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Supercars

Valo Adelaide 500 2023

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 23 – 26 November 2023 was the Valo Adelaide 500.

The Adelaide street circuit was first opened in 1985 and hosted the F1 Australian Grand Prix until 1995. The street circuit came back into use in 1999 when Supercars moved their events from the Mallala Motorsport Park.

Jason Bright took the very first pole position at this venue. Craig Lowndes started the leg 1 from 3rd on the grid and won the opening race. The next day he was sent to the back of the field and still came through to win leg 2. It was the stuff that legends are made of.

This year’s Adelaide 500 was the 12th and final round of the 2023 Supercars Championship.

As one of the longer events on the calendar made up of 2 races of 250km each, it was always going to be a tough event. To add to the tension it was also the decider for the Driver’s Championship.

The defending champion Shane Van Gisbergen was trailing Brodie Kostecki in the number 1 spot by 131 points. A win in both races would total 300 points so the championship was still up for grabs. Shane Van Gisbergen is heading to the U.S. at the end of the season to try his hand at NASCAR so it could very well also be his final farewell to Supercars.

The points gap from 3rd place onwards was too great to contend for 1st or 2nd place. However, the points were close enough between 3rd, 4th and 5th for there to be a change on the final scoreboard for Will Brown, Broc Feeney and Chaz Mostert.

The Final Event and the Final Decider! A setting for nail biting stuff!

The event started on Thursday with a wet Practice 1.

The pre-race sessions results are as follows:

  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
  • Thomas Randle was Fastest in Practice 2
  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying
  • Brodie Kostecki was also fastest in the top 10 Shootout.

For Race 27 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position which was his 9th pole for the year. David Reynolds was alongside him on the front row of the starting grid.

At the start of the race Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for first of 78 laps.

As the pack rounded turn 4 Will Brown tried passing Anton de Pasquale. Shane Van Gisbergen also tried following Will Brown to jump up in position. However, Anton de Pasquale made contact with Will Brown and then from behind Shane Van Gisbergen made contact with Will Brown. Brown’s car came to stop almost immediately. Shane Van Gisbergen was able to get back to the pits but it was soon evident that he wouldn’t be returning to the track. Not only was it all over for this race but also his ability to contend for the championship title. Such bad luck.

The safety car was deployed. It was only the opening lap and things were very messed up for Will Brown and Shane Van Gisbergen.

Later, after reviewing the incident the officials took no further action and no penalty was issued to any of the three cars involved.

Matt Payne and Cameron Hill were in the pits because of damage they received after the start.

The restart was on lap 6 and Brodie Kostecki was still in control of the race, followed by David Reynolds and Thomas Randle in 3rd place.

Broc Feeney passed James Courtney for 8th place.

On lap 15 David Reynolds took the lead off Brodie Kostecki with some incredible manoeuvring through turns 8 and 9.

The first car to pit in this race was Anton de Pasquale on lap 16.

Broc Feeney was next to pit on lap 19. When he re-joined the race he was in 20th place with clear track ahead.

Up front it started getting busy. Thomas Randle moved up to 2nd place dropping Brodie Kostecki back to 3rd place.

Cameron Waters in 4th place was 3 + seconds behind. The front of the pack were beginning to spread out.

Soon after, Thomas Randle pitted from second place handing over the spot to Cameron Waters.

Thomas Randle came out of the pits and was like a rocket. Within a few laps he managed to move up through the pack and regain 2nd place.

Cameron Waters wasn’t happy to give back the second spot to Thomas Randle and found the opportunity to pass him. Once again, the order of the top 3 cars changed.

In the middle of the race Cameron Waters was still holding second place right on the rear bumper of David Reynolds in the lead. He found his opportunity and with precision driving made the pass to get the number one spot.

Further back in the pack, Todd Hazelwood received a 5 second time penalty for contact with another car.

David Reynolds never gave up the fight to regain 1st place. With 17 laps to go he did the fastest lap of the race, 119.957 seconds. Unfortunately, it didn’t give him what he wanted. He was also under pressure from Thomas Randle in 3rd place. The front 3 cars were once again tight and left no room for error.

Cameron Waters stayed strong and held the lead using his experience to fend off the two drivers right on his tail.

Soon Cameron Water and David Reynolds edged away from Thomas Randle still holding 3rd place.

They were both on fire screaming ahead of the pack.

They crossed the finish line 0.67 seconds apart and way ahead of the others. Thomas Randle came in 14.353 seconds later to earn 3rd place. It was an incredible finish for an intense race.

Results for Race 27

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.

2nd David Reynolds – Grove Racing.

3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing & Tradie Racing.

In Race 28 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position for the 10th time this season. This is an incredible feat and he was given the Armor All Pole Award for year along with $10,000. Next to him on the front row of the grid was Matt Payne.

As they took off Matt Payne got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 78 laps. As much as Brodie Kostecki tried he was not able to pass Matt Payne.

