Category Archives: Supercars

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Rabble Club Sandown 500 2018 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 14th to the 16th of September, 2018 was the Rabble Club Sandown 500.

The preliminaries to the race were almost as exciting as the main event.

In the co-drivers only session which was Practice 1, Paul Dumbrell clocked the fastest time.

Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 2.

Chaz Mostert had some really bad luck in Practice 2. He spun off track in his 55 Supercheap Auto Ford Falcon smashing the rear end into the fence.

James Courtney and Jack Perkins started at the back of the grid due to James Courtney having a huge crash on lap 3 of Race For the Grid 2 (Qualifying).

Erebus owner, Betty Klimenko wasn’t at Sandown on the weekend because she was sick with the flu. David Reynolds claiming pole position must have made her feel at least a little bit better as she watched the race from home.

During the 20 minute warm up, the teams were practicing brake rotor change which will be compulsory at Bathurst in 3 weeks’ time. This new requirement for the Bathurst race is being introduced to improve safety. Yes, I know brakes are important but could it introduce other risks to the race. I am still in two minds about it.

Finally at 1:20pm on Sunday The Sandown 500 started.

David Reynolds and Luke Youlden (Erebus) started on pole position. Alongside them were Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell (Triple 8).

As usual most of the co-drivers took the driver’s seat at the start of the race, except James Courtney because of their poor qualifying position. This is the norm in team strategies allowing the seasoned pros to later make up for any mishaps.

The co-drivers have to do a minimum of 54 laps before the main driver can get into the cars.

When the lights turned green to start the 161-lap race Luke Youlden bogged it down, which allowed Paul Dumbrell to take the race lead.

Chris Pither, co-driver with Garth Tander started in car 33 at 9th position on the grid but on lap 1 he was in the fence which put him at the back of the pack. (They eventually recovered finishing 9th which isn’t a bad effort at all)

Dean Canto Co-driver for Mark Winterbottom in the Tickford Racing team made contact with Luke Youlden. I thought there going steering damage as a result but remarkably somehow there wasn’t.

The first Vodafone Safety Car was deployed for Dean Fiore after he contacted the barrier on the exit of turn 4.  Then with the right front wheel wobbling all over the place he limped the Nissan Altama back to the pits

The 3 Triple 8 cars were running 1st, 2nd and 3rd for most of the race, all bar pit stops.

In the middle of race Jason Bright caused the second incident for the Vodafone Safety Car to be deployed because he bogged his car in the sand trap at turn 9 in a really dangerous spot.

Towards the end of the race I thought Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards were going to finish 2nd behind Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell in car 1.

Regardless, no one could catch or upset the 1, 2, 3 of the 3 Triple 8 cars lead. ‘Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner’ as quoted by Jeromy Moore in a race a few years back.

The funniest parts of the weekend was when commentator Chad Neylon was betting on who was going to win the Sandown 500 by using a horse racing tote. My first thought was, Chad this is not Horse Racing. At that point Scott Mclaughlin with Alex Premat were the Favourites to win.

Then on Supercars Trackside, Mark Larkham was trying to explain what the teams will have to do at Bathurst for the brake rotor change. By mishap the burning hot rotor fell off the car onto his foot. Mark Larkham exclaimed on national TV ‘Oh Shit!’. Too funny but glad he wasn’t hurt.

Result for 2018 Rabble Club Sandown 500

1st car 1 Jamie Whincup & Paul Dumbrell – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd car 97 Shane Van Gisbergen & Earl Bamber – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd car 888 Craig Lowndes & Steven Richards- Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

Now that Sandown has been run there are only 4 events left in the 2018 Supercars Championship.

Up next is the biggest event of the year, The Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 on the 4th to the 7th of October 2018.

To keep us all up to date on the event the Bathurst Channel launches on Monday the 1st of October 2018 and finishes on 7th of October 2018.  It should be a lot of fun.

Will Triple 8 Dominate at Bathurst like they did at Sandown with a 1, 2, 3 finish?

If you have any thoughts or opinion on how the weekend and the race panned out please feel free to let me know via my Facebook Fan page.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/?ref=bookmarks

Post Race Report, Supercars

OTR Supersprint the Bend 2018 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 24th to the 26th of August 2018 was the OTR Supersprint at The Bend in South Australia.

Some interesting statistics from the weekend:

  • It was Jamie Whincup’s 209th Championship round start.
  • Garry Rogers Motorsport celebrated their 300th round.
  • Craig Lowndes started his 289th round.
  • Also there were 28 cars racing at Tailem Bend instead of just the normal 26.

As they worked through their way of the preliminary activities before the race, there were some unusual results:

  • Tim Slade was fastest in Practice 1.
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2.
  • Nick Percat was fastest in Practice 3.
  • James Courtney qualified 24th and Craig Lowndes qualified 25th due to getting held up by traffic in front of them. No doubt a disappointing result for them.

In race 22 Jamie Whincup started in pole position. Alongside him was his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen.

When the cars headed out on to the Tailem Bend Race track, Garth Tander had stopped on the Parade lap because he had electrical problems.

At the start of the 24-lap race there was contact between Jack Le Brocq and Anton de Pasquale.  Jack Le Brocq was spun off track.  The officials deducted 25 points from Anton de Pasquale’s Championship total and in a post-race investigation issued him a $3,000 fine with $2,000 suspended for ‘careless contact’. This sounds harsh but was backed by the fact this was Anton de Pasquale’s third offence of a similar nature in the last four rounds.

I couldn’t believe how many spots James Courtney made up on the opening lap and during the race. I thought, ‘Wow! That is remarkable’.

Craig Lowndes pitted early on to get clear track and to avoid double stacking. It worked in his favour because he re-joined the race with no one too close behind so that meant he could do it safely.

In the middle of the race Garth Tander found his problem had not been fixed and his car stopped just before the entry to the pit lane. The Vodafone Safety Car was deployed and the race went to ‘yellow’.

Up to this point Shane Van Gisbergen had a good lead but this then went back to zero because the field was all bunched up. Once Gart Tander was towed off the track and the race went back to green, Shane Van Gisbergen wanted to regain his good lead. He just took off and said, ‘Catch me if you can!’

Towards the end of the race no one could catch the top 3 drivers which were Shane Van Gisbergen, who finished 6.2602 seconds ahead of Rick Kelly. Rick Kelly was followed by Michael Caruso 2.652 seconds later. Jamie Whincup leading the rest of the pack was nearly 4 seconds behind that with Scot McLaughlin in close pursuit. Quite a wide spread in the finish of such a short race.

