Supercars

Truck Assist Winton Supersprint 2019 Supercars

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HI to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 24th to the 26th of May was the Truck Assist Winton Supersprint

The hot news as this goes to press is that Chaz Mostert has a big decision to make about his future because at the end of this season he will be off contract with Tickford Racing. There is talk about opportunities for him at Team Penske as well as going overseas. It’s a; happening for him right now. What will Chaz Mostert choose to do? (AutoAction published a really interesting article on Chaz https://autoaction.com.au/2019/05/30/chazs-big-decision).

In the co–drivers’ session which was Practice 0, Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander finished 1st and 2nd.

Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1.

Chaz Mostert was also fastest in Armour All Qualifying which gave him pole position for Race 13.

This weekend was also a milestone for some out on track:

·        It was Shane Van Gisbergen’s 100th race as a member of Triple Eight Race Engineering.
·        It was also Jamie Whincup’s 220th round start, equalling him with Mark Skaife for 8th on the all-time list of starts.

I just had a flashback to Winton 2013. Jamie Whincup, Russell Ingall and Dean Fiore had an accident which took them out of the race.  I hoped nothing like that would happen on this weekend.

In Race 13 Chaz Mostert started on pole position and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.

At the start of the 40-lap race Both Chaz Mostert and Fabian Coulthard made contact in between turns 1 and 2 which allowed James Courtney to take the race lead!

Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard came together on lap 1 at turn 5 and re-joined at turn 9.

I thought Scott McLaughlin was going to get a drive thru penalty or a 15 second stop and hold for re-joining between turns 8 and 9 but apparently they were within the rules for the Winton weekend.

Fabian Coulthard received a 15 second penalty for making that contact with Scott McLaughlin.

Throughout the race a number of drivers got pinged for a range of driving infringements.

When David Reynolds gave James Courtney a bump and took the race lead he copped a 15 second penalty.

Fabian Coulthard was trying keep up with his teammate, Scott McLaughlin but he couldn’t quite get close enough.

Scott Pye was struggling to stay in the top 10.

By the middle of the race the two Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske drivers, Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard were running 1st and 2nd.

Towards the end of the race no one could catch Scott McLaughlin in first and Fabian Coulthard, second.

Unfortunately Fabian Coulthard’s 15 second penalty early on in the race pushed him down to 15th place, dropping 13 spots. Must have been a hard pill to swallow but the weekend was not over yet.

Results for Race 13

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V power Racing Team.
2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
3rd David Reynolds – Penrite Racing.
 4th James Courtney – Mobil 1 Mega Racing.
5th Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
6th Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

In the lead up to Sunday’s race Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2 and then also fastest in the Armour All Qualifying.

For the 67 lap Race 14, once again Scott McLaughlin started on pole position with Fabian Coulthard alongside him.

Scott McLaughlin got the jump on his teammate Fabian Coulthard and pretty much dominated the race accept for pit stops.

Will Davison was hoping for a solid result so I was quite surprised that Will Davison broke down and Rick Kelly’s engine blew. They both ended up with DNF’S .

In the middle of the race, after the 2nd round of pit stops no one could catch the 2 Shell V Power Mustangs of Scott McLaughlin and teammate, Fabian Coulthard.

Once again the pair held position and crossed the finish line 1st and 2nd. This time Fabian Coulthard made it onto the podium.

Results for Race 14

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

The next event is the Bet Easy Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway starting on June 14.

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

Please feel free to comment with your thoughts on the event.

Supercars

Pirtek Perth Supersprint 2019 Supernight Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the World!

On the Weekend of the 2nd to the 4th of May 2019 was the Pirtek Perth Supernight.

This was the first night race to take place at the Barbagallo Raceway and as showcase of the setup commentators Craig Lowndes and Greg Murphy took Jamie Whincup and Rick Kelly’s cars out onto the racetrack for a couple laps.

I thought the lights and light towers looked incredible.

As the pre-race sessions started I noted the return of Mark Larkham as pit-lane commentator. He missed the last event at Phillip Island (see my previous article for details) so it was good to see him back in his role.

Results for the pre-race sessions were as one would expect:

·        Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 1

·        Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2

·        Scott McLaughlin was also fastest in Qualifying for race 11

In race 11 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.

At the start of the 50-lap race Fabian Coulthard got jump off the line and the championship leader, Scott McLaughlin had to pull in behind him.

David Reynolds and Anton de Pasquale were in battle for position and made contact with each other at turn 1 but David Reynolds held his spot.

Shane Van Gisbergen pitted early to get track position because he was getting held up by David Reynolds in his battle with Anton De Pasquale.

Scott McLaughlin tried to make a pass for the lead but Fabian Coulthard held firm to his lead.

Later Todd Hazelwood made a great pass on Jack Le Brocq. It was a nice clean piece of driving.

Before the pit stops had been completed Fabian Coulthard was the affective race leader and seemed in fine form as he held the position through the entire race. Scott McLaughlin was still close behind but everyone else was further back and no one could catch them.

Fabian Coulthard appeared full of confidence as he crossed the finish line to make it a back 2 back win after winning at race 10 at Phillip Island.

It was a great race and the night light setup was brilliant. Surprisingly no Safety Cars were deployed through the entire race.

Results for Race 11

1st Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
4th Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

 

In the Pre-Race Sessions for race 12:

·        Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 3

·        Scott McLaughlin was also fastest in Qualifying

In race 12 Scott McLaughlin once again started on pole position with Jamie Whincup alongside him.

At the start of the 83-lap race Scott McLaughlin nearly stalled giving Jamie Whincup the lead he wanted. This was bad luck again for Scott McLaughlin after his poor start from pole position in Race 11.

Jamie Whincup was in front of the field for the first couple of laps.

Most of the cars back in the pack pitted early to get into clear air.

Soon after Andre Heimgartner made contact with Scott Pye which caused the 1 and only Safety Car deployment during races 11 and 12.

On the restart Shane Van Gisbergen gave Rick Kelly a bump which put him off the race track and Rick Kelly’s front air dam was full of sponsorship signs. I thought there would’ve been no way he could have made it to the end of the race but somehow he did.

Scott McLaughlin was now leading the race but Jamie Whincup kept him honest the whole way, which was good to see.

I thought at one stage that Jamie Whincup was going to win his first race for 2019 but that wasn’t the case.

As the race came to a close Jamie Whincup kept the pressure on the defending Supercars Champion and series leader, Scott McLaughlin. Driving without fault there was no chance for Jamie Whincup to take that lead position from him.

So once again Scott McLaughlin won another race for 2019.

Jamie Whincup started the Perth Supernight Supercars event down in 9th in the driver’s championship and is now up to 6th in the championship.

The only way any of the other drivers can close the points gap on Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard is for them have 8 bad races with DNF’S and NC’S. It does seem none of the other drivers will have a chance.

Results for Race 12

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing Team.

I thought the night racing was an awesome spectacle.

The next event is the Truck Assist Winton Supersprint 24th to the 26th of May 2019.