Further back Shane Van Gisbergen was trying to pass Anton de Pasquale but also wasn’t able to execute a pass. It wasn’t until a few laps later that he got into his stride.

On lap 2 Broc Feeney was able to get up the inside of Cameron Waters for 4th place.

David Reynolds made his move on lap 3 to pass Todd Hazelwood for 9th place.

Shane Van Gisbergen was now moving through the pack and had now passed Anton de Pasquale, Will Davison and Will Brown for 11th place.

On lap 6 Nick Percat made contact with Jack le Brocq who went off the track and into the tyre-wall at the final turn. Surprisingly, he managed to get himself out and the safety car did not have to be deployed.

After investigation the incident the officials took no further action against either driver.

By lap 10 Matt Payne had a 1.2 second lead over Brodie Kostecki.

Broc Feeney was putting pressure on Chaz Mostert for 3rd place. He managed to get by at turn 6.

Shane Van Gisbergen showed how eager he was to make up for the NC (Not Complete) he received in the first race at this event. He did the fastest lap of the race, 120.735 seconds.

On lap 11 Chaz Mostert was desperately trying to get 3rd place back from Broc Feeney. In his attempt Chaz Mostert made contact with him and did manage to pass. It was a messy attack and Chaz Mostert was later issued a 5 second time penalty.

Shane Van Gisbergen was the first of the Red Bull cars to take a pit-stop.

In the pit area Macauley Jones was spun around by Tim Slade who was coming out of his garage.

In the middle of the race Matt Payne was still in control with a 4.8 second lead over Broc Feeney flowed by David Reynolds in 3rd.

As the race continued Matt Payne kept edging ahead. Towards the end of the race, he had a 7.5 second lead over Broc Feeney and was on target to claim his maiden win with Penrite Racing.

Noone seemed able to make ground on the rookie Matt Payne. In fact he managed to edge further ahead of the competitors.

He crossed the line with a 8.548 second lead over Broc Feeney. David Reynolds come in 3rd a few seconds later.

It was a spectacular and solid win for Matt Payne. Congratulations!

Results for Race 28:

1st Matt Payne – Grove Racing.

2nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

3rd David Reynolds – Grove Racing.

A massive congratulations to Erebus Motorsport and Brodie Kostecki. Well done!

This was the final race for the 2023 season. The next event will be the Bathurst Superfest on the 16th to the 25th of February 2024.

It’s with a sense of sadness that we say farewell to Shane Van Gisbergen. Well done on everything you have achieved in Supercars and best of luck for your new adventures in Nascar. Go get em!

Supercars

OTR Supersprint 2022

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of July 30-31, 2022 was the OTR Supersprint.

Ford Mustang drivers have dominated in the recent past at The Bend Motorsport Park. They’ve taken the last seven race wins at the South Australian circuit, as well as the last eight pole positions.

The Bend marks the 100th Supercars Championship round start for Monster Mustang driver Cameron Waters. This weekend is also his 95th round with Tickford Racing. He made his first appearance for the team when it was known as Prodrive Racing Australia at the 2015 Sandown 500.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 1
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
  • Zac Best was fastest in Qualifying for Race 21
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Qualifying for Race 22 and 23

In Race 21 Zac Best scored his maiden pole position in the Supercars championship. It must have been exciting for him and his team Tickford Racing, but it must have been a baptism of fire having series leader Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.

At the start of the race Zac Best got the jump and led into turn 1. Cameron Waters got up the inside of Shane Van Gisbergen and now had to challenge his teammate Zac Best in car 78 who was in front by a mere 0.213 seconds.

The cars further back in the pack were battling for positions inside the top 10. As the field made the approach down to turn 6 Chaz Mostert was putting the pressure on Shane Van Gisbergen for 3rd place. David Reynolds was putting the pressure on Anton de Pasquale for 6th place. Nick Percat was trying to pass his ex-race car from his days with Brad Jones Racing being driven Andre Heimgartner.

Zac Best was under investigation for jumping the race start. In the end the officials decided not to take any further action so there was no penalty.

Nick Percat passed Andre Heimgartner and now was trying to go around the outside of Broc Feeney. He made an attempt on the approach down to turn 10 but he couldn’t get the job done.

Andre Heimgartner got up the inside of Broc Feeney for 9th position right at the end of lap 1.

On lap 2 David Reynolds ran wide on the exit of turn 5 and made contact with Will Brown at 210kms p/h an hour. Will Brown had the racing line for turn 6 and kept in front. Just behind the pair was Andre Heimgartner. He had gained 5 spots up to 9th position.

Zac Best still had the lead and was 1.4 seconds ahead of his teammate Cameron Waters. Shane Van Gisberen followed just 0.683 seconds behind.

Once again David Reynolds was battling with Will Brown. Again he was trying to go around the outside of him but he was on the wrong side on the approach to turn 17 giving Will Brown the racing line for the final corner. Andre Heimgartner was also in the mix.