With a win for Shane Van Gisbergen, the gap between him and Scott McLaughlin was now only 41 points.

Results for Race 22

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Rick Kelly – Nissan Motorsport.
3rd Michael Caruso – Nissan Motorsport.

In race 23 the two Red Bull teammates were again at the front of the grid as in the last race. Jamie Whincup was on pole position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.

At the start of the 41 lap race the best start was from Craig Lowndes, who was 6th on the grid and making excellent headway. He was going so well I thought Triple 8 were going to have a 1st, 2nd and 3rd early on in the race. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

Scott McLaughlin didn’t have the speed all weekend and as result the championship leader qualified 5th both days.

Fabian Coulthard was struggling like his teammate, Scott McLaughlin was all weekend.

The drivers in front made a choice to stay out, which was a good choice but cars further back in the pack came in to not get held up.

David Reynolds was on the charge which paid off for him. Once he gained position he didn’t let up and by the end of the race he had gained 9 spots from 12th on the grid and finished 3rd.

Anton de Pasquale was trying to stay out of trouble. During the Qualifying for the race he had got pinged again for making contact with Simona de Silvestro. Especially after his penalties in race 22 the day before, he had had enough.

It was in the race that Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske took the lead in the Pirtek Pit stop Challenge during Scott McLaughlin’s pit stop.

Craig Lowndes tried to take 7th place from Will Davison but he couldn’t manage the pass and had to stay where he was for the time being.

In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup and Shane were running 1st and 2nd. Roland Dane and his Red Bull Team must have been quite happy at this. Things were looking good.

The Red Bull pair managed to keep their momentum and as the race came to a finish it seemed they were just too quick for everybody else to keep up. Surprisingly this was including Scott McLaughlin.

Results for Race 23

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd David Reynolds – Freightliner Racing.

Shane Van Gisbergen is now the new Supercars Championship leader but only by 19 points. Can the Red Bull Holden Racing team keep the lead or will Scott McLaughlin take it back? Things are getting very exciting.

The next event is the Rabble Club.com Sandown 500 on the 14th to the 16th of September 2018 which is in 3 weeks’ time.

If you have any thoughts on how the weekend panned feel free to give me your opinon via my Facebook Fanpage I would like hear your feedback.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

Post Race Report, Supercars

Red Rooster Sydney Supernight 300 2018 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 3rd to the 4th of August 2018 was the Red Rooster Sydney SuperNight 300.

This year will be first time in a long time that the Supercars have raced at night. The last time the Supercars raced under lights was 1997 at Calder Park Melbourne, Victoria.  

It was an exceptional setup with a new lighting system that seemed to work really well. Check out the video links below to see just how much light they threw onto the track.

The other change to the weekend is that there will be only one V8 Supercars race. In previous years the Red Rooster SuperSprint has had two.

As well as only being one night race, it will also be longer – 300 kilometres over 77 laps.

In the race preliminaries before even taking off for the warm up lap, Jamie Whincup had a flat battery while stationary out on the grid. How this happened between driving out onto the grid and taking off is a mystery to me.

On Friday night in Practice 1, Chaz Mostert was fastest.

Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2 on Saturday.

Before the race started the drivers were introduced to the crowd in the dark. It was a fantastic spectacle which everyone seemed to enjoy (drivers, teams and crowd).

As they come out to the grid for race 21, it was no surprise to see Scott McLaughlin started on pole position for the 11th time in 2018. Alongside was his teammate, Fabian Coulthard.

As they took off Shane Van Gisbergen tried to split the two Shell V Power Fords up but unfortunately he had tuck back into 3rd place during the opening laps.

Fabian Coulthard and Jamie Whincup made contact at turn 1. The angle of connection had me thinking that Jamie Whincup would be off the track and spun around. Commentators, Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton also thought it would be an incident at 270kmp/h and in the dark.  I reckon it was Jamie Whincup’s experience that saved Fabian Coulthard from a penalty.

Andre Heimgartner lost control out on track and then made contact with Garth Tander. The Nissan Motorsport Team had to push his car number 7 into the garage for some serious repairs before re-joining the race.

Garth Tander didn’t have a very good race at all. He got hit left right and centre from the start of the race all the way through. In fact, Garth Tander started 22nd and finished 20th. A result I am sure he won’t be happy with.

Craig Lowndes was made to come in on lap 7 to get clear track. Pit reporter, Mark Larkham calls it the undercut, meaning if a driver thinks he is getting held up by the car in front of him the Engineers will call the drivers in to get them out of the traffic.

Richie Stanaway having started in position 24 chose to stay a bit longer to see how far he could move up before pitting. It worked well for the first year rookie, by the end of the race he did gain 3 spots.

When the 2 Shell V Power cars took turns to pit they had go around the Red Bull garage. Whereas Tickford Racing let Craig Lowndes drive underneath there pit bay for a straight entry to his. Shell V Power and Red Bull just don’t share that kind of relationship.

In the middle of the race Lee Holdsworth was battling it out with Todd Hazelwood. As the came down the main straight the rear wing separated from Todd Hazelwood’s Ford Falcon causing him to leave the track at top speed of 270 killermeters an hour.  SCARY!!!

My first thought was, ‘Oh no! He is about to hit the wall. Somehow, he managed to re-join safely but the Supercars Officials wouldn’t let him continue until the team put the wing back in place. 

If you have an opinion on How Todd Hazelwood’s rear wing come off and how you thought the race went you can let me via my Facebook Fan page. Here is the link for you to make an express expression of your thoughts and opinions. https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

On Lap 52 of 77 James Courtney had to slow down after getting a flat tyre and then hitting a curb which mangled his wheel and suspension. The damage was extensive enough to result in him retiring from race 21. He was the only one out of 26 cars that started Saturday night’s to not finish the race.

Anton De Pasquale was docked 35 points for contact with Michael Caruso.

As the final stint began Craig Lowndes had a margin of 5. 9 Seconds over Scott McLaughlin, so I thought, ‘Ok, time to look after tyres and save fuel’.

When Garth Tander got spun by Simona De Silvestro at turn 4 she wasn’t given a drive thru penalty.

As it came to the close of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was battling with Scott McLaughlin for the lead. How Craig Lowndes lost his 5.9 second lead is another mystery to me.