Please feel free to comment on how the Perth Supernight went via my Facebook Fanpage.

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

Supercars

WD 40 Phillip Island Supersprint 2019 Supercars

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HI to all you Supercars Fans around the World!

On the weekend of the 12th to the 14th of April 2019 was the WD-40 Phillip Island Supersprint.

The Fox Sport coverage themed the race around Fox’s hit drama series Game of Thrones, which is about to air their new season on TV. They included a “winner’s throne”, character dress ups and other stuff. I guess it was a bit of fun BUT it had nothing to do with racing so they can take their cross promotion and stick it up their ( x ).

Commentator, Mark Larkham was not at Phillip Island on the weekend due to personal reasons. Andrew Jones filled in for him. I’m not interested in prying into personal affairs but just want to say if its due to some form of tragedy, ‘Larko, our thoughts are with you’.

Last year Scott McLaughlin won both races at this track. With his winning streak so far this season I am sure was geared up and ready to go.

This weekend Supercars trialled closure of the pit lane while a Safety Car is deployed. This is apparently due to safety concerns over the usual mad rush to the pits when the race is flagged yellow. Just think back to Mostert and Kelly’s T-Bone incident in the pit lane earlier this season to see why they are trying to remedy this safety issue. What this will means is that the teams will have to think more strategically about when to take their pit stops.

This doesn’t change what happens when a race is flagged red. All drivers still have to come in from the track. This happened multiple times this weekend, three of which was because the local geese decided to take a stroll out on the track. The first instance was in Practice 1 between turns 6 And 7. Once the geese flew off the practice session resumed. It was kind of funny but also put a horrific picture in my mind of what would happen if they weren’t spotted in the first place.

The results for the pre-race sessions were as follows:

·        Anton De Pasquale was fastest in Practice 1

·        Fabian Coulthard was fastest in Practice 2

·        Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 3

·        Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Qualifying for race 9

·        Fabian Coulthard was fastest again in Practice 4

In race 9 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position with Fabian Coulthard alongside him.

At the start of the 120km, 27 lap race Scott McLaughlin got the jump on Fabian Coulthard who had to slot behind him in 2nd place.

He tried to go around the outside of his teammate but that didn’t work out, Scott McLaughlin was just too fast.

During the race James Courtney and Tim Slade both had front right tyres go flat when going down the main straight at 260kms/ph. In both incidents I thought they were going to have a massive accident but thankfully for them and their teams they got away with no damage.

Shane Van Gisbergen’s team gave him an incredible 4.7 second pit stop to change tyres. That really is incredible.

When teammate, Jamie Whincup pitted the Car Controller stepped away too early and gave Jamie Whincup the go-ahead. However something went wrong in the communications and the right front wheel man had not been able to finish tightening the nut. Jamie Whincup lost the wheel completely before completing the next lap.

By the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard had secured their lead on the race.

In the last part of the race Shane Van Gisbergen made contact with Cameron Waters who received damage to his right rear wheel. Cameron Waters was now out of the race. Shane Van Gisbergen however was able to continue without much damage.

Cameron Waters and Jamie Whincup were the only driver to not complete the race. Both of them must have been devastated.

Race 9 finished with Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard in 1st and 2nd. Andre Heingartner came in 3rd earning Nissan Motorsport (aka the Kelly brothers) their first podium finish for the season. Congratulations!

Results for race 9

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Fabian Coulthard -Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Andre Heimgartner – Nissan Motorsport.

 

Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Armour All Qualifying for race 10, earning him pole position. Alongside him was his teammate, Fabian Coulthard.

Race 10 was a 200km 45 lap race.

Fabian Coulthard got good launch from the start line but Scott McLaughlin still led into turn 1. Once again it made Shell V Power Racing Team 1st and 2nd.

Most of the drivers pitted on lap 5 to make sure they didn’t caught if the Safety Car was deployed. It seemed best to get the stops done as early as possible just in case, because if the safety car did come out the pit lane would’ve have been closed anyway.

Richie Stanaway took to the pits and his teammate, James Golding had to double stack. I don’t quite understand why the team made the decision to call them in at the same time.

Rick Kelly was holding up a bunch of cars and blocking them from getting by. It appeared to be poor sportsmanship. Commentator, Mark Skaife said he was being the modern day John Bowe (a former who also hogged the track regardless of other drivers). I thought that was a good comment.

In the middle of race Tim Slade was on the charge because he had new set of ‘green’ tyres. Most other drivers had long ago fitted their last set of tyres.

Towards the end of race, nobody could catch Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin. Once again the two Shell V Power Racing Team cars won the race, this time with Fabian Coulthard coming in 1st.

So both Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard got to sit on the Iron Throne.

This also puts Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard 1st and 2nd on the championship ladder.

Results for Race 10

1st Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Anton De Pasquale – Penrite Racing Erebus Motorsport.

 

 

The next event is the Pirtek Perth Supernight on the 2nd to the 4th of May, 2019.

Please feel free to comment on the event or my review via my Facebook Fanpage.

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

 

Supercars

Tyrepower Tasmania Supersprint 2019 Supercars

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HI to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 5th to the 7th of April, 2019 was the Tyrepower Tasmania Supersprint.

The pre-race sessions for race 7 were almost as fun to watch as the main race.

In the additional co-driver practice session Warren Luff was the fastest.

Jamie Whincup lost his fastest time passing under a yellow flag due to Nick Percat getting stuck in the sandtrap. The result of this was Chaz Mostert clocked the fastest time in Practice 1.

Jamie Whincup got back and was fastest in Practice 2.

Then Nick Percat was fastest in Practice 3.

In Qualifying for Race 7, Jamie Whincup spun around at turn 4 meaning he couldn’t take any further part in the session. Originally he was destined to go into the race at the 25th spot but somehow he ended up starting 15th.

Mark Winterbottom was fastest in Qualifying and gained himself the pole position.

In race 7, alongside Mark Winterbottom on pole was Scott McLaughlin.

At the start of the 50-lap race Scott Mclaughlin got the jump off the line which meant that  Mark Winterbottom had to pull back into 2nd place, only Because he  didn’t get to turn 1 and 2 1st.

Jamie Whincup had gained 1 spot up to 14th but made contact as he tried to get past Chaz Mostert at turn 6 and received damage to the front end and was forced to pit. As a result that put him 2 laps down.

When he re-joined, he had to stay out of the way because he was 2 laps down which made it impossible to gain any ground.

Fabian Coulthard was following his teammate Scott McLaughlin who had ‘the man flu’. It didn’t seem possible that he would take the number 1 position from Scott McLaughlin. However, it seemed more likely that Scott McLaughlin would need to exit the race due to his poor condition from the flu.

Scott McLaughlin was in the lead and simply not giving up another win for the season just because of the flu. (Proving it is harder to beat the ‘man flu’ than it is to beat everyone in the V8 Supercars).

By the middle of the race no one could catch Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard. They had such a strong lead and maintained it right to the end.

