Tag Archives: Cameron Waters

Supercars

Ned Whiskey Tasmania SuperSprint 2024

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of August 16 – 18 2024 was the Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint, round 8 of the 2024 Supercars Championship. it was held.

Symmons Plains International Raceway in Launceston Tasmania was first opened in March 1960. After the closure of the Longford Road Circuit, it quickly established its own reputation as Tasmania’s home of touring car championship motor racing.

The Symmons Plains International Raceway is 2.4kms with 7 turns. This track has been dominated by Triple Eight Race Engineering in recent years. Triple Eight has won at least one race in every Tasmanian round since its first success in the Apple Isle in 2007 with 27 wins out of 40 starts. The only exception being 2013 when Brad Jones Racing took both races.

Mark Winterbottom reached a milestone in this year’s event. In the second race, he started his 600th ATCC race. Winterbottom’s career spans all the way back to the 2005 Darwin Triple Crown. Congratulations!

As the weekend kicked off the results in the pre-race sessions were as follows:

  • David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 1
  • Ritchie Stanaway was fastest Practice 2
  • Cameron Hill was fastest in Practice 3
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 17 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.

At the start of the race Broc Feeney got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 55 laps.

At turn 6 Matt Payne got turned around by Will Davison which put both drivers at the back of the pack in 23rd and 24th place.

This year’s championship leader Will Brown started 16th on the grid. He moved up 1 place to 15th.

As they completed the opening laps, last year’s season champion, Brodie Kostecki dropped down 1 spot to 4th when Nick Percat took over 3rd place.

Pretty soon Brodie Kostecki lost another spot to Chaz Mostert.

On lap 8 Broc Feeney still had the lead. Cameron Waters was .6 seconds behind in 2nd place. Nick Percat was 1.6 seconds further back in 3rd.

Will Brown was eager to make up for his bad grid positioning (of 16) and now in 12th place. He seemed keen to get up the front where the action was.

The first car to pit in this race was Ryan Wood on lap 20. He came back out in 22nd position.

Cameron Waters in 2nd place was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 27. Broc Feeney stayed out to make the most of his race lead.

Feeney was now followed by Nick Percat in 2nd and Chaz Mostert in 3rd.

Percat and Mostert then chose to pit on the same lap. The returned to the race in 10th and 12th respectively with Cameron Waters between them in 11th place.

Broc Feeney was ordered to pit next time around.

There were 9 cars yet to stop before the pole sitter Broc Feeney would assume the lead. However, Nick Percat’s pit stop time was so quick he came back out in front of Broc Feeney.

Chaz Mostert returned from his pit stop in 3rd place and on lap 34 did the fastest lap time of the race, 51.732 seconds.

Towards the end of the race Chaz Mostert had to regain 3rd place from Cameron Waters.

Chaz knew he was in contention for a podium finish but still put the pressure on to try get second place or a win. That is the mindset of a champion.

It wasn’t until the final few laps that Mostert took an opportunity to pass Broc Feeney. Chaz Mostert was now in 2nd place and chasing Nick Percat for the number 1 spot.

Mostert ran out of time and in the end Nick Percat crossed the finish line 0.614 seconds ahead of him. Broc Feeney followed in at 3rd 1.783 seconds later.

It really was an exciting and tense finish.

Results for Race 17:

1st Nick Percat – Matt Stone Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

In Race 18 Thomas Randle started on pole position. On the front row alongside him was Cameron Waters.

Thomas Randle got the jump off the start line and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 55 laps. He was followed by Cameron Waters, Will Brown and David Reynolds in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place. At turn 4 Thomas Randle ran wide and Cameron Waters took the lead of the race.

Cameron Hill was in the front pack but at turn 6 also ran wide and went off the track.

Last year’s season champ Brodie Kostecki had started 8th on the grid. He moved up through the front runners but when he got to David Reynolds in 4th place he struggled to take over.

On lap 8 Kostecki made another attempt but failed and tapped Reynolds car who then spun off the track. It was a dangerous spot to be stranded and the safety car went out.

The majority of the field took advantage of the “yellow flag” to take their mandatory pit stops.

Brodie Kostecki was not out of trouble yet. When Mark Winterbottom was coming in for his stop, Brodie collided with him damaging his own car. For a moment it looked as if he was going to be out of the race. They did manage to make repairs and he resumed a few laps later.

The race officials investigated the incident and once the race resumed issued Brodie Kostecki a drive thru penalty.

The restart was on lap 12. Cameron Waters was still in control followed by Will Brown and Thomas Randle. Broc Feeney moved up to 6th and Chaz Mostert to 7th place.

When Brodie Kostecki executed his drive through penalty he exceeded the pit lane speed (40kmph) and was given another pit lane penalty. He then received a 3rd drive through penalty for another pit lane infringement. It just wasn’t his day.

On lap 20 Aaron Love and Jaxon Evans made contact with each other. Aaron Love was able to continue but Jaxon Evans was stranded and another safety car was deployed.

The restart was on lap 25. On the next lap Matt Payne received a drive thru penalty for disobeying the red light on the pit lane exit.

Through the middle stages of the race the top 10 positions stayed much the same. Cameron Waters was out front followed by Will Brown and Thomas Randle.

Finally, around lap 37 Broc Feeney created some action. He took over Jack le Brocq to take 5th place. Soon after he passed Bryce Fullwood for 4th place.

With 10 laps to go Thomas Randle ran high and wide allowing Broc Feeney to go up to 3rd place. He was now right behind his teammate Will Brown and probably making Brown and Cameron Waters concerned about keeping him at bay.

With 8 laps left Cameron Waters had a healthy lead of 3.096 seconds over Will Brown.  Broc Feeney was close behind Brown and putting in a challenge for second place.