Shane Van Gisbergen seemed to get the better of ‘Speedie Scott’ McLaughlin to take the lead. It was later revealed the Scott McLaughlin felt like some debris was lodged in his tyre and it was going down.

With Scott McLaughlin slowing down it now looked like Triple 8 were to finish 1, 2 and 3 with Jamie Whincup also overtaking him and Craig Lowndes close behind.  However, Scott McLaughlin did manage to hold off Craig Lowndes and avoid the Triple 8 trifecta.

Fabian Coulthard finished 11th after he started 2nd due a buckled wheel on the left rear.

The gap between the championship leader, Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen is now just 89 points.

Triple 8 now lead the Teams Championship by 262 points.

The next is the OTR Bend Supersprint on the 24 to the 26th of August 2018.

results for race 21

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing team
3rd Scott Mclaughlin – Shell V Power Racing  team
4th Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

Here is a video for the lead up to the Red Rooster Sydney Supernight 300

Who will lead the Championship after the next Supercars Races?

 

Post Race Report, Supercars

Coates Hire Ipswich Supersprint 2018 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 20th to the 22nd of July 2018 was the Coates Hire Ipswich Supersprint.

This was a weekend of some unusual events and some big fines for drivers and teams with Chaz Mostert losing a front position on the grid. Also, Jamie Whincup and the Erebus Team received fines for some strange behaviour.

This weekend Russell Ingall was out on track in Shane Van Gisbergen’s car for the additional co-driver session. He was sitting in for Earl Bamber who is still overseas racing on other events.

Russel Ingall is like the ‘go-to man’ when someone needs an extra driver. He is always happy to get there.

Jamie Whincup did a practice start in the wrong spot. It was a poor decision and received $1,000 fine with $500 suspended to the end of the year.

The Erebus team was also fined but much more severely, $10,000 with $5,000 suspended to the end of the 2019 season. This was for an infringement during Anton De Pasquale’s pit stop. The car was dropped while an Erebus crew member was still working on the front left wheel. The mechanic was knocked to the ground but apparently not injured. I guess it’s one of those things where the person at the wheel (on the right side of the car) has no way of knowing what is going on below at the front left. It is one hell of a fine. Fair or unfair? What do you think? If you have a point of view post it on https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

Will Davison revealed the new sponsor signage on his car from Milwaukee. The change also meant he was issued with a new car number, 120 (from his old number 230).

In race 19 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position.

Chaz Mostert was supposed to be alongside pole but was penalised for blocking Shane Van Gisbergen in Qualifying, so his start position was shuffled from 2nd to 5th. As a result Fabian Coulthard joined his teammate on the grid front row.

At the start of the 39-lap race Scott McLaughlin didn’t get the ideal start and I was sure Fabian Coulthard would take the lead. However, even with a bad start Scott McLaughlin still has the speed and skill that is hard to contend with and he managed to hold his number 1 position.

Fabian Coulthard was cheered on by his partner, Becky Lamb and their kids who attended the races over the weekend.

I couldn’t believe the amazing start that Shane Van Gisbergen got. After qualifying 8th on the grid, he was in the 3rd spot by turn 2. I thought it was an amazing piece of driving. Well done Shane Van Gisbergen.

David Reynolds was pulling out all stops to try and stay in championship contention. If he wants this to happen he will have to prove himself all the way to the end of the season. As commentator Mark Skaife said, that it is pretty questionable because he is too far behind in terms of points.

Garth Tander and Rick Kelly spent some quality time up close and personal as they battled for position 5 and 6.

In the middle of the race Craig Lowndes was on the charge to get to the front of the field from his qualifying position of 10th. It worked out well and he did finish 3rd. It seems Queensland Raceway is his cup of tea. This is his 23rd podium finish on this track.

During the telecast, commentator Mark Larkham talked about the introduction of Ford Mustang for the 2019 season. That ought to shake things up a bit. They will not come into the game without the intention of winning so the competition will be tough.

Scott McLaughlin once again showed his stuff and was the race winner earning 150 points to his season tally. As a result this extends his championship lead from what was 131 points to 143 points. Scott McLaughlin! You missed out on the championship last year by bad luck. Will 2018 be your year?

Results for race 19

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

In race 20 once again, Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

At the start of the 65 lap race James Courtney, Scott Pye and Mark Winterbottom all made contact which resulted in a lot of damage. All three were forced to return to the pits for repairs.

Shane Van Gisbergen led the entire way. I was happy to finally see a Triple 8 car up front instead of Scott McLaughlin.

Craig Lowndes came in to get his first pit stop out of the so he wouldn’t have double stack with Jack Le Brocq. I think was a good strategy that he must keep in mind because if the Vodafone safety car was deployed then Craig Lowndes would have to double stack behind Jack Le Brocq which can cause serious loss in track time.

Soon after the start Nick Percat went off the race track at turn 1 due to a flat left front tyre.

Fabian Coulthard took the opportunity to come into the pits while teammate Scott McLaughlin was running 2nd and staying out to maintain track position.

Chaz Mostert also stayed out early on for the same reason because he was racing near the front.

After the incident at the start causing Mark Winterbottom to spend repair time in the pits, he was able to rejoice on return to the track even though a couple of laps behind race leader Shane Van Gisbergen. I personally was quite surprised that Mark Winterbottom was able to get back out there.

James Courtney on the other hand did not re-join the race because he had too much damage to continue.

Garth Tander and Rick Kelly were once again battling it out this weekend. In race 19 it was for 5th and 6th, this time it was for positions 9th and 10th.

In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin was trying to catch Shane Van Gisbergen. Scott McLaughlin might have the speed to earn him all his pole positions but out on the track Shane Van Gisbergen is a hard man to beat.

As the race came to its end Chaz Mostert was running 3rd under heavy pressure from Jamie Whincup who is never happy without a podium finish. Chaz Mostert kept him at bay and kept his position to the end.

Shane Van Gisbergen who led the entire race came across the line triumphantly more than 2 seconds ahead of Scott McLaughlin.

Results for Race 20

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
3rd Chaz Mostert – Tickford Racing.
4th Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

The next event is the Red Rooster Sydney SuperNight 300 on the 3rd and 4th of August 2018.

The funniest moment of weekend was after Neil Crompton had finished interviewing Craig Lowndes. Craig Lowndes (having grown up as a fan of Greg Murphy) went to the port-a-loo yelling ‘5 minutes’ whilst acting out a tantrum in jest of a Greg Murphy incident at Bathurst back in 2002. Crompton immediately got the joke and had a good laugh.