Results for Race 7

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

 

In the Pre-Race sessions for race 8; Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 4 and Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Qualifying for Race 8.

In Race 8 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.

At the start of the 84-lap, 200 Kilometre race I think most cars were fitted with slicks, which I thought was brave given that it was spitting on the sighting lap.

On the opening lap there was contact between Lee Holdsworth and Andre Heimgartner.

James Courtney tried to get around the outside of Rick Kelly at turn 4 but wasn’t able to get the run on Rick Kelly.

Before the race started it had started to rain but once the race got underway it started to pour.

But I was Surprised that no one pitted for wets (tyres) because the clouds looked black as the ace of spades.

Garry Jacobson and a lot of other teams and drivers got pinged for not using the handbrake in the pitlane. Whoops!

After the first round of pitstops Fabian Coulthard was able to warm his wet weather slicks over the next lap before Scott McLaughlin rejoined the race. On fresh cold tyres Scott McLaughlin had to let Fabian Coulthard through at turn 4, the hairy hairpin.

Both the Ford Mustang’s of Lee Holdsworth and Cameron Waters were still in or exiting the pits when flames started coming out the left-hand side. There wasn’t any crash or apparent reason and it did seem weird that both seemed to have the same issue (was it sabotage by Red Bull? If any knows please post on my fanpage – a link is at the bottom of this article.)

In the middle of the race while Shane Van Gisbergen was pitting, David Reynolds was close in behind Fabian Coulthard at the lead. When the right opportunity came, David Reynolds made all the right moves and took the lead. Both drivers are veterans so it became exciting to see who would hold out the longest.

This became even more exciting as Shane Van Gisbergen returned to the race from his pit stop. Soon it was Shane Van Gisbergen’s race again. He returned to the lead and continued to dominate to the end.

The funniest moment of the weekend was When Garry Rogers rode a bike out on the Starting Grid fully clad in cycling gear. He looked hilarious in lycra. LOL.

Near the end of the race Anton de Pasquale’s gear leaver came loose in his car. My first thought was come in and get it fixed. Surprisingly he pressed on. Madness, I tell you, MADNESS!!

As the race came to a close nobody could catch Shane Van Gisbergen who crossed the finish line over 5 seconds ahead of Fabian Coulthard  in second place, followed by David Reynolds nearly 2 seconds behind in 3rd place. Scott McLaughlin had made up 1 place to finish 4th with his man flu.

So it was Pole and Podium for Shane Van Gisbergen. A very nice result for Red Bull.

The next event is the WD40 Phillip Island Supersprint on the 12th to the 14th of April 2019.

Results for Race 8:

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V-Power Racing Team
3rd David Reynolds – Penrite Racing

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

Please feel free to comment on how the Tasmania weekend went via my facebook Fanpage.

 

Supercars

Beaurepaires Melbourne 400 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 14th to the 17th of March 2019 was the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400 at Albert Park in Melbourne, Victoria.

The Larry Perkins Trophy is up for grabs with Jamie Whincup defending ownership after his great win last year. Incidentally, earlier in the previous week Larry Perkins went into hospital for surgery to remove a gallbladder.

In the past The Melbourne 400 was run as a support category to the Australian Grand Prix F1 series. It was only last year that the Melbourne 400 officially became the second round of the V8 Supercars championship. I think it makes for more exciting racing as it is no longer seen as a ‘test run’.

The Melbourne 400 is an interesting opportunity in the championship because there are actually four races (25, 13, 25 & 13 laps), giving drivers with different strengths an opportunity to take advantage.

It also means 4 qualifying rounds which give the rookies a better chance to get to know the track.

Albert Park is an interesting venue as it is one of the longer tracks being 5.303Kms.

Race 4 also had the honour of being the 1000th race since the championship started in 1960. So the weekend was quite a milestone for the sport.

As we entered the weekend, the Red Bull Holden Racing Team held the Team’s Championship lead by 5 points, while Scott McLaughlin defends his lead in the Driver’s Championship.

In the pre-race sessions it was Chaz Mostert driving his new superfast Ford Mustang who had his best weekend in a while:

  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
  • Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2
  • Scott McLaughlin was also fastest in Qualifying for Race 3, 4 & 5
  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Qualifying for Race 6

All 4 Qualifying sessions were only 10 minutes each.

Race 3 was run on Friday as sunset approached at 5:55pm

Scott McLaughlin started on pole position and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.

At the start of 130 Kilometre, 25 lap race Scott McLaughlin got the jump on his teammate Fabian Coulthard.

Scott McLaughlin now didn’t have to worry about clean air or about being stuck behind his teammate.

It was all Mustangs at the front, Scott McLaughlin, Fabian Coulthard and Cameron Waters followed by Red Bull’s Shane Van Gisbergen in his Commodore.

However, it was the compulsory tyre change pit stop that would be the decider for many.

The only time Scott McLaughlin wasn’t leading the race was during the pitstop shuffle.

Scott McLaughlin hit the pits on lap 12 with a 4 second lead and once again came out on track to dominate.

Jamie Whincup pitted first because he didn’t want Shane Van Gisbergen who was running with a chance for a podium position to be waiting in the pits for too long behind him.

However, Shane Van Gisbergen waited to pit on lap 15 and it just mucked up his flow. There were now 4 Mustangs ahead of him.

Will Davison was happy with the way his ford Mustang was performing with only 10 laps to go he was now in 4th position.

Macauley Jones was travelling well and enjoying his first Albert Park event as a rookie.

With 6 laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen picked up and returned to his lead over Will Davison.

Towards the end of the race, with only 4 laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen’s engine let go which meant he was the only car to have no points. He came into Albert Park 2nd in championship, but after a disastrous weekend he is now 11th in the championship on minus 175 points.

Scott McLaughlin comfortably took in first place. This made it his 3rd win from the first 3 races in the season.

However, it was Chaz Mostert who had everyone’s eyebrows raised. He started in 22nd on the grid and was 13th by the middle of the race. Once out of the pits he showed everyone just what his car could do and came across the finish line 5th just behind Will Davison. That is a gain of 17 in 25 laps!!!! (I am sure I could hear Chaz singing ‘Day-o, day-o. Come, mister tally man, tally me banana’).

Results for race 3

1st Scott McLaughlin  – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
3rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing Team
4th Will Davison – 23 Red Racing Team car 23
5th Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team

In race 4 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

But again Scott McLaughlin dominated race 4, which wasn’t surprising because the Mustang’s were quick all weekend.

Jamie Whincup was battling with Chaz Mostert for 3rd place. When Chaz Mostert passed him and then Cameron Waters, Jamie Whincup had dropped back to 4th place.

Garry Jacobson and James Golding made contact on the main straight which I thought would end in a massive shunt but thankfully there wasn’t.

Scott McLaughlin was still the driver no one could beat because he was flying and dominated the race from start to finish. He crossed the finish with 2.5 seconds plus lead. This made it his 4th win out 4 starts in the championship.

