Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!
On Friday the 29th to the 31th of October, 2021 was the Bunnings Trade Sydney Supernight.
This was the first of four back to back events scheduled for the Sydney Motorsport Park (Eastern Creek Raceway). This was made possible due to the removal of many COVID-19 restricts being lifted in NSW.
However, commentator Mark Larkham (one of my favourites) was not at the track because of boarder restrictions in Queensland. So he was stranded with the banana benders for this event.
Mark Winterbottom hit a milestone. This was his 550th Supercars race.
Heading into the event the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team were at the top of the Teams Ladder. The team’s 2 drivers also are at the top of the Championship; Shane Van Gisbergen with a solid lead at the top of the ladder followed by teammate, Jamie Whincup in second place.
In the pre-race sessions Anton de Pasquale dominated with amazing results:
- Fastest in Practice 1
- Fastest in Practice 2
- Fastest in the Armour All Qualifying
- and the Armour All Top Ten Shootout
- He also started in Pole Position for all 3 races at this event.
In race 20 Anton de Pasquale started on pole position. Alongside him was Will Brown.
As the race got underway Will Brown was giving the pole sitter something to think about. He duelled with Anton de Pasquale into turn 1 and then again at turn 2. However, Anton de Pasquale held place and Will Brown had to tuck back in behind him.
At the back of the pack Jack Smith in position 19 stalled car 4 off the start line and immediately dropped back to 24th, last place.
Jamie Whincup also had a poor start and dropped to 9th off after starting 8th.
On the exit of turn 3 Will Davison was on the outside, ran wide and did some lawn mowing on the grass dropping a few places on the first lap.
Shane Van Gisbergen made up 3 spots on the first lap to run 3rd.
Shortly after Anton de Pasquale slid out and lost some time allowing Will Brown to catch up, sitting right on his tail.
Chaz Mostert was battling with Will Davison for positions 6 and 7.
David Reynolds came in early because he was getting held up.
Fabian Coulthard and Andre Heimgartner both started the race in the middle of the pack and also chose to pit early to get some clear track.
The leaders decided to stay out to keep track position.
On lap 16 Anton de Pasquale in position 1 and Will Brown came in at the same time. Will Brown’s luck changed and his stop was delayed because the right rear wheel nut came lose. He lost so much time he rejoined the race in 21st place.
In the middle of the race James Courtney in car 44 got a bad sportsmanship flag for track limits at turn 5.
Meanwhile Jamie Whincup was trying to get further up the order but just couldn’t find the space.
In the closing laps Shane Van Gisbergen in second place was giving Anton de Pasquale a very hard time. I would imagine that it would have been quite daunting for Anton de Pasquale to have the series leader right in your face, but credit to him he held his nerve and managed to cross the line first. It was a spectacular finish.
Results for Race 20:
1st Anton de Pasquale – Dick Johnson Racing.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.
3rd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsort.
In race 21 yet again Anton de Pasquale started on pole position. This time alongside him was teammate Will Davison.
Anton de Pasquale stalled on the start line and dropped back through the field at a rate of knots.
Will Davison took the lead into turn 1 and the cars further back in the pack settled into their race rhythm.
Anton de Pasquale was caught back in 7th place. I was surprised at his poor start considering how he had dominated the weekend so far.
Up until the first pit stop I thought Will Davison was going win his first race since Bathurst 2016, but that didn’t happen.
He had Shane Van Gisbergen on his tail and they came in to the pits at the same time. Shane Van Gisbergen did a 3 tyre change and Will Davison did 4 tyres. Will Davison’s dash was blank and they had to recycle through the electricals so he was stationary a lot longer than he would have liked.
As a result, Shane Van Gisbergen re-joined the race in the lead.
From that point on Will Davison and Anton de Pasquale were on the attack and putting pressure on the leader.
Shane Van Gisbergen is no rookie and didn’t crack under the pressure. He simply just increased his lead and crossed the finish line 2+ seconds over his rivals. This was his 12th win for 2021.
Anton de Pasquale had bad luck in this race. Although he finished 3rd it was soon revealed in his pit stop the team put the wrong tyres on. They belonged to his teammate , Will Davison so Poor Pasquale was disqualified after the race finish.
Results for Race 21:
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing team.
2nd Will Davison – Dick Johnson Racing.
3rd Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing.
For the third time in three races on the weekend, Anton de Pasquale started on pole position. Alongside him was rookie, Will Brown.
As Race 22 got underway Anton de Pasquale led into turn 1 with Will Brown close behind. The cars further back in the pack soon settled into their race pace.
Shortly after Shane Van Gisbergen jumped the goat, Jamie Whincup.
Andre Heimgartner was back in the pack getting held up so he choose to get out of the traffic and pit early.
Before the pit stops started I thought at one stage Will Brown was going to take the lead. But Anton de Pasquale was having a great weekend and not about to let the rookie take his number one spot.
Shane Van Gisbergen kept his lead over teammate Jamie Whincup and it was only mid race when he made a mistake that Whincup could reclaim his 3rd place.
Nearing the end of the race Will Brown once again challenging for the lead but that didn’t happen and Anton de Pasqale won.
It was an incredible performance by Anton de Pasquale. He started on pole position for all 3 races and won 2 out of 3. That is not bad going. Congrats Anton!
Results for Race 22
1st Anton de Pasquale – Dick Johnson Racing.
2nd Will Brown – Erebus Motorsport.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing.
It was great fun to watch and I’m already looking forward to next weekend: Same place, Same time for the Armor All Sydney Supernight.