 

Post Race Report, Supercars

Watpac Townsville 400 2018 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 6th to the 8th of July 2018 was the Watpac Townsville 400. This celebrates its 10th year running.

The hot news of the week was the revelation of Triple 8’s Craig Lowndes retirement from full time racing at the end of the 2018 season.

After the announcement, Garth Tander said he was a bit shocked as was I.  This was the general consensus amongst many of the other drivers interviewed by Greg Murphy over this weekend’s racing.  Not only is Craig Lowndes an excellent and respected driver who easily has several more years of racing left in him but this announcement means he will be cutting short his contract by 1 year with Triple 8. It also seems Simona de Silvestro has been shortlisted to join Triple 8, so it makes me wonder what’s been going on behind the scenes.

It was good to see Erebus Motorsport owner, Betty Klimenko make a showing this weekend. Due to illness she has not attended the last few race events. Welcome back Betty!

Michael Caruso had a pretty awful weekend. His car stopped out on track in the warm up lap for race 17 and due to the issue was not able to join the race at all.

Michael Caruso received an NC (Not Complete) but I would have thought it would be classified as DNS (Did Not Start).  All the same, was bad luck and it didn’t get any better for him on Sunday in race 18 as you will read later.

In race 17, Surprise, SURPRISE!!! Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. Alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

At the start of the 70 lap race Scott Mclaughlin got the jump on Jamie Whincup. Scott McLaughlin’s car is fast but Jamie Whincup has experience and would not let up and managed to take the race lead on lap 2.

Teammate Shane Van Gisbergen also managed to get in behind Jamie Whincup. Things were looking good for Triple 8s Red Bull drivers.

Soon after Todd Hazelwood made contact with Simona De Silvestro. Todd Hazelwood then bounced off the wall. Although he still raced on Sunday, it was later revealed he dislocated his shoulder and was pretty much only using one arm to race. I don’t know what to say about that. Amazing commitment or irresponsible?  If any of you readers have a strong viewpoint we’d love to hear from you on my fan page. (https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/)

James Courtney got pinged for spinning around his former teammate Garth Tander.

Although Shane Van Gisbergen was doing well, he pitted first to avoid a double stack with teammate Jamie Whincup who still had the lead.

This was James Golding’s first time at Townsville so in the middle of the race he stayed in close behind experienced teammate, Garth Tander for some valuable lessons.

It was also around the middle of the race Fabian Coulthard was trying to move up the pack to get a finish in the top 10. His efforts were exciting to watch.

Towards the end of the race Craig Lowndes tried to get passed Scott McLaughlin to make it a Triple 8 Race Engineering 1, 2 and 3. Scott McLaughlin managed to hold veteran Craig Lowndes off.

Results for race 17

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd   Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

3rd Scott McLaughlin  – Shell V Power racing team.
4th Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes racing.

In Race 18 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position. Alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

At the start of the 70 lap race Shane Van Gisbergen got the jump off the start.

The Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske crew had a poor pit stop time due to a car jack getting stuck from an air spike which resulted in them losing time and track position. This wouldn’t have made Scott McLaughlin a happy driver.

In the middle of the race the 2nd round stops were starting to happen. To make everybody had good tyres and right amount fuel in there to get to the finish.

Late in the race Richie Stanaway was drifting at every turn. I take a guess and say it was due to tyre wear so close to the end of the race.  He got warned by his team to stop drifting otherwise risk a penalty for it.

It was also late in the race when Michael Caruso continued his bad luck streak. He made contact with Anton de Pasquale ending up in the Dunlop tyre wall needing to be towed off track and getting a DNF

.

Craig Lowndes was doing his best to pass Scott McLaughlin for 3rd and earn the Triple 8 Team trifecta but Scot McLaughlin wasn’t going to give anything away. So Craig Lowndes had to stick with 4th place on both Saturday and Sunday.  Overall the team had a good weekend with a 1st, 2nd and 4th on Saturday With Jamie Whincup in first place and the same on Sunday where Shane Van Gisbergen took the trophy. Red Bull Holden Racing Team got 2 from 2.

 

The next is the Coates Hire Ipswich Supersprint on the 20th to the 22nd of July 2018.

Results for race 18

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Scott McLaughlin  – Shell V Power Racing Team.
4th Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

Post Race Report, Supercars

crownbet Darwin Triple Crown 2018 Supercars

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Crownbet Darwin Triple Crown 2018

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 15th to the 17th of June, 2018 was the Crownbet Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.

There was lots of unexpected excitement in the preliminary events leading up to the two races this weekend:

  • Fastest in Practice 1 was Rick Kelly.
  • Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2 and 3.
  • David Reynolds was fastest in Qualifying for race 15.
  • Scott McLaughlin was the fastest in Qualifying for race 16.
  • Rick Kelly was the fastest in the race shootout.

Same as at last event, the owner of the Erebus Motorsports team Betty Klimenko wasn’t at Darwin because she was sick with the flu. It must be a bad flu for her to stay away. Get well soon Betty!

Also, Fox Sports commentator Russell Ingall wasn’t in attendance either.

Macauley Jones was the wildcard for the weekend.

The LOL moment for the weekend was James Courtney got fined 1,000 dollars for calling Richie Stanaway a ‘Buffoon’ on the last lap of Saturday’s Race.

In practice 3 before Qualifying, Macauley Jones caused a red flag which meant he couldn’t take any further part in the race. The roof of his car was kinked because of the sideways angle he went into the sand trap.

It was also another milestone for Jamie Whincup, starting his 450th race on the weekend.

In race 15 David Reynolds started on pole position. Alongside him was championship leader, Scott McLaughlin.

David Reynolds led early on with Scott McLaughlin in hot pursuit.

On lap 2 David Reynolds cracked under the pressure, locking the right front wheel and running wide. It gave Scott McLaughlin the opening he was looking for to take the race lead.

Andre Heimgartner ran out of room when he was getting towards making it within the top 10. Although he didn’t make it, the point was he gave it a go!

Craig Lowndes qualified in position 12 and moved up 5 spots straight off the grid, which I though was very impressive.

Jamie Whincup almost made contact with the rookie Anton De Pasquale, but in the end backed off the throttle to avoid contact with him. That wouldn’t have been cool. I am also sure Jamie Whincup’s team owner, Roland Dane was happy to see his own driver make a call to back off and not risk his car.

