecki showed his championship winning form of last year. He drove faultless and increased his lead. Where they were packed close together earlier, he was now creating a noticeable gap.

Kostecki held strong to cross the finish line 3.731 seconds ahead of the series leader Will Brown. Broc Feeney followed close behind in 3rd place 0.443 seconds later.

Race 22 Results:

1st Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

With the results of Race 22 and only one event remaining both Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters are out of championship contention.

The only driver able to challenge the season leader Will Brown is his teammate, Broc Feeney. There is only 108 points between the two. Once again, the final event will be a championship showdown: Will Brown Vs Broc Feeney.

The last and final event on the 2024 Supercars calendar is the Valo Adelaide 500, November 14 – 17 2024.

I hope you will all join me to find out who will be “The 2024 Supercars Champion”. Till then keep revving!

Supercars

Repco Bathurst 1000 2024

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Hi to all you Supercar fans around the world!

The weekend of October 10th–13th hosted the Repco Bathurst 1000, which was Round 10 of the 2024 Supercars Championship and the 64th running of the legendary Bathurst endurance race.

The Bathurst race circuit, known as Mount Panorama, first opened on March 17, 1938. The race itself originated in 1960 as the Armstrong 500, a 500 mile race held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. In 1963, the event moved to Bathurst, where it retained the 500 mile distance until 1973 when it went metric and was extended to a 1000 kilometre race.

1000 is the most iconic race of the year in Australia and is internationally recognised as a tough and gruelling race on an extremely difficult track.

Over the years, the Bathurst 1000 has been the stage for many remarkable moments in motorsport history. Some of the most notable include:

  • Peter Brock (Brocky) was also nicknamed “King of the Mountain”. Between 1972 and 1987 (a period of 15 years) he won the Bathurst 1000 nine times. His win in 1979 was by a phenomenal 6 laps ahead of other competitors. On the final lap anyone would think he would play it safe. Instead, he broke the fastest recorded time in history.
    Peter Brock – Wins 1979 Bathurst 100 by 6 laps. Who would have thought being quick would make you popular with the girls. Sign of the times.
    • 2003: Greg Murphy astounded everyone in the top 10 shootout before the race. He clocked such a phenomenal lap time it has gone down in history as the “Lap of the Gods”.
    Lap of the Gods 2003. You don’t have to be a motor sports fan to enjoy this.
    • 2005: Marcos Ambrose was the season champion for 2003 and 2004. He was well on his way to making it three in a row. On lap 145, he and Greg Murphy were in the top 10 at the front of the pack. They made contact at The Cutting and Ambrose was taken out of the race. He earned no points for the championship. It not only ruined his chances of a Bathurst win (after 145 of 161 laps) but took him of the season running.
    • 2006: Paul Radisich crashed coming out of The Chase. His car was demolished, and he suffered injuries so bad he was unable to compete for the rest of the season.
    • 2008: Paul Radisich as co-driver to Rick Kelly locked up the front wheels at maximum speed smashing into a barrier of the upcoming turn. The impact was so intense, just watching it will give you whiplash. The car was out of the race.
    • 2010: On the first lap, competition was so fierce Fabian Coulthard left the track at max speed on Conrod Straight. He hit the sand trap, slid sideways and the car went into a 6 barrel roll. Needless to say, he missed the next 160 laps.

    Honestly, there are dozens more examples of moments in the Bathurst 1000 that have gone down in history.

    This year’s Bathurst 1000 was also a special milestone for several drivers. Craig Lowndes marked his 31st appearance, Warren Luff his 24th, Will Davison his 21st, James Courtney and Jack Perkins both celebrated their 19th Bathurst 1000.

    The hype around “The Big Race” starts well before the actual Sunday of the race itself. They even have a dedicated “Bathurst channel” starting a week in advance. The preliminary sessions started on the Thursday and went until the race on Sunday.

    Pre-Race Session fastest times:

    • Practice 1: Matt Payne.
    • Practice 2: Jamie Whincup in the co-driver session.
    • Practice 3: Broc Feeney.
    • Practice 4: Brodie Kostecki.
    • Qualifying: Matt Payne.
    • Practice 5: Cooper Murray in the co-driver session.
    • Practice 6: Broc Feeney.
    • Top Ten Shootout: Brodie Kostecki earning him Pole Position on the grid.
    • Warmup: Will Brown and co-driver Scott Pye shared the fastest lap.

    Race 20

    The 2023 champion Brodie Kostecki positioned himself in the number 1 grid spot. After last year’s brilliant performance, he has had a woeful time this season, so it was great to see him up front and ready to take on “The Big Race”.

    Cameron Waters pulled up alongside him on the front row. Just behind them was Broc Feeney in Position 3 (P3) and Richie Stanaway in P4.

    The moment finally came, and they were off for the gruelling 161 laps. Kostecki was out front from the moment they waved the green flag but it was Broc Feeney who had a blistering start and was close behind.

    Richie Stanaway passed Feeney and by the time they reached “The Chase” was putting in a challenge to Kostecki for the lead.

    Even with 160 laps and hours to go, all drivers were putting in 100%.

    By Lap 2, the young Broc Feeney in his 3rd Bathurst 1000 attempt as a main driver had passed Stanaway to take second place, 1.2 seconds behind leader Kostecki.

    The front group were beginning to spread out. Stanaway was just 1.1 seconds behind in third, followed by Cameron Waters 2.7 seconds adrift, and Will Brown 3.4 seconds back.

    A few laps later at the rear of the group Matt Chada went off track with an impressive half-spin and ended up in the sand trap. He was able to recover without a safety car intervening.

    Will Davison was the first car to pit on Lap 17 and handed over to co-driver Kai Allen for his first stint at Bathurst. Kai Allen along with Cooper Murray will be moving up from the Super-2s category to become full time V8-Supercars drivers in 2025. It must have been a moment  for both of them to achieve this goal.

    As Cameron Waters started lap 23 he made a mistake at Turn 1, going straight ahead off the track and losing the number 3 spot to Will Brown. He rejoined the race in 10th place.

    Kostecki continued to show fine form like that of his 2023 championship win. On lap 25 he did the fastest lap of the race recorded so far.

    A few laps later Chaz Mostert attempted an inside pass on Brad Vaughn at Forest Elbow (turn 18). They made contact causing significant damage to the front end of Vaughn’s car. His spoiler was left abandoned on the track with other car debris. I was surprised he was able to continue without pitting. Even so, there had been no safety car deployment so far.

    Brodie Kostecki and Broc Feeney both pitted on lap 28 from their 1st and 2nd spots. Will Brown briefly minded the lead as the pit stops cycled through.

    While Feeney handed over the wheel to co-driver Jamie Whincup, a fuel hose issue in the Red Bull Ampol Racing pit stall cost them valuable time (around 3 seconds).

    Todd Hazelwood took the wheel from Kostecki, emerging from the pits with a 6.6 second lead over Jamie Whincup.

    Meanwhile, Lee Holdsworth and Dale Wood were engaged in a fierce battle for 4th and 5th. Holdsworth’s poor positioning coming up to a turn and his own driving error had him go straight ahead and leave the track. Surprisingly it worked to his advantage as he cut the corners and re-entered the track in 3rd place. He wasn’t penalised for his short cut but normally it’s a “no no”.

