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Supercars

Valo Adelaide 500 2024

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 14 – 17 November 2024 was Valo Adelaide 500, Round 12 of the 2024 Supercars Championship. This was the last round for the year held on the Adelaide Street circuit in South Australia.

The Adelaide Street Circuit was purpose built to host the Australian Grand Prix when Adelaide won the rights in 1985. The 3.80 km track combined sections constructed in Victoria Park as well as utilising city streets.

Supercars started racing at the Adelaide circuit in 1999. The event was known as The Sensational Adelaide 500 and run over 2 legs. At that very first event both races were won by legend Craig Lowndes. He won the first race from the second row of the grid and on the Sunday, he won after starting at the back of the pack. He unbelievably went from last to first.

This year marks the 25 year anniversary for Supercars at the venue.

This year it was the last event for the year, so is a milestone for two people leaving the sport as full-time drivers. Tim Slade is leaving after a 15 years career and Mark ‘Frosty’ Winterbottom ends his illustrious career after 21 years. We thank you and wish you all the very best for the future.

The event kicked off on a Thursday with warm weather. Great for the visitors but making it a hot 45 degrees plus inside the race cars.

The pre-race sessions results were:

  • James Courtney was fastest in Practice 1
  • David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 2
  • Will Brown was fastest in Qualifying. The session was cut short due to a red flag with 9 minutes 41 seconds remaining, caused by a big shunt between Richie Stanaway Cameron Hill and David Reynolds.
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 3
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the top 10 Shootout

In Race 23 Cameron Waters started on pole position, alongside him was Thomas Randle.

Dale Wood started 24th on the grid as substitute for Richie Stanaway who was receiving medical attention after his crash in qualifying.

Cooper Murray was sitting in for “Dad to Be” Jack le Brocq who was heading home to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.

Chaz Mostert was having clutch problems pre-race and had to start from the pit lane.

The two Red Bull Ampol Racing driver’s came into this event as the only 2 in contention for the season title. So, although it was a tense situation it would have been relatively a friendly competition between the two, Will Brown and Broc Feeney.

At the start of the 78 lap race Thomas Randle got the jump and took the lead. Cameron Waters tucked into second place and Matt Payne was right behind them in third. The championship contenders Will Brown and Broc Feeney were battling for 4th and 5th place.

Both Broc Feeney and Will Brown soon passed Matt Payne for 3rd and 4th position.

Last year’s reigning champ, Brodie Kostecki had moved up 4 places into 7th.

Chaz Mostert who was 3rd on the season ladder wanted to keep his place on the scoreboard. He passed David Rynolds to take the 18th spot.

The first car to pit in this race was Tim Slade from 21st position on lap 17.

Soon after Slade returned to the track he was hit by David Reynolds. Slade was able to continue but David Reynolds was slowing and had to head into the garage to resolve the problems with car 20.

Broc Feeney in 3rd place was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 27. The stop was 5.5 seconds and he re-joined in 7th position. The 6 cars ahead were yet to take their pit stops. Once they did Feeney took the lead of the race.

Mark Winterbottom was spun around and pushed out of 5th place by Cooper Murray.

By the middle of the race Broc Feeney had a comfortable lead over Thomas Randle and Cameron Waters. Will Brown was in 4th place.

Broc Feeney kept edging ahead of the pack. It seemed he was untouchable.

With 8 laps to go Broc Feeney had created an 8.7 second lead on the rest of the pack. Meanwhile, his teammate Will Brown had passed Thomas Randle and Cameron Waters to take 2nd place. For Will Brown to finish within the top 5 places would be good enough for him to wrap up the 2024 Supercars Championship.

Will Brown wanted the win but just couldn’t close the gap on Feeney.

Broc Feeney crossed the finish line an amazing 12.117 seconds clear of Will Brown to take his 12th career win, and his 6th win of the 2024 season. Cameron Waters followed in 3rd place.

With this result Will Brown was named ‘2024 Champion Elect’. What a great moment for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team. Top two drivers and top team for the year!

Race 23 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

In Race 24 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Chaz Mostert alongside him.

As they took off Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney were neck in neck until they got to turn 4 when Mostert was able to finally take the lead. Meanwhile Will Brown was right behind.

On lap 4 Matt Payne went into a tyre wall at turn 11. Payne couldn’t get the car into reverse and the front end was buried under the mountain of tyres. The safety car was deployed to rescue him & after a short stint in the garage returned to the race.

