Category Archives: Supercars

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!

Supercars

Beaurepaires Melbourne Supersprint 2024

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of March 21 – 24 was the Beaurepairs Melbourne Supersprint.

It was round 2 of the 2024 Supercars Championship and was held in Albert Park, Melbourne Victoria.

Supercars were the support category to the main event, The Rolex Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix.

This year marks the 25th year of Supercars racing as a support category for the Australian F1 Grand Prix.  It was also the first time that the Supercars Sprints ran past sunset.

The Albert Park track is one of the longer circuits, 5.3 km with 14 turns.

Two drivers reached milestones at this event. In race 4 Will Davison reached his 550th race. Andre Heimgartner reached his 250th start. Both deserve a round applause for lasting this long in a very tough sport.

For Melbourne the weather was relatively fine and there were no interruptions to the event.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Macauley Jones was fastest in Practice 1
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 2
  • Broc Feeney was also fastest in Qualifying for Race 3.

In Race 3 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Anton de Pasquale alongside him. The race was meant to be 19 laps but due to an extra formation lap it was only an 18-lap race.

Anton de Pasquale got the jump of the start line and led into turn 1. As they approached turn 3 Anton de Pasquale come in way too fast and ran wide. Broc Feeney pushed past and became the new leader with Anton de Pasquale back in second place. Will Brown was in third place followed by Nick Percat and then Chaz Mostert.

It was the beginning of a backward slide for Anton de Pasquale. First, he was passed by Will Brown, then Nick Percat and on the following lap Chaz Mostert.

To add to Anton de Pasquale’s problems, race control announced they were investigating him for possibly jumping too early at the start line.

Further back in the pack Cameron Waters got up the inside of Bryce Fullwood. Thomas Randle was helped off the track by Cameron Hill.

Nick Percat made contact with Chaz Mostert. It caused Mostert to fall way back to 10th place. All the other drivers between moved up a spot. Nick Percat was issued a 5 second penalty for his actions.

Jaxson Evans hit the wall coming out of turn 14. The damage on his car #12 was extensive. After visiting the pits he did manage to rejoin and complete the race.

Ryan Wood and James Golding made contact with each other.

Cameron Waters passed Anton de Pasquale for 5th place.

In the middle of the race Todd Hazelwood received a 5 second time penalty for making contact with Bryce Fullwood in car 14.

With 9 laps remaining the top 3 places had not changed but back in the pack battles were going on for the minor places.

On the following lap Nick Percat recorded the fastest lap of the race, 150.007s.

Drivers started to settle down and there was less contact between cars for the remainder of the race.

The top 3 cars still held on to their positions. In the end Broc Feeney crossed the finish line with a 2.2 second win over his teammate Will  Brown. Nick Percat followed 1.4 seconds later to claim 3rd place.

For such a short race the leaders were spread out a little more than I would have expected.

Results for Race 3

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

3rd Nick Percat – Matt Stone Racing

In Race 4 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Will Brown alongside him.

As they took off Will Brown got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 19 laps.

Anton de Pasquale was helped off the track by Matt Payne at turn 5. Anton de Pasquale had severe damage and he was down the order in 24th place. He then had to come in for repairs, but the damage was so bad he was unable to return to the race. He was the only driver to receive an NC (Not Complete).

The gap between Will Brown and Cameron Waters was tight, only 0.47 seconds. Broc Feeney was right behind them in third place.

Further back in the pack there was also a lot of action. Thomas Randle and Ryan Wood went off the track at turn 1 and dropped a couple of places.

Mark Winterbottom who had started 4th on the grid had slipped back but regained his position and was 0.432 seconds behind Broc Feeney.

Just before they reached the half way mark of the race Broc Feeney got up the inside of Cameron Waters. However, the manoeuvre caused them both to run wide and Mark Winterbottom took advantage to move up to second place.

It didn’t last long, and Broc Feeney passed him to take back 2nd place and Frosty had dropped back to third place.

Towards the end of the race the two Red Bull cars were looking strong for another 1 2 finish.

With 4 laps remaining Will Brown who was protect by his teammate Broc Feeney, then did the fastest lap of the race 149.720 seconds.

Thomas Randle was once again mixing it up with other drivers. He and Cameron Hill went off the track between turns 9 and 10 putting them both back a couple of places. Later Thomas Randle received a 15 second time penalty for causing the incident.

With only a couple laps remaining Broc Feeney made a driver error locking up the front right wheel. It was bad timing to make a mistake so close to the finish. It allowed Mark Winterbottom and Matt Payne to get between him and Will Brown in the lead.