    Garth Tander experienced a massive lockup at the final corner of the lap and dropped back to 14th place.

    Todd Hazelwood continued to lead but Jamie Whincup had closed the gap to 3.8 seconds. Due to pit stop cycling Scott Pye in 3rd was a further 11.028 seconds behind.

    There was also plenty of action in the main pack. Cooper Murray was having an impressive drive climbing six places into 12th. Declan Fraser moved up to 5th after passing Lee Holdsworth.

    Unfortunately, a Brad Jones Racing crewman had a fumble with the garage fuel pump hose connection whilst filling car 8 for driver Declan Fraser.  They were only able to take on 20 litres of fuel and were forced into an unscheduled pitstop shortly after. 20litres instead roughly 120 litres put them at a major disadvantage while in a competitive position.

    By the middle stages of the race Brodie Kostecki was on fire, extending his lead to a commanding 14.175 seconds over Jamie Whincup.

    When it came time for Jamie Whincup to give back the driving seat to Broc Feeney, Feeeny looked like he might have enough pace to challenge for the lead, but the gap was too big to close.

    Much loved legend Craig Lowndes was in 5th, having gained an astonishing 13 positions.

    On lap 132 of 161Matt Payne had a gear downshift issue as he zig zagged up “The Mountain” through The Cutting. At such high speed he was unable to make the upcoming turn and went straight ahead into the concrete barrier wall.

    After being on the track for more than 5 hours and coming close to the end of the race, it must have been a huge disappointment to Matt Payne and co-driver Garth Tander to see their car demolished and out of the race.

    The race went to “Yellow” and the first safety car of the day was deployed while the car wreck was removed.

    I must say it is so unusual for them to get this far into the race without a safety car deployment. It might have had to do with the good weather instead of the usual wet weather and sudden storms the Bathurst area can be prone to.

    While under “Yellow” drivers have to stay in formation behind the safety car, limited to 80Kmph. All the gaps are closed up. Brodie Kostecki’s 10 + second lead up the front was lost. It was going to make the last laps extremely exciting.

    The Big Race got back underway. Broc Feeney was now in a much better position to challenge the lead. Brodie Kostecki who had the number 1 spot almost the entire race was having none of that and defended with exceptional driving. There was simply no room at any stage for Feeney to get past him.

    They were both driving like demons. The rest of the pack were falling further behind. Pretty soon the two leaders had created 10 + second gap over them.

    In the final laps Brodie Kostecki held strong. Broc Feeney was no slouch either and kept on his tail, but still had no opportunity to pass. Not a single mistake was made by either driver as they charged to the end.

    The crowd went absolutely insane, cheering Kostecki on as he crossed the finish line 1.3 seconds ahead of Broc Feeney. It is only the 4th time in the history of the Bathurst 1000 that the pole sitter finished first.

    Will Brown was leading the rest of the pack, finishing 13.640 seconds behind in third.

    What a spectacular finish to the biggest race of the year.

    Race 20 Final Results:

    1st Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood – Erebus Motorsport

    2nd Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    3rd Will Brown and Scott Pye – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    With their 2nd and 3rd place finishes, Red Bull Ampol Racing secured the 2024 Teams Championship even with 2 events remaining. Broc Feeney moved back to 2nd place in the Drivers Championship, 204 points behind teammate Will Brown who remains the series leader. Chaz Mostert is in 3rd place, 222 points off the lead.

    With just two events remaining in the 2024 Supercars Championship – the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on October 25–27 and the final round on November 14–17

     The Valo Adelaide 500, the battle for the title is heating up. I hope you can join me for the final two rounds of an incredible season!

    Supercars

    Penrite Oil Sandown 500 2024

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of September 13 – 15 2024 was the Penrite Oil Sandown 500, round 9 of the 2024 Supercars Championship.

    The Sandown International Raceway opened in March 1962 and is located in Springvale Melbourne, Victoria.

    This year marked the 60th anniversary of the Sandown 500 which was first run in 1964.

    The event format has undergone many changes through the years. This includes changes from its initial 6 hour timed race, to a fixed length race, changes to the length of the race (250 miles, 338kms, 400kms and 500kms) to multiple shorter sprints (3 x 150kms) and in 1984 finally settling on its current format, a single 500km endurance race (now with a co-driver).

    Way back in 1984 it was the famous Peter Brock who took the trophy for the Marlboro Holden Dealer Team and the event has grown in recognition ever since.

    It’s a tough and gruelling race that has seen many notorious incidents including:

    • 2013 Ash Walsh hit the wall at the end of the back straight.
    • 2010 Will Davison and Michael Caruso went off the track at turn 6 and nearly rolled car 22.
    • 2014 Lee Holdsworth hit the tyre wall at the end of the back straight taking his car out of the race and speeding off to the hospital.
    • 2016 James Golding had a big shunt due to a flat front right tyre.
    •  2017 Jonathan Webb and Todd Hazelwood went straight ahead at turn 6 and rolled the Blanchard Racing Team Holden Commodore.
    • 2023 After making contact with James Moffat, Garth Tander lost a wheel and then lost control smashing into the guard rail with a 50 x g-force.

    The above shortened list shows it is no small feat that Peter Brock has 9 wins at the venue and Allan Moffat has 6 wins.

    So, this year’s event was as usual, anticipated to be full of action and IT WAS!

    In the pre-race sessions:

    • Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 1
    • Scott Pye was fastest in Practice 2
    • Jack le Brocq was fastest in Practice 3
    • Richie Stanaway was fastest in Practice 4
    • Will Brown was fastest in Practice 5
    • Broc Feeney was fastest in Qualifying
    • Will Brown was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout
    • Andre Heimgartner was fastest in the Warmup

    In Race 19 Will Brown started on pole position, alongside him was Cameron Waters.

    At the start of the race Will Brown got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 161 laps in the 500km race. Cameron Waters who started alongside him had a shocker start and dropped down to 4th allowing Anton de Pasquale to move into 2nd place and Brodie Kostecki 3rd.

    Just behind the major leaders James Courtney made contact with Ryan Wood at turn 1 and ran wide.

    It was a messy hectic start.

    When they got into lap 2 Brodie Kostecki made contact with Anton de Pasquale. Kostecki kept going but Pasquale dropped from 2nd to 4th place.

    Anton de Pasquale was reporting to his team that his car balance was poor from the incident. Soon Broc Feeney, Richie Stanaway and Matt Payne all got passed him. Anton de Pasquale had now dropped from 2nd to 9th.

    Cameron Hill was sporting bumper damage after contact with Jack le Brocq.

    EOS 4

    As they moved into double digit laps, this year’s star Will Brown was still leading but by only by less than 1 second over last year’s champ of Brodie Kostecki. They were followed by Cameron Waters and then Chaz Mostert.

    Broc Feeney must have wanted in on some of the action and passed Andre Heimgartner for 5th place.

    On lap 18 Mark Winterbottom made a driver error and went off the track at turn 9 and dropped down a few places to 13th.

    Thomas Randle was the first car to pit on lap 23 to ensure no risk of double stacking with teammate Cameron Waters. James Courtney and Cameron Hill pitted on the same lap.