The restart was on lap 8 and Chaz Mostert still had control of the race. Broc Feeney in 2nd was looking very racy after the restart and put in several challenges for the lead but Mostert defended well.

At turn 7 Will Brown was hit and spun around by Brodie Kostecki trying to make a pass for 3rd place. The new Champion Elect, Will Brown dropped from 3rd all the way down to 22nd. Although already named champ aft the previous race, being at the back of the pack was surely not how he wanted to finish the season.

Thomas Randle took advantage of the mayhem, and he was now the driver in 3rd place.

Later in the race after the officials reviewed the incident, Brodie Kostecki was issued a 15 second time penalty.

Ryan Wood in 5th place got turned around by Anton de Pasquale at turn 9. Cameron Waters trying to avoid the incident hit Pasquale and went up onto 2 wheels which looked extremely scary.

The first car to pit was James Golding on lap 20 from 20th place.

By the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was out front with a 3 + second lead over Broc Feeney. There was then a 9.927 seconds gap back to Will Davison in third place.

On lap 50 the 3 leaders pitted for the final time. On exit there was contact between Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney. Officials deemed it Feeney’s error and issued him with 15 second time penalty.

With 13 laps to go the lead pack had changed order. Anton de Pasquale was in the number 1 spot, followed by Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert and Will Brown.

Take note that Brown was in 4th place after working his way back to the front after being pushed to the rear of the pack early on in the race. I guess that shows why he earned the championship crown.

Anton de Pasquale’s car was showing the strain of the gruelling 78 lap race. The spoiler on his car was hanging loose and scraping the track. He had to relinquish the lead and head to the pits for repairs before the officials gave him a mechanical black flag.

The lead had changed once again; Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert then Will Brown. Although Feeney was in the lead he still had a 15 second time penalty that would be added post race. He knew he wouldn’t be standing on the podium.

Chaz Mostert in 2nd place looked like he would inherit the win from Feeney.  With 4 laps to go Mostert exceeded track limits and was issued a drive through penalty.

Once Mostert left the track to serve the penalty, Will Brown moved into 2nd place on the track.

Brown knew of the impending 15 second penalty hanging over Feeney, so he took no risks to challenge him. He would win by default.

When Mostert returned to the track after serving the drive through penalty he was miraculously in 3rd place.

Broc Feeney crossed the line first, followed by teammate Will Brown, Chaz Mostert and then Thomas Randle.

Feeney’s time penalty dropped him down to 7th place in the final results. Will Brown claimed the win, Chaz Mostert was declared 2nd and Thomas Randle 3rd.

It was bad luck for Feeney but what a great finish to Will Brown as the season champ.

Race 24 Results:

1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

Well, that’s it for the 2024 Supercars season.

The Sydney 500 will be the first event to kick off the new season in Feb 2025. I can’t wait and hope you will join me in the new year.

In the meantime, I wish you all a very safe and happy festive season and new year.

Supercars

Repco Bathurst 1000 2024

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Hi to all you Supercar fans around the world!

The weekend of October 10th–13th hosted the Repco Bathurst 1000, which was Round 10 of the 2024 Supercars Championship and the 64th running of the legendary Bathurst endurance race.

The Bathurst race circuit, known as Mount Panorama, first opened on March 17, 1938. The race itself originated in 1960 as the Armstrong 500, a 500 mile race held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. In 1963, the event moved to Bathurst, where it retained the 500 mile distance until 1973 when it went metric and was extended to a 1000 kilometre race.

1000 is the most iconic race of the year in Australia and is internationally recognised as a tough and gruelling race on an extremely difficult track.

Over the years, the Bathurst 1000 has been the stage for many remarkable moments in motorsport history. Some of the most notable include:

  • Peter Brock (Brocky) was also nicknamed “King of the Mountain”. Between 1972 and 1987 (a period of 15 years) he won the Bathurst 1000 nine times. His win in 1979 was by a phenomenal 6 laps ahead of other competitors. On the final lap anyone would think he would play it safe. Instead, he broke the fastest recorded time in history.
    Peter Brock – Wins 1979 Bathurst 100 by 6 laps. Who would have thought being quick would make you popular with the girls. Sign of the times.
    • 2003: Greg Murphy astounded everyone in the top 10 shootout before the race. He clocked such a phenomenal lap time it has gone down in history as the “Lap of the Gods”.
    Lap of the Gods 2003. You don’t have to be a motor sports fan to enjoy this.
    • 2005: Marcos Ambrose was the season champion for 2003 and 2004. He was well on his way to making it three in a row. On lap 145, he and Greg Murphy were in the top 10 at the front of the pack. They made contact at The Cutting and Ambrose was taken out of the race. He earned no points for the championship. It not only ruined his chances of a Bathurst win (after 145 of 161 laps) but took him of the season running.
    • 2006: Paul Radisich crashed coming out of The Chase. His car was demolished, and he suffered injuries so bad he was unable to compete for the rest of the season.
    • 2008: Paul Radisich as co-driver to Rick Kelly locked up the front wheels at maximum speed smashing into a barrier of the upcoming turn. The impact was so intense, just watching it will give you whiplash. The car was out of the race.
    • 2010: On the first lap, competition was so fierce Fabian Coulthard left the track at max speed on Conrod Straight. He hit the sand trap, slid sideways and the car went into a 6 barrel roll. Needless to say, he missed the next 160 laps.

    Honestly, there are dozens more examples of moments in the Bathurst 1000 that have gone down in history.

    This year’s Bathurst 1000 was also a special milestone for several drivers. Craig Lowndes marked his 31st appearance, Warren Luff his 24th, Will Davison his 21st, James Courtney and Jack Perkins both celebrated their 19th Bathurst 1000.

    The hype around “The Big Race” starts well before the actual Sunday of the race itself. They even have a dedicated “Bathurst channel” starting a week in advance. The preliminary sessions started on the Thursday and went until the race on Sunday.

    Pre-Race Session fastest times:

    • Practice 1: Matt Payne.
    • Practice 2: Jamie Whincup in the co-driver session.
    • Practice 3: Broc Feeney.
    • Practice 4: Brodie Kostecki.
    • Qualifying: Matt Payne.
    • Practice 5: Cooper Murray in the co-driver session.
    • Practice 6: Broc Feeney.
    • Top Ten Shootout: Brodie Kostecki earning him Pole Position on the grid.
    • Warmup: Will Brown and co-driver Scott Pye shared the fastest lap.

    Race 20

    The 2023 champion Brodie Kostecki positioned himself in the number 1 grid spot. After last year’s brilliant performance, he has had a woeful time this season, so it was great to see him up front and ready to take on “The Big Race”.

    Cameron Waters pulled up alongside him on the front row. Just behind them was Broc Feeney in Position 3 (P3) and Richie Stanaway in P4.

    The moment finally came, and they were off for the gruelling 161 laps. Kostecki was out front from the moment they waved the green flag but it was Broc Feeney who had a blistering start and was close behind.

    Richie Stanaway passed Feeney and by the time they reached “The Chase” was putting in a challenge to Kostecki for the lead.

    Even with 160 laps and hours to go, all drivers were putting in 100%.

    By Lap 2, the young Broc Feeney in his 3rd Bathurst 1000 attempt as a main driver had passed Stanaway to take second place, 1.2 seconds behind leader Kostecki.

    The front group were beginning to spread out. Stanaway was just 1.1 seconds behind in third, followed by Cameron Waters 2.7 seconds adrift, and Will Brown 3.4 seconds back.

    A few laps later at the rear of the group Matt Chada went off track with an impressive half-spin and ended up in the sand trap. He was able to recover without a safety car intervening.

    Will Davison was the first car to pit on Lap 17 and handed over to co-driver Kai Allen for his first stint at Bathurst. Kai Allen along with Cooper Murray will be moving up from the Super-2s category to become full time V8-Supercars drivers in 2025. It must have been a moment  for both of them to achieve this goal.

    As Cameron Waters started lap 23 he made a mistake at Turn 1, going straight ahead off the track and losing the number 3 spot to Will Brown. He rejoined the race in 10th place.

    Kostecki continued to show fine form like that of his 2023 championship win. On lap 25 he did the fastest lap of the race recorded so far.

    A few laps later Chaz Mostert attempted an inside pass on Brad Vaughn at Forest Elbow (turn 18). They made contact causing significant damage to the front end of Vaughn’s car. His spoiler was left abandoned on the track with other car debris. I was surprised he was able to continue without pitting. Even so, there had been no safety car deployment so far.

    Brodie Kostecki and Broc Feeney both pitted on lap 28 from their 1st and 2nd spots. Will Brown briefly minded the lead as the pit stops cycled through.

    While Feeney handed over the wheel to co-driver Jamie Whincup, a fuel hose issue in the Red Bull Ampol Racing pit stall cost them valuable time (around 3 seconds).

    Todd Hazelwood took the wheel from Kostecki, emerging from the pits with a 6.6 second lead over Jamie Whincup.

    Meanwhile, Lee Holdsworth and Dale Wood were engaged in a fierce battle for 4th and 5th. Holdsworth’s poor positioning coming up to a turn and his own driving error had him go straight ahead and leave the track. Surprisingly it worked to his advantage as he cut the corners and re-entered the track in 3rd place. He wasn’t penalised for his short cut but normally it’s a “no no”.

    Garth Tander experienced a massive lockup at the final corner of the lap and dropped back to 14th place.

    Todd Hazelwood continued to lead but Jamie Whincup had closed the gap to 3.8 seconds. Due to pit stop cycling Scott Pye in 3rd was a further 11.028 seconds behind.

    There was also plenty of action in the main pack. Cooper Murray was having an impressive drive climbing six places into 12th. Declan Fraser moved up to 5th after passing Lee Holdsworth.

    Unfortunately, a Brad Jones Racing crewman had a fumble with the garage fuel pump hose connection whilst filling car 8 for driver Declan Fraser.  They were only able to take on 20 litres of fuel and were forced into an unscheduled pitstop shortly after. 20litres instead roughly 120 litres put them at a major disadvantage while in a competitive position.

    By the middle stages of the race Brodie Kostecki was on fire, extending his lead to a commanding 14.175 seconds over Jamie Whincup.

    When it came time for Jamie Whincup to give back the driving seat to Broc Feeney, Feeeny looked like he might have enough pace to challenge for the lead, but the gap was too big to close.

    Much loved legend Craig Lowndes was in 5th, having gained an astonishing 13 positions.

    On lap 132 of 161Matt Payne had a gear downshift issue as he zig zagged up “The Mountain” through The Cutting. At such high speed he was unable to make the upcoming turn and went straight ahead into the concrete barrier wall.

    After being on the track for more than 5 hours and coming close to the end of the race, it must have been a huge disappointment to Matt Payne and co-driver Garth Tander to see their car demolished and out of the race.

    The race went to “Yellow” and the first safety car of the day was deployed while the car wreck was removed.

    I must say it is so unusual for them to get this far into the race without a safety car deployment. It might have had to do with the good weather instead of the usual wet weather and sudden storms the Bathurst area can be prone to.

    While under “Yellow” drivers have to stay in formation behind the safety car, limited to 80Kmph. All the gaps are closed up. Brodie Kostecki’s 10 + second lead up the front was lost. It was going to make the last laps extremely exciting.

    The Big Race got back underway. Broc Feeney was now in a much better position to challenge the lead. Brodie Kostecki who had the number 1 spot almost the entire race was having none of that and defended with exceptional driving. There was simply no room at any stage for Feeney to get past him.

    They were both driving like demons. The rest of the pack were falling further behind. Pretty soon the two leaders had created 10 + second gap over them.

    In the final laps Brodie Kostecki held strong. Broc Feeney was no slouch either and kept on his tail, but still had no opportunity to pass. Not a single mistake was made by either driver as they charged to the end.

    The crowd went absolutely insane, cheering Kostecki on as he crossed the finish line 1.3 seconds ahead of Broc Feeney. It is only the 4th time in the history of the Bathurst 1000 that the pole sitter finished first.

    Will Brown was leading the rest of the pack, finishing 13.640 seconds behind in third.

    What a spectacular finish to the biggest race of the year.

    Race 20 Final Results:

    1st Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood – Erebus Motorsport

    2nd Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    3rd Will Brown and Scott Pye – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    With their 2nd and 3rd place finishes, Red Bull Ampol Racing secured the 2024 Teams Championship even with 2 events remaining. Broc Feeney moved back to 2nd place in the Drivers Championship, 204 points behind teammate Will Brown who remains the series leader. Chaz Mostert is in 3rd place, 222 points off the lead.

    With just two events remaining in the 2024 Supercars Championship – the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on October 25–27 and the final round on November 14–17

     The Valo Adelaide 500, the battle for the title is heating up. I hope you can join me for the final two rounds of an incredible season!

    Supercars

    Beaurepaires Melbourne Supersprint 2024

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    In the pre-race sessions:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Ryan Wood and James Golding made contact with each other.

    Cameron Waters passed Anton de Pasquale for 5th place.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results for Race 3

    1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    3rd Nick Percat – Matt Stone Racing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results for Race 4

    1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    2nd Mark Winterbottom – Team 18

    3rd Matt Payne – Grove Racing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results for Race 5

    1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    For Percat this win breaks a drought since Adelaide 2016.