Will Brown was cruising to yet another win for the season. He crossed the finish line with just under a 1 second lead over Mark Winterbottom. Matt Payne followed through in 3rd place right on his tail. Broc Feeney had no time to make up for his mistake but was also hot on their heels. It was a tight and exciting finish.

Results for Race 4

1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Mark Winterbottom – Team 18

3rd Matt Payne – Grove Racing

As mentioned before, the V8 Supercars were a support category to the AGP. By the time this race came up on the Saturday the delays resulted in it being cut short to try get back to the running schedule. It was cut from 19 to 14 laps and time certain putting pressure on drivers to be aggressive as possible.

In Race 5 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Matt Payne alongside.

As the lights went green Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turn 1. Chaz Mostert who was 3rd on the grid had a shocker of a start dropping 3 spots back to 6th place.

Between the final two corners of the first lap Matt Payne hit Cameron Waters from behind. They both lost control and spun off the track. Cameron Waters had extensive damage on the front left wheel and Matt Payne’s car was also in poor shape.     

The two drivers behind them, Broc Feeney and Will Brown were handed the lead while Cameron Waters and Matt Payne started their walk back to the pits.

The race went under yellow for the stranded cars to be collected and the track cleaned up.

The tension could be felt everywhere as the clock and laps counted down.

The race restarted with Broc Feeney and Will Brown pulling away while the pack was 5 abreast approaching turn 1. It was mayhem and you got the feeling that the desperation was going to cause something terrible to happen.

With 4 laps remaining Broc Feeney only had a 0.556 second lead over Will Brown. Adding to the tension, Chaz Mostert in 3rd did the fastest lap of the race 148.389 seconds. That is a phenomenal time which was almost 1.5 seconds faster than the best time in the previous race.

Broc Feeney didn’t crack under the pressure. He must have been given nerves of steel from his mentor/manager Jamie Whincup.

The Payne/Waters incident causing the safety deployment at the end of lap 1 had Race Control make the time certain call to cut back to 10 laps.

Feeney held his spot and crossed the finish line 1.791 seconds ahead of his teammate Will Brown. Chaz Mostert came across 3rd only .931 seconds later.

Considering Broc Feeney started 4th and Will Brown 6th on the grid it was an unexpected outcome for such a short race. It was short but very tense.

Results for Race 5

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

In Race 6 Chaz Mostert started on pole position. Alongside him was Matt Payne.

Anton de Pasquale was a non-starter and didn’t even make it to the grid in the final race of the weekend.

As they took off Matt Payne got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 14 laps. Chaz Mostert followed with Nick Percat right behind in 3rd.

Broc Feeney wasted no time and got up the inside of Cameron Waters to take 4th place.

Jack le Brocq was hit by another car and before the first lap was complete went to the pit lane due to damage sustained. He was the second driver in the race to receive an NC (Not Complete) after Anton de Pasquale’s NC for not even making it to the grid.

Things didn’t settle down after the first lap. On lap 2 the leaders, Matt Payne and Chaz Mostert became entangled and went off the track which put Nick Percat in the lead. It also pushed Broc Feeney up into second place. That was a big leapfrog in position considering Feeney started 6th on the grid.

Matt Payne probably wishes he didn’t make back to the track after his incident with Mostert. It was only a short time later that he was spun around by contact from Cameron Hill.

The lap 2 incident seemed to not want to go away. In the middle of the race after official review Chaz Mostert was given a 5 second time penalty for what was considered avoidable contact.

It was at this point Broc Feeney tried to make his move. He got up the inside of Nick Percat for the lead but Percat did the over and under manoeuvre to retake his place. Will Brown who was right behind also slipped under Broc Feeney. Once again, the top 3 positions had changed in an incredibly short race.

On the final lap Ryan Wood gave Cameron Hill a bump and put him in the gravel trap. Cameron Hill was stuck and became the third NC of this race. It must have been so frustrating that close to the finish.

The top 3 cars remained unchanged but had no space between them.

Nick Percat came across the finish line first only .381 of a second ahead of Will Brown. Broc Feeney followed through hot on their heels.

For Percat this win breaks a drought since Adelaide 2016.

Results for Race 6

1st Nick Percat – Matt Stone Racing

2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

Will Brown won the Larry Perkins Trophy for 2024.

He leads the championship by 17 points over his teammate Broc Feeney.

The next event is the ITM super400 April 19 – 21.

Supercars

Thrifty Bathurst 500 2024

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 23 – 25 Feb was the Thrifty Bathurst 500.