    Meanwhile out on the track Richie Stanaway stopped on the grass due to a gearbox failure. The car was undriveable, so the first safety car was deployed. It was only when the car got back to the pits that the crew realised the job was too big to complete and be competitive. This car was out of the race. It also meant co-driver Dale Wood did not get a chance to get behind the wheel.

    Most of drivers pitted while the race was under (safety car) yellow. Fabian Coulthard earned himself an unwanted 5 second penalty for unsafe release in the pits.

    The restart was on lap 30. Scott Pye (co-driver to Will Brown) had the lead followed by James Moffat (co-driver to Cam Waters), Jamie Whincup (co-driver to Broc Feeney) and Todd Hazelwood (co-driver to Brodie Kostecki).

    Not long after Todd Hazelwood challenged Jamie Whincup for 3rd place. Whincup put up a lot of resistance but eventually lost the spot to Hazelwood. Unfortunately, Hazelwood scored a puncture during the challenge and went off the track, giving the spot back to Jamie Whincup. Hazelwood paid dearly returning to the track in 25th place.

    Declan Fraser made contact with David Russell. Both cars were within the top 10 but the incident caused Russell to lose 3 spots and Fraser to be issued with a 5 second penalty. Not ideal but it was still early in the race.

    More penalties were issued including Tony Dalberto (co-driver to Anton de Pasquale) in car 11 for an unsafe pit release.

    While being chased by Garth Tander, Lee Holdsworth (co-driver to Chaz Mostert) hit the curb at the wrong angle causing him to get some air-time and upon landing spinning off the track. I have no idea how he got out of this predicament without damage. It was a dramatic moment.

    Lap 43 saw the safety car deployed again when Jordan Boys got turned around by Cameron McLeod. Cameron McLeod was later issued with a drive thru penalty for his actions.

    The restart was on lap 49 with Jamie Whincup leading followed by James Moffat, Scott Pye and Garth Tander.

    In the next lap more drama occurred. Tyler Everingham made contact with Warren Luff but luckily, they were both able to continue.

    On lap 68 Kai Allen (co-driver to Will Davison) hit Dylan O’Keeffe and both went off the track.  The two cars were damaged. Kai Allen was able to head back to the pits independently. Dylan O’Keeffe was stranded, and the safety car was deployed yet again.

    Car 17 driven by Will Davison / Kai Allen had so much damage it took the crew a long time to make the repairs. They were so far behind it was really game over for the race but chose to continue as a useful test session in the lead up to Bathurst.

    When the mess was cleaned up they restarted the race on lap 73. Declan Fraser was in the lead but soon had to head into the pits. Scott Pye was handed back the lead, but he still had a 5 second penalty which he couldn’t serve under safety car.

     In the middle of the race Lee Holdsworth pitted to hand over the car to main driver Chaz Mostert. He was going to be behind the wheel to the end of the race so it was now his time to shine (as favourite when it comes to long races).

      Not long after on lap 84, Declan Fraser came in to put main driver Andre Heimgartner back in car for the remainder of the race.

    Jaxson Evans got stuck in the sand trap on lap 88 and safety car was deployed for the fourth time. Most cars took advantage to pit and do driver changes.

    Brodie Kostecki received a 15 second penalty for rear wheels spinning during his stop. It was bad luck for the defending champion.

    Will Brown reported to the crew he was experiencing a vibration in the car. This is not what you want while leading one of the biggest races of the year with 64 laps to go. He pressed on while the crew tried to diagnose the issue.

    The action continued in much the same manner for the next 30 or so laps.

    With 29 laps to go Broc Feeney rushed his exit from the pits to get in front of his teammate Will Brown and the two made contact.  It was a nail-biting moment that could have spelled disaster for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team.

    With 20 laps to go, last year’s defending champ Brodie Kostecki had more bad luck. He came to a complete stop track side and for the 6th time in this race the safety car was deployed. After making it this far into the race (140 laps of 161) he was unable to continue and received a DNF (Did Not Finish) earning zero points.

    Due to the 5 incidents requiring safety car deployment, they were running a long way behind schedule. When they restarted, officials declared the race had become time certain. With less than 10 minutes remaining it was now a race against the clock.

    Cameron Waters and Cooper Murray made contact with 8 minutes and 42 seconds to go. It was a good reminder for the other drivers to remain cautious in fear of getting a DNF in the final minutes.

    While the order at the front of the pack remained unchanged, Jack le Brocq embedded his car in the tyre wall at the exit of turn 4. Once again the safety car was deployed. The clock was still ticking and the race looked like it was going to finish under safety car speed limit. That would have been very dull. Amazingly, Jack le Brocq was able to extricate himself and the race went back to green.

    The leading drivers were close together after being bunched up behind the safety. It could be anybody’s race but they still couldn’t take too much risk.

    Broc Feeney was looking for any safe opportunity to nab the lead from teammate Will Brown. He had a couple of attempts but pulled back as the risk was too great.

    Will Brown finally crossed the finish line with the slimmest 0.649 seconds lead over Broc Feeney. James Golding followed 2.4 seconds behind in 3rd place.

    It was a killer finish to the gruelling Sandown 500.

    Results for Race 19:

    1st Will Brown and Scott Pye – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    2nd Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    3rd James Golding and David Russell – Premier Hire Racing

    The next event will be the famous Repco Bathurst 1000 October 10 – 13 2024.

    Supercars

    Ned Whiskey Tasmania SuperSprint 2024

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of August 16 – 18 2024 was the Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint, round 8 of the 2024 Supercars Championship. it was held.

    Symmons Plains International Raceway in Launceston Tasmania was first opened in March 1960. After the closure of the Longford Road Circuit, it quickly established its own reputation as Tasmania’s home of touring car championship motor racing.

    The Symmons Plains International Raceway is 2.4kms with 7 turns. This track has been dominated by Triple Eight Race Engineering in recent years. Triple Eight has won at least one race in every Tasmanian round since its first success in the Apple Isle in 2007 with 27 wins out of 40 starts. The only exception being 2013 when Brad Jones Racing took both races.

    Mark Winterbottom reached a milestone in this year’s event. In the second race, he started his 600th ATCC race. Winterbottom’s career spans all the way back to the 2005 Darwin Triple Crown. Congratulations!

    As the weekend kicked off the results in the pre-race sessions were as follows:

    • David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 1
    • Ritchie Stanaway was fastest Practice 2
    • Cameron Hill was fastest in Practice 3
    • Broc Feeney was fastest in Qualifying

    In Race 17 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.

    At the start of the race Broc Feeney got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 55 laps.

    At turn 6 Matt Payne got turned around by Will Davison which put both drivers at the back of the pack in 23rd and 24th place.

    This year’s championship leader Will Brown started 16th on the grid. He moved up 1 place to 15th.

    As they completed the opening laps, last year’s season champion, Brodie Kostecki dropped down 1 spot to 4th when Nick Percat took over 3rd place.

    Pretty soon Brodie Kostecki lost another spot to Chaz Mostert.

    On lap 8 Broc Feeney still had the lead. Cameron Waters was .6 seconds behind in 2nd place. Nick Percat was 1.6 seconds further back in 3rd.

    Will Brown was eager to make up for his bad grid positioning (of 16) and now in 12th place. He seemed keen to get up the front where the action was.