It didn’t stop Jamie Whincup’s aggressive driving style. At the end of the race, Rick Kelly was defending his racing line while Jamie Whincup tried get to around the outside which was a brave move but it didn’t pay off. He ended up getting swamped by Shane Van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes. Jamie Whincup dropped 2 spots from 8th to 6th.

Shane Van Gisbergen chose to stay out on track longer before pitting  in order to maintain track position or double stack with Jamie Whicup.

In the middle of the race Fabian Coulthard was getting towards the top 5, desperately wanting a single digit finish position next to his name.

At the end of the race Garth Tander came in to put a fresh set of tyres on which helped him charge through and finished 5th after starting 13th. An impressive effort.

Towards the end of the race nobody could catch the top 3 drivers they were Scott McLaughlin, Shane Van Gisbergen and David Reynolds.

Greg Murphy was hoping that Shane Van Gisbergen got onto the podium on Saturday and wasn’t let down. He finished 2nd  after starting 5th on the grid.

Craig Lowndes gained 5 spots, starting 12th and finishing 7th.

Everybody finished race 15. No DNFs.

No one else does the ‘shoey’ (drinking the winner’s Champaign from his driving boot) only David Reynolds. That is GROSS!

For Scott McLaughlin this makes his 6th race win for 2018.

It was very Entertaining race.

Results for race 15

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.

 

 

In race 16 Rick Kelly started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

Interesting to note, newcomer Anton De Pasquale made it into the top 10 shootout and started 3rd on the grid.

I’m sure Betty Klimenko would have been very happy and proud of Anton de Pasquale for being on Provisional Pole Position before the shootouts.

Garth Tander also made the top 10 shootout on Sunday.

The 3 Triple 8 cars Qualified 3rd 11th and 14th.

Jamie Whincup gained a better grid position on Sunday compared to Saturday.

I was surprised that David Reynolds starting at 4th position went right around the outside of everybody from turn 1 to take the lead.

Jamie Whincup tried to get into 2nd but it didn’t pay off.

Jamie Whincup and Anton De Pasquale nearly made contact at turn 1 in the opening laps.

Jamie Whincup then dropped a few places and was crowded so came in early to get a clear track.

Fabian Coulthard was inside the top 10 but after he had his first pitstop he was back in the pack a bit.

Pit reporter, Greg Murphy was talking to Barry Ryan, Erebus Team Manager about Anton de Pasquale’s race excellent performance and how moving David Reynolds to the other side of the garage was to help more to improve Anton de Pasquale’s consistency.

This year was Macauley Jones’ 2nd year as a wildcard in Darwin. Brad Jones was happy to see his progression. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up a full-time driver in the future.

A lot of cars that started in the top 10 stayed out longer while the going was good.

David Reynolds must have been really happy with his performance leading in the opening stint of the race after also finishing on the podium for race 15 the day before.

In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin had smoke pouring out the back. My first thought was to bring it in, check it over, then fix it.

He did come into the pits but after he turned off the pit lane speed limiter the smoke started pouring out again. Then I started to think there is no way he would make it to the finish with the amount laps that were left. Comentator, Neil Crompton said the same thing but somehow, he made it to the finish line.

Later the team revealed the reason why Scott McLaughlin had smoke coming out of the back of his car was because of an overheating problem. Fabian Coulthard also suffered the same overheating problem.

Will Davison got through both of the races which was a great effort considering he had a moon boot on due to hurting his left ankle during training for the Darwin event.

Towards the end of the race it was getting very exciting to watch because David Reynolds was heading for another win in 2018.

Craig Lowndes gained 4 spots by starting 14th and finishing 10th.

There were 3 DNFS; Cameron Waters, Lee Holdsworth and Jack Le Brocq.

Cameron Waters car stopped on the main straight due to overheating and when interviewed by Riana Crehan he wasn’t happy at all.

In the end no one could catch the top 3 drivers – which were David Reynolds, Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup.

What an amazing weekend for David Reynolds!

The next event is the Watpac Townsville 400 on the 6th to the 8th of July, 2018.

Results for race 16

1st David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

 

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Supercars Winton Supersprint 2018

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HI to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 18th to the 20th of May 2018 was the Winton Supersprint in Melbourne Victoria at the Winton Motor Raceway.

It was a weekend of milestones for a few drivers:

·        Lee Holdsworth celebrated his 400th race
·        Craig Lowndes his 650th race start
·        Michael Caruso celebrated his 150th round start

It is unfortunate to note, James Courtney missed the 2 practices sessions on Friday due to being taken to hospital on Friday night with a gastro bug.  Also, Roland Dane was not at Winton due to being on the other side of the world.  

LOL moment of the weekend was when Neil Crompton interviewed Fabian Coulthard. He tried to put a beanie on Neil Crompton’s head while he was on the grid and Neil Crompton’s response was, get it off you Lunatic!!.

In the co drivers session Earl Bamber who is a 2 times Le Man winner 2015 & 2017 was acting co-driver for the Triple 8 team. He went out because he had no experiences driving in a Supercar.  It is a hell of a way to enter the field with such little Supercar experience. Credit to him.

Saturday came and all was set for the 13th race of the season. Scott McLaughlin started on pole position for the 40 lap race and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard. Scott McLaughlin got the jump to lead into turn 1 while his teammate Fabian Coulthard seemed to have a really bad start and dropped all the way down to 5th.

On the opening lap there was contact between Simona De Silvestro, Todd Hazelwood and David Reynolds. As a result David Reynolds had to limp back to the pits for the Erebus team to repair his car. His frustration was clear, knowing he was losing plenty of lap time so early on.

The other drivers went into the pits for tyres but Craig Lowndes, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup chose to stay out because of where they qualified. I think it was a good call as it allowed them to gain track position. Fabian Coulthard was the first of the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske car to stop due to his poor start. Fabain Coulthard choose to pit Early to get caught in Traffic out on Track to also have clear and clear pit lane

In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin was still leading the race which would have made the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske crew happy. Rick Kelly was racing behind Scott McLaughlin for most of the race. Jamie Whincup wanted to get on the podium to get another trophy to add to the Triple 8 collection but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. So he ended the outside the top 10 in 17th which didn’t help him close the points to current Championship leader Scott Mclaughlin.

Towards the end of the race the Vodafone Safety Car was deployed due to Tim Blanchard getting bogged in the sand trap between turns 3 and 4.

