Merlin Darwin Triple Crown 2022

July 4, 2022 admin 2 Comments

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 17^th to 19^th of June 2022 was the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown.

This year’s event at Darwin will be the 26^th time that the Supercars championship has held a round at the Hidden Valley Raceway. A total of 67 races have been held since the event debuted on the calendar in 1998.

The event is made up of 3 races, 38 laps each. Thus the name, ‘Triple Crown’.

New Zealanders have dominated the winners list in the recent history of Hidden Valley, winning 12 of the past 16 races. Current Supercars Championship leader Shane Van Gisbergen has won 3 races in that time, while Scott McLaughlin has won 8 races and his teammate Fabian Coulthard won 1.

Shell V-Power Racing Team driver Will Davison started his 500^th race on Saturday at Darwin. He has become just the 10^th active driver to achieve this feat. What a milestone! Congratulations!

Shane Van Gisbergen just returned from France after his debut performance in the Le Mans 24 Hours aboard a Ferrari. So, while everyone else had a 3 week break before this event, he was working extra hard and getting jetlagged.

In the pre-race sessions

Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
Will Davison was fastest Armour All Qualifying.

In Race 16 Will Davison started on pole position for the 24^th time in his Supercars career. Alongside him was his teammate, Anton de Pasquale.

At the start of the race the 2 Shell V-Power Racing drivers got off the line quite evenly.

Andre Heimgartner gave Will Davison a bump going down the main straight, but nothing came of it. Then at turn 1, Anton de Pasquale went around the outside of Will Davison to take the lead.

Further back in the pack Macauley Jones went off the track at turn 1 onto the grass.

At turn 5 the two leaders, Will Davison and Anton de Pasquale made contact but Anton de Pasquale kept the lead.

Will Brown made contact with Chris Pither. Will Brown kept driving but he knew there was something wrong with the car.

Jack Smith went off the track on the way out of turn 6.

Jake Kostecki ran wide on the exit of the last turn. David Reynolds got spun around by Bryce Fullwood at the same corner a lap later. David Reynolds car was damaged and it was revealed later had a broken left rear toe link.

On lap 3 Cameron Waters ran wide on the exit of turn 5 but sustained no damage and was still in the race.

Will Brown was losing pace and was the first to come into the pits on lap 4. The incident with Chris Pither in lap1 had earned his car a broken the left front steering arm.

Chris Pither’s cool suit had failed early in the race and the Darwin heat which turned his a cool suit into a hot suit! He kept going and waited for a strategic time to pit and worry about cool suit then.

Jack Smith was the next to pit on lap 6.

No one else followed Broc Feeney into the pits on lap 8. When he re-joined, he had no cars in front or behind him. It was perfect timing.

The cars further back in the pack also began thinking about pitting to get clear track.

The race leaders were still Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison. Will Davison was under pressure from the cars behind which were; Andre Heimgartner, Shane Van Gisbergen, Chaz Mostert, Mark Winterbottom, Bryce Fullwood, Jake Kostecki, Scott Pye and Cameron Waters.

On lap 10 Chaz Mostert was closing in on Andre Heimgartner for 4^th position.

Lap 11 revealed the position changes further back in the pack. Chris Pither had dropped 4 spots from his starting position and was now 15^th.Lee Holdsworth had moved from a start in 26^th and was now 17^th.

James Courtney had gained 7 spots and was in 12^th. Brodie Kostecki was up 2 spots, Jack Le Brocq gained 4, Nick Percat was in 14^th, he had gained 7 places.

Tim Slade tried to go around the outside of Garry Jacobson and did it.

Bryce Fulwood pitted on lap 16 but then had to serve a 15 second penalty for turning David Reynolds around in the early stages of this race.

In the middle of the race, lap 19 of38 there were 13 cars out of 27 yet to pit. It was an unusual situation. Most would normally pit by now.

Will Davison peeled off to the pits on lap 20, followed by the other leader Anton de Pasquale on lap 21. Shane Van Gisbergen stayed out until lap 23. He had 18.601 second lead over Tim Slade.

Shane Van Gisbergen re- joined the race in 10^th place.

On lap 24 the leaders were Tim Slade, Lee Holdsworth and Thomas Randle who were the last three yet to pit. They were shadowed by Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison in 4^th and 5^th place.

Shane Van Gisbergen made a charge on lap 25, first taking Scott Pye and then Broc Feeney on the same lap. He was now in 6^th place.

Tim Slade and Lee Holdsworth pitted on lap 25 leaving Thomas Randle in the lead but still yet to pit. He finally came in on lap 26 put the effective leaders back at the front; Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison were followed by Chaz Mostert, Andre Heimgartner and Shane Van Gisbergen in 5^th.

The track was well spread but time was running out.

Shane Van Gisbergen wanted to shake things up. On lap 29 he passed Andre Heimgartner to take 4^th place. He also did the fastest lap of the race, timed at 1m 07.223s and earning 5 bonus points for the championship ladder.

He was still not satisfied and wanted a place on the podium. He was now chasing down one of the fastest drivers on the track, Chaz Mostert. Between laps 29 and 32 he reduced the gap from 3.227seconds to under 1 second.

On lap 33 Shane Van Gisbergen made his move takes 3^rd place from Chaz Mostert.

Anton de Pasquale still held the lead of 1.5+ seconds over Will Davison and does not make a single mistake.

Shane Van Gisbergen was not just happy making it to the podium and now wants 2^nd place from Will Davison. He relentlessly chases him and between laps 33 and 36 manages to squeeze the gap down from 1.5 to .2 seconds.

Shane Van Gisbergen was right on his tail but loses rear grip. The gap increased .5 seconds. It was a lost opportunity and there were only 2 laps remaining.

Will Davison was too worried about Shane Van Gisbergen on his tail to make any ground on Anton de Pasquale in the lead.

Anton de Pasquale crossed the line for his first win of 2022. Will Davison was next followed by Shane Van Gisbergen right on his bumper. There was a reasonable gap to Chaz Mostert and Andre Heimgartner in 4^th and 5^th.

Results for race 16

1^st Anton de Pasquale – Shell V Power Racing Team.

2^nd Will Davison – Shell V Power Racing Team.

3^rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.

In Race 17 Cameron Waters started on pole position and alongside him was David Reynolds.

At the start of the race Cameron Waters was neck and neck with David Reynolds up to turn 1 where he got the lead. Somehow Will Davison squeezed through at the turn to take 2^nd place from David Reynolds. Shane Van Gisbergen was right behind the 3 leading drivers.

As the pack came through turn 6 Thomas Randle and Scott Pye spun uncontrollably off the track. There were about 4 or 5 cars involved and it seemed like mayhem. James Courtney’s smashed up car was stranded and unable to move from the middle of the road. The safety car was deployed but pretty quickly the officials red flagged the race so the track could be cleared.

James Courtney’s car was such a mess that it was obvious he would not be coming back out to finish the race. It was even doubtful that he would compete in the next race the same afternoon.

When the race restarted at the end of lap 4, Shane Van Gisbergen immediately went on the attack but failed to get 3^rd place from David Reynolds.