    The first car to pit in this race was Ryan Wood on lap 20. He came back out in 22nd position.

    Cameron Waters in 2nd place was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 27. Broc Feeney stayed out to make the most of his race lead.

    Feeney was now followed by Nick Percat in 2nd and Chaz Mostert in 3rd.

    Percat and Mostert then chose to pit on the same lap. The returned to the race in 10th and 12th respectively with Cameron Waters between them in 11th place.

    Broc Feeney was ordered to pit next time around.

    There were 9 cars yet to stop before the pole sitter Broc Feeney would assume the lead. However, Nick Percat’s pit stop time was so quick he came back out in front of Broc Feeney.

    Chaz Mostert returned from his pit stop in 3rd place and on lap 34 did the fastest lap time of the race, 51.732 seconds.

    Towards the end of the race Chaz Mostert had to regain 3rd place from Cameron Waters.

    Chaz knew he was in contention for a podium finish but still put the pressure on to try get second place or a win. That is the mindset of a champion.

    It wasn’t until the final few laps that Mostert took an opportunity to pass Broc Feeney. Chaz Mostert was now in 2nd place and chasing Nick Percat for the number 1 spot.

    Mostert ran out of time and in the end Nick Percat crossed the finish line 0.614 seconds ahead of him. Broc Feeney followed in at 3rd 1.783 seconds later.

    It really was an exciting and tense finish.

    Results for Race 17:

    1st Nick Percat – Matt Stone Racing
    2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
    3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    In Race 18 Thomas Randle started on pole position. On the front row alongside him was Cameron Waters.

    Thomas Randle got the jump off the start line and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 55 laps. He was followed by Cameron Waters, Will Brown and David Reynolds in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place. At turn 4 Thomas Randle ran wide and Cameron Waters took the lead of the race.

    Cameron Hill was in the front pack but at turn 6 also ran wide and went off the track.

    Last year’s season champ Brodie Kostecki had started 8th on the grid. He moved up through the front runners but when he got to David Reynolds in 4th place he struggled to take over.

    On lap 8 Kostecki made another attempt but failed and tapped Reynolds car who then spun off the track. It was a dangerous spot to be stranded and the safety car went out.

    The majority of the field took advantage of the “yellow flag” to take their mandatory pit stops.

    Brodie Kostecki was not out of trouble yet. When Mark Winterbottom was coming in for his stop, Brodie collided with him damaging his own car. For a moment it looked as if he was going to be out of the race. They did manage to make repairs and he resumed a few laps later.

    The race officials investigated the incident and once the race resumed issued Brodie Kostecki a drive thru penalty.

    The restart was on lap 12. Cameron Waters was still in control followed by Will Brown and Thomas Randle. Broc Feeney moved up to 6th and Chaz Mostert to 7th place.

    When Brodie Kostecki executed his drive through penalty he exceeded the pit lane speed (40kmph) and was given another pit lane penalty. He then received a 3rd drive through penalty for another pit lane infringement. It just wasn’t his day.

    On lap 20 Aaron Love and Jaxon Evans made contact with each other. Aaron Love was able to continue but Jaxon Evans was stranded and another safety car was deployed.

    The restart was on lap 25. On the next lap Matt Payne received a drive thru penalty for disobeying the red light on the pit lane exit.

    Through the middle stages of the race the top 10 positions stayed much the same. Cameron Waters was out front followed by Will Brown and Thomas Randle.

    Finally, around lap 37 Broc Feeney created some action. He took over Jack le Brocq to take 5th place. Soon after he passed Bryce Fullwood for 4th place.

    With 10 laps to go Thomas Randle ran high and wide allowing Broc Feeney to go up to 3rd place. He was now right behind his teammate Will Brown and probably making Brown and Cameron Waters concerned about keeping him at bay.

    With 8 laps left Cameron Waters had a healthy lead of 3.096 seconds over Will Brown.  Broc Feeney was close behind Brown and putting in a challenge for second place.

    Thomas Randle gave Broc Feeney a bump at the hairpin turn 4. Both cars spun but stayed on the track. By the time they got their cars facing the right direction and got up to speed, they down the order outside the top 10. Thomas Randle was issued a 15 second time penalty for his actions whish pushed him further back.

    Cameron Waters kept edging away from the pack. With clear track there was nothing that could stop him.

    By the time he got to the finish line Cameron Waters had 6.3 seconds over Will Brown. Bryce Fullwood followed in 3rd place 1.4 seconds later.

    The Randle / Feeney incident was an unexpected turn of events in the last laps. It made for some tense moments at the finish. Unfortunately for them, Feeney came in 15th and Randle 18th. It’s a shame that Randle who was leading earlier on, was on his way to his first professional win ended up so far back. For Feeney who looked like he would have at least a podium finish didn’t earn enough points to stay in 2nd place on the season championship ladder.

    Regardless, it was a great one to watch.

    Results for Race 18:

    1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
    2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
    3rd Bryce Fullwood – Brad Jones Racing

    Will Brown still leads the championship by 81 points over Chaz Mostert. It’s another 120 points back to Broc Feeney in 3rd place.

    The next event is the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 September 13 – 15 2024.

    Hope you can join me.

    Supercars

    Panasonic air conditioning Sydney Supernight 2024

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of July 19 – 21 2024 the Panasonic Air Conditioning Sydney Supernight was held. It was round 7 of the 2024 Supercars Championship.

    The event was held at Sydney Motorsport Park formerly known as Eastern Creek Raceway.

    Sydney Motorsport Park was first opened on the 10 November 1990 however, the main event came along in 1992 when the V8 supercars made their first appearance at the circuit. The venue has been host to events such as motorcycle racing, A1 Grand Prix, Touring cars and Muscle Car Masters.

    Just 2 days before this year’s event on July 17th 2024, James Courtney announced that he will be retiring from fulltime Supercars racing at the end of season 2025. He is now 44 years old and has been a full time driver since 2006. If he completes next season he will reach the 20 year milestone in Supercars. That is quite an achievement. 

    The pre-race sessions started on the Friday. Results were as follows:

    • Ryan Wood was fastest in Practice 1
    • Cameron Waters was fastest in Qualifying
    • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

    In Race 15 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Thomas Randle alongside him.

    As they took off Thomas Randle got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 51 laps.

    As the pack got to turn 2 there was contact between Mark Winterbottom and Macauley Jones. Winterbottom’s car suffered damage and he had to head straight for the pits. Macauley Jones was just a victim in the process but he did manage to keep going.

    The top 3 cars were reasonably close to each other. Chaz Mostert started to apply the pressure on his former teammate Cameron Waters in a bid for second place.

    It wasn’t long before Chaz Mostert found his opportunity and before turn 7 passed Cameron Waters. Chaz Mostert was now in second but was still 2.079 seconds behind race leader Thomas Randle.

    On lap 13 Brodie Kostecki was the first to take his pit stop from 24th place.

    As they reached into the 20 something laps Thomas Randle pitted from the lead, followed by Chaz Mostert and then Broc Feeney. While Randle pitted it was Cameron Waters who assumed the lead.

    In the middle of the race there were 4 cars yet to still pit. Once they did Chaz Mostert took the race lead. He was followed by Thomas Randle and Anton de Pasquale in third place.