It also seems the Mustangs, the newest entry to the track this year are making quite a splash. It was Chaz Mostert (Mustang) and Cameron Waters (Mustang) that pushed Red Bull’s Jamie Whincup in his ZB Commodore out of the top 3 positions.

Results for Race 4

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing
3rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing

Before race 5 started on the warm up lap, both Scott McLaughlin and Cameron Waters came together which resulted in both drives not starting and being classified as a NC (Not Complete) as a result Nick Percat and Tim Slade were affectively on the front row of the grid.

Tim Slade kept the lead as Jamie Whincup who started from 6th position came in behind him.

Fabain Coulthard was trying to stay out of trouble because he didn’t want to help the Dick Johnson Racing Team by leaving the track to repair his car.

At lap 13 Jamie Whincup finally took the lead. Tim Slade and Nick Percat then battled for the trailing positions. Nick Percat came into turn 15 in a poor position on the outside driving wide and lost several places that he just couldn’t recover from in the remaining time.

After the pitstops it was Mostert who was right behind Whincup at the lead. The pressure was on.

With only 6 laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen lost his right back wheel! The Vodafone Safety Car was called out.

With four laps to go Chaz Mostert once again wanted to prove what his Mustang could do and took the lead off Jamie Whincup who was now closely followed by Tim Slade. David Reynolds in his ZB Commodore was not far behind. I get the feeling it was more important to him to stay ahead of Fabian Coulthard’s Mustang than to try take 3rd position from Time Slade (also Commodore).

Chaz Mostert was incredibly fast and opened the gap on his lead to over a second. It was incredible to watch. This was his first race win for 2019. Congratulations Chaz! ‘Day-o, day-o
Daylight come and me wan’ go home’.

Aside from Scott McLaughlin and Cameron Waters who never made it past the warm up lap, it was only Richie Stanaway who was disqualified from the results due to making contact with another car. He later received a $10,000 fine for the incident. Ouch!

Results for Race 5

1st Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing team.
3rd Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing.

In race 6 Chaz Mostert started on pole position and alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

At the start of the race Scott McLaughlin got the jump and led the way early on. Given that it was only a 13-lap race with no pit stops, Scott McLaughlin dominated the race once again.

Chaz Mostert got off to a bad start from pole and was immediately behind Jamie Whincup.

It took until lap 3 for Mostert to take Whincup and get into 2nd position but by now Scott McLaughlin had a 2+ second lead.

Rick Kelly didn’t want to get to close to the drivers in front of him otherwise he would get caught up in an accident.

In the middle of the race Macauley Jones had another massive shunt which meant the safety car was deployed to clear Macauley Jones car. He was the only car to leave the race with a Not Complete.

As the race resumed Chaz Mostert made a go for Scott McLaughlin’s lead spot but couldn’t come close. It was still exciting to watch and Im sure it did have Scott McLaughlin on edge.

As they came across the line no one could catch those top 3; Scott McLaughlin, Chaz Mostert and Jamie Whincup.

Results for race 6

1st Scott McLaughlin  – Shell V Power Racing team
2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

Chaz Mostert won the Larry Perkins Trophy and Jamie Whincup claimed his 200th podium in his Supercars Career.

Supercars has dropped the time certain race finishes unless there are major Safety Car delays.

Triple 8 are going to debut a new Supercars wheel retention system which is to stop the wheel from coming off the car out on the race track.

The next event is the Tyrepower Tasmania Supersprint on the 5th to the 7th of April 2019.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/
please feel free to comment on How the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400 went.

Supercars

Superloop Adelaide 500 2019 Supercars

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HI to all you Supercars fans around the world!                              

From Thursday 28th of February to the 3rd of March, 2019 was the Superloop Adelaide 500.

As the official first race of the 2019 V8 Supercars Championship Season it is an exciting start to the year with two races of 250Km each.

Before I get into the rest of my review I must say that I really missed the familiar faces of Garth Tander and Craig Lowndes out on track. Both retired from full time driving at the end of last season and I am sure I am not the only one who will miss their presence.

The big talk on the scene over the last few months is the introduction of the Ford Mustangs into the V8 Supercars Championship. It seems everyone out there loves the Mustang.  So its new cars all round for DJRTP drivers and Tickford with Chaz Mostert’s Supercheap Auto and Lee Holdsworth’s Bottle-O cars. I am sure that they will be under heavy scrutiny by everyone to see if the Mustangs have what it takes to race in Australia.

In last year’s Superloop 500 it was Shane Van Gisbergen who made this his event for a second time by a double win of both races. That’s right! He won the 2 season opening races in both 2017 and 2018. This year was no exception to spectacular driving and amazing results.

The Red Bull Holden Racing Team won the 2018 Teams Championship so it earned them the privilege to lead the field out of the pit lane this year (always an advantage).

There were some interesting happenings in the pre-race sessions:

Anton De Pasquale was the fastest in Practice 1 and Scott McLaughlin stopped outside turn 11 due to a loss of oil pressure.

Scott McLaughlin wasn’t phased and proved himself and his car as fastest in Practice 2.

Fabian Coulthard was fastest in Practice 3.

Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Qualifying for Race 1 and then followed that up as fastest in Practice 4.

Macauley Jones didn’t join Race 1 due to a massive accident caused by brake failure at the end of Practice 4.

Fabian Coulthard followed up his great run in Practice 3 and was fastest in the Race 1 Top Ten Shootout.

So in Race 1, Fabian Coulthard started on pole position and alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

Surprisingly both Fabian Coulthard and Jamie Whincup stalled off the starting grid which allowed Scott McLaughlin to take the race lead early on.

Off the line the cars were 4 wide which I thought was going to end up in a massive shunt.

After the opening lap Fabian Coulthard got pinged by race control for jumping the start. This mistake earned him a 10 second stop and hold penalty dropping him from 2nd to 20th.

Pretty soon Cameron Waters was complaining about the heat because his cool suit failed. I’m sure it didn’t help him cool down when officials forced him to come in to the pits.

Lee Holdsworth and Scott Pye ended up in tyre bundle together at turn 7.  Surprisingly they managed to get out of the mess themselves without needing assistance from the safety car so the race continued.

In the middle of the race Fabian Coulthard was still fighting back from his 10 second Stop and Hold Penalty.

Also, the Red Bull Holden Racing Team had a problem with their regulator which holds the pressure for the rattle guns hose.  It was going nuts and hissing loudly because it wasn’t done up tight enough.

Towards the end of the race no one could catch Scott McLaughlin who dominated Race 1.

As Scott McLaughlin crossed the finish line he appeared to be singing. When Greg Murphy asked him what he was singing he said ‘Horses from Daryl Braithwaite’. LOL!

Results for Race 1

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Ford Mustang
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

 Scott McLaughlin once again proved he is one of the fastest out on track claiming the Qualifying and Top ten Shootout rounds to earn him Pole Position. It was a nice way for Scott McLaughlin to start the 200th race of his career.