The cars soon settled into race pace but the leaders were pulling away from the rest of the pack.

On lap 7 Will Brown drove the fastest lap of the race whilst in 20^th position.

Thomas Randle who was involved in the lap 1 melee of spinning cars came into pit with related damage. He wouldn’t be coming back out on the track for the rest of the race.

Brodie Kostecki was the next to pit on lap 8. Soon others began to pit as well.

After pitting, Broc Feeney rejoined the race and crossed right in front of Brodie Kostecki coming down the straight. It must of shocked Broc Feeney quite a bit because at the coming turn he left the track onto the grass. It could have been a loss of grip from fresh cold tyres but I think it was a crack in focus.

Shane Van Gisbergen had maintained 4^th position all this time but couldn’t manage to get closer to the top 3 drivers. On lap 18 he changed strategy and came into the pits.

The 3 leaders soon followed suit and came in as well.

Chaz Mostert in 5^th place came in on lap 21.

Now every car had taken the mandatory pit stop (excepting the 2 cars of Pye and Courtney who were out of the race). The leaders were now David Reynolds, Anton de Pasquale and Bryce Fullwood.

The Darwin temperature had risen and cars were taking a second pit stop.

On lap 23 David Reynolds and Anton de Pasquale left the lead and took their second stops.

By lap 25 things had evened out and the leaders had resumed their places; Cameron Waters, Will Davison, Shane Van Gisbergen and then Anton de Pasquale.

The order of the leading drivers stayed the same. The only important change was that David Reynolds was inching towards the front again. With 7 laps to go he moved into 5^th place behind Anton de Pasquale.

The 3 leaders were not giving their podium places up and stayed in their formation. Cameron Waters crossed the line first. Will Davison was next, followed by Shane Van Gisbergen.

Results for Race 17:

1^st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.

2^nd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team.

3^rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

In race 18 Will Davison started on pole position alongside him was Anton de Pasquale.

At the start of the race Anton de Pasquale got the jump off the line and led into turn 1 from his teammate Will Davison Scott Pye started the final race from the pit lane due to the damage sustained at the start of race 17.

During the early stages the 2 Dick Johnson Racing cars were running 1^st and 2^ndthe rest of the field were trying to keep up with the leaders.

I was amazed that Anton de Pasquale took the lead in to turn 1 but the other drivers didn’t want them to win.

When the pitstops got underway while leaders stayed out longer while the drivers pitted first.

The race leaders early on were Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison.

In the middle of the stops were complete and Anton de Pasquale was still in the lead of the race.

After the restart Chaz Mostert took the lead of the race while Shane Van Gisbergen wanted to get onto the podium but as a result of the contact he finished 21^st and now has now got a 214 lead over Anton de Pasquale.

On lap 25 of 38 Garry Jacobson and Zac Best hit wheel to wheel on the approach up to turn 6, and as a result of the contact the left front wheel was broken and as result the BP Ultimate safety car was deployed to remove Zac Best’s car 78, as a result of deployment of the safety car it smashed Chaz Mostert because the lead he had was gone. Before the Safety car Shane Van Gisbergen was in 4^th position he only had Will Davison Anton de Pasquale and Chaz Mostert to pass for the win.

On the restart with 9 laps to go Shane Van Gisbergen was getting the benefit of the draft from the back of Will Davison’s car on approach to turn 1 Shane Van Gisbergen pushed him wide on the exit of turn 1, meanwhile Shane Van Gisbergen dropped 2 spots into 6^th position with 8 laps to go due to power steering failure. Then with 6 laps to go Chaz Mostert was under huge pressure from Anton de Pasquale for race lead and race win, but he held on what an amazing drive Shane Van Gisbergen got a 15 second penalty for a driving infringement and as a result he finished 21^st. Garry Jacobson got a pit lane drive thru penalty for a driving infringement with 7 laps to go Also car 99 driven by Brodie Kostecki had a pit lane penalty for a safety car restart breach.

In the end Chaz Mostert was the winner of race 18.

Results for race 18

1^st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.

2^nd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V Power Racing Team.

3^rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.

The next event is the NTI Townville 500 July 8^th to the 10^th 2022.

Garry Jacobson has left Premier Hire Racing and Zane Godard for Townsville.

Supercars

Pizza Hut Winton Supersprint 2022

June 13, 2022 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 21^st to 22^nd of May 2022 was the Winton Supersprint.

This year marks the 33^rd time that the Australian Touring Car Championship – Supercars Championship has visited Winton Motor Raceway. The first round was held here in 1985 and since then the only years the championship didn’t visit the venue were 1987, 1996 and 2005. Covid 19 also impacted this event in 2020 and 2021.

A pair of teams reached significant milestones at Winton. Team 18 and Erebus Motorsport both made their 300^th championship starts in race 2. Both debuted at the Adelaide 500 in 2013. Erebus originally entered the series running a 3 car Mercedes AMG team.

The second race will also be Jack Le Broc’s 150^th Supercars Championship start.

Matt Cook marked his first event as Team Principal at Premier Hire Racing (ex Team Sydney). He has come directly from 888 Race Engineering and the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team where he was the chief mechanic.

The event got started on the Saturday morning. In the pre-race sessions:

Will Brown was fastest in Practice 1
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
Shane Van Gisbergen was also fastest in Armour All Qualifying for Race 13.

In Race 13 Shane Van Gisbergen earned his maiden pole position at Winton Motor Raceway. It was his 41^st career pole! Alongside him was Cameron Waters.

At the start of the 36 lap race Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2. Will Brown got an amazing start from the 2^nd row of the grid. I thought he was going to take the lead into turn 1 but he couldn’t make it around Shane Van Gisbergen.

Jake Kostecki ran wide onto the dirt at the exit of turn 3 but he kept his momentum only losing two spots.

Mark Winterbottom was slowing on the exit of turn 4 because of an electrical problem. His car completely stopped. It took valuable time to restart. When he got back up to speed he was in 27^th position and 10 seconds behind Garry Jacobson in the next car.

Shane Van Gisbergen was in 2^nd place to Cameron Waters. Will Brown just behind Shane Van Gisbergen took a massive slide but somehow managed to stay on track and not let anyone through. He had some of the fastest drivers right behind him, so it was an impressive feat. Right on his tail were Chaz Mostert, Lee Holdsworth, Anton de Pasquale, David Reynolds and Scott pye.

Soon after Anton de Pasquale reported his car was handling loosely in the rear. He started dropping down the order ending up in 9^th position. Pretty quickly he realised he would have to pit.

Cameron Waters was still in the lead and had a ¾ second gap over Shane Van Gisbergen. He managed the fastest time of the race in sectors 1 and 3.

On lap 6 Nick Percat and James Courtney in 19^th and 20^th position were the first 2 cars to pit and were in desperate need of clean air. Both teams did rear tyres only.

Thomas Randle came in to get away from the two Penrite Racing cars right behind him as they battled for positions 5^th and 6^th.

Garry Jacobson pitted on lap 8 to also get out of the way of their fierce battle.

There was only 3 seconds separating the top 5 cars, so the front of the pack was quite tense. Shane Van Gisbergen was only 0.685 seconds behind Cam Waters in the lead.

Cameron Waters had damage to the back of his car from being shunted.

Shane Van Gisbergen reported to his engineer Andrew Edwards, that there was fuel coming out the back of Cameron Waters’ car. Later, Garth Tander went into the Tickford Racing garage to interview team owner, Tim Edwards. When asked about the fuel leak his response was, ‘I don’t think Shane was telling the truth’. LOL. Very cheeky Mr SVG.

Jayden Ojeda and Chris Pither came in on lap 9 for rears only.

Broc Feeney came in on lap 12 to ensure that Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t have to double stack when he wanted to pit. Feeney re-joined the race in 21^st position.

Walkinshaw Andretti United brought Chaz Mostert in on lap 13 to cover off the threat from Grove Racing’s David Reynolds who was hot on his tail. They did a 3.8 second stop and Chaz Mostert re-joined the race in 20^th position with plenty of empty track in front and behind. He was 10.145 seconds behind from leader Cameron Waters. Broc Feeney in 21^st place was 44+ seconds behind the leader.

By the middle of the race all the drivers had completed their mandatory pit stops and Cameron Waters was back in the lead!

Shane Van Gisbergen spent the rest of the race trying to find a way around Cameron Waters but just couldn’t manage it. Cameron Waters defensive driving had him stumped.

Just before the final corner heading to the finish line the two made contact. Shane Van Gisbergen’s front right took a massive hit and it broke the steering arm. The car was still running and magically he was able to make the last bend and follow Cam Waters to the finish line. (How do you make a turn with a broken steering arm? – Only ‘SVG the Magician’ knows that secret.)

Its standard practice to drive cars (with all their advertising livery) to the podium to accept trophies. On this occasion Shane Van Gisbergen got to the podium in a golf cart. LOL.

All round this was a fantastic race to start the weekend.

Results for Race 13:

1^st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.
2^nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.
3^rd David Reynolds – Grove Racing.

In Race 14 Cameron Waters started on pole position alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

At the start of the race Cameron Waters led into turns 1 and 2.

Reynolds in 3^rd place tried to get up the inside of Shane Van Gisbergen at turn 3. The attempt failed and left him wide on the track. Chaz Mostert took the opportunity and moved up into 3^rd. Reynolds teammate Lee Holdworth was right behind and allowed him back into the racing line at position 4.

When Jayden Ojeda went off the track at turn 4 with assistance from Jordan Boys and then re-joined in 27^th position.

Brodie Kostecki got tagged by Broc Feeney in between turns 6 and 7 in the opening lap congestion.

At turn 9 Will Davison was pushed wide onto the dirt by Le Brocq on the inside. He had Courtney right on his tail so he could break suddenly. With both left wheels out on the dirt he managed to keep a straight line and get back on track.

Davison paid back Jack Le Brocq giving him a nudge at turn 10 forcing his right wheels off track onto the dirt. Will Davison and James Courtney both passed Jack Le Brocq and seconds later he was passed again by Thomas Randle.

Thomas Randle ran wide between turns 11 and 12 and he caught a little bit of dirt as well.

At the front of the race Cameron Waters was still the leader with a .6 of a second gap ahead of Shane Van Gisbergen.

The drivers behind Shane Van Gisbergen were Chaz Mostert, David Reynolds, Lee Holdsworth, Andre Heimgartner, Will Brown, Mark Winterbottom, Anton de Pasquale, Brodie Kostecki and Broc Feeney.

By lap 3 David Reynolds and Lee Holdsworth were still in 4^th and 5^th with Andre Heimgartner close behind in 6^th position.

By lap 5 the gap between Cameron Waters and Shane Van Gisbergen in 1^st and 2^nd hadn’t changed much, ¾ of a second.

Engineer, Adam de Borre asked Chaz Mostert to find some fresh air for the engine. Things were obviously heating up. He couldn’t take it easy with David Reynolds on his tail putting the pressure on.

Will Brown was the first car to pit in this race, followed by James Courtney and Thomas Randle. Thomas Randle’s stop was exceptional, timed at 4 seconds.

On exiting the pits Will Brown made contact with Thomas Randle. They couldn’t hold everyone so pressed on.

The next 2 cars to pit were Scott Pye and Jack Le Brocq. Soon after it was Maculey Jones.

Mark Winterbottom pitted on lap 14 in 5.02 seconds. Surprisingly, at this stage there were 17 cars yet to pit.

Scott Pye slowed on the track between turns 5 and 6. Once again his engineer Richard Hollway declared another power steering problem. A problem that has plagued the team since round 1, race 1.

Chaz Mostert pitted on lap 15 and re-joined in 18^th position with 16 cars yet to pit.

Shane Van Gisbergen pitted on lap 16. Cameron Waters also pitted on the same lap.

On lap 17 Shane Van Gisbergen passed Cameron Waters to take the affective lead of the race (taking into consideration there were still 13 cars yet to pit).

Shane Van Gisbergen’s driving was faultless and Cameron Waters couldn’t keep up. Gisbergen kept inching away. He crossed the finish line 5+ seconds ahead of Cameron Waters, followed by David Reynolds a further 3+ seconds later.

The defending Supercars Champion, Shane Van Gisbergen now leads the championship by 281 points.

Results for Race 14:

1^st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.
2^nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.
3^rd David Reynolds – Grove Racing.

In race 15 it was the two stars of the weekend at the front of the grid. Cameron Waters was on pole with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.

At the start of the race Cameron Waters once again got the jump off the line and led into turn 1 and 2. Andre Heimgartner moved up to 2^nd dropping Shane Van Gisbergen back to 3^rd.

David Reynolds got the best start from the front group of cars moving up 2 spots almost immediately. Shane Van Gisbergen was lucky to not to lose another spot to David Reynolds as he almost got up the inside at turn 3.

Lee Holdsworth got up the inside of Broc Feeney for position 10 between turns 5 and 6.

Meanwhile the cars back in the field were settling down into their race pace.

The front and the back of Jack Smith’s car had been damaged. He was struggling to see the apex of the corners because of the smashed up bonnet. He managed to get around the track but had to pit at the end of lap 1.

Tim Slade had smoke coming of the back of the Cool Drive Ford Mustang. Even after pitting the car was still giving off smoke for the next few laps.

Macauley Jones got down the inside of Todd Hazelwood and Scott Pye followed him. Jack le Brocq was sliding on the way out of the final corner, turn 12.

In the opening lap Cameron Waters drove the best lap time of the race. It clocked in at 1min 25.8s and gave him the 0.609 second lead over Andre Heimgartner.

After lap 1 there was a lot movement in the top 10 cars.

Jack Smith re-joined in 27^th position after pitting on lap 1. He was getting out of the way of the cars following because he was already a lap down.

Andre Heimgartner kept up the pressure on leader, Cameron Waters. David Reynolds was doing the same thing to Shane Van Gisbergen in 3^rd place. The gap between the top 3 cars was 2 seconds.

The leaders were pulling away from the cars back in the pack. From David Reynolds back to Broc Feeney there was a lot of congestion, so the pack were starting to think about pitting to get clear track.

David Reynolds kept right up with Shane Van Gisbergen through a number of laps without losing any ground whatsoever. It was the tiniest gap of only 0.254 seconds.

By the middle of the race all the pitstops were complete and Cameron Waters was back in the lead. He was looking good to win 2 out of the 3 races for the weekend.

Towards the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen found the space to finally take back 2^nd position from Andre Heimgartner. His speed and defensive driving made it impossible for Heimgartner to challenge him. They held their places to the finish line; Cameron Waters followed by Shane Van Gisbergen then Andre Heimgartner.

So once again it was Waters and Gisbergen who swapped 1^st and 2^nd places in all 3 races on the weekend.

Results for Race 15:

1^st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.
2^nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.
3^rd Andre Heimgartner – Brad Jones Racing.

The next event is the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown on the 17^th to 19^th of June 2022. Super, I cant wait!

Bathurst 12 hour

Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hour 2022

June 3, 2022 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 13^th to the 15^th of May 2022 was the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

The Bathurst 12 hour is a time race independent of laps.

It is also a GT not a Supercars race, so the results don’t affect the Supercars series.

There were plenty of drivers from the Supercars paddock that competed, like; Lee Holdsworth, Broc Feeney, David Reynolds, Cameron Waters, Shane Van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes, Alex Davison, Chaz Mostert, Will Brown and Jack Perkins.

Some of the more well-known internationals that competed included; Kenny Habul, Jules Gounon, Kelvin van der Linde, Marcus Winklehock and Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

I was keeping my eye on Chaz Mostert, Broc Feeney, Shane Van Gisbergen, Lee Holdsworth, Dean Fiore, Craig Lowndes, Cameron Waters and Grant Denyer.

Normally this event is run in February but due to Covid messing with things, it was re-scheduled for May.

Also, it usually starts between 6am and 6:15am (during daylight savings). Marketing determined it best to have the race finish during TV peak-time for better ratings. This meant an earlier start of 5:15am, so the first 90 minutes of the race were in the early morning dark.

The first 90 minutes were in the dark before sunrise.

Before the race started the fog had descended on Mount Panorama.

Chaz Mostert earned himself pole position. He was teamed with Liam Talbot and Fraser Ross in car 65, an Audi from Melbourne Performance Centre. I wasn’t surprised that Chaz Mostert started behind the wheel because of his experience at this venue in the Supercars Series.

South African, Kelvin van der Linde was alongside pole.

Broc Feeney, the Red Bull Ampol Racing rookie started the 888 Mercedes from 5^th position. In his Bathurst 12 Hour debut this was a big assignment, but no doubt because the team have faith in him.

There were only 20 cars on the grid this year compared to the normal 30 or 40 cars. The reduction was of limited international competitors due to COVID.

A rolling start behind the safety car is the norm for the Bathurst 12 Hour, I guess to reduce the risks of a standing start in the dark. It was also a good choice considering this year’s foggy conditions.

When the safety car peeled off, the start of the race was absolutely spectacular. The drivers in the top 10 held their positions with Mostert and Linde being the pace setters.

The safety car came out more than once due to the foggy conditions. The visibility was so poor that even the drivers were making comments. Typical of Bathurst, the fog turned to rain, then fogged up again and then rained again.

Before the sun came up, Zane Morse in car 52 tagged the wall at the top of the hill forcing a safety car. The Wheels/FX Racing PNG Marc II V8 was the first car to leave the track.

Two hours into the race Dale Wood in car 50 was the next victim of The Mountain.

About halfway through car 95 was pulled from the race with engine problems.

Car 45 hit the wall exiting The Dipper and required immediate repairs. When it rejoined the race they suffered another hit taking it out of the race for good.

I am not superstitious but I note that the above cars mentioned all have the number 5 in their car numbers; 52, 50, 95 and 45. Coincidence?

Of all the things that happened to the cars in such a gruelling race, it was the pole sitter car 65 that had my eyes wide open in disbelief. The car had stopped on Mountain Straight. To rectify the issues, you wont believe this….. They literally pressed Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart and then … they were off and away! LOL!

The weather played havoc through the day. There were multiple occasions that the safety cars were deployed, and other cars were pulled from the track to sit out the rest of the race.

It was the team of Jules Gounon, Martin Konrad, Kenny Habul and Luca Stolz who crossed the line first with an 8.7 second lead. They were in car 75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG. (note another 5 in the car number).

The Craft Bamboo Mercedes, car 91 was the next across the line. Daniel Juncedella, Kevin Tse and Maro Engel put in an incredible challenge to the leader in the last 2 hours of the race. It really was an intense extended battle to the finish line.

The third car to come across the line was also a Mercedes AMG, giving Merc a 1,2 & 3 on the podium. This was the 888 car from my favoured team Triple Eight Race Engineering, driven by Supercars defending champ Shane Van Gisbergen, Broc Feeney and Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

It was an incredible race and im already looking forward to its return next year. Good thing is it is expected to run in its usual schedule of February, so I don’t have to wait a full year!!!!

Supercars

Bunnings Trade Perth Supernight

May 19, 2022 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of April 30^th to May 1^st was the Bunnings Trade Perth Supernight.

This year is the 43^rd time that the Australian Touring Car / Supercars Championship have visited Barbagallo Raceway in Perth Wanneroo, Western Australia.

The first round was held back in 1973 but since 1978 this track has hosted a round every year except for 2020. The Saturday of the Perth Supernight will be the 90^th championship race at this circuit, tying it with Symmons Plains Raceway.

Barbagallo now holds the record as the circuit to have hosted the most races in the history of Australian Touring Car Championship / Supercars Championship.

The second race of the weekend marked the 200^th Supercars race for Cameron Waters. Waters is yet to record a win in the west. His best finish was 3^rd in 2019 and a pole position in 2016.

Defending champion, Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position in 2018 but has also never won a race at Barbagallo.

Barry Ryan from Boost Mobile Racing Erebus Motorsport used this weekend to announce that Greg Murphy and Richie Stanaway will return for the Bathurst 1000 as a wild card entry.

Perth Supernight started on the Saturday with the pre-race sessions. The results were:

Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 1
Will Davison was fastest in Practice 2
Anton de Pasquale was fastest in Qualifying and started on pole for the first race.

In race 10 Anton de Pasquale started on pole position, alongside him was Cameron Waters.

Shane Van Gisbergen started 3^rd, Chaz Mostert started 23^rd and Nick Percat started 25^th. As some of the fastest drivers this year their poor grid spots were due to getting held up by cars in front of them during Qualifying.

At the start of the race Anton de Pasquale got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 46 laps. Cameron Waters was right behind him.

Mark Winterbottom got a great start, but he had nowhere to go.

Shane Van Gisbergen also had nowhere to go and had to stay in 3^rd position.

Further back in the pack the cars were 3 wide heading into turn 1. Thomas Randle got up the inside of Will Brown for positions 9^th and 10^th. Behind them were Todd Hazelwood and Will Davison battling for positions 11^th and 12^th. Lee Holdsworth had gained 3 positions to move to 21^st.