    Will Davison showed how eager he was and did the fastest lap of the race, 131.505 seconds.

    Chaz Mostert’s experience showed as he defended the lead throughout the rest of the race.

    Although he couldn’t fully break away from the pack, Chaz Mostert still managed to cross the finish line 2.6 seconds ahead of Matt Payne. A further 4.5 seconds later Thomas Randle came in to take 3rd place.

    Results for Race 15

    1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
    2nd Matt Payne – Grove Racing
    3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

    In Race 16 Will Davison started on pole position. Alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

    As they took off Will Davison got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 51 laps. At turn 4 Will Davison ran wide giving Chaz Mostert the opportunity to pounce and get to the front of the field.

    At turn 8 Broc Feeney ran extremely wide causing him to drop all the way down to 23rd place. It just didn’t seem to be his weekend.

    On the next lap at turn 2 David Reynolds got up the inside of Matt Payne to enter the top 10 spots.

    It didn’t last long, and Matt Payne re-took 10th place back.

    The positions up front had not changed except for Will Brown who made up 1 spot to hold 4th place.

    Chaz Mostert had extended his lead out to 2.3 seconds over Will Davison in P2. Matt Payne unbelievably got into 7th spot and stayed side by side to Anton de Pasquale down the entire straight.

    David Reynolds got into a bind and was trying to avoid leaving the track. Unfortunately, he made contact with Ryan Wood. Brodie Kostecki was behind the two and had no chance to avoid giving David Reynolds a helping bump off the track. What a mess, Kostecki and Reynolds were now at the back of the pack. Ryan Wood fell back to 13th place (unlucky).

    The first car to pit in this race was Broc Feeney. He returned to the track in 25th place.

    Cameron Waters and Anton de Pasquale pitted on lap 25.

    There were still 3 cars yet to pit. Once they took their mandatory stops, Chaz Mostert assumed the lead.

    Once again Chaz held his place and even clocked the fastest lap of the race,131.302 seconds.

    With 9 laps to go car 26 Ritchie Stanaway had a clutch issue causing his wheels to spin whilst hoisted on the air-jacks in the pits. They tried to resolve the issue but in the end chose to send him back out to finish the race and earn the points. A much better option than a DNF (Did Not Finish).

    Chaz Mostert kept edging away from the rest of the pack and the front runners became more spread out. Mostert took advantage of the clear track and crossed the finish line 8.3 seconds clear of Cameron Waters in second place. It was another 8.9 seconds back to Will Brown in 3rd place.

    It was great weekend for the Walkinshaw Andretti United team and their driver Chaz Mostert winning 2 out of 2 races this weekend. It was his third win in the 2024 Supercars season.

    A look at the Driver’s Championship points after this event shows Will Brown still holds the number 1 spot. He leads by 105 points over Chaz Mostert in 2nd. Broc Feeney’s bad weekend moved him down a spot from 2nd to 3rd. Things are getting mighty interesting!

    On the Team’s Championship scoreboard Red Bull Ampol Racing still lead by 805 points over Walkinshaw Andretti United.

    Results for Race 16

    1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
    2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
    3rd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    The next event is the Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint 16 – 18 August 2024.

    Supercars

    NTI Townsville 500 2024

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of the 5th – 7th July 2024 was round 6 of the 2024 Supercars championship, the NTI Townsville 500.

    The event was held in Townsville, North Queensland.

    Supercars have been racing in Townsville for 16, years since the street circuit was first opened in 2009. The circuit is 2.8km long with 13 turns.

    In that very first event of 2009, Lee Holdsworth and Garth Tander shared the pole positions and Jamie Whincup and Jamess Courtney shared the race wins.

    Townsville displayed its typical weather pattern on the Saturday of this year’s event, bloody hot with an afternoon storm but on the Sunday it managed to stay dry.

    In the pre-race sessions

    • Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 1
    • Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 2
    • Will Davison was fastest in Qualifying
    • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

    In Race 13 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Chaz Mostert alongside him.

    Cameron Waters got the jump off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 88 laps, a total of 250kms.

    Thomas Randle got up the inside of Will Davison at turn 3 for 3rd place but back in the pack there was chaos. As the rest of the cars got to turn 3 Nick Percat, Brodie Kostecki and Anton de Pasquale made contact heavily. As they bounced around the track there was a big risk of other cars hitting them from behind. As Jaxon Evans came through, he joined the chaos and was also turned around. Will Brown who started 13th on the grid was in the danger zone of being caught up but somehow, he managed to stay out of trouble.

    The first 3 cars in the incident, Percat, Kostecki and Pasquale had to all head into the pits due to damage. Race officials investigated the incident but found no-one to at fault, so no penalties were issued.

    By lap 2 the positions had changed significantly. James Courtney had gained 6 places moving up to 11th. Will Brown gained 1 place up to 12th and David Reynolds was up 8 spots in 13th place.

    The leading 5 cars were reasonably close to each other. Chaz Mostert was right behind his former teammate Cameron Waters by only 0.682 seconds.

    The first car to pit by choice was Aaron Love on lap 19. He came back on the circuit in 21st place.

    A few laps later Chaz Mostert was the first of the leaders to pit. There were 9 cars still yet to take their stops. Once they did, they would be out of the way and Chaz Mostert would be able to resume his face-to-face battle for the lead with Cameron Waters.

    When Cameron Waters pitted on lap 28 he had a 7.7 second lead over Will Davison in 2nd place.

    By the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was given the space by Cameron Waters to pass and now had the number 1 spot with 1.8 seconds lead.

    Chaz Mostert kept the lead and with 15 laps to go was followed by Thomas Randle and then Cameron Waters.

    Further back in the pack Will Brown had gained an amazing 7 spots into 6th place and now behind Jack Le Brocq in 5th.

    With 11 laps remaining the rain started to bucket down and drivers were struggling to keep the cars on the track. As suddenly as it had started, the rain passed. Although the track was still wet, I am sure the drivers were thankful.

    Cameron Waters wasted no time. Soon enough he passed his teammate Thomas Randle to be in 2nd place.

    Thomas Randle lost his momentum and dropped back a few places. Will Brown made contact with him on the approach to turn 3 but somehow both cars stayed away from the wall.

    Cameron Waters was now challenging Chaz Mostert. Waters wouldn’t let up. Chaz Mostert must have felt he wasn’t able to defend the number 1 spot without high risk. Instead of possibly endangering his car and losing a podium finish he seemed to let Cameron Waters pass easily.

    Cameron Waters edged ahead in the last laps and finally crossed the line with a 1.8 second lead over Chaz Mostert. Then there was another 4.6 seconds back to Will Brown who managed to move up into 3rd place for the finish. It was a spectacular result.

    Results for Race 13

    1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
    2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
    3rd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    On the Sunday of the 3 day event Jack le Brocq started on pole position for Race 14. Alongside him was Cameron Waters.

    As they took off Cameron Waters once again led into turn 1 for the first of 88 laps.

    The polesitter, Jack le Brocq did not get an ideal start and dropped back to 4th.

    Thomas Randle was now in 2nd place and James Courtney was in 3rd.

    This year’s championship leader Will Brown missed the Top 10 Shootouts in both races of the event. He qualified 17th on the grid. To add to his woes, David Reynolds hit him from behind in lap 1 sending him into the concrete barrier wall and seriously damaged his car. Will Brown now had to head straight to the pits and returned to the race in 24th, last place. It scrapped all his hopes of protecting his championship lead.