Broc Feeney was right behind Andre Heimgartner.

Thomas Randle was trying to get passed Brodie Kostecki for 11th place but he wasn’t able to get the job done.

The first cars to pit on lap 6 were Will Davison, Will Brown, Jake Kostecki and Tim Slade.

Soon after, Will Brown in car 9 was under investigation for an unsafe pit release. He was issued a 15 second penalty.

Car 56 driven by Jake Kostecki had to serve a drive thru penalty for breaching the pit lane speed.

At the start of lap 7 Shane Van Gisbergen passed Cameron Waters for 2nd place with Zak Best still ahead.

By lap 8 Zac Best was still the race leader but was under serious pressure from Shane Van Gisbergen.

On lap 9 Zac Best made a mistake by locking a brake and ran wide. Shane Van Gisbergen tried to take the opportunity but couldn’t make the pass.

On lap 10 Shane Van Gisbergen makes another attempt to pass but again wasn’t able to.

His third attempt was on lap 11 and he finally got the job done.  

I was amazed that Zac Best lead the opening stages because he is a rookie and had not turned a lap of the Taliem Bend circuit. I thought it was very impressive.

Cameron Waters was the first of the front runners to pit and it put Chaz Mostert up to 3rd position.

As Cameron Waters re-joined the race Will Davison passed him going into turn 1. Anton de Pasquale wanted to follow but couldn’t make it and gave Cameron Waters a nudge from behind.

As the race reached the halfway mark (lap 12) Thomas Randle, Nick Percat and Mark Winterbottom took their pitstops. There were still 11 cars to pit. Shane Van Gisbergen also didn’t pit. He decided to stay out and make the most of the track position and the 1.9 second lead that he had.

Zac Best pitted on lap 13 while Shane Van Gisbergen kept going. I was thinking, will he ever pit?

The cars that hadn’t done so earlier started to peel off into the pits for their 1 and only mandatory stop.

As Cameron Waters was approaching turn 1 he locked up the left front. Shortly after he lost his 6th position to ex Tickford teammate, Chaz Mostert.

Shane Van Gisbergen now had a 16.5 second lead over Lee Holdsworth.

Lee Holdsworth and Macauley Jones pitted leaving Shane Van Gisbergen the last car that had not stopped.

Shane Van Gisbergen had an incredible 37.987 second lead over Will Davison. It was then another 45.192 seconds back to Chaz Mostert in 3rd.

Finally, Shane Van Gisbergen pitted on lap 20 for 2 rear tyres. When he re-joined the race he assumed the lead with only 4 laps to go.

For the last 2 laps Chaz Mostert was the fastest car. He closed the massive gap to Will Davison down to only 2.8 seconds. Will Davison was only 1.9 seconds behind the race leader Shane Van Gisbergen.

In a last-minute effort David Reynolds got up the inside of Anton de Pasquale.

With 1 lap to go Shane Van Gisbergen was still holding a 1.4 second lead over Will Davison and was cruising to the finish line.

In the end he crossed the line 2.2 seconds clear of Will Davison and Chaz Mostert.

It was Shane Van Gisbergen’s 12th win for 2022.

Results for Race 21

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

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

3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.

In Race 22 Cameron Waters started on pole position and alongside him was Thomas Randle.

Thomas Randle stalled on the take-off from the grid. Apparently, a clutch failure. Andre Heimgartner was right behind him and had nowhere to move. He crashed full force into the back of Thomas Randle, the impact estimated at 8 Gs. Both cars were a mess. In the mayhem Nick Percat also ended up in the pit lane wall. The race was red flagged on the grid with all 24 laps to go.  

The three cars had to be moved off the track to the pits for repairs, but none were able to return for the restart. The damage to the first 2 cars was so severe that after looking at them it appeared they would never race again. Heimgartner and Randle were both taken to the hospital as precaution. Both were complaining of chest pain and Randle of heel pain.

On the restart James Courtney and Chaz Mostert both got fantastic starts. After a brief challenge by James Courtney Chaz Mostert led into turns 1 and 2. He had gained 5 places to take that lead before the first turn. Chaz Mostert had a ¾ second lead over James Courtney. 

James Courtney had gained 2 places to be in 2nd followed by Anton de Pasquale.

Shane Van Gisbergen was 1 back and 1 wide in 4th position.

Cameron Waters who was on pole for the restart had dropped to 5th.

Will Davison got spun around and ended up at the back of the pack.

Macauley Jones made contact with Scott Pye on the exit of the 2nd last corner causing Scott Pye to run wide.

Shane Van Gisbergen was complaining over the comms radio that his tyres’ pressures were very low.

The first car to pit in this race was James Golding in car 31 on lap 5. Will Brown, James Courtney, Anton de Pasquale, Bryce Fullwood, Scott Pye, Chris Pither and Lee Holdsworth also came in. So that’s eight cars in total in the pits area.