Meanwhile with a little help from Bryce Fulwood, Chris Pither spun at turn 1 and went to the back of the pack. Later, Bryce Fulwood was issued 15 second penalty for his actions.

Before the first lap was over Shane Van Gisbergen found the space to pass Cameron Waters to move into 2^nd place behind the race leader, Anton de Pasquale.

As the race moved on, the cars further back in the pack started to pit for clear track.

Jack Le Brocq was the first to pit on lap 8.

Will Brown had a miscommunication with car controller, Barry Ryan. He was told to come in but then to ‘push on’. He misheard and headed for the pits. The crew were not ready at all. Barry Ryan was not happy.

Cameron Waters pitted on lap 18 for rears tyres only.

One lap later Anton de Pasquale came in for 2 tyres.

On lap 21 Bryce Fullwood got another penalty. This time a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

Amazingly Shane Van Gisbergen pitted on lap 32. It’s a long way to go on one set of tyres. There was only 1 car yet to pit, Lee Holdsworth.

Shane Van Gisbergen came back out into position 4. He had Lee Holdsworth, Anton de Pasquale and Cameron Waters in front.

Lee Holdsworth finally pitted on lap 34. It put Anton de Pasquale back in the lead followed by Cameron Waters and Shane Van Gisbergen. The gap across the top 3 cars was about 2 ½ seconds.

Bryce Fulwood was in the garage due to a transaxle failure and problems with 4^th gear.

On lap 39 Scott Pye got a bad sportsmanship warning flag for exceeding track limits at turn 7. Will Brown got the same.

Shane Van Gisbergen got up the inside of Cameron Waters. He was only 2.4 seconds behind the race leader Anton de Pasquale.

Then the gap went down to 1.254 seconds.

Nick Percat in car 2 was the next to be given a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

The gap was 1 second between 1^st and 2^nd. With 5 and half laps to go Shane Van Gisbergen closed the gap to 0.493.

With 5 laps to go, Shane Van Gisbergen was right on the back of Anton de Pasquale.

With 4 laps to go Shane Van Gisbergen took the race lead. Anton de Pasquale had no opportunity to re-pass him.

Shane Van Gisbergen kept increasing his lead. With 2 laps remaining he had built it to 1.563 seconds.

By the time he crossed the finish line he was 2.161 ahead of Anton de Pasquale. An incredible feat.

Shane Van Gisbergen had finally broken his winless streak at Barbagallo Raceway. It also chalked up Holden’s 600^th race win.

Nick Percat had moved up 5 places from 25^th to 20^th. His teammate, Chaz Mostert moved up 1 place and finished in

22^nd.

Results for Race 10:

1^st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

2^nd Anton De Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing Team.

3^rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.

In Race 11 Will Davison started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.

Mark Winterbottom started 22^nd on the grid after being issued a 5-spot penalty for impeding Shane Van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney during Qualifying. Defending champion, Shane Van Gisbergen started in 11^th position.

At the start of the race Will Davison got the jump and led into turn 1.

The cars further back in the pack were battling for positions. Thomas Randle made contact with Lee Holdsworth, putting him into the wall between turns 2 and 3 then coming to a stop on the grass. His front left corner was damaged big time but he managed to limp the car back to the pits. Surprisingly he later managed to re-join the race but was a few laps down.

As the pack came down to the final turn Cameron Waters had a 3/4 second lead over Will Davison.

As they came onto the main straight to begin lap 2 there was contact between Scott Pye and Jack le Broc. Scott Pye hit the barrier walls so hard they actually came apart. He managed to get out of the car unassisted, but the car was a complete wreck and wouldn’t compete for the rest of the weekend.

The safety car was deployed to remove the wreck. Then James Taylor who is the race director, came on the radio and told all of the teams that the race was being suspended due to where Scott Pye’s car was positioned. When the red flag was called there was 43 laps to go. While they repaired the barrier walls the race was delayed for 40 minutes.

Team 18 owner, Charlie Schwerkolt said that Jack le Broc could have backed off to avoid the contact. He must have been annoyed that his car was a wreck.

When the race got restarted Cameron Waters was in the lead followed by Will Davison and Brodie Kostecki.

The cars further back in the pack pitted early because they were getting held up by other drivers in front of them.

Cameron Waters and Will Davison stayed out longer because they had track position.

Anton de Pasquale soon took Brodie Kostecki’s 3^rd place.

I was amazed at how long Cameron Waters held onto the race lead for.

Around the middle of the race Will Davison had got down the inside of Cameron Waters to take the lead. They were virtually neck and neck. At turn 7 Cameron Waters went very wide out of track limits and dive-bombed Will Davison to regain the lead. Davison was furious at his risky move. He came on the radio to his engineer Richard Harris and said, ‘He can’t do this!’.

Later, after the officials had time to review the incident Cameron Waters got a 5 second penalty for an unsafe re-entry onto the track.

Cameron Waters may have been upset by this, but he held his focus and lead to the end of the race. Although he crossed the line first the penalty was applied after the finish. It knocked him off the podium into 4^th place.

In the end Will Davison got his first race win for Dick Johnson Racing since 2008. He was followed by Anton de Pasquale and Andre Heimgartner.

The result was an unexpected bonus for Shell V-Power Racing Team, earning them a 1^st and 2^nd.

Results for Race 11:

1^st Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team.

2^nd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing Team.

3^rd Andre Heimgartner – Brad Jones Racing.

4^th Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.

In race 12 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position with Will Davison next to him.

At the start of the race Will Davison got the jump from 2^nd position on the grid and led into turn 1.

Also, David Reynolds was in 2^nd place by turn 1, dropping the pole sitter Shane Van Gisbergen back to 3^rd. I was amazed that Shane Van Gisbergen dropped from 1^st to 3^rd and David Reynolds went up from 4^th to 2^nd.

The cars further back in the pack settled down into their race pace.

Thomas Randle was spun around on the run down to turn 6 and car 34 of Jack le Brocq from Matt Stone Racing had a big slide.

Jake Kostecki got up the inside of Andre Heimgartner at turn 6. David Reynolds locked up on the run into turn 6 which allowed Shane Van Gisbergen to pass him at turn 7 and move up to 2^nd place. The gap between Will Davison and Shane Van Gisbergen was 1.4 seconds.

Shane Van Gisbergen was so focused on driving he needed a reminder from his race engineer, Andrew Edwards to turn on his helmet fan.

Shane Van Gisbergen had Anton de Pasquale behind him, followed by Will Brown and James Courtney, running 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th.

Garry Jacobson and Chris Pither were side by side in an all-out battle to move into the top 10.

There was a lot of biff and barge going on all the way through the pack.

At this stage the gap between 1^st and 2^nd was 1.5 seconds.

The cars further in the pack pitted early while the race leaders stayed out longer.

When the pitstops started the lead was changing left, right and centre.

Soon Anton de Pasquale had dropped 3 places into 6^th.

In the middle of the race James Courtney was the race leader because he had not pitted at this stage. Shane Van Gisbergen was unaware that Courtney had not pitted and was leading the race. Gisbergen was on the lookout for Will Davison as the assumed leader.