Then on the restart Scott McLaughlin had not got the right amount of temperature into his tyres which meant  he had  lost the race lead to Rick Kelly and dropped back to as far as 5th spot.

Todd Kelly was nervous because he wasn’t used to watching the race from the Nissan Motorsport garage. I bet he was happy to see his brother win the race.

Shane Van Gisbergen started 14th gained 11 spots to finish 3rd. Craig Lowndes started 24th, gained 11 spots to finish 13th.

Jamie Whincup started 11th finished 17th so he dropped 6 spot.

David Reynolds started 17th and finished 25th.

As a result Craig Lowndes is now 3rd in the championship.

The only driver to get a DNF (did not finish) complete was Cameron Waters.

Result for race 13

1st Rick Kelly – Castrol Racing Nissan Motorsport.
2nd Scott Pye – Mobil 1 Mobile Racing.
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
4th Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team.
5th Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.

 

In race 14 Scott McLaughlin started pole position alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.

At the start of the 67 lap, 200 kilometre race Scott McLaughlin went 1st to 8th with Fabian Coulthard leading the early stages of the race.

Scott McLaughlin came in to the pits on lap 5 to get out of the traffic. On return to the race his timing gave him clear track speed and clear air. I thought there was no way that Scott McLaughlin was going to re-join the race track safely.

David Reynolds wasn’t happy with qualifying 26th he thought he was going to qualify up near the front of the grid. Interesting to note on the Supercars coverage Russell Ingall, Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard were wearing beanies to keep their heads warm. Mark Skaife mocked them saying, ‘they looked very average’.  

Craig Lowndes was not happy with qualifying  23rd he would have been happier with qualifying inside the top 10 but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. He decided to stay out and make positions from his poor qualifying which paid off. Because he was out with a clear racetrack.

Michael Carso and Rick were battling for position which allowed the cars in front of them to gap the cars behind. When I saw how far Scott McLaughlin had dropped back I thought there was no way he was going to win Sunday’s race and the race for was going to be difficult for him to recover.

In the middle of the race Fabian Coulthard was leading until he had to come into pit lane for his 2nd pit stop. Which meant that all the cars that were behind him moved up 1 spot each. Craig Lowndes had gained 22 spots at one stage to take the race lead only because had not pitted at that point.

Towards the end of the of the race Fabian Coulthard had a 14 second gap over the 2nd placed car which was Shane Van Gisbergen. which is not heard of much these days. 

the end of the race was really exciting to watch and congratulations to Fabian Coulthard, Shane Van Gisbergen and Scott Mclaughlin.

The gap between 1st and 2nd in the Championship is just now 131. Jamie Whincup is now 326 points behind. Craig Lowndes is only 299 points behind.

Fabian Coulthard was heading for his first win for 2018 with Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.

The last that Fabian Coulthard had won at Winton Motor Raceway was 2014 With Brad Jones Racing.

The next is the Crown bet Darwin Triple Crown on the 15th to the 17th of June 2018.

Results for race 14

1st Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing team
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team

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Perth Supersprint 2018

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of 4th to the 6th of May 2018 was the Perth Supersprint at Barbagallo Raceway, Western Australia.

It’s interesting to note Will Davison started his 400th race in Supercars which is an awesome milestone to reach. Also interesting to note, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup started 12th and 14th on the grid respectively due to not making it into Q3. That meant that Craig Lowndes was the only Triple 8 car to get in get into the top 10 starting 8th on the grid. Rick Kelly had to start last at the back of the grid for Race 11 due to having an engine failure in Qualifying.

In practice 1 Andre Heimgartner was fastest for Nissan Motorsport in car 7.

In practice 2 Scott McLaughlin was fastest in car 17.

In practice 3 Will Davison was fastest in car 400.

In race 11 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Cameron Waters. At the start of the 50 lap race Scott McLaughlin got jump on Cameron Waters into turn 1 which I am sure he was happy with that.

Fabian Coulthard was not far behind his teammate early on but because Fabian Coulthard was battling Mark Winterbottom it allowed Scott McLaughlin to pull away by 3 seconds.

If Mark Winterbottom was able to get by Fabian Coulthard earlier than what he did, Scott McLaughlin wouldn’t have had a 3 second margin on everybody else.

Jack Le Brocq made the choice to come in so that Craig Lowndes wouldn’t have to double stack.

Anton De Pasquale in car 99 got a 10 second time penalty for a false start due to being outside of the start grid marking where he should have been positioned.  His team Erebus Motorsports owner, Betty Klimenko was not in Perth due to her having the flu. I am sure he was happy she was not there to see it happen. It was an unfortunate mistake.     

Commentator, Mark Skaife didn’t know whether James Courtney was coming into the pit lane or staying out for another lap but he was. Then as he was coming up to the pit lane entry James Courtney got spun by his former teammate, Garth Tander which would have made James Courtney not happy at all.

In the middle of the race as Chaz Mostert was coming in for his final pit stop he got turned around by Jamie Whincup. Chaz Mostert shook his head. He too wasn’t happy.

The Barbagallo raceway is full of sand which means if you get stuck and bogged you can’t get out without help.

Surprisingly there were no Vodafone Safety Car Periods because the drivers who went off track somehow managed to get back on with no problem.

Towards the end of race Scott McLaughlin was leading the race with a 5 second lead over Mark Winterbottom in 2nd place. The end of the race was really exciting! It Gave Scott McLaughlin his 3rd race win of the year so far and he is the still the championship leader by 158-point lead over Shane Van Gisbergen. Scott McLaughlin now has 1247 points over his closest competitor which is still Shane Van Gisbergen on 1089. Jamie Whincup who led the Championship by just 11 points going into Phillip Island, he is now 268 points adrift of Scott McLaughlin. Craig Lowndes is in 4th in the points and only 194 points from Scott McLaughlin.

Jamie Whincup had crossed the finish line 6th behind Craig Lowndes, but after getting a 5 second penalty for turning Chaz Mostert around at turn 7 he was dropped from 6th to 11th in the results after the end of the race.

Tim Blanchard had a DNF (Did Not Finish) otherwise known as NC (Not Complete). So he was the only car out of 26 to not finish the race.

 

Results for race 11

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Mark Winterbottom – Tickford Racing
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
4th Tim Slade – Freightliner Racing
5th Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

 

In Race 12 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position. Alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

Interesting to note in race 12 Fabian Coulthard started down in position number 17. Scott McLaughlin, Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander started in positions 19th, 25th and 26th. It was a surprise to see them in those positions as they all normally start within the top 10 spots.