Thomas Randle gave Broc Feeney a bump at the hairpin turn 4. Both cars spun but stayed on the track. By the time they got their cars facing the right direction and got up to speed, they down the order outside the top 10. Thomas Randle was issued a 15 second time penalty for his actions whish pushed him further back.

Cameron Waters kept edging away from the pack. With clear track there was nothing that could stop him.

By the time he got to the finish line Cameron Waters had 6.3 seconds over Will Brown. Bryce Fullwood followed in 3rd place 1.4 seconds later.

The Randle / Feeney incident was an unexpected turn of events in the last laps. It made for some tense moments at the finish. Unfortunately for them, Feeney came in 15th and Randle 18th. It’s a shame that Randle who was leading earlier on, was on his way to his first professional win ended up so far back. For Feeney who looked like he would have at least a podium finish didn’t earn enough points to stay in 2nd place on the season championship ladder.

Regardless, it was a great one to watch.

Results for Race 18:

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Bryce Fullwood – Brad Jones Racing

Will Brown still leads the championship by 81 points over Chaz Mostert. It’s another 120 points back to Broc Feeney in 3rd place.

The next event is the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 September 13 – 15 2024.

Hope you can join me.

Supercars

Panasonic air conditioning Sydney Supernight 2024

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of July 19 – 21 2024 the Panasonic Air Conditioning Sydney Supernight was held. It was round 7 of the 2024 Supercars Championship.

The event was held at Sydney Motorsport Park formerly known as Eastern Creek Raceway.

Sydney Motorsport Park was first opened on the 10 November 1990 however, the main event came along in 1992 when the V8 supercars made their first appearance at the circuit. The venue has been host to events such as motorcycle racing, A1 Grand Prix, Touring cars and Muscle Car Masters.

Just 2 days before this year’s event on July 17th 2024, James Courtney announced that he will be retiring from fulltime Supercars racing at the end of season 2025. He is now 44 years old and has been a full time driver since 2006. If he completes next season he will reach the 20 year milestone in Supercars. That is quite an achievement. 

The pre-race sessions started on the Friday. Results were as follows:

  • Ryan Wood was fastest in Practice 1
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Qualifying
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

In Race 15 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Thomas Randle alongside him.

As they took off Thomas Randle got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 51 laps.

As the pack got to turn 2 there was contact between Mark Winterbottom and Macauley Jones. Winterbottom’s car suffered damage and he had to head straight for the pits. Macauley Jones was just a victim in the process but he did manage to keep going.

The top 3 cars were reasonably close to each other. Chaz Mostert started to apply the pressure on his former teammate Cameron Waters in a bid for second place.

It wasn’t long before Chaz Mostert found his opportunity and before turn 7 passed Cameron Waters. Chaz Mostert was now in second but was still 2.079 seconds behind race leader Thomas Randle.

On lap 13 Brodie Kostecki was the first to take his pit stop from 24th place.

As they reached into the 20 something laps Thomas Randle pitted from the lead, followed by Chaz Mostert and then Broc Feeney. While Randle pitted it was Cameron Waters who assumed the lead.

In the middle of the race there were 4 cars yet to still pit. Once they did Chaz Mostert took the race lead. He was followed by Thomas Randle and Anton de Pasquale in third place.

Will Davison showed how eager he was and did the fastest lap of the race, 131.505 seconds.

Chaz Mostert’s experience showed as he defended the lead throughout the rest of the race.

Although he couldn’t fully break away from the pack, Chaz Mostert still managed to cross the finish line 2.6 seconds ahead of Matt Payne. A further 4.5 seconds later Thomas Randle came in to take 3rd place.

Results for Race 15

1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
2nd Matt Payne – Grove Racing
3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

In Race 16 Will Davison started on pole position. Alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

As they took off Will Davison got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 51 laps. At turn 4 Will Davison ran wide giving Chaz Mostert the opportunity to pounce and get to the front of the field.

At turn 8 Broc Feeney ran extremely wide causing him to drop all the way down to 23rd place. It just didn’t seem to be his weekend.

On the next lap at turn 2 David Reynolds got up the inside of Matt Payne to enter the top 10 spots.

It didn’t last long, and Matt Payne re-took 10th place back.

The positions up front had not changed except for Will Brown who made up 1 spot to hold 4th place.

Chaz Mostert had extended his lead out to 2.3 seconds over Will Davison in P2. Matt Payne unbelievably got into 7th spot and stayed side by side to Anton de Pasquale down the entire straight.

David Reynolds got into a bind and was trying to avoid leaving the track. Unfortunately, he made contact with Ryan Wood. Brodie Kostecki was behind the two and had no chance to avoid giving David Reynolds a helping bump off the track. What a mess, Kostecki and Reynolds were now at the back of the pack. Ryan Wood fell back to 13th place (unlucky).

The first car to pit in this race was Broc Feeney. He returned to the track in 25th place.

Cameron Waters and Anton de Pasquale pitted on lap 25.

There were still 3 cars yet to pit. Once they took their mandatory stops, Chaz Mostert assumed the lead.

Once again Chaz held his place and even clocked the fastest lap of the race,131.302 seconds.

With 9 laps to go car 26 Ritchie Stanaway had a clutch issue causing his wheels to spin whilst hoisted on the air-jacks in the pits. They tried to resolve the issue but in the end chose to send him back out to finish the race and earn the points. A much better option than a DNF (Did Not Finish).

Chaz Mostert kept edging away from the rest of the pack and the front runners became more spread out. Mostert took advantage of the clear track and crossed the finish line 8.3 seconds clear of Cameron Waters in second place. It was another 8.9 seconds back to Will Brown in 3rd place.

It was great weekend for the Walkinshaw Andretