Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!
On the weekend of the 20th to the 22nd of October, 2017 was the Vodafone Gold Coast 600.
There were a few dramas pre-race start of note. In practice 1 Simona de Silvestro hit the tyre wall on the exit of the last turn coming onto the main straight.
In practice 3 James Moffatt also caused a red flag. If you cause a red flag in a practice session you can’t take any further part, so he had to sit out the rest of practice 3.
In race 21, Steve Owen started on pole position and alongside him was Paul Dumbrell.
The drivers had to do an extra formation lap due to the rain. This resulted in there being a lap plucked from the total 102 laps and the race was now 101 laps.
All the co-drivers started the race accept for Alex Rullo. It was good to see a main driver start, because the race was wet on Saturday the drivers had to scrap what they learnt on Friday in the practice sessions while it was dry and tune the car into a wet setup.
Just like at Bathurst in the wet weather, all the crews had to carry their drivers out to their cars to avoid slippery feet whilst driving.
The co-drivers had to do a minimum of 34 laps before handing back to the main drivers.
I couldn’t believe how wet it was during Saturday’s race.
Again, Andre Heimgartner had to Sub for Ash Walsh who is still recovering from that big accident at Phillip Island.
Once underway, Steve Owen was battling with Paul Dumbrell for the 1st spot. When Paul Dumbrell tried to go down the inside of Steve Owen he connected with the Supercheap Auto Ford Falcon spinning it around. As a result when Paul Dumbrell came in to hand over to Jamie Whincup he had to sit still for an extra 15 seconds to serve the penalty.
After the race, Chaz Mostert commented he didn’t think the 15 second penalty was enough because he thought it was poor driving form.
In my opinion the 15 second penalty was enough.
In the middle of the race Garth Tander and Todd Kelly made contact which resulted in Todd Kelly getting a 15-point penalty and he also scored a busted rear wing which meant he had to limp back to the pits.
By this stage all the main drivers were back in their cars for the run to the chequered flag.
Towards the end of the race no one could catch the top 3 drivers of Chaz Mostert, followed by Cameron Waters about 2.5 seconds later and then Tim Slade about 5.5 seconds behind the leader.
Fabain Coulthard started 16th and moved up 12 spots during the race. And Scott Mclaughlin started 12th and moved up 6 spots during the race.
Craig Lowndes Qualified 11th and made up 8 spots during the race.
I was thrilling race and makes me recall the line from Mark Skaife ‘If you want great racing just add water’.
Results for race 21
1st Chaz Mostert and Steve Owen – Supercheap Auto Racing.
2nd Cameron Waters and Richie Stanaway – Monster Energy Racing Team.
3rd Tim Slade and Andre Heimgartner – Freightliner Racing.
4th Shane Van Gisbergen and Matt Campbell – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
In Qualifying for race 22, Tim Slade had an engine let go due to hitting the back chicane too hard. Dale Wood coming up behind had to stop in the middle of the pit lane entry because Tim Slade’s car leaking oil was no on fire! The situation called for a red flag.
In race 22 Matt Campbell started on pole position alongside him was Paul Dumbrell.
At the start of the 102-lap race Paul Dumbrell got the jump so Matt Campbell had to slot in behind. Unlike Paul Dumbrell’s perfect start he didn’t get the correct amount of wheel spin off the starting grid.
Most of the co-drivers started all bar 1 which was Alex Rullo, the same as in the previous race.
Fabain Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin didn’t make the top 10 shootout. They qualified 13th and 22nd respectively.
Later James Golding hit the wall as a result of contact with Luke Youlden.
When Steven Richards went for a dive down the inside of Richie Stanaway, the contact resulted in a broken steering for Richie Stanaway in car 6 which put him back in the pits for repairs.
Soon after Andre Heimgartner hit the wall at turn 11 which meant he also had to limp back to the pits for repairs on car 14.
In the middle of the race the 3 triple 8 cars were running 1, 2 and 3 but Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske’s car 17 with Scott McLaughlin got the undercut over the Red Bull Holden Racing Team take track position. It was a blow to the Triple 8 team but made Dick Johnson very happy.
Lee Holdsworth was trying to stay with these leading cars ahead of him.
I couldn’t believe that DJR Team had managed to get the undercut in the last pit stop. This basically set them up for the race to the end which I thought was incredible.
At the end of the race the 3 triple 8 cars couldn’t catch Scott McLaughlin because he was just too fast.
Results for race 22.
1st Scott Mclaughlin and Alex Premat – Shell V Power Racing Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
2nd Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen and Matt Campbell – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
4th Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards – Team Vortex.
The next event is the ITM Auckland Supersprint on the 3rd to the 5th of November 2017.
Jamie Whincup is now the championship leader by 17 points with 2 rounds to go and 4 races remaining for 2017.
Will Jamie Whincup claim his 7th championship in 2017?