Jamie Whincup got the jump on Shane Van Gisbergen due to him not getting the right amount of wheel spin. As a matter of fact, Shane Van Gisbergen nearly bogged down off the front row from Position 1.

In the early laps Todd Hazelwood and Garth Tander made contact with James Golding. The safety car was despatched and the race went to ‘yellow’.

James Golding and Garth Tander are teammates so I am sure this would’ve not made Garry Rogers, their team boss very happy at all.

Unlike the other drivers taking the opportunity to pit, Will Davison didn’t want to double stack. He chose to stay out on the track and got to lead race 12 in his 400th race. It must have been extra nice for him on this occasion.

Tim Blanchard looked like he was going to make contact with Will Davison but for the sake of Will Davison thankfully didn’t.

A short time later, Scott Pye got spun around by Richie Stanaway.

Mark Skaife was quite surprised that Scott McLaughlin didn’t end up in drama throughout the race because of where he started on the grid. The idea being that, to make his way to the front he was going to push hard and possibly take risks.

Scott McLaughlin didn’t think he had a chance to win race 12.

I was so proud of the effort Craig Lowndes made to start from 25th and finish 3rd. Well done! Great effort mate!

Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton couldn’t believe how many cars and how many positions he had gained, 21 in total.

I couldn’t believe Scott McLaughlin missed all the carnage on track and managed to keep his car straight without putting a scratch on it. 

Fabian Coulthard got pit priority because Scott McLaughlin started in 19th.

Jack Le Brocq also got pit priority because Craig Lowndes started in position 25.

In the middle of the race Tim Slade went off the race track between turns 3 and 4. Shane Van Gisbergen was tight in behind him and had to take evasive action to not hit Tim Slade’s ZB Holden Commodore.

Towards the end of the race the finish things became very exciting. David Reynolds went off track on approach to turn 7 which could have given 2nd place to Craig Lowndes. It looked bad for David Reynolds but he surprisingly made it out of the sand trap. If he had decided to put his foot on the brake pedal at that moment he would surely have been bogged in the sand.

Scott McLaughlin proved his abilities. He moved up 18 spots from 19th to 1st.  

Craig Lowndes started 25th moved up to 3rd which in total is 22 position gained. He received 129 points for that race and in is still 4th in terms of the championship, 194 points behind Scott McLaughlin.

Scott McLaughlin’s head to head wins in races 11 and 12 gives him a 158 point lead over Shane Van Gisbergen. Another amazing weekend for Scott McLaughlin.

In the next race at Winton Motor Raceway, Lee Holdsworth will start his 400th race in Supercars. Congratulation Lee Holdsworth, I’m looking forward to it almost as much as you!

Results for race 12

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport
3rd Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

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WD40 Phillip Island 500 2018

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 20th to the 22nd of April 2018 was the WD 40 Phillip Island 500.

It was an exciting weekend of racing and also marked several milestones; Mark Winterbottom started his 200th round, Rick Kelly started his 500th race and Brad Jones Racing Team competed in their 250th round. So congratulations to all of you.

In the lead up to the race there were a few surprises. In practice 1 both Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert went off at the Southern Loop at turn 2.

During the Qualifying round Fabian Coulthard received a technical infringement due to a rear wing drama so, regardless of earning 2nd position to start race 9 he ended up at the back of the grid in the 26th position. It must have been a disappointing result for him and the team but keep reading and you will see he wasn’t the only one caught out by penalties.

As they lined up for race 9, Scott McLaughlin started on pole position with Jamie Whincup alongside him. As a 24 year old (and regardless of what a great driver he is) Scott McLaughlin surely must have felt the pressure of having a seasoned pro like Jamie Whincup alongside him.

With Fabian Coulthard’s relegation to from second to 26th, Shane Van Gisbergen started 3rd and Craig Lowndes started in 4th spot.

At the start of the 57-lap race Jamie Whincup got the jump into turn 1 first and led early on with Scott McLaughlin close behind him. Mark Winterbottom nearly went off the racetrack approaching the ‘Hayshed’ and nearly made contact with Richie Stanaway, a scenario that would not have made for a good debrief afterwards at Tickford Racing.

I thought Fabain Coulthard would pit early because of where he started but he didn’t.

Shane Van Gisbergen had a steering wheel issue. The Red Bull Holden Racing Team had a new steering wheel all ready to go but it was too big and Shane Van Gisbergen’s knees couldn’t fit under it. The team reversed the decision and somehow they made it through the race without the change. A strange situation if there ever was one.

Craig Lowndes stayed out on track longer than desired because Jack Le Brocq had priority and pitted first.

Jamie Whincup and Scott McLaughlin pitted at the same time. Scott McLaughlin followed Jamie Whincup into the pit lane and whether it was on purpose or not, gave him a nudge from behind.

Then on exiting the pit lane Jamie Whincup turned off his pit lane speed limiter too early. He realised immediately and turned it back on. Unfortunately the mistake would come back to bite him later on.

In the middle of the race I couldn’t stop laughing at Mark Skaife when he said to Neil Crompton, ‘you are Nostradamus’, because he was already predicting the race winner.

Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin was being chased down by Jamie Whincup for the race win. Scott McLaughlin prevailed and was just too quick so Jamie Whincup finished 2nd.

Unfortunately for Jamie Whincup his podium finish was a short lived ideal. The officials gave him a 38 second time penalty for his earlier error in turning off his pit lane speed limiter. The time penalty was supposed to be the equivalent to a drive through penalty had it been issued during the race. This was a real downer for Jamie Whincup who now officially finished 14th. Not a great situation for his scoreboard totals. The second and third positions subsequently went to Rick Kelly and Shane Van Gisbergen.

Result for Race 9

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Rick Kelly – Nissan Motorsport
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
4th Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

In race 10 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was David Reynolds.

At the start of 57 lap race Scott McLaughlin led into turn 1.

On lap 8 James Courtney who drives for Walkinshaw Andretti United in car number 25  stopped and couldn’t get back into the pit lane due to a broken transaxle. As a result the Vodafone Safety Car was deployed. Then the car had to be pushed up to the pit garage. Regardless of whether the team could fix it or not, he was ‘benched’ due to not being able to get the car back to the pit garage under his own steam.

When Scott McLaughlin was re-joining the race after his first pit stop the timing was just a few seconds late and he had to merge into traffic instead of being ahead of them. This was a costly few seconds and he lost track position.