When Lee Holdsworth was exiting his pit bay, he made contact with Scott Pye’s left hand side door. Scott Pye said to his team, “what the hell were they thinking releasing him like that!”, they hit quite hard. Lee Holdsworth got a 15 second penalty for the unsafe pit release.

Later on in interview, David Cauchi said it was caused by a communication problem between the car controller and himself.

At this point in the race Chaz Mostert was still the leader by 1.1 seconds over the defending Supercars champion Shane Van Gisbergen. It was another 1.3 seconds back to Cameron Waters in 3rd place.

On lap   7 four more cars came into pit; Chaz Mostert, Broc Feeney, Mark Winterbottom and Macauley Jones.

When Chaz Mostert came into pit it left Shane Van Gisbergen in the lead, 1.4 seconds over Cameron Waters. It was another 4.6 seconds between 2nd and 3rd place. It was an indicator that the leaders were making a big break away from the rest of the pack.

With the lead and clean air Shane Van Gisbergen did the fastest first 2 sectors of the circuit. The gap from Shane Van Gisbergen back to Chaz Mostert was now 38.6 seconds. It takes about 38 seconds to get off the racetrack and come into the pits for 2 tyres and re – join the track. That means Gisbergen who hadn’t pitted yet was not really that far ahead.

Broc Feeney in 15th position was being challenged by Will Brown.

At this point in the race there were 9 cars yet to pit.

In the middle of the race Cameron Waters came in along with Jordan Boys.

When Brodie Kostecki was leaving the pit bay after coming in on lap 14, the pit gantry looked like it was going to topple over due to the hydraulic rattle gun still being attached to the rear wheel. The team was issued a penalty for the pit stop infringement.

Shane Van Gisbergen was still in the lead and now had a 8.1 second lead over David Reynolds.

Shortly after David Reynolds and Will Davison pitted.

On lap 16 only 2 laps after his pit stop, Brodie Kostecki went off the track onto the grass. When he drove back onto the track he was moving slowly and it could be seen his left front tyre had been shredded. He had to return to the pits. It was poor timing because up until then he had been one of the front runners.

Shane Van Gisbergen had a 41+ second lead over Chaz Mostert before he came in to pit on lap 16. This big lead allowed him to re–join the race in position 1 with a 1.498 second lead.

Due to the delays at the start of the race and being ‘time certain’ the total laps were reduced from 24 to 18.

It was now truly a race to the finish. Shane Van Gisbergen with cold rear tyres had to hold off Chaz Mostert’s Commodore.

Once again, the series leader and defending champion drove like a demon.

It was the last lap and Shane Van Gisbergen managed to not only increase his lead over Chaz Mostert to 2.5736 seconds but he clocked the fasted lap time of the race.

Not that he needed it but the drive who does the fastest lap is awarded 5 bonus points. This year Gisbergen has earned 105 bonus points for the fastest lap. Incredible!

Chaz Mostert was followed across the line by James Courtney, Cameron Waters, Anton de Pasquale and Broc Feeney.

Results for Race 22

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.

3rd James Courtney – Tickford Racing.

In Race 23 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Anton de Pasquale alongside him.

Before the race started the rain that threatened through the weekend finally came and it came in buckets. The teams had to change to ‘wet’ tyres .

The field did 2 laps under safety car and the race started on lap 3.

At the start of the race Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turn 1 while cars behind were virtually hidden by the tyre spray mist coming off the cars up front. Drivers in the pack were struggling to see where they were going.

With the poor visibility I thought that cars would have gone off the track at turn 1 but somehow, they didn’t.

The tightly packed leaders were Cameron Waters, Anton de Pasquale, Shane Van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney. Each car was nose to tail.

James Courtney was keeping up with the leaders and back in the pack Brodie Kostecki gained 1 spot up to 12th passing Lee Holdsworth.

Cameron Waters made a mistake due to the wet track and lost the race lead to Anton de Pasquale. Shane Van Gisbergen went on the attack trying to get passed Cameron Waters and close down the gap to the new race leader Anton de Pasquale.

While Anton de Pasquale was under attack from both Shane Van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney, Cameron Waters re-gained the race lead.

As the pack came down to the final corner there was yet again a change in the lead and the 2 times Supercars Champion Shane Van Gisbergen was up front. It was only moments before Cameron Waters took the race lead back. Shane Van Gisbergen dropped 5 spots from 2nd to 8th but soon enough was back up to 2nd with 0.343 second gap to leader Cameron Waters.

Over the radio comms Shane Van Gisbergen said to his engineer Andrew Edwards he couldn’t see anything in the rear view mirror and didn’t know where Broc Feeney was but would let him go if need be.

As the leaders were pulling away from the pack, James Courtney and Chaz Mostert were battling for 6th and 7th.

Bryce Fullwood had a lot of damage on the left side of car 14 which wouldn’t have been helping the Aerodynamics on the Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore.