    Results for Race 6

    1st Nick Percat – Matt Stone Racing

    2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    Will Brown won the Larry Perkins Trophy for 2024.

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

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

    Drivers

    Shane Van Gisbergen is leaving Supercars to race in Nascar in 2024

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans Around the world!

    It was back in July 2023 that Shane Van Gisbergen notified his team’s management, Red Bull Ampol Racing that he would be accepting a full-time position in the U.S. NASCAR championship for the 2024 season.

    It came after a long period of rumours on Gisbergen’s future especially after winning back-to-back championship titles in 2021 and 2022.

    It would have been a difficult decision to make and possibly harder to deliver after being with Red Bull Ampol Racing for 7 years plus having his long-term teammate & friend Jamie Whincup now in the roll of “boss” for the team.

    Whether this departure from Supercars is permanent or not, I felt that Shane Van Gisbergen’s career is full of so many accomplishments I had to write an article about him.

    Shane was born 9th of May 1989 in Auckland, New Zealand.

    He made his Supercars debut in 2007 (at the age of 18) with Team Kiwi Racing (TKR) at Oran Park Raceway. He also made his Bathurst 1000 debut in the same year as co-driver to John McIntyre.

    In 2008 he earned himself a full-time seat with Stone Brothers Racing and was teammate to already well known driver James Courtney. In this season Gisbergen won his first podium finish at Sandown.

    In 2010 the Supercars series kicked off in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. Shane had podium finishes at both venues. 

    During the 2011 season Gisbergen took his first ever race win on home soil at Hamilton (New Zealand) before getting another win at Darwin. His talents were beginning to shine.

    In 2013 he moved from Stone Brothers Racing to Tekno Autosports. He made the team’s investment worthwhile by winning the coveted Clipsal (Adelaide) 500.

    In 2014, still with Tekno Autosports he won a further 2 races and also scored his first Bathurst 1000 pole position.

    In 2016 he moved to the Red Bull Racing Team and found his home with the new crew and teammates Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes. 

    He started the year winning the Bathurst 12 hour driving for McLaren. He followed up with exceptional performances throughout the year and earned his first Supercars Season title.

    In 2017 he started his title defence in good form by winning the first 2 races. However, regardless of how good you are it is hard to challenge a legend (and teammate) like Jamie Whincup who went on to win his 7th season title that year. Also in the mix was the rising star, Scott McLaughlin.

    In 2018 he was runner up again. This time to Scott Mclaughlin who was now hitting his stride.

    In 2019 he was runner up to Scott McLaughlin in the Bathurst 1000.

    In the following year 2020, Shane Van Gisbergen was determined and took his first Bathurst 1000 win. This is the dream of all race drivers on an international level.

    In 2021 he started the year with a broken left collarbone but still managed to win the majority of the races and resulted in his 2nd Championship title.

    In the following year of 2022 Shane Van Gisbergen dominated the season with 21 race wins. It earned him a back-to-back title and his 3rd title for his career.

    He started the 2023 season badly, being disqualified in the first race for having the cool suit dry ice box on the wrong side of the car. His teammate Broc Feeney was also disqualified for the same reason. It seemed an awfully petty reason to be taken out of the running as it would have not given them any advantage over other drivers.

    Gisbergen pushed on and did well throughout the season. Even no points for the first race he was within reach of the title entering the last event for the year. However, bad luck struck again in the last event where he received a DNF  (Did Not Finish) in both races. It gave Brodie Kostecki a clear win for the year. It really must have been heartbreaking to be so close to winning a 3rd title in a row (and his 4th overall)

    During his Supercars career Shane Van Gisbergen has competed in other highly regards races like the Daytona, 24-Hour Spa and the Le Mans 24 Hour. He has also been over to the USA and competed in a NASCAR race at Chicago where he took the winning place and followed up with another attempt in Indianapolis.

    In 2014 Gisbergen also competed and took the title in the New Zealand Highlands 101.

    He did the same in the New Zealand Grand Prix in 2021.

    After 16 years of racing in Supercars Shane Van Gisbergen has had 508 race starts, 81 wins, 176 podiums and 48 pole positions. He has taken 3 championships titles and 3 Bathurst 1000 wins.

    Now (2024) he will be racing fulltime in the Nascar Cup series and Xfinity Nascar series.

    Shane Van Gisbergen! Thanks for all the Supercars memories. You will be missed on the track in Australia.

    Best of luck in your NASCAR adventure. Go show them what real legends are made of!