    Will Brown’s teammate Broc Feeney (who happens to be 2nd on the championship ladder) was having problems of his own. On this first lap he had dropped from 6th place on the grid back to 13th.

    Chaz Mostert who had started 8th on the grid managed to get by Matt Payne for 6th place. He wasted no time and went on the charge. Soon he was in 4th place just behind the leaders. By the end of the 1st lap he was in 3rd.

    Within the next few laps Chaz Mostert passed Thomas Randle for second place.

    The first car to pit aside from Will Brown at the race start, was Matt Payne on lap 20. He was in 3rd place but unable to challenge the 2 cars ahead. The team strategised to come in now and be better able to make ground with fresh tyres.

    By the middle of the race Jack le Brocq who had a terrible start from his pole position was now out the front and leading. Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert were right behind him.

    Matt Payne’s pitting strategy paid off. In the second half of the race he managed to squeeze passed and take the lead. With 7 laps to go he had a 9.2 second lead over Cameron Waters in 2nd place with Chaz Mostert not far behind.

    Waters and Mostert chased Matt Payne for all their experience was worth. The cars began to spread out. However, Matt Payne was just too fast and crossed the finish line 6.057 seconds ahead of Cameron Waters.

    Mostert had slipped a little but came in 3rd place 7.6 seconds later.

    It was an unexpected finish especially after this year’s dominance of Will Brown and Broc Feeney up until now.

    Results for Race 14

    1st Matt Payne – Grove Racing
    2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
    3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

    Regardless of a bad weekend for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team, Will Brown still leads the championship but only by 78 points over Broc Feeney.

    The next event is the Panasonic Sydney Supernight July 19 – 21.

    I hope you will join me. Until then keep those engines revving!

    Supercars

    Betr Darwin Triple Crown 2024

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of the June 14 to 16 2024 was the Betr Darwin Triple Crown.

    It was round 5 of the Supercars Championship and held at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.

    Hidden Valley Raceway was first opened in 1986 and is part of a larger motorsport complex. It has a 1 km drag strip alongside the racetrack itself. Originally it was first used as a dirt track, motorcross track and go kart circuit.

    Since 1998 it has held an annual round of the Supercars championship.

    Mark Skaife won the first ever Supercars race at the venue.

    The second race went down in history. Both Holden Racing Team cars were on P1 and P2 on the starting grid but were non-starters and sitting in the garage with the same engine issue. So in a highly unusual situation the race started with the front row of the grid vacant! I don’t recall this ever happening before or since.

    This year’s event saw both Will Davison and James Courtney celebrate their 250th round in Supercars.

    The weekend started with typical NT winter day, 32 degrees, hot and sunny.

    In the pre-race sessions:

    • Will Brown was fastest in Practice 1
    • James Golding was fastest in Qualifying
    • Will Brown was fastest in Practice 2
    • James Golding was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

    As they cars undertook their formation lap for Race 11 Brodie Kostecki who was going to start 11th on the grid had to drive back to the pit lane with engine issues that the team couldn’t resolve. So the defending champ was out of the race even before it started.

    James Golding started on pole position, a first in his Supercars career. Alongside him was Broc Feeney.

    James Golding got the jump on Feeney off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 48 laps.

    Between turns 2 and 3 Broc Feeney had a slide and it looked like he was going to turn himself around but somehow, he managed to regain control stay in position.

    The gap between the two leaders was 0.186 seconds.

    At turn 6 of lap 4 Broc Feeney took the race lead off James Golding. Mark Winterbottom also went through in one swift motion. As a result the polesitter went from 1st to 3rd in a heartbeat.

    Will Brown moved up a spot to 5th place and Chaz Mostert who started 22nd on the grid had gained 6 places and now in 16th position.

    Soon after Cooper Murray went off the track at turn 1 after getting a helping hand from Jaxson Evans. Evans received a 15 second time penalty for his helping hand.

    A lap later Anton de Pasquale also ran off the track at turn 1 and dropped out of the top 10 down to 11th place.

    The first car to pit was Ryan Wood on lap 16. A few laps later Matt Payne and Macauley Jones also pitted.

    Broc Feeney had a 2.6 second lead over Mark Winterbottom.

    The pole sitter, James Golding had slipped back to 7th place.

    On lap 24 while Mark Winterbottom and Will Brown were in the pits Broc Feeney was left out on track to do the fastest lap of the race, 108.219  seconds.  He had a lead of 8.4 seconds over Cameron Waters with 8 cars still to take their pit stop.

    With 9 laps to go Broc Feeney still had the lead over Mark Winterbottom. Meanwhile Chaz Mostert who started 22nd on the grid was up to 7th place after passing 16 cars on track.

    As they counted down the final laps the top 3 places were unchanged with Broc Feeney still in command with cars spread out.

    There was no way they could catch Broc Feeney and he never let them gain on him all the way to the finish line. He took the win 8.6 seconds clear of Mark Winterbottom in second place, then it was 1 second back to Will Brown in third. It was an amazing finish.

    Results for Race 11

    1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
    2nd Mark Winterbottom – Team 18
    3rd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    In Race 12 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Brodie Kostecki alongside him.

    Matt Payne had electrical problems and didn’t manage to make it out on track in time for the formation lap. The Grove Racing team managed to resolve the issue but had to start the final race of the weekend from the pit lane.

    As they took off Broc Feeney got jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 48 laps. Brodie Kostecki had a bad start and Will Brown moved past him to take 2nd position.

    As they made their way through lap 1 Andre Heimgartner hit the back of Cooper Murray’s car and bounced up and over the top of him. Bits of cars flew everywhere, both had extensive damage but were able to make their way back to the pits for repairs. The safety car was deployed so the debris could be cleared off the track.

    The restart was on lap 4 but back in the pack there was chaos. The green ‘restart flag’ was waved at one only spot instead of the multiple locations around the track. The front runners could see it but the cars further back couldn’t.  As engineers started communicating to their drivers that the race was green some drivers started to speed up but others were still uninformed and sticking to the safety speed limit of 80kmph. It was a mess and looked like there were going to be collisions in the confusion. Luckily, there were no incidents.

    The leaders had a good lead on the rest of the pack. Will Brown was putting a lot of pressure on Broc Feeney, but he didn’t want to relinquish the lead.

    Broc Feeney soon extended his lead out to 1.3 seconds. On lap 12 he had clear track and clocked the fastest lap of the race, 107.679 seconds.

    The first 2 cars to pit were David Reynolds and Nick Percat on lap 18. They returned to the race in 23rd and 24th place.

    At this stage Andre Heimgartner received a pit lane penalty for not maintaining the safety speed of 80kph after the incident during lap 1.

    In the middle of the race Brodie Kostecki came into the pits from 3rd place and returned to the track in 11th place.  

    Broc Feeney came in on lap 26 which temporarily handed the lead to his teammate Will Brown. At this stage there were 10 cars yet to pit including Will Brown. Once those cars took their stops, Broc Feeney would assume the lead again.