With only a few laps to go Shane Van Gisbergen was on the attack and took the lead from James Courtney. Courtney just couldn’t keep up and fell back to take second place as Gisbergen raced to the finish line.

Results for Race 12:

1^st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

2^nd James Courtney – Tickford Racing.

3^rd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team.

The next Supercars event is the Winton Supersprint on the 21^st and 22^nd of May but, before that there will be the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hour, a GT race.

Supercars

Beaurepairs Melbourne 400 2022

April 25, 2022 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 7^th to the 10^th of April 2022 was the Beaurepairs Melbourne 400.

This year marks the 25^th time that the Supercars have competed at Albert Park. This is including an appearance at the 2020 event which was abandoned due to Covid 19. The event was cancelled at the 11^th hour.

Albert Park is one of the longer circuits in Australia at 5.3km with 14 corners. This event was made up of 4 races, 20 laps each.

The first race of the event marked James Courtney’s 500^th start. Wow! Congratulations, what an incredible achievement.

The Formula 1 cars were the main attraction for the weekend so, as support category the Supercars used the secondary pit lane.

Before the racing got underway, F1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez had a spin in Thomas Randle and Broc Feeney’s Supercars around the track. I’m sure it was quite an experience for them.

In the pre-race sessions:

Anton de Pasquale was fastest in Practice 1.
Rookie, Broc Feeney crashed at turn 5 causing a red flag.
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2.
Garry Jacobson hit the wall at turn 5 in Practice 2. The impact was so much that another red flag was used so they could move wall back into place.
David Reynolds was fastest in Qualifying for Race 6.
Will Davison was fastest in Qualifying for Race 7.
Anton de Pasquale was fastest in Qualifying for Race 8.
Will Davison was fastest in Qualifying for Race 9.

In Race 6 David Reynolds started on pole position for the 18^th time in his Supercars career. Alongside him was Anton de Pasquale.

Championship leader, Shane Van Gisbergen started in 23^rd position at the back of the pack. This was because during Qualifying he got a curb infringement. His lap was disallowed. He came back in to put another set of tyres on. Meanwhile the session was red flagged and he didn’t get back on track to record a lap time.

David Reynolds had a perfect start off the grid and led into the first corner.

Shane Van Gisbergen immediately started charging through the field. Before the first lap was complete, he had gone from 23^rd to 19^th.

Coming onto the main straight to commence lap 2 the cars were 3 wide but Shane Van Gisbergen was still able to move up three places to 16^th by the time they hit turn 1.

The cars up ahead were warned by their engineers that Shane Van Gisbergen was on THE CHARGE!

David Reynolds still had the lead and was holding off Chaz Mostert and Anton de Pasquale.

Garry Jacobson got up the inside of Will Brown and his next car to pass was Will’s teammate Brodie Kostecki.

By lap 3 David Reynolds’ soft tyres began to wear down and his car started sliding. He lost the lead to Chaz Mostert.

Nick Percat also passed David Reynolds dropping him from 2^nd to 3^rd. It put Walkinshaw Andretti United 1 and 2 on the track.

Lee Holdsworth was in the middle of the field. The team called him into the pits on lap 6 so they didn’t risk his teammate David Reynolds double stacking behind him.

Jack le Brocq (#34) also came in on lap 6 to have the power steering arm looked at.

On lap7 David Reynolds pitted due to blistering tyres. As he peeled off into the pits he was dropping down the order. Race leader, Chaz Mostert also followed him in.

Meanwhile the 2 times Supercars champion Shane Van Gisbergen had gained 17 positions and was now placed 6^th. I was amazed! This is no easy feat in a mere 7 laps of a 20 lap race.

When Chaz Mostert and David Reynolds rejoined the race, they were in positions 9^th and 10^th. At this point the leaders were Nick Percat and Macauley Jones.

On lap 8 at the exit of turn 3 Andre Heimgartner ran straight off the track taking James Courtney with him. Andre Heimgartner was warned with a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

Shane Van Gisbergen had made it all the way up to 4^th position before coming in on lap 9 for his one and only pitstop. When he rejoined he was behind Nick Percat and in position 17 with only 4 cars yet to make their stops.

A few laps later all the pitstops were completed and Chaz Mostert was back in the lead followed by David Reynolds and Will Davison. Shane Van Gisbergen made his way up to 5^th place.

With clean air Chaz Mostert kept edging further ahead. He was incredibly fast and drove faultlessly. It was soon apparent that he was uncatchable. All he had to do was just hang in there.

With four laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen passed Nick Percat and Will Davison almost at the same time to put him in 3^rd place. It was just incredible. He yelled over the radio comms ‘This is f-ing awesome!’. That really cracked me up.

To play it safe Chaz pulled back on the aggressive driving knowing he had a good lead. In the last few hundred meters he zig zagged to the finish line out of pure joy (That’s why I call him Cheeky Chaz). His next rival was David Reynolds 7.6839 second later followed by Shane Van Gisbergen who had started in 23^rd place and finished 3^rd. Now that is incredible racing!

Result for Race 6

1^st Chaz Mostert – Mobil 1 Optus Racing.

2^nd David Reynolds – Penrite Racing.

3^rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

In Race 7 Will Davison started on pole position. Alongside him was David Reynolds. Shane Van Gisbergen started 3^rd.

At the start of the race Will Davison got the jump off the line and led into turn 1.

David Reynolds had a bad start and Shane Van Gisbergen immediately took the opportunity and moved into 2^nd place.

Broc Feeney hit the wall on the exit of turn 1 after help from Brodie Kostecki.

At this stage Will Davison was looking strong. I was thinking that he may win might win his first race for Dick Johnson Racing and his first race win since Bathurst in 2016.

A few laps later the cars back in the pack pitted early for clear track.

On lap 5 Andre Heimgartner got turned around by Will Brown. Heimgarter’s car was wedged in the wall. The safety car was deployed to tow it back to the pits. He wasn’t able to rejoin the race and received an NC (Not complete).

Shane Van Gisbergen now had the lead.

When Anton de Pasquale came into the pits he was in 3^rd place. He couldn’t get car 11 re-fired and was sitting there for what seemed an eternity. As a result, he came back onto the track in 20^th position.

By the middle of the race all pitstops were completed. Shane Van Gisbergen was back in the lead.

Broc Feeney (#88) was called into the pits with a front left tyre losing pressure. The Red Bull Ampol Racing team only changed the one tyre and he was back out on the track.

Also, on lap 10 Cameron Waters tagged Will Davison at turn 3 spinning him off into the gravel trap. For the second time, the safety car was deployed. Waters was issued a drive through penalty for his actions.

At this stage Shane Van Gisbergen was looking good for another win. David Reynolds was in 2^nd, James Courtney in 3^rd and Chaz Mostert 4^th.

Cameron Waters served his drive through penalty with 7 laps to go. It dropped him all the way down to 22^nd position.

On lap 14 Tim Slade got down the inside of Garry Jacobson for position number 8. He then passed Todd Hazelwood for 7^th position.