In race 2 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position and alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

Shane Van Gisbergen was the only Red Bull Holden Racing Team car to make the Top Ten Shootout. His teammate Jamie Whincup qualified 12th.

At the start of the 78 lap race Shane Van Gisbergen tried to go around the outside of Scott McLaughlin but that didn’t work. When Scott McLaughlin ran wide at turn 4 Shane Van Gisbergen tried to criss cross, over and under but that didn’t work either. McLaughlin was not prepared to give up the race lead that easily so Shane Van Gisbergen had to pull back in behind him.

Simona De Silvestro made a mistake in all the traffic at turn 4 and went straight up the escape road.

Rick Kelly nearly made contact with Nick Percat on track.

Jack Le Brocq caused the first deployment of the Vodafone Safety Car due to him being stranded at turn 11 unable to get restarted. With the race now under ‘yellow’ most teams took the opportunity to head to their pits to meet race requirements.

Then the day of the ‘Pit Lane Mess’ started. As the pit lane became very busy I knew there was going to be chaos. Chaz Mostert had just been in the pits a lap before but still went back like all the others. I don’t know how this happened but his car controller gave him the go-ahead. As he came out of the pits Rick Kelly was travelling along the pit lane and ‘T-boned’ him. Kelly seemed angry and didn’t take his foot off the accelerator. They were blocking the pit lane. The other cars had to drive through the DJRTP and Red Bull garages to get around. All high risks activities. Chaz Mostert copped a drive through penalty and later apologised publicly but there were differing opinions on this.

Nick Percat and David Reynolds stayed out on track to avoid the congestion and it worked to their advantage. Both of them ended up with track position coming in at 5th and 9th respectively.

Towards the end of the race officials had to ‘call time’. They weren’t going to complete the total number of laps and cut the race short.

Once again no one could catch Scott McLaughlin who managed to start his title defence of the Supercars Championship with a perfect score 300 points. A double win puts him up there with some of the great drivers of all time.

Mark Winterbottom was my hero of the day. He started 24th due to not recording a time in Qualifying. Throughout the race he managed to gain 18 places to finish 6th. What an amazing effort.

 

Results for Race 2

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing team
2nd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

In my opinion personally I would like to see Supercars get rid of timed race because it would make more enjoyable for the fans not only watching on but live at the track as well.

That is my Opinion anyway.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/ please feel free to let me know how the event from your Opinion via my Facebook Fanpage.

The next event is the Beaurepairs Melbourne 400 on the 14th to the 17th of March 2019.

Bathurst 12 hour

Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour 2019

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend 1st to the 3rd of the February, 2019 was the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour which is a pre-season race before the Supercars Championship starts.

This is an international endurance race for GT and production cars, not V8 Supercars but there were so many drivers from the Supercars Championship in the race I include it in my reviews.

The title ‘Bathurst 12 Hour’ is true to its name. It is a time based race of 12 hours and disregards the number of laps performed.

In order to do the 12 hours in one hit the race started at 5:45am when it was still dark.

Englishman, Jake Dennis driving the Aston Martin was originally supposed to start in pole position but had been docked 2 grid spots for speeding in the pit lane. Then due a technical infringement by the team the Aston Martin started in 12th spot.

Car #999, the Mercedes Benz driven by Maximilian Buhk started in pole position; alongside him was the Mercedes Benz #77 driven by Luca Stolz.

V8 Supercars star, Shane Van Gisbergen started 19th on the grid after not making the top ten shootout on Saturday afternoon.

When the Mercedes Benz safety car took off for the warm up lap the 12-hour clock started for the race. After the first lap the race gets underway with a rolling start (not a standing start).

During the opening laps everybody was trying to keep their cars nice and straight as they knew it was a long race.

The two AMG Mercedes, cars #999 and #77 maintained their 1st and 2nd places.

In this early stage Shane Van Gisbergen made up 4 positions going from 19th to 15th. An excellent start but there was a long way to go.

It wasn’t long after that the carnage started.

On lap 6 while still early and quite dark car #71 ended up going down the escape road, an error not often seen.

Car #27, the Ferrari driven by Nick Percat got spun around at Forest Elbow after getting involved with the lapped car, MARC Focus V8 driven by Dutchman, Mathijs Bakker.  Later, Percat laid claim that this was an incident that couldn’t be helped and a result of multi-class racing. Bakker was not so diplomatic and did not hold back to vehemently blame Percat. The repair time cost percat at least 25 laps.

The 888 Vodafone Mercedes had a drama with the brakes. After Shane Van Gisbergen had to pit to try and have it repaired the team could not find the issue. Shane Van Gisbergen had to return to the track he was not happy. Little did he know how this was going to affect all the drivers.

Martin Tomczyk was battling with Craig Lowndes and nearly took his BMW into the wall on the right-hand side.

James Winslow received a lot of damage to the rear of his car and had parts flapping around which meant he had to pit to get them removed, otherwise risk receiving a mechanical black flag.

Garth Tander in car #22 had an accident by running into the back of #19 driven by Danish Kristina Neilson. He had to limp his Audi back to the pits and was soon declared out of the race.

When the accidents started, I thought these are going be expensive repair jobs.

On the race broadcast Chad Neylon, pit reporter for fox/10 used a giant touch screen to explain how he believed the strategies would unfold. It was a great insight.

Mark Dutton, racing engineer and current manager of Triple 8 was the Car Controller for the day, which was cool to see.

Shane Van Gisbergen ran wide at turn 1 due to sitting on the left-hand side of the car and lost the positions he had previously made.

When the sun started to rise the race was still under green. The cars that started further back in the pack now tried to make their move to get inside the top ten.

Braking problems continued to bother the three drivers of the 888 Vodafone Mercedes. The crew were unable to repair the issue and drivers were required to use both feet to apply the brakes. I am sure this did not help their driving form. At the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen literally rolled out of the car onto the ground in exhaustion.

The funniest part of the weekend was when Chad Neylon gave David Reynolds a lift in the AMG Mercedes Benz Safety Car to the race track. Neylon’s driving caused Reynolds to spill his coffee. Chad Neylon said ‘Lesson learnt, don’t drive to the track in the AMG Safety Car’. Reynolds response was “you’re a bad driver”. LOL

Jamie Whincup was given a Drive Through Penalty for passing the AMG Safety Car. Somehow  Roland Dane (triple 8 Owner) flexed his muscles of influence because he got the stewards and officials to negate the penalty.

The last time Jamie Whincup got a Drive Through Penalty was 2015 in the Bathurst 1000 but never in the Bathurst 12 hours.

Towards the end of the of the race Matt Campbell was leading with 2nd and 3rd chasing him down for the win, while  Shane Van Gisbergen was on an almighty charge to try to get on the Bathurst 12-hour podium but the top three were not giving up their positions.

38 cars started the race. By the end of the 12 hours of true endurance racing 15 cars had received DNFs. It’s a damned tough race.