    Broc Feeney and Will Brown kept edging ahead of the pack. When the final car to pit peeled off the track the 2 Red Bull Ampol Racing cars assumed 1st and 2nd place with a gap of 2.4 second between Broc Feeney and Will Brown. Meanwhile Brodie Kostecki in 3rd position was 8.8 seconds behind.

    Broc Feeney and Will Brown were not satisfied and with clear track increased their lead over the rest of the pack.

    In the end they crossed the finish line 1.2 seconds apart but a phenomenal 17+ seconds ahead of Brodie Kostecki in 3rd place. It was a great finish to the weekend for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team.

    Results for Race 12

    1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    3rd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport

    Congratulations to Red Bull Ampol Racing. Their drivers Broc Feeney taking a win in both races for the event and Will Brown taking a 3rd and 2nd place.

    Will Brown still leads the championship, but Broc Feeney’s double win closed the score gap to only 108 points.

    The next event is the NTI Townsville 500 on 5th – 7th July 2024.

    I hope you can join me. Until then, Live it, Breathe it, Dream it, Drive it!

    Supercars

    Bosch Powertools Perth Supersprint 2024.

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of May 17 – 19 was the Bosch Power Tools Perth Supersprint.

    It was round 4 of the 2024 Supercars Championship and held at Carco.com.au Raceway.

    The raceway was first opened on the 2 of March 1969 and originally known as Wanneroo Raceway. In 1992 it was renamed to Barbagallo Raceway. Then in 2020 it took back the original name of Wanneroo. Two years later in 2022 it changed to the sponsors name Carco.com.au.

    ATCC (Australian Touring Cars Championship)/Supercars Championship have raced at the venue every year since opening except 1978, 2010 and 2020 (The COVID year).

    The track is 2.411km with 7 turns. It is lined with sandtraps everywhere and is considered quite a challenge.

    Legend Craig Lowndes seems to love this challenge and holds the record of 16 race wins at the venue.

    This year’s event will mark Tim Slade’s 200th round start in Supercars. That is quite a number of years out on the track.

    The weekend kicked off with fine weather and results in the pre-race sessions were:

    • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
    • Will Brown was fastest in Practice 2
    • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Qualifying.

    In Race 9 Chaz Mostert started on pole position alongside him was his teammate, Ryan Wood.

    At the start of the race Ryan Wood got jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 55 laps.

    Brodie Kostecki who started 14th on the grid ran wide at turn 1 and went off the track. He was able to recover and return to the track but it him to the back of the field. Not a great start for defending champ.

    As the pack tried to stay in touch with the leaders, on lap 3 Aaron Love made contact with Richie Stanaway at turn 7 and put into the fence. Aaron Love was able to continue but Richie Stanaway had a lot of damage front and back of car 26. He also lost power due to a fuel pump issue and had to drive slowly back to the pits. The repairs took a lot of time but he was able to return to the race.

    Ryan Wood still had the lead of about half a second over his more experienced teammate Chaz Mostert.

    It took about a dozen laps before Chaz Mostert found the opportunity to take the race lead off Ryan Wood.

    The first car to pit in this race was Thomas Randle on lap 22 from 23rd position.

    In the middle of the race Ryan Wood went in for his pit stop allowing Cameron Waters to move into 2nd place on the track.

    On lap 31 Chaz Mostert pitted leaving 9 cars on track yet to take theirs.

    As the laps clicked by the 9 cars peeled off one by one to take their mandatory stops. Once they did Chaz Mostert was back in the lead.

    At this stage Chaz Mostert was 3.2 seconds ahead of Ryan Wood. Will Brown in 3rd was close behind.

    With 13 laps remaining Will Brown took the risk and got up the inside of Ryan Wood at turn 6. Ryan Wood was pushed to the outside and had two wheels in the dirt coming out of the turn. Not only did it slow him down but it allowed Cameron Waters to follow through into 3rd place.

    Chaz Mostert now had a 5.2 second lead.

    Will Brown’s performance so far this year has put him at the top of the championship ladder. Even so, Chaz Mostert’s speed and experience kept him from any mistakes and crossed the finish line with a with a huge 4.9 second over Will Brown. Cameron Waters also an experienced driver followed in 3rd place.

    It was an exciting finish.

    Results for Race 9

    1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
    2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
    3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

    In Race 10 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Chaz Mostert alongside him.

    As they took off Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 55 laps. Chaz Mostert tried to go around the outside of him but wasn’t able to make the move stick.

    On the next lap at turn 1 Cameron Waters ran wide at the last turn of the lap (turn 7) which allowed Chaz Mostert to take the race lead at turn 1.

    Thomas Randle in 3rd place immediately put his teammate Cameron Waters under pressure for 2nd.

    On lap 5 Chaz Mostert did the fastest lap of the race so far, 56.173 seconds.

    On the next lap the leader went .2 seconds faster. With track position Mostert is one of the fastest drivers in the field. He now extended his lead out to 1.2 seconds over his ex-teammate Cam Waters.

    On lap 7 Nick Percat made contact with Jack le Brocq who came to a stop in the middle of the track. Luckily, he was able to get going again which meant there was no need for a safety car and the race was able to stay green.

    Later Nick Percat was issued a 15 second time penalty for his part in the incident.

    Soon after Broc Feeney got up the inside of Ryan Wood at turn 7 which moved him up to 7th place. He was desperate to catch up to his teammate Will Brown a few spots ahead.

    The first car to pit was Mark Winterbottom on lap 16 from 22nd position.

    On lap 21 Brodie Kostecki went into the Erebus garage with an overheating engine. The problem was too for the team to repair quickly and Brodie Kostecki was unable to finish the race. He was the only NC (Not Complete).

    In the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was looking very strong and ready to make this 2 wins from 2 races on the weekend.

    As Chaz Mostert headed into the pits Cameron Waters now had the lead.

    Soon after Chaz Mostert returned to the track it was revealed he was being investigated for an unsafe pit release and making contact with Thomas Randle in the pit lane. It wasn’t a big incident, but he was still issued a 5 second time penalty. He had already taken his mandatory pit stop to the 5 seconds would be applied to his race finish time.

    Towards the end of the race Chaz Mostert had resumed the lead.

    Will Brown gave Thomas Randle a bump and took 3rd place from him. Thomas Randle dropped from 3rd to 5th place.

    With 4 laps remaining Thomas Randle was put under further pressure from Anton de Pasquale trying to take another place from him.  Randle held strong against the challenge.

    Chaz Mostert was out in front. His speed made him uncatchable. The top 3 drivers were well spread out. Mostert crossed the line just over 2.5 seconds ahead of Cameron Waters.

    Unfortunately for Chaz Mostert who dominated the track this weekend, the 5 second time penalty applied post finish meant Cameron Waters was awarded the win.

    Chaz Mostert officially came in 2nd place.

    The gap between Cam Waters and Will Brown in 3rd was over 11 seconds.

    It was great watching but must have been devastating for Mostert. Regardless, congratulations to all the drivers especially the podium finishers.

    Results for Race 10

    1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
    2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti united
    3rd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    After all the points were tallied Will Brown still leads the championship by 136 points over Broc Feeney.

    The next event is the Betr Darwin Triple Crown on 17 – 19 June 2024.

    To keep up to date with all the latest V8-Supercars news check out my Facebook fan page. (https://www.youtube.com/@williamsperfectride8710)

    Until next time, keep revving!