Craig Lowndes Qualified 13th for race 10 finished 7th and moved up 6 spots from Qualifying spot,

Shane Van Gisbergen performed a lot better on the Sunday after he was Struggling a lot due to a steering drama.

In the middle of the race David Reynolds tried to hold off Scott McLaughlin but it was in vain. Scott McLaughlin had better pace and more grip so he managed to get passed David Reynolds quickly and easily.

Towards the end of the race no one else could catch the top 3 drivers; Scott McLaughlin, David Reynolds and Rick Kelly.

Results for race 10

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport
3rd Rick Kelly – Nissan Motorsport.

The next event is the Perth Supersprint on the 4th to the 6th of May 2018.

Also, the Formula 1 qualifying system used at Symmons Plains, Tasmania will again be used at Barbagallo Western Australia. I can’t wait for it. It should be fantastic!

 

 

 

Post Race Report, Supercars

Tyrepower Tasmainia Supersprint 2018

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 6th to the 8th of April 2018 was the Tyrepower Tasmainia Supersprint.

It is interesting to see Supercars trying a brand new Qualifying format based on the Formula 1 method. This was the first run and it went well. There was good feedback from all the drivers, teams, commentators and spectators.

In race 7 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position and alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

On the first of the 50-lap race Craig Lowndes who started in fourth position tried to go in between Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup but that didn’t work so he had to drop back to third. 

Shane Van Gisbergen continued to lead the opening laps. Then the Red Bull Holden Racing Team pitted Shane Van Gisbergen on lap 5 for track position but Mark Dutton later admitted the strategy was wrong and too soon to be of benefit.

Commentator, Mark Skaife was also surprised that Shane Van Gisbergen came in as early as he did. I’m guessing there was some sort of plan but it didn’t work out for the best.

Shane Van Gisbergen’s early pit stop put Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes into 1st and 2nd spot.

Before their pit stops took place Jamie Whincup continued as the leader of the race with Craig Lowndes behind him.

During the first half of the race Rick Kelly didn’t leave enough racing room for Cameron Waters to sneak past him at turn 2 which he didn’t like.

Michael Caruso’s contact with another car left his Nissan Altama’s front left headlight and panel smashed in, needing to be patched up while in pit lane. The pit team finding yet another use for Gaffe Tape

On lap 23 Chaz Mostert pitted. When leaving the pit lane to re-join the racetrack the seal panel on his car 55 caught fire. The cabin filled with smoke and Chaz Mostert seemed to struggle when he climbed out and walked away from the car.  The repairs needed to get back out on the track were too extensive and he ended the race with a DNF (Did Not Finish).

It seemed no one else could catch the top 3 drivers Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes and James Courtney. The finish was still a nail biter with Craig Lowndes doing his best to take the number one position from Jamie Whincup. The pressure brought out some amazing last minute driving from both of them. Ultimately Jamie Whincup prevailed.

Mark Skaife said that if Craig Lowndes was on pole position for Saturday’s Race he would have won and I agree. He was in his best form.

But Jamie Whincup doesn’t give over that easily and this gives him his 110th career race win! Congratulations Jamie!

Results for race 7

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Holden Racing Team.
2nd Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.
3rd James Courtney – Walkinshaw Andretti United.

 

You will have to excuse the way this sounds but it is the honest truth (I love the play on words). In Qualifying for Race 8, Triple 8 qualified 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

So in Race 8 Craig Lowndes started on pole position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him. The last time Craig Lowndes started on pole position was back in 2016, Race 16 at Queensland Raceway.

At the start of the 84 lap Race Craig Lowndes got the right amount of wheelspin to get swamped off pole position. Michael Caruso got damage on the front left-hand corner of car 23 due to a concertina pile up. Richie Stanaway also didn’t have a good start to race 8. He had damage on the left rear of the Mega Bolts Fuel car 56 which didn’t make Richie Stanaway happy at all. He has just joined Supercars as a fulltime driver (rookie) and just needs to go through the learning curve. I think he is a great driver and in no time he will be one of the drivers to watch for.

Craig Lowndes was enjoying being in the lead of the race and out of trouble.

Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t have a good race at all due to a mechanical issue with the clutch.

I thought there was no way Shane Van Gisbergen would finish the race due his gearbox dramas and just wasn’t able to get the speed he wanted because of his lack of control over the clutch.

Grant Mcpherson who is Shane Van Gisbergen’s race engineer asked him if he wanted to come in and get it fixed or press on. To my surprise Shane Van Gisbergen made the choice to press on.

Intresting to note Chris O Toole who is the Car Controller at Tickford Racing was not in Tasmania last weekend due to being injured and coming off his bike. As a result Matty Robert filled in as car controller.

In the middle of the race Craig Lowndes was getting held up by Chaz Mostert before he pitted for his first stop.

Grant McPherson said to Shane Van Gisbergen I am ready to bring it in, are you? – meaning Grant Mcpherson felt the risks were too high and it was time to bring the car into the garage to fix the throttle issue. Neil Crompton and Mark Skaife both agreed also saying it was time to bring the car into the pits otherwise Shane Van Gisbergen would have lost the car.

According to what Mark Dutton said, he could see  When Shane Van Gisbergen came into the pits for 2nd and final stop the Red Bull Holden Racing Team dived in to the foot well of Shane Van Gisbergen’s car to try and resolve the Issue. Pretty soon though, the Red Bull Mechanic was shaking his head. That said everything and I knew straight away that he couldn’t fix it.

The Drama was Shane Van Gisbergen’s throttle kept running on at the end od the  back and turn 4 in first gear.  

I felt they should have brought the car in earlier and they may have been able to make the repair and at least try to get a solid result. By leaving it so late there was not enough time to get back out on track.

Towards the end of the no one else could catch the top 3 drivers which were Craig Lowndes, Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup.

Once again Craig Lowndes showing great form along with Jamie Whincup. They both made a podium finish for both races over the weekend.

Results for race 8

 1st Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.
2nd Scott Mclaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing.

 

Jamie Whincup is now the Championship leader but only by 11 points.

Craig Lowndes two podium finishes over the weekend places him in 6th spot on the Championship ladder, only 61 points away from the Championship lead.

His win in Race 8 also means Craig Lowndes has earned his 106th career win, only 5 away from Jamie Whincup’s total wins.

The next event is the WD40 Phillip Island 500, on the 20th to the 22nd of April 2018.