 

Results for the 2019 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hours

1st Matt Campbell – Car 912, Porsche 911 GT3-R for Earl Bamber Motorsport
2nd Jake Dennis –  Car 62, Aston Martin Vantage  for R Motorsport
3rd Raffaele Marcello – Car 999, Mercedes AMG for Mercedes AMG Team GruppeM Racing
4th Shane Van Gisbergen – Car 888, Mercedes AMG Team Vodafone.

The next event is the first race of the V8 Supercars Season, The Superloop Adelaide 500 from the 28th of February to the 3rd of March 2019.

Drivers

Craig Lowndes – looking back on a fantastic motor racing career

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HI to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

Earlier this year Craig Lowndes announced his retirement from full time driving in V8 Supercars. Although he will participate in the Enduros next year, he will be sorely missed as a brilliant and exciting driver to watch and an all-round ‘hell of a nice guy’.

The 2018 V8 Supercars season has now ended and Craig Lowndes has run his last race as a full time driver so I thought I might take the opportunity to put together a brief retrospective on his fantastic career.

Craig Lowndes was born on the 21st of June 1974 in Melbourne, Australia.

At the tender age of 9 with his father’s encouragement, Craig Lowndes started racing go karts at a track in the town of Whittlesea.

He moved into race cars in 1991 driving a Van Diemen in the Motorcraft Formula Ford Championship. Think about it. That would make him roughly 17 years old. Quite an achievement don’t you think?

In 1993 Craig Lowndes won the Australian Formula Ford Championship which was a good way to start his motor racing career. It caught everyone’s attention and all eyes were on him to see what he could do next.

The following year, 1994 he accepted the offer to be co-driver to Brad Jones who was already a legend. It must have been quite an honour to be ‘the chosen’ but also it said quite a lot about the faith they had in him.

In 1995 he earned the pole position at Sandown and Bathurst. Unfortunately, both ended with a DNF but he soon returned to his usual form.

In 1996 he made his fulltime Australian Touring Car Championship debut and won the championship.

By 1997 his rapid rise through the ranks put him in a position to go overseas and try his hand as a Formula 1 driver. Things didn’t appear to go to plan so he ended up coming back to Australia for the Endurance races which were the Tickford 500 at Sandown and the Primus 1000 at Bathurst.

In 1998 he accepted an offer from the Holden Racing Team to be teammate to Mark Skaife (moving from Ford).  He replaced the massive gap left in the team by Peter Brock, who retired at the end of the 1997 season. They were big shoes to fill but Craig Lowndes (CL) proved his worth by winning The Shell Championship Series for a second time (the first being 1996).

Then the following year (1999) just to prove a point, he won the Shell Championship Series for the third time.

So let me just recap that because it is quite astounding:

·       1991 at 17 years old he starts his career in professional race cars

·       1993 in his 3rd season he wins the Australian Formula Ford Championship

·       1994 becomes co-driver to Brad Jones.

·       1996 becomes a fulltime driver and wins the Australian Touring Car Championship

·       1998 replaces the retired Peter Brock in the Holden Racing Team

o   Teamed up with another race legend, Mark Skaife

o   Wins the Shell Championship Series (for a second time).

·       1999 wins the championship again. That is his 3rd season as a full time driver and 3rd season win.

If not before, he now had really made a name for himself.

He was going for his 4th championship in 2000 but that went to his teammate Mark Skaife.

In 2001 he joined Gibson Motorsport but it didn’t seem to be a good fit.

The following year he moved to 00 Motorsport. This was also a short term relationship and for 2003 and 2004 joined Ford Performance Racing.

2003 he won round 2 at Phillip Island after the race got red flagged due pouring rain.

With his teammate Glenn Seton came runner up for the Bathurst 1000, 2nd to Greg Murphy and Rick Kelly in 2003 and 2004.

For the 2005 he moved under the wing of Triple 8 Race Engineering. He finally seemed to have found his perfect match and it started a 14 year relationship with Triple 8.

In that first year with Triple 8 he won the Betta Electrical Sandown 500 and finished runner up to ‘The Enforcer’, Russell Ingall for the season Championship.

With co-driver Yvan Muller he should have won the supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 in 2005. If it wasn’t for Craig Lowndes hitting the wall and collecting a wheel from the Larry Perkins’ Castrol Commodore I reckon they would’ve won Bathurst in 2005.

In 2006 Craig Lowndes won the Clipsal 500 Race 1

While in race 2 he had a DNF (Did Not Finish) due to an accident with Cameron McConville, James Courtney and Jason Richards.

He also won Oran Park Race 3 and the coveted the 2006 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

From 2007 to 2012 Team Vodafone was the new sponsor for Craig Lowndes and also Jamie Whincup. They were a great match as team mates and soon became a force to be reckoned with.

2008 Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup made a 3-peat, winning the Bathurst 1000 for a third time in a row. 2006, 2007 and 2008.

2009 both Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes won 6 from 6 races to start the 2009 V8 Supercars Championship.  The year for Triple 8 was looking great.

Over the next 9 seasons he continued in the same form with far too many accomplishments to list.

In 2013 Red Bull took over as the naming rights sponsor.

Caltex Vortex came in as the sponsor for Craig in 2016 and 2017. Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen stayed sponsored by Red Bull.

In his final year, 2018 Craig Lowndes was again under new sponsorship Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

With the completion of the 2018 season it ends Craig Lowndes’ 22 year career as a fulltime driver in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship and his 14 year relationship with Triple Eight Race Engineering.

His stats clearly define him as one of the all-time greats.

Craig Lowndes – stats of a legend:

Races:   667

Crashes (obviously survived):     1996 Phillip Island, Race 2

1999 Calder Park, Race 2

2001 Clipsal 500 Adelaide,  Race 2

2003 Barbagallo Raceway, Race 2

2005 Clipsal 500, Race 2

2006 Phillip Island, Race 3

2008 Clipsal 500, Race 2

2011 Abu Dhabi, Race 2 (I don’t see a pattern here. Do you?)

Race wins:          107. The first in the history of racing to reach 100 race wins.

Pole positions:   42

Bathurst 1000 Wins:      7

The Bathurst tally includes a trifecta having won 3 years running 2006,2007 & 2008.

Winner of the opening race 3 years in a row 1999, 2000 and 2001.

He has been team mates with some of the most well-known drivers in the history of the sport including;

·       Peter brock 1994 – 1996

·       Brad Jones 1994

·       Greg Murphy 1995 – 1997

·       Mark Skaife 1998 – 2000

·       Neil Crompton 2001 – 2002

·       Glenn Seton 2003 – 2004

·       Steven Ellery 2005

·       Jamie Whincup 2006 -2018

 

Co-drivers include many of the above plus:

·       Cameron McConville 1999

·       Glenn Seton 2003, 2004

·       Yvan Muller 2005

·       Warren Luff 2012, 2013

·       Steven Richards 2014, 2018

He has worked with some of the best race engineers in the industry including:

·       Matthew Crawford 1996 – 2000

·       Oscar Fearonoto 2001 2002

·       Campbell little 2005 – 2007

·       Jeromy Moore 2008 – 2014 Jeromy Moore’s nickname is JJ. In 2015 Jeromy Moore moved to Germany to work with the Porsche LMP1 Team for 2015, 2016 and 2017.