Garry Jacobson got up the inside of Nick Percat in battle for 9^th and 10^thplace.

With 5 laps to go Shane Van Gisbergen had a 1.6 second lead over David Reynolds, with James Courtney 1.1 seconds behind that. Chaz Mostert was in 4^th position.

The races were ‘time certain’. Due to the 2 safety car deployments the race was looking to go overtime. On lap 18 the officials called time + 1 lap (cutting out the 20^th lap).

On the last lap Shane Van Gisbergen did his best lap time of the race and increased his lead to 2 seconds.

Mostert was desperate to get on the podium. It was the last lap and he was pushing hard on James Courtney. As they reached the last corner before the home straight they locked horns and James Courtney spun around. Mostert kept going but Lee Holdsworth had taken him over so Mostert was back in 4^th where he started.

There was no time for Mostert to make up the lost time.

Shane Van Gisbergen crossed the line 2+ seconds ahead of David Reynolds. They followed by a lucky Lee Holdsworth and then Chaz Mostert in fourth place. It was a dramatic last-minute finish.

James Courtney was so unfortunate and finished in 22^nd place.

Results for Race 7

1^st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

2^nd David Reynolds – Grove Racing.

3^rd Lee Holdsworth – Grove Racing.

In Race 8 Anton de Pasquale started on pole position alongside him was his teammate, Will Davison.

Shane Van Gisbergen and David Reynolds were 3^rd and 4^th on the grid.

At the start of the race Anton de Pasquale led into turn 1 for the first of 20 laps. Will Davison was right behind him. David Reynolds hanging onto 3^rd position followed by Shane Van Gisbergen.

Scott Pye went off the track at turn 1 on lap 1

The cars further back in the pack were going off the track left, right and centre. At turn 2 Percat, Hazelwood, Brodie Kostecki, Holdsworth, Jones, Heimgartner and Randle all came off the track but managed to recover.

Scott Pye left the track skiing across the sand trap but he also managed to recover.

It was amazing that the entire field got through turns 1 and 2.

However, on lap 2 Scott Pye came into the pits with a puncture on the front right.

The race leader soon settled into his race pace with a ¾ second lead. There was active battling for positions 2, 3 and 4.

Between turns 9 and 10 on lap 2 Bryce Fulwood went very wide but surprisingly managed a quick return to the track.

By lap 3 Cameron Waters was in the pits changing tyres and dropped all the way down to 22^nd position.

The top 4 places were unchanged; Anton de Pasquale, Will Davison, David Reynolds and Shane Van Gisbergen.

On lap 4 Anton de Pasquale locked up leaving the track at turn 1. It knocked him back from 1^st to 3^rd. Will Davison was the new race leader, with David Reynolds in 2^nd place. For Anton de Pasquale who is second on the championship ladder it was a serious blunder.

When Tim Slade and Chaz Mostert came in for their stops he gave the back of Tim Slade’s car a wallop. It was a surprise but not serious and didn’t escalate.

On lap 5 Will Davison was the next to pit, handing over the lead to David Reynolds. Anton de Pasquale was still 2^nd, Shane Van Gisbergen was 3^rd and his teammate, Broc Feeney was in 4^th (only + 2.601 seconds behind). Soon Anton de Pasquale pitted but the top 14 cars were still yet to pit.

By lap 6 Shane Van Gisbergen had taken the race lead off David Reynolds which then gave Shane Van Gisbergen clear track.

Broc Feeney had dropped to 8^th place. Then Mark Winterbottom got down the inside of him to take another spot from him.

By the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was back in the lead after pitting.

Shane Van Gisbergen never looked back. He held his lead and increased the gap to 5.6473 seconds by the time he crossed the finish line. Next was Will Davison, David Reynolds and Anton de Pasquale all spread a few seconds apart.

This win for Shane Van Gisbergen also means he has outdone Russell Ingall’s record of 8 race wins at Albert Park. Ingall set this record back in 2003 (19years ago). Im sure it’s quite an honour for Gisbergen.

Results for Race 8

1^st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

2^nd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team.

3^rd David Reynolds – Penrite Racing.

In race 9 Will Davison started on pole position. Alongside him was teammate Anton de Pasquale. Chaz Mostert started 3^rd. The hero of the weekend, Shane Van Gisbergen 6^th on the grid.

Generated by pixel @ 2022-04-10T23:50:02.030284

At the start of the race Will Davison got the jump on his teammate going into turn 1. I was amazed, it was such a perfect start.

However, Jack Smith didn’t have the same launch. He stalled car 4 on the start line and was unable to get it started. The safety car was deployed for it to be removed from the track. Jack Smith Received an NC (Not Complete) without even starting the race!

Shane Van Gisbergen tried to go around the outside of Cameron Waters at turn 3 but it didn’t work.

The cars back in the pack were battling for positions early on. There was quite a lot of movement. About 12 cars shuffled positions with some moving as much as 10 places.

Some others moved up but then moved back, like Tim Slade who got down the inside of Brodie Kostecki at turn 4. Brodie Kostecki then got him back at turn 5.

While the race leaders were staying out because they had track position the others soon started pitting.

I was surprised that leader Will Davison pitted on lap 5. Mostert was in 2^nd place and now had the lead. It was only brief. Shane Van Gisbergen took him over moment later.

David Reynolds was keeping out of trouble early on but he was in position 10. He then hit the wall on lap 6 and had to pit. The car couldn’t be repaired and he had to retire from the race.

In the middle of the race all driver pitstops were in the process of being completed. It was now even racing to the finish.

On lap 11 Thomas Randle also suffered the same fate as Reynolds and Smith. He was the 3^rd driver forced to retire from the race.

Towards the end of the race Chaz Mostert had the lead again. He had Shane Van Gisbergen putting pressure on him and it looked to be a strong challenge. There were only a few laps remaining.

Shane Van Gisbergen was pushing hard. On lap 18 (2 lap to go) Shane Van Gisbergen’s car gave in under the strain. The front tyre blew out and he was forced into the pits. He must have been extremely disappointed as he is fast enough even to challenge the super-fast Chaz Mostert. It would have meant 3 out 4 wins for the weekend.

Chaz Mostert now had a clear run to the finish line. It earned his second win at the event.

In 2^nd place Will Davison followed 5.2 seconds later, with Anton de Pasquale another 1.66 seconds behind. It was an incredible finish to the weekend.

Results for Race 9

1^st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.

2^nd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team.

3^rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing Team.

The Bathurst 6 Hour was the next event of interest on the calendar. It is always run on the Easter long weekend. It is not part of the Supercars series but is a production car event. Shane Van Gisbergen was meant to defend the title but was unable to due to COVID. Nick Percat sat in for him.

Let’s hope that SVG is on the mend and in good health for the next Supercars event; The Bunnings Trade Perth Supernight on the 30^th of April to the 1^st of May.

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Supercars

Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint

April 7, 2022 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of 26^th and 27^th of March 2022 was the Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint.

This year marks the 49^th time this event has been at Symmons Plains Raceway. This year’s event comprised of 3 races of 44 laps each. It’s a short track of 2.4 km with 7 turns. For these Supercars a lap is just under 50 seconds.