It was Round 1 of the V8-Supercars 2024 season.

The event consisted of 2 practice sessions, a qualifying session (1 for each of the 2 races) to determine the entries to the top 10 shootout for grid position and finally 2 races of 40 laps / 250km each.

Last season ended with Erebus taking the teams trophy and Erebus driver Brodie Kostecki taking the drivers’ trophy. Will Brown who was Brodie Kostecki’s teammate took 4th place.

It seems this year the drivers from Erebus have abandoned ship. Will Brown is now driving for Red Bull Ampol Racing alongside Broc Feeney after the exit of legend, Shane Van Gisbergen.

Will Brown has joined Red Bull Ampol Racing

On the 30 January 2024 Brodie Kostecki had a massive falling out with Erebus Motorsports’ boss Barry Ryan and left the team. It must have been serious because now the champion has been left without a seat in this years’ competition. Barry Ryan, team owner Betty Klimenko and Brodie Kostecki have all been very tight lipped about what happened to cause the rift.

This first event of the year started on the Friday with 2 practice sessions. The weather was cloudy with consistent rain. Not a surprise at Bathurst which is known for its extreme weather patterns.        

Results from the pre-race sessions are as follows:

  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 1
  • Will Brown was fastest in Practice 2
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Qualifying for both Race 1 & 2
  • Will Brown was fastest in Race 1 Top Ten Shootout
  • Broc Feeney was the fastest in Race 2 Top Ten Shootout

On the grid for Race 1 Will Brown started in pole position with teammate Broc Feeney alongside him.

Will Brown got the jump on his teammate off the starting line and led into turn 1 for the first of 40 laps. Chaz Mostert got a ripper of a start from 3rd on the grid and was close behind the two leaders.

Rookie, Ryan Wood went off the track at turn 1 with a helping hand from Tim Slade. The safety car was deployed and the car was towed off the track. I am sure it was not how Ryan Wood envisioned his first race as a rookie.

Race Control looked at the incident and decided to take no penalising action against Wood or Slade.

The restart was on lap 3. Will Brown still had the race lead followed by Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert and Cameron Hill.

The first 2 cars to pit were Anton de Pasquale and Matt Payne on lap 6. They re-joined one spot from the back of the pack, 22nd and 23rd.

Broc Feeney was tailing leader Will Brown by only 0.934 seconds. On lap 11 he then did the fastest time recorded in this race (208.332 seconds).

Will Brown was the first of the two Red Bull cars to pit to ensure there would be no double stacking at the garage with teammate Broc Feeney. This handed Broc Feeney the lead.

In the middle of the race Nick Percat had the lead. Once he pitted Broc Feeney took back lead control with Will Brown behind him.

Aaron Love hit the wall coming out of The Cutting and damaged the right rear corner of car 3. It was quite a significant hit and he had to limp back to the pits. There was no need to deploy the safety car and later he did manage to return to the race.

Towards the end of the race Broc Feeney and Will Brown were the effective leaders with the 2 cars of Nick Percat and Cameron Waters ahead of them but still yet to pit. Once they pitted the 2 Red Bull cars assumed 1st and 2nd place on the track.

With 9 laps remaining Broc Feeney was still in the lead by 0.871seconds over Will Brown.

On lap 33 Chaz Mostert clocked the fastest lap of the race at 208.113 seconds. This adds 5 point to Mostert’s scoreboard tally.

The competition began to get wild.

On lap 34 the front left wheel came off Cameron Waters Monster Energy Ford Mustang and it went rolling down the track to turn 2. The race went under FCY (Full Course Yellow) to remove the wheel.

With 5 laps to go James Golding went off at The Chase. When he came back on he was alongside his teammate, Tim Slade.

With 2 laps to go Aaron Love hit the wall at The Cutting again! This time the Safety Car had to be deployed to remove the car from the track. He and Ryan Wood were the only two DNFs in the race.

As a result of the deployed Safety Car the race finished under Safety Car conditions. The finish was therefor quite unexciting compared to the action leading up to it.

Broc Feeney came across the line first, followed by Will Brown and then Chaz Mostert.

Results for Race 1:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

In Race 2 Broc Feeney started on pole position, alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

As they took off Chaz Mostert got the jump and led into turn 1.

Meanwhile back in the pack Cameron Hill and Macauley Jones became entangled and spun both cars. They were able to continue but were now at the back of the pack.

Broc Feeney tried to get up the inside James Golding at The Chase. He made contact with Golding and was issued a 5 second time penalty for the driving infringement.