·       Grant Mcpherson – Nickname is Shippy 2015

·       Ludo Lacroix 2016

·       John McGregor – Irish 2017 – 2018

At his last race for the 2018 season he did his lap of honour to a cheering crowd. What amazed me was the response from not just his team, but all the other drivers. Some on hands and knees bowing in his presence, asking to have their driving suits signed and more. No-one has ever had a bad thing to say about Craig Lowndes (except that he beat them in a race). It really says a lot about the character of the man.

Congratulations Craig Lowndes! You truly are one of the greats in the sport. I am looking forward to the Enduros next year but am sure that I speak for everyone when I say ‘Gonna miss you’ from full time racing.

Good luck with everything you do in the future.

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

Please feel free to let me know what your favourite Craig Lowndes moments are.

Post Race Report, Supercars

Coates Hire Newcastle 500 2018 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 23rd to the 25th of November 2018 was the Coates Hire Newcastle 500, the Supercars season grand finale.

The Newcastle race is held on local streets, part of which runs along its beautiful shore line and the city comes alive for the spectacle. Each year it gets better and better.

One of the funniest moment of the weekend was when Jessica Yates, Mark Skaife and Russell Ingall wore a t-shirt taking a dig at his fellow commentator (Russell Ingall) for a incident back in 2003. It was printed with ‘Dearest Mark, I am sorry for firing you into the fence at Sydney Motorsport Park Eastern Creek – Love Russ’. LOL.

In the sessions prior to the race:

  • Lee Holdsworth was fastest in Practice 1
  • Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in the ‘Armour All’ Qualifying for race 30
  • Scott McLaughlin was fastest in the ‘Armour All’ Qualifying for race 31

In race 30 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position and alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

At the start of the 95-lap race Jamie Whincup got the jump on his teammate, Shane Van Gisbergen but then let him pass him up Watt Street so that Shane Van Gisbergen could close the Driver’s Championship points gap with Scott McLaughlin.

Fabian Coulthard got spun around by Jamie Whincup stopping Fabian Coulthard helping out his teammate, Scott McLaughlin up the front.

Later Fabian Coulthard got himself in more trouble. He made a mistake approaching turn 1 which put him in the wall. He then was also joined by Tim Blanchard and Nick Percat. In fact it was such a mess Nick Percat had half of Fabian Coulthard’s car in his lap. Fabians car looked pretty smashed up and he was out of the race with an NC (not complete). I didn’t think the team would be able to repair the car for Sunday’s race but somehow they worked their magic.

Craig Lowndes followed Scott Pye into pit lane for his pit stop. James Courtney was already in the pits causing Scott Pye to double stack, blocking the pit lane for Craig Lowndes. I’m sure he was mighty pissed off losing that valuable time.

When John McGregor asked Craig Lowndes what happened he replied angrily with ”Bloody Pye blocked the fastlane”.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen had enough fuel and tyre grip to chase down the cars in front of him.

However, burning up all that fuel meant when he pitted for his 3rd and final stop there was an extended wait to fill up the race requirement of 140 litres.

Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin was in the lead, heading for victory until the most embarrassing thing of all happened. On the 2nd last corner before the finish line he ran out of fuel! Amazingly his car continued to roll without fuel across the finish line.

Shane Van Gisbergen was close behind taking full advantage and crossed the line ahead of Scott McLaughlin.

Now Shane Van Gisbergen was just 2 points behind Scott McLaughlin in the championship. It was a very unusual finish to the race.

However, after the dust settled at the finish line the Stewards gave Shane Van Gisbergen a 25 second penalty for his car being lowered to the ground while fuelling up at his last pit stop. Whoops!

Gisbergen had lost his win and had now been relegated to finishing 5th in the race. So officially McLaughlin was the winner. With only 1 race for the weekend and season he now had the points to secure this year’s championship.

Results for race 30

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

Before the start of race 31 Craig Lowndes did his final lap around the Newcastle streets circuit waving to all the fans. When he got back he took a walk up the pit lane thanking everybody for their support. All the teams took part in congratulating Craig Lowndes on his fantastic career. All the Triple 8 team members wore a shirt that said ‘Thanks CL’.

Chaz Mostert showed one of the greatest gestures of respect and asked Craig Lowndes to sign his suit.

It was now time for Race 31 and Craig Lowndes was bestowed the honour of leading the drivers out to the start line.

David Reynolds started on pole position and alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

All the Nissan drivers and cars were pink because they were supporting the McGrath Foundation. It was quite a sight.

As the 95 lap race started David Reynolds led with Scott McLaughlin following during the opening laps.

Scott McLaughlin seemed to be playing it safe which I thought was a good call; If Scott McLaughlin damaged his car and got a DNF he would lose the championship again (last year he lost the championship by only one race). All he had to do was hang in there.

Jamie Whincup helped out teammate Shane Van Gisbergen and pitted early to avoid a double stack.

Tim Blanchard got a pit lane drive through penalty for contact with Simona de Silvestro.

David Reynolds was still leading before his first pit stop.

Meanwhile Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen where battling it out in 2nd and 3rd position for the championship.

For a time they didn’t have the support of their team mates, Jamie Whincup in 7th place and Fabian Coulthard back in 9th.

Michael Caruso was trying to finish on a high with Nissan Motorsport with his contract still up for renewal. He finished the race 19th, gaining 5 places from a starting position 24.

Lee Holdsworth is  also another driver without a contract for next season. Mark Winterbottom will be replacing him at Team 18.

Nick Percat didn’t want a repeat of Saturday’s dramas which he thankfully avoided by qualifying further up the grid and running a clean race.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen had the front guards on the left and right hanging out.  It wasn’t that bad so he wasn’t about to lose time with a pit stop. His race engineer, Grant McPherson said him, ‘If the Safety Car comes out in the next few laps we will pit to fix it’ (but just keep racing).

Towards the end of the race no one else could catch Scott McLaughlin or David Reynolds in 1st and 2nd place.

At that point Ryan Story who is the team manager at Shell V Power Racing was being interviewed by Greg Murphy and said to Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton ‘We are good on fuel today. OK boys!’. LOL.

Right at the end of the race David Reynolds had great pace. Scott McLaughlin knew he had the championship all wrapped up and it seemed he moved over and let David Reynolds take the race win.

Results for Race 31

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

Congratulations to Craig Lowndes on everything you have achieved during your remarkable Supercars career. What you have done for the sport of Supercars racing has been documented. It will be weird not seeing you in the car full time next year. So, well done Craig Lowndes!

Thanks CL!

The next event is the 2019 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour on the 1st to the 3rd of February 2019.

But the Supercars Championship doesn’t start until 28th of February to the 3rd of March 2019.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/?ref=bookmarks please feel free to let me know how you think the grand finale went.