On lap 6 Broc Feeney went off the track at turn 6. Chaz Mostert gave Will Davison a tap causing him to spin around into the dirt.

Both the Matt Stone Racing cars of Jack le Brocq and Todd Hazelwood made contact with each other at turn 6 and both had a lot of damage. Todd Hazelwood apologised over the radio for taking out his own teammate.

The first car to pit was rookie Zac Best on lap 7. When he came in he was down in 25th position.

The wet weather was causing mayhem. Jordan Boys went off the track between turns 14 and 15 and Jack le Brocq went off the track again.

Chaz Mostert in car 25 got a 15 second penalty for a driving infringement that had to be served after his pit stop.

On lap 8 Chaz Mostert was the first car from the leading group to take his pit stop.

Finally Shane Van Gisbergen took the race lead off the pole sitter Cameron Waters and then didn’t look back.

In the middle of the race Jake Kostecki was in the garage because of a problem with his car.

Nick Percat went off the track and David Reynolds had lots of damage as a result of contact with James Golding.

Shane Van Gisbergen kept edging away in the lead. In the last few laps he actually passed Todd Hazelwood at the back of the pack.

Although it seems late in the race, Shane Van Gisbergen pitted on lap 23 of the 24 laps.

On return to the track he was still in the lead and keeping ahead between 6 and 9+ seconds.

The front of the field was spread out giving the drivers plenty of space to move on the track but Shane Van Gisbergen was uncatchable.

Without fault he crossed the finish line 8.7109 seconds ahead of Cameron Waters. Brodie Kostecki in third place was a further 8.5198 seconds behind.

It was a wet but spectacular finish for the champion Shane Van Gisbergen taking 3 wins of 3 races at this event.

This brings the total Drivers Championship points to 2196 for Shane Van Gisbergen. That is 393 points clear of Cameron Waters.

Results for Race 23

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.

3rd Brodie Kostecki – Boost Mobile Racing.

The next event is the Penrite Oil Sandown Supersprint August 19th to the 21st 2022.

Pre Race Report

Clipsal 500 South Australia – Pre race Report

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clipsal 2016 checked flag

Hi to all you V8 Supercar fans around the world, are you ready for a brand new year?

2015 Clipsal intro

Let’s take a look back at what happened 12 months ago.
At Clipsal in race 1 Jamie Whincup started on pole position, alongside him was Fabain Coulthard.

On lap 1 of 38 Jamie Whincup led the field through the first Chicane turns 1, 2 and 3. Fabian Coulthard tried to pass Jamie Whincup but was not able to get it done.

On lap 2 everybody was just settling down into a race groove, while the cars behind were trying to catch the race leading pair of Whincup and Coulthard. During the early Stages Chaz Mostert was running 3rd. James Moffatt hit the wall at turn 8 which meant he had to take it easy for the next couple of corners.

On lap 3 no one was able to stay with Jamie Whincup because he was just pulling away from the rest of the pack. Whincup pitted early so that Craig Lowndes did not have to double stack. Because if he did double stack he would have lost time in the pits.
In the end no could catch the 6 time and defending Champion.
Who will win the 2016 Clipsal 500?

The Clipsal 500 will be run from the 3rd – 6th of March 2016.

2015 Race 1

Results for race 1
1st – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia
2nd – Chaz Mostert – Pepsi Max Crew
3rd – Fabain Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing

Jamie Whincup Clipsal car 88

In race 2 Jamie Whincup started on pole position (his favourite place) alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.
On lap 1 of 39 Scott McLaughlin got the jump off the grid. But it seems that Scott McLaughlin got investigated for a jump start. The rest of the pack tried to stay with Scott McLaughlin. The drivers at the front stayed with him but the drivers in the mid field couldn’t.
On lap 2, Channel Ten showed a replay of Scott jumping the start. Greg Rust and Neil Crompton said it was borderline.
On lap 3 Scott McLaughlin was out in front controlling the race well.
On lap 4 Scott McLaughlin lost a bit of ground to Jamie in 2nd spot.

On lap 5 James Courtney and Craig Lowndes try and gain track positions. When the pits was clear everybody else on different laps. Chaz had a “Did Not Finish” result in race 2.
In the end no one could catch Fabain Coulthard.

2015 Race 2

Results for race 2
1st – Fabain Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing
2nd – James Courtney – Holden Racing Team
3rd – Scott McLaughlin – Volvo Polstar Racing

In race 3 James Courtney started on pole position alongside him was Fabain Coulthard.

On lap 1 of 78 James Courtney got the jump from pole position and led the field into turns 1 and 2, Shane Van Gisbergen ran wide on the exit of turn 6 which had allowed James Moffatt to pass him at turn 7. Towards the end of the opening the leaders were starting to settle down.

On lap 2 Mark Winterbottom was the first car to pit along with Andre Heimgartner. Jamie Whincup was putting the pressure on James Courtney. Marcos Ambrose was in the top 10 during the opening laps.