Chaz Mostert came to this event as the current championship leader for the first time in his Supercars career.

Garry Jacobson reached a milestone starting his 100^th Supercars championship race on Saturday.

The weekend also provided the opportunity for the defending series champion, Shane Van Gisbergen to move passed the total race win tally of two former Supercars champions, Garth Tander and Scott McLaughlin.

Mark Winterbottom was poised to take over the mantle as the most experienced Supercars driver at Symmons Plains Raceway by the end of the weekend. It was also Mark Winterbottom’s 46^th start at this track. He has finished every race at Symmons Plains Raceway. OMG! What an amazing achievement!

For this year’s newcomer to Supercars Brocq Feeney, it will be his first time at this track.

So, as you can see it was promising to be a great event.

In the pre-race sessions:

Will Davison was fastest in Practice 1
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
Cameron Waters was fastest in Qualifying.

In race 3 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Will Davison alongside him. The 19 year old rookie, Brocq Feeney earned himself 3^rd and Shane Van Gisbergen started 5^th.

At the start of the race Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 while the cars behind battled for positions.

Will Davison tried to go around the outside of Cameron Waters on the opening lap, but he couldn’t find the right space to make the move. Brodie Kostecki took advantage and moved up to 2^nd behind race leader Cameron Waters, pushing Will Davison into 3^rd place.

Shane Van Gisbergen was on the charge passing cars left right and centre. Anton de Pasquale was amazed by the driving from Shane Van Gisbergen.

Walkinshaw Andretti united pitted Nick Percat in car 2 early because of damage.

Thomas Randle went out in the weeds on lap 1 and so did Macauley Jones on lap 2.

For the opening few laps Cameron Waters was enjoying the clear air.

The cars back in the pack pitted early on to get clear track.

The first driver to pit was Jake Kostecki in car 56, because he was getting held up by other cars.

Cameron Waters stayed out because he had track position.

Will Davison pitted first so his teammate Anton de Pasquale didn’t have to double stack if the safety car was deployed.

At the end of the first quarter of the race Jack Le Brocq went off the track at turn 2. As he hit the sand trap, he broke the right front suspension. The car was still driveable, but he still headed straight for the pits.

The cars further back in the pack were battling for positions.

Chaz Mostert got up the inside of James Courtney to move up to 10^th position.

Shane Van Gisbergen got up the inside of Will Davison who had worked his way back into 2^nd place. Moments later Shane Van Gisbergen then took the race lead off Cameron Waters. The Dick Johnson Racing Team reacted, it was now the best time to get Will Davison to bring in car 17 for his compulsory pitstop.

The cars now following Shane Van Gisbergen were battling for 2^nd 3^rd and 4^th.

By the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was still in the lead and looking in shape for his 2^nd win of 2022.

Mark Winterbottom turned David Reynolds around at turn 4 and copped a drive through penalty. Chaz Mostert was tailing the two drivers and had nowhere to go. He had a head-on with Reynold’s spun car. Chaz Mostert suffered a lot of damage to the right front and was forced to head into the pits. Reynolds got off lightly and continued driving.

Shane Van Gisbergen held his lead through the second half of the race.

As the defending champion he appeared confident and drove flawlessly. As he came across the line he had just under a 3 second lead over Will Davison and a further spread of almost 3.5 seconds over Cameron Waters.

Chaz Mostert finished 23^rd and Broc Feeney held up well finishing 5^th.

Results for Race 3

1^st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

2^nd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team.

3^rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing Team.

In race 4 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position with his teammate Brocq Feeney alongside him.

Brocq Feeney got the jump of the start and led into turns 1 and 2, then pulled away from the pack with his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen playing rear gunner.

In between turns 6 and 7 there was contact between Jack Le Brocq and Andre Heimgartner. It was a brutal run in before the first lap was complete the red flagged was out so they could clean up the mess.

The race resumed with a rolling start and Brocq Feeney got the jump again with his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen right behind him.

While Brocq Feeney was in control of the race, he had full backup from Shane Van Gisbergen.

Further back Mark Winterbottom was moving up through the field really quickly.

Also back in the pack Garry Jacobson was putting in a fierce challenge to Chris Pither.

The other cars came in early because they were getting held up.

Scott Pye was behind his teammate Mark Winterbottom acting as rear gunner.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen took the lead off his younger teammate. Brocq Feeney knew he couldn’t pass Shane Van Gisbergen so worked hard at keeping in 2^ndplace.

Cam Waters and Tim Slade were pushing hard against each other. Tim Slade lost control sliding sideways onto the grass and getting air under all four tyres. On landing it seemed the car should surely roll but it didn’t! A miracle! He kept sliding and crossed the track further ahead. Amazingly didn’t get collected by any other drivers. That’s 2 miracles in about 2 seconds.

Up the front the drivers were holding their positions. Chaz Mostert was chasing down David Reynolds for third place but there wasn’t much opportunity to move up.

Broc Feeney crossed the line only 2.4 seconds behind Shane Van Gisbergen. They were followed by David Reynolds with Chaz Mostert hot on his tail.

It was a brutal race with four drivers served NC’s (Not Complete); Jack Le Brocq leaving before the end of the first lap, Jake Kostecki on lap 7, Andre Heimgartner on lap 11 and Thomas Randall so close to the end on lap 39.

Shane Van Gisbergen had now earned 2 wins from 2 starts for the weekend. The defending champ was showing what he is truly made of.

Results for Race 4

1^st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

2^nd Brocq Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

3rd David Reynolds– Penrite Racing.

In Race 5 Will Davison started on pole position with Jack le Brocq alongside him.

At the start of race Jack le Brocq took the lead into the first turn with Will Davison dropping in behind at 2^nd.

I was amazed that Jack le Brocq was leading during the opening stages after the damage to his car 34 on the first lap of Race 4.

On lap 2 he locked up of the front wheels at turn 4 and slid out onto the grass. He dropped down the order big time.

Will Davison now had the lead with the unenviable issue of having Shane Van Gisbergen right behind him in 2^nd place.

While the leaders were pulling away, the drivers back in the pack pitted early because they were getting held up by other cars.

Mark Winterbottom was battling with Jack le Brocq for positions 6 and 7.

By the middle of the race all the pitstops were complete and Shane van Gisbergen took the lead of the race.

Although the leading pack was tight it seemed Shane Van Gisbergen could not be passed. He had total control.

He was followed across the finish line by pole sitter, Will Davison and Anton de Pasquale with a desperate David Reynolds less than half a second behind him.

Shane Van Gisbergen had a great weekend earning 3 wins from the 3 starts. What a way to start the year!

about:blankAdd title

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of 26^th and 27^th of March 2022 was the Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint.

Chaz Mostert came to this event as the current championship leader for the first time in his Supercars career.

Garry Jacobson reached a milestone starting his 100^th Supercars championship race on Saturday.

For this year’s newcomer to Supercars Brocq Feeney, it will be his first time at this track.

So, as you can see it was promising to be a great event.

In the pre-race sessions:

Will Davison was fastest in Practice 1
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
Cameron Waters was fastest in Qualifying.