Post Race Report, Supercars

ITM Auckland Supersprint 2018 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the World!

On the weekend of the 2nd to the 4th of November 2018 was the ITM Auckland Supersprint.

The big bomb-shell of the weekend was from Mark Winterbottom announcing that he has chosen not to sign a new contract with his current team Tickford Racing. Having originally signed with them back in 2006, this ends 13 years as a Ford driver under the Tickford banner. What is surprising is that he has not announced who he will be signing with.

In the preliminaries to the races over the weekend:

·       Scott McLaughlin was the fastest in Practice 1

·       Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 2.

·       Scott McLaughlin crashed in practice 2 taking him out of that session.

·       Also Todd Hazelwood got so bogged in the sand he needed help to get his car out.

·       Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 3.

·       Scott McLaughlin was the fastest in armour all qualifying for race 28.

·       Simona De Silvestro caused a red flag in qualifying which meant she started race 28 from position 26.

·       David Reynolds was fastest in qualifying for race 29 which gave him the last go out on track to try and claim pole position. He did well but in the end the pole was claimed by the 7 times Supercars Champion, Jamie Whincup.

On Saturday’s race 28 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. This made it his 13th pole position for this season and 45th in his career. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

Craig Lowndes didn’t start in the top ten, in fact he started 18th.

At the start of the 70-lap race Scott McLaughlin took the lead. Shane Van Gisbergen tried to get up the inside of him between turn 2 and 3. When he realised he couldn’t get by he tucked back in behind car 17.

Later Todd Hazelwood got pinged for passing the Safety Car so copped a PLP – Pit Lane Penalty. Naughty boy Todd Hazelwood! Jamie Whincup knows this shame all too well because he got pinged for the same thing at Bathurst in 2015. It’s a mistake that you don’t repeat too soon.

Shane Van Gisbergen was going really quick during the opening laps and I thought he might take the lead off Scott McLaughlin but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

The Vodafone Safety Car was deployed due to Fabian Coulthard being in the wall after Richie Stanaway and Lee Holdsworth made contact. Fabian Coulthard was close behind and tried to avoid them but oversteered, first hitting the wall on one side of the track and then careening to the other side of the track hitting the wall again. My first thought when I saw Fabian Coulthard’s car in the wall was there will be no way the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske crew can repair the car in time to get back out on the track, especially with the limited spares all the teams had with the race being ‘off-shore’.

When car 12 returned to the back of the pits the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske crew put the cover over the car. Commentator, Mark Skaife said it wasn’t repairable and was right. Fabian Coulthard was out of the race with an NC (Not Complete).

Jamie Whincup qualified 5th so when the Vodafone Porsche Safety Car was deployed for Fabian Coulthard, Jamie had to double stack behind Shane Van Gisbergen.

There were a lot of cars going off the track between turns 2 and 3. I can only assume this was due to the wet weather.

Mark Winterbottom was holding up the race leader Scott McLaughlin. Scott McLaughlin asked for Mark Winterbottom to get the blue flag (informs a driver that a faster car is approaching and that the driver should move aside to allow one or more faster cars to pass) which was fair enough. Unfortunately the flag didn’t come out soon enough.

In the end Scott McLaughlin’s race engineer, Ludo Lacroix brought him in to the pits to try give him a clear track when he re-joined the race and not get held up any further. If Scott McLaughlin had stayed out on the race track for one more laps with traffic in front of him he would have lost a massive amount of time and ruin his existing chance of a race win.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was battling with Scott McLaughlin for the lead and the Championship. The stakes were high and they both knew it.

Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin still had the race lead. Shane Van Gisbergen was in hot pursuit and tried to overtake on turn 8 but Scott McLaughlin blocked him. Shane Van Gisbergen had nowhere to go and made contact. It wasn’t really his fault but Shane Van Gisbergen was given a 5 second penalty.

Finally in the last few lapse Shane Van Gisbergen got his way and took the lead, holding it to the finish line by just .5118 seconds.

Results for race 28

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.

At the end of race 28, the gap for the Driver Championship between Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen was now just 2 points.

 

In race 29 Jamie Whincup started on pole position. Alongside him was championship leader Scott McLaughlin.

I was amazed that the Dick Johnson Team Penske crew managed to repair Fabian Coulthard’s car overnight in time for the race, given the amount of limited spare parts all the teams had.

At the start of 70 lap race Scott McLaughlin tried to get up the inside of Jamie Whincup between turns 2 and 3 but wasn’t successful.

Scott McLaughlin wasn’t fazed as he knew there was a long way to go, which was a good call I thought as there was no point taking serious risks at this stage of the game.

Jamie Whincup pitted first so that Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t have to double stack.

Craig Lowndes was trying to get passed David Reynolds’ for third position but unfortunately didn’t manage to do that. It would’ve been a great result to see Craig Lowndes on the Podium in his second last event as a full time driver.

When Shane Van Gisbergen pitted for his 2nd stop the team put the car up on the incompressible jacks to reverse the setup change they did at the his first pit stop.

Anton De Pasquale followed his teammate, David Reynolds as he has done for most of this year as a rookie.

At one stage I thought there was going to be contact between Mark Winterbottom and Scott McLaughlin but luckily there wasn’t. In fact there weren’t any other major accidents with any of teams the whole weekend.

In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup was behind Scott McLaughlin trying to get the lead and give his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen a better chance to close the Championship points gap between him and Scott McLaughlin.

I thought Jamie Whincup was going was to either win or finish 2nd but he is a team player and moved over when asked by his race engineer, David Cauchi to try and help Shane Van Gisbergen earn extra points and win the 2018 Supercars championship.

Unfortunately for Triple 8 Scott McLaughlin was just too fast and came across the line first.

Results for race 29

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

The gap between Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen is 14 points.

The next event is the Coates Hire Newcastle 500 on the 23rd to the 25th of November 2018.

This event will be Craig Lowndes final fulltime Supercars drive and it will also Tim Blanchard’s final race.

The funniest part of the weekend was when Mark Skaife made a bet with Russell Ingall. Ingall saying that Jamie Whincup still stood a chance to win the 2018 Championship and Skaife stating it was not likely at all.

If Mark Skaife lost the bet he would’ve had to wear a t shirt printed with ‘I Love the Enforcer’ (the Enforce being Russel Ingall’s nickname).

Now Russell Ingall has to wear a t shirt that Mark Skaife creates with content still to be announced. LOL.

As the season draws to a close, the drivers that don’t have a contract for 2019 at the moment are:

·       Mark Winterbottom

·       Lee Holdsworth.

·       Michael Caruso.

·       Richie Stanaway

·       Tim Blanchard

Also at this stage Tickford looks like it will only have 2 cars in 2019, Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert.

It will be interesting to see how things will turn out for next season.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/ if you have any thoughts or Opinions on how the race weekend went please feel free to let me know via my Facebook Fanpage.

 

Live it – Breathe it – Dream it – Drive it

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