On lap 3 Craig Lowndes was behind Marcos Ambrose in position number 10.

On lap 4 Lee Holdsworth pitted for tyres and fuel.

On lap 5 Marcos Ambrose had to get his groove back for driving a V8 Supercar again in 2015 because the last time he drove a V8 was Phillip Island back in 2005. Garth Tander made a mistake exiting turn 7 which allowed Shane Van Gisbergen to get up the inside at turn 8.
Towards the end of the race no one could catch James Courtney.

2015 Race 3

Results for race 3
1st – James Courtney – Holden Racing Team
2nd – Shane Van Gisbergen – Tekno Autoaports
3rd – Garth Tander – Holden Racing Team

Drivers moments

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Clipsal 500 Post Race Report 2015

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Clipsal 2015 Craig

Hi to all you race fans, around the world.

For those of who missed the 2015 Clipsal 500 here is what happened in the first race of the year.

Red Bull Racing Australia’s Jamie Whincup started on pole postion alongside him was Fabain Coulthard, the start of the opening race was to be aborted due Scott Mclaughlin having an oil fire under the Volvo s60 during the sighting lap on lap 1. When the race finally re started Jamie led the pack through the centre Chicane, for the first time. Will Davison was trying to stop the Mercades Benz E63 AMG, Marcos Ambrose was coming through from the back of the field.

On lap 2 Garth Tander was Looking for an opportunity to pass David Reynolds, the margin was . 4   seconds between Whincup and Coulthard. Micheal Caruso hit the wall.

On lap 3 Micheal went straight ahead at turn 4.

On lap 4 James Courtney was holding off Craig Lowndes. Three cars came in Lowndes, Van Gisbergen and Reynolds, Jamie pitted on lap 7 Craig pitted on lap 6. Lee Holdsworth rejoined in front Shane Van Gisbergen. Jamie did 2 fastest laps on 9 and 10 respectively.

In the middle of the race Riana said Erebus Motorsport V8 had new technology, xo skin techs warn by the Erebus Team Manager Ben Crok. Towards the end of race 1 DJR Team Penske got a little wild; at turns 1, 2 and 3, Chaz Mostert was right behind Jamie for the last lap. Jamie has now got 90 wins in his V8 career, is now tied with Mark Skaife who was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame 12 months ago.

The next championship round is at Symmons plains Tasmania on the 27th to the 29th of March, 2015.

Results for race 1

1st – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd – Chaz Mostert – Pro Drive Racing Australia.
3rd – Fabain Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing.

In race 2

Jamie Whincup started on pole postion alongside him was Scott Mclaughlin the Volvo s60 jumped the start on lap 1, Scott led the field through turns 1, 2 and 3 for the first of 39 laps. Fabain Coulthard and James Courtney, tried to pass Jamie at turn 4, on the opening lap. On lap 2 Fabain was putting pressure on the 6 times Champion Jamie Whincup. Mark Winterbottom, was putting pressure on David Reynolds.

On lap 3 Craig was running in 5th spot, the defending champ had his hands full. Further back in the pack James Moffat and Garth Tander had 3 bites of the cherry.

On lap 4 Scott lost a, little bit of his lead that he had. James Courtney, Craig Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom and David Reynolds, all did there Compulsory Pit Stops. During the opening stages, Chaz Mostert lost his rear wing due to Chaz grabbing the wall at turn 8 and clipping the inside curb.

The safety car was deployed due to Micheal Caruso down at turn 9 was stopped because he made contact with another competitor David Reynolds. Scott Mc Laughlin came into the pits to complete his Compulsory Pit Stop, plus a 10 second penalty.

On the restart Fabain was following Jamie Whincup the restart was on lap 23.

Towards the end of race 2 Lee Holdsworth hit the wall exiting turn 8. Fabian Couthard took over the race lead from Jamie as a result of him making a mistake down at turn 9, James and Shane got a run on the Craig Lowndes. James Courtney and Tim Slade got passed Craig and Jamie respectively. Shane got spun at turn 9. In the end nobody could catch Fabian Coulthard. The left rear tyre of car 1 went flat at the turn in point of turn 8. Fabain Coulthard won for his new naming rights sponsor in Frieghtliner. The last time Brad Jones Racing came close to winning a race at Clipsal was 2008.The driver back then was Cameron McConville.

Results for race 2

1st – Fabain Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing.
2nd – James Courtney – Holden Racing team.
3rd – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia.

Race 3

In race 3 James Courtney started on pole postion alongside him was Fabain Coulthard. On lap 1, Fabain lost postion going through turns 1, 2 and 3 Chicane , on the first lap. Shane Van Gisbergen tried to get up the inside of Fabian Coulthard at turn 4. On lap 2 Mark Winterbottom was the first car to stop for fuel. Shane Van Gisbergen passed James Moffat at turn 9.