Will Brown had gone up to second place. He was only 0.385 seconds off Chaz Mostert in the lead. Pole sitter Broc Feeney had dropped back to 3rd place.

Matt Payne was the first driver to take his car into the pits on lap 6.

Ryan Wood also went into the garage to rectify a damaged right front steering sustained on the opening lap.

Aaron Love hit the wall approaching the Reid Park section of the track.

Up the front the top 3 cars were reasonably close to each other.

Broc Feeney was asking whether he can pass Will Brown in attempt to make up for the 5 second time penalty he received earlier. He was given the go ahead but just couldn’t find the space on track to execute the pass.

He then decided to take the first of his 2 mandatory pitstops and also get his 5 second penalty out of the way.

In the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was still the leader by 5.2 seconds over Will Brown, who was then followed by Broc Feeney. Thomas Randle and David Reynolds were battling for 4th and 5th place.

Towards the end of the race only Todd Hazelwood and Andre Heimgartner were still yet to take their second pit stop. Once they did, Will Brown who had overtaken Chaz Mostert would assume the race lead.

In the final 5 laps the top 3 positions were unchanged and stayed that way to the finish.

Will Brown crossed the line with a 1.6 second lead on Chaz Mostert. Then it was 1.4 seconds back to Broc Feeney.

It was a good race and a lot of fun watching it.

Results for Race 2:

1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

After the first of event of the season Will Brown is the series leader by 9 points over Broc Feeney.

The Red Bull Ampol Racing team are in the lead of the teams championship by 201 points over Grove Racing.

The next event in the Supercars series is as a support category at the Rolex Australian F1 Grand Prix at Albert Park on March 21 to 24 2024.

I hope you will all join me.

Supercars

Valo Adelaide 500 2023

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 23 – 26 November 2023 was the Valo Adelaide 500.

The Adelaide street circuit was first opened in 1985 and hosted the F1 Australian Grand Prix until 1995. The street circuit came back into use in 1999 when Supercars moved their events from the Mallala Motorsport Park.

Jason Bright took the very first pole position at this venue. Craig Lowndes started the leg 1 from 3rd on the grid and won the opening race. The next day he was sent to the back of the field and still came through to win leg 2. It was the stuff that legends are made of.

This year’s Adelaide 500 was the 12th and final round of the 2023 Supercars Championship.

As one of the longer events on the calendar made up of 2 races of 250km each, it was always going to be a tough event. To add to the tension it was also the decider for the Driver’s Championship.

The defending champion Shane Van Gisbergen was trailing Brodie Kostecki in the number 1 spot by 131 points. A win in both races would total 300 points so the championship was still up for grabs. Shane Van Gisbergen is heading to the U.S. at the end of the season to try his hand at NASCAR so it could very well also be his final farewell to Supercars.

The points gap from 3rd place onwards was too great to contend for 1st or 2nd place. However, the points were close enough between 3rd, 4th and 5th for there to be a change on the final scoreboard for Will Brown, Broc Feeney and Chaz Mostert.

The Final Event and the Final Decider! A setting for nail biting stuff!

The event started on Thursday with a wet Practice 1.

The pre-race sessions results are as follows:

  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
  • Thomas Randle was Fastest in Practice 2
  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying
  • Brodie Kostecki was also fastest in the top 10 Shootout.

For Race 27 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position which was his 9th pole for the year. David Reynolds was alongside him on the front row of the starting grid.

At the start of the race Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for first of 78 laps.

As the pack rounded turn 4 Will Brown tried passing Anton de Pasquale. Shane Van Gisbergen also tried following Will Brown to jump up in position. However, Anton de Pasquale made contact with Will Brown and then from behind Shane Van Gisbergen made contact with Will Brown. Brown’s car came to stop almost immediately. Shane Van Gisbergen was able to get back to the pits but it was soon evident that he wouldn’t be returning to the track. Not only was it all over for this race but also his ability to contend for the championship title. Such bad luck.

The safety car was deployed. It was only the opening lap and things were very messed up for Will Brown and Shane Van Gisbergen.

Later, after reviewing the incident the officials took no further action and no penalty was issued to any of the three cars involved.

Matt Payne and Cameron Hill were in the pits because of damage they received after the start.

The restart was on lap 6 and Brodie Kostecki was still in control of the race, followed by David Reynolds and Thomas Randle in 3rd place.

Broc Feeney passed James Courtney for 8th place.

On lap 15 David Reynolds took the lead off Brodie Kostecki with some incredible manoeuvring through turns 8 and 9.

The first car to pit in this race was Anton de Pasquale on lap 16.