    Supercars

    ITM Super 400 Taupo New Zealand 2024

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!              

    On the weekend of 19 – 21 April was the ITM Taupo Super400 held at the Taupō International Motorsport Park in New Zealand.

    It was round 3 of the 2024 Supercars Championship and was the first time that Supercars had raced at this new venue.

    The Taupō International Motorsport Park circuit first began life in 1959 when the Taupo Car Club carved out a short dirt track to the northwest of the town. Nestled in open countryside with the spectacular volcanic mountain of Mountain Tauhara as the backdrop, the track was soon asphalted and become a bustling venue for the club’s activities. The track length is 3.3 kms with 14 turns.

    The event marked a special milestone for David Reynolds starting his 200th round in Supercars.

    Last year’s champion Brodie Kostecki also had his 100th race start in Supercars.

    The event started on the Friday. The weather was sunny as the weekend kicked off, but temperamental New Zealand weather was wet and miserable on the Saturday. It changed again and was dry for Sunday.

    There were two races, 60 laps (200kms) each.

    In the pre-race sessions:

    • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
    • Matt Payne was fastest in Qualifying
    • Cameron Waters was fastest in the top 10 Shootout

    In Race 7 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Will Brown alongside him in P2.

    At the start of the race Will Brown got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 60 laps.

    Tim Slade had a great start from P3 and tried to go in-between Will Brown and Cameron Waters. He made contact with Cameron Waters and both drivers spun around before the first turn. Cameron Waters was able to get his car back to the pits for repairs and return to the race later.  Tim Slade wasn’t so lucky. He was stranded in the middle of the track and the safety car was deployed to clean up. Unfortunately, the damage was so severe Tim Slade was not able to return to the race.

    Before the safety car could be deployed Matt Payne and Broc Feeney made contact and spun around at the first turn. It was also immediately investigated to see who was at fault.

    Later the stewards found Tim Slade at fault but couldn’t issue a penalty as he was already out of the race. Matt Payne received a 15 second time penalty.

    The restart was on lap 5 and Will Brown still had control with a slender lead of 0.688 seconds followed by Andre Heimgartner and Chaz Mostert. Meanwhile the cars further back in the pack were struggling in the wet conditions.

    The first car to pit in was Nick Percat on lap 6 from 23rd place .

    The drivers back in the pack were finding it difficult to deal with the spray coming up from other cars.

    Chaz Mostert did the fastest lap of the race 136.291 in third place. He was 1.3 seconds away from the race leader Will Brown.

    Bryce Fullwood got spun around at turn 11 by Jack le Brocq. Fullwood couldn’t get going again because he had no oil pressure. The safety car was deployed to get his car out of the way.

    The majority of the field pitted under yellow except for Nick Percat who pitted on lap 6.

    Nick Percat was issued a 15 second time penalty for doing 90kmph when the race was under yellow (FCY) and he should have been doing 80kmph.

    On the restart Andre Heimgartner assumed control of the race followed by Will Brown and Chaz Mostert. Meanwhile, James Courtney passed Thomas Randle for 7th place.

    Will Brown in second place started closing in on the lead.

    Brodie Kostecki turned James Courtney in a tussle and Kostecki was issued a 15 second time penalty at his next stop.

    Chaz Mostert got up the inside of Will Brown for second place. Will Brown was then under pressure from behind by Will Davison.

    By this stage Broc Feeney made it into the top 10 positions.

    Chaz Mostert was now only 0.364 seconds behind the lead.

    Suddenly the nut from Chaz Mostert’s right rear wheel came off. After the next turn the wheel made its own bid for freedom rolling down the track on its own. What an unusual set of circumstances! He managed to limp back to the pits on three wheels to get a fourth one but it took him out of contention for the race.

    With 8 laps to go Andre Heimgartner was looking strong with a 2.052 second lead.

    He was being followed by the 2 Shell V-Power Racing Fords of Will Davison and Anton de Pasquale.

    Andre Heimgartner kept his spot and crossed the finish line with a 1.171 second win over Will Davison followed by Anton de Pasquale 1.4 seconds behind.

    Results for Race 7

    1st Andre Heimgartner – Brad Jones Racing
    2nd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing
    3rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing

    In Race 8 Matt Payne started on pole position with Broc Feeney alongside him.

    As they took off Matt Payne got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 60 laps.

    Chaz Mostert had an unusually bad start and immediately lost 6 places taking him all the way down to 15th place.

    After a few laps Matt Payne edged ahead to have a 1 second lead over Broc Feeney, followed by Anton de Pasquale in third place.

    Will Brown was busting to get in on the action and was putting pressure on Brodie Kostecki in 4th place.

    Within the next few laps Will Brown finally managed to get by Brodie Kostecki. His next target was Anton de Pasquale 2.5 seconds ahead in 3rd place.

    On lap 13 Broc Feeney found the opportunity to take the race lead off Matt Payne and gained track position.

    The first car to pit was David Reynolds on lap 13 coming in from 24th place (the back of the field).

    After chasing Broc Feeney for a few laps and making no headway Matt Payne chose to pit. This gave Anton de Pasquale second place 1.8 seconds behind the lead.

    Soon after Will Brown got up the inside of Matt Payne who was back in 3rd place. Will Brown now had 1.5 seconds to make up to take Anton de Pasquale in second place.

    By the middle of the race the front of the field became more spread out. Broc Feeney had a 2.6 second lead over Anton de Pasquale. Will Brown in 3rd was 2 seconds further behind.

    Chaz Mostert was trying to make up for lost ground at the start of the race. He got up the inside of Cameron Hill and was now in 10th place.

    At lap 30 Will Brown was significantly faster than the two leaders and gained enough ground to be right on Anton de Pasquale’s tail. It wasn’t too long before Will Brown passed him to take second place.

    Broc Feeney and Will Brown were looking strong to score another 1 2 finish.

    On lap 48 Will Brown did the fastest lap of the race 127.920. The two leaders had edged so far ahead the gap back to Anton de Pasquale in 3rd place was 16+ seconds.

    With 9 laps to go Will Brown was driving so fast Broc Feeney was slowing him down. The opportunity came and Will Brown passed his teammate Broc Feeney for the lead.

    Further back in the pack Chaz Mostert re-entered the top 10 and was soon in 7th place.

    James Golding who started in 17th on the grid moved into 6th place (a hike of 11 spots).

    On the last lap Brodie Kostecki made contact with Richie Stanaway and received a 15 second time penalty (added to his post race finish time). It edged him out of the top 10 to end up in 12th place.

    The leaders once again were spread out. Will Brown had control and confidently raced to the finish line with a 3.358 seconds lead clear of his teammate Broc Feeney in 2nd place.

    The Jason Richards trophy is awarded to the round winner. Although Anton de Pasquale finished 3rd in both races it still made him the highest points scorer. A great result for him and the Shell V-Power Racing team. Congratulations!

    Results for Race 8

    1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
    2nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
    3rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing

    Will Brown is still leading the championship with a 71 point lead over his teammate Broc Feeney.

    The next event is the Perth Supersprint running from the 17th – 19th May 2024.

    I hope you can join me.

    Until then, to all you Supercars fans around the world KEEP REVVING!