On lap 3 Marcos Ambrose got into the top 10, Lee Holdsworth is driving car number 18 this year for Walkinshaw Racing.

On lap 4 Lee Holdsworth was under pressure by Craig Lowndes. On lap 5 Craig was following Scott Pye, also tried to pass him at the last corner turn 14.

On lap 6 Channel 10 went to a ad break. Garth Tander made his first pitstop on lap 9. Garth Tander made a mistake coming out of turn 7, which allowed Shane Van Gisbergen to get a run on him.

In the middle of the race there was a Safety car due to Ash Walsh having stopped on the approach to turn 8, Neil Crompton called himself an idiot because he made a silly comment.

On the restart James Courtney pulled away straight away. Towards the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was running in 2nd, the car tried a lot of moves to pass the James Courtney.

Marcos brought Roger Penske and Tim Cindric with him to Australia from Nascar, to race in the V8 Supercars championship. Rodger and Tim came from the United States of America. Mr Penske said he wanted to try this Category, for the first time. The hosts were Matty White and Mark Webber and the commentators were Greg Rust Neil Crompton pit reporters were Greg Murphy along with Riana Crehan. Fox sports and channel 10 have introduced for this year, hamburger cam – roof cam. Russell Ingall has joined the Fox sports 5 team along with the 6 times Bathurst winner and 5 timesV8 Supercars champion Mark Skaife. The last time Rusty did in pit reporting was back in 2006, for Channel 10. Hamburger cam is designed to give the fans better sound quality, and also views from the top of the roof on the V8 Supercars, which before this year, had not been tried, the 2nd innovation is that the Skins of the V8 Supercars can now be taken off with a hook to take a look at the Chassis.

Results for race 3

1st – James Courtney – HRT.
2nd – Shane Van Gisbergen – Tekno Autosports Darrel Lee Stix.
3rd – Garth Tander – HRT.

Clipsal 500 1

 

Pre Race Report, V8 Supercars

Pre race report – Clipsal 500

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Hi to all you petrol heads around the world

Welcome to the 2015 racing season, starting off in Adelaide for the Clipsal 500.

Boy have we had some changes since last year, firstly a change of telecaster, it will no longer be seen on Channel 7, it will be telecast through Fox Sport 5 and Channel 10. While we have lost the talent of Mark Beretta as he is still with Channel 7. We welcome to the commentary team, such people as Riana Crehan from Fox Sport, Greg Murphy, Russell Ingall former drivers.

Secondly we saw the last of V8 Extra on Channel 7, so it is now going to be called RPM and televised through Channel 10, so the fun continues…

Check out the list on the side to see car changes and driver changes for this year. Red Bull has a new engineer, welcome to Grant Macpherson.

The Clipsal 500 was started back in 1999.

After such a successful year and breaking a few records, we are wondering if Jamie Whincup can continue on his winning streak and make 2015 his seventh championship. Good luck Jamie…

Results for the 2014

Race 1 – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia

Race 2 – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia

Race 3 – James Courtney – SP Tools Holden Racing team

http://youtu.be/E1BpREuYtVo

Post Race Report

Adelaide Clipsal 500 2014

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Hi Guys and Girls on the 27th February to the 2nd of March 2014 was the Clipsal 500.

In race 1 Red Bull Racing Australia’s Jamie Whincup started on pole position alongside him was his teammate Craig Lowndes.  Craig got the jump into turns 1, 2 and 3 for the first of 39 laps. Also on lap 1 Chaz Mostert went into the wall at turn 5, due to an oil leaking from the rear of car 6.

Tim Slade was trying to pass the Rick Kelly, towards the end of the opening lap, Shane Van Gisbergen was ahead of Mark Winterbottom in 3rd spot. On lap 2 the race leaders had to be careful due to the oil that Chaz had left behind in-between turns 4 and 5. Chaz’s car ended up in the pit garage to fix the oil leak issues, and the sister car of David Reynolds also pitted due to damage on the front right hand corner, from hitting the wall at turn 11. Scott Pye ran wide down at turn 9 due to a locked brake on the front left corner. On lap 3 Lee Holdsworth had David Wall and James Moffat. Jason Bright ended up being passed by Russell Ingall. Garth Tander passed the DJR car, for position 12.

On lap 4 Jamie was the first car to make his pitstop for tyres and fuel, so that his teammate didn’t have to double stack, the 2nd car was Garry Rogers motorsport Volvo Polestar racing, car 34 driven by Robert Dahlgren. On lap 5 David was in the garage getting checked over by the doctor after a hard hit at turn 11. On lap 6 James Courtney was chasing Mark Winterbottom, through turns 1, 2 and 3. Todd Kelly was asked to enter pit lane in car 7 on lap 7, cars 7, 21 and 16 pitted on the same lap. James Courtney, also Scott McLaughlin pitted together.  On the pit exit Todd got passed Scott as he was re-joining the racetrack.