Broc Feeney was next to pit on lap 19. When he re-joined the race he was in 20th place with clear track ahead.

Up front it started getting busy. Thomas Randle moved up to 2nd place dropping Brodie Kostecki back to 3rd place.

Cameron Waters in 4th place was 3 + seconds behind. The front of the pack were beginning to spread out.

Soon after, Thomas Randle pitted from second place handing over the spot to Cameron Waters.

Thomas Randle came out of the pits and was like a rocket. Within a few laps he managed to move up through the pack and regain 2nd place.

Cameron Waters wasn’t happy to give back the second spot to Thomas Randle and found the opportunity to pass him. Once again, the order of the top 3 cars changed.

In the middle of the race Cameron Waters was still holding second place right on the rear bumper of David Reynolds in the lead. He found his opportunity and with precision driving made the pass to get the number one spot.

Further back in the pack, Todd Hazelwood received a 5 second time penalty for contact with another car.

David Reynolds never gave up the fight to regain 1st place. With 17 laps to go he did the fastest lap of the race, 119.957 seconds. Unfortunately, it didn’t give him what he wanted. He was also under pressure from Thomas Randle in 3rd place. The front 3 cars were once again tight and left no room for error.

Cameron Waters stayed strong and held the lead using his experience to fend off the two drivers right on his tail.

Soon Cameron Water and David Reynolds edged away from Thomas Randle still holding 3rd place.

They were both on fire screaming ahead of the pack.

They crossed the finish line 0.67 seconds apart and way ahead of the others. Thomas Randle came in 14.353 seconds later to earn 3rd place. It was an incredible finish for an intense race.

Results for Race 27

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.

2nd David Reynolds – Grove Racing.

3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing & Tradie Racing.

In Race 28 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position for the 10th time this season. This is an incredible feat and he was given the Armor All Pole Award for year along with $10,000. Next to him on the front row of the grid was Matt Payne.

As they took off Matt Payne got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 78 laps. As much as Brodie Kostecki tried he was not able to pass Matt Payne.

Further back Shane Van Gisbergen was trying to pass Anton de Pasquale but also wasn’t able to execute a pass. It wasn’t until a few laps later that he got into his stride.

On lap 2 Broc Feeney was able to get up the inside of Cameron Waters for 4th place.

David Reynolds made his move on lap 3 to pass Todd Hazelwood for 9th place.

Shane Van Gisbergen was now moving through the pack and had now passed Anton de Pasquale, Will Davison and Will Brown for 11th place.

On lap 6 Nick Percat made contact with Jack le Brocq who went off the track and into the tyre-wall at the final turn. Surprisingly, he managed to get himself out and the safety car did not have to be deployed.

After investigation the incident the officials took no further action against either driver.

By lap 10 Matt Payne had a 1.2 second lead over Brodie Kostecki.

Broc Feeney was putting pressure on Chaz Mostert for 3rd place. He managed to get by at turn 6.

Shane Van Gisbergen showed how eager he was to make up for the NC (Not Complete) he received in the first race at this event. He did the fastest lap of the race, 120.735 seconds.

On lap 11 Chaz Mostert was desperately trying to get 3rd place back from Broc Feeney. In his attempt Chaz Mostert made contact with him and did manage to pass. It was a messy attack and Chaz Mostert was later issued a 5 second time penalty.

Shane Van Gisbergen was the first of the Red Bull cars to take a pit-stop.

In the pit area Macauley Jones was spun around by Tim Slade who was coming out of his garage.

In the middle of the race Matt Payne was still in control with a 4.8 second lead over Broc Feeney flowed by David Reynolds in 3rd.

As the race continued Matt Payne kept edging ahead. Towards the end of the race, he had a 7.5 second lead over Broc Feeney and was on target to claim his maiden win with Penrite Racing.

Noone seemed able to make ground on the rookie Matt Payne. In fact he managed to edge further ahead of the competitors.

He crossed the line with a 8.548 second lead over Broc Feeney. David Reynolds come in 3rd a few seconds later.

It was a spectacular and solid win for Matt Payne. Congratulations!

Results for Race 28:

1st Matt Payne – Grove Racing.

2nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

3rd David Reynolds – Grove Racing.

A massive congratulations to Erebus Motorsport and Brodie Kostecki. Well done!

This was the final race for the 2023 season. The next event will be the Bathurst Superfest on the 16th to the 25th of February 2024.

It’s with a sense of sadness that we say farewell to Shane Van Gisbergen. Well done on everything you have achieved in Supercars and best of luck for your new adventures in Nascar. Go get em!