The Pepsi Max crew FPR team did Mark’s pitstop on lap 9, James Moffat had to serve a pit lane penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed limit which is 40 klms/hour. Car 97 peeled off on lap 13 for his compulsory pitstop. Craig pitted on lap 14, for 2 tyres and fuel. Craig said ‘what the heck happened there’, and his race engineer Jeromy Moore said sorry to Craig about the pitstop issue with the right rear wheel.

In the middle of the race Shane was following Craig for the effectively 2nd and 3rd positions. Towards the end of the race cars 22, 47 and 2 are all were battling for 10th 11th and 12th spots. Tim nearly hit the wall on the left hand side.

Nick Percat made contact with Michael Caruso. In the end Nick ended up in the garage. Craig caught the grass on approach to turn 14. Rick was under pressure from Scott, in the end Jamie ended the first race of the season on the top spot of the podium and he claimed his 8th win at Clipsal and race win number 74.

Results for race 1

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia.
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Team VIP – Tekno Autosports.

 

In race 2 Craig Lowndes started on pole position alongside him was Scott McLaughlin, Craig got the jump into the turns 1, 2 and 3 chicane. On lap 1 Lee Holdsworth tried to get passed the Pepsi Max Crew Ford. When James passed the FPR car, he started to chase Lee Holdsworth. Meanwhile Nick Percat and Garth Tander made contact at turn 9. On lap 2 Craig got a kerb strike Neil Crompton said that Craig burning a kerb hop after lap 1 was not good. Jamie managed to get passed Scott McLaughlin, for 2nd spot. On lap 3 Jason Bright tried to a make a move down the main straight. Mark Beretta was right at the last corner, turn 14. On lap 4 Jason Bright tried get down the inside of the Volvo at turn 9. On lap 5 Scott was complaining about the over steer to his race engineer Richard Hallway. The first car to make to a pit was Robert Dahlgren. Robert stalled on exit of the pits Matt White was talking to Robert and he said to him ‘I bet it is not 30 degrees where you come from on the east coast of Sweden’, he replied ‘yeah minus’.  In the middle of the race James Courtney nearly lost the passenger’s side door on approach to turn 4. Towards the end of the race, Scott and Jamie were battling for 2nd and 3rd.

Results for race 2

1st Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd Scott Maclaughlin – Volvo Polstar racing GRM.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.

In race 3, Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position alongside him was the 5 times V8 Supercars Champion Jamie Whincup. Jamie got the jump and led the field into turns 1, 2 and 3 for the first of 78 laps. Rick Kelly made contact with the tyre bundle at turn 1. As a result of the guard rubbing on the front left tyre, there was smoke pouring out of the left hand side of his car. On lap 2 David Reynolds pitted early for fuel. On lap 3 Todd Kelly had no throttle meaning the car running only on idol due to a broken throttle cable.

Shane tried to pass Jamie at turn 9, but wasn’t able to make the move stick. On lap 4 the first 3 cars to pit were Craig Lowndes, Chaz Mostert and Fabain Coulthard. On lap 5 Car 7 was limping back to the pits. On lap 6 James Courtney made his first compulsory pitstop. On lap 7 Nick Percat came in for tyres and fuel. On lap 8 the Volvo 560 got through on Tim Slade, at turn 9. Micheal Caruso got a black flag for speeding in the pitlane. Will Davison went into the wall at turn 8 on lap 10, as a result a safety car was deployed, that meant that cars 1 and 2 could make their compulsory pitstops.

At the restart on lap 14, Jason Bright ended up rolling his car at turn 1, the cars that were involved were cars 8 Jason Bright, 6 Chaz Mostert, 16 Scott Pye, and 4 Lee Holdsworth. The 2nd safety car was deployed due to this crash.

On the 2nd restart on lap 19, cars 15 and 97 got drive thru penalties for not maintaining the speed after the restart, Mark went into the tyres between turns 6 and 7. When Rick took his pit lane penalty that left cars 1 and 888, to start the next lap in positions 1 and 2.

In the middle of the race Craig came in for his last pit stop and

towards the end of the race Jamie got a pit lane drive thru penalty for the car controller touching his car as Jamie was trying to save his day he made contact at turn 9 with Michael Caruso. In the end James Courtney won race 3.

Results Race 3

1st James Courtney – Holden Racing Team
2nd Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen –Techno Auto Sports

The next event is the Tasmania 400 on the 28th to the 30th of March 2014 races 4, 5 and 6. Craig Lowndes currently leads the 2014 V8 Supercars Championship series points standing by 282 points over 2nd placed Fabain Coulthard.

Trivia

Tekno Auto Sports, VIP Petfoods, Lucas Dumbrell motorsport and HHA Racing have only got one car in this year’s Championship. Mark Larkham has a new inferred camera which he uses for checking out the temperatures on both the front and rear brake routes and pads.

The last time that Tim drove for Supercheap Auto Racing before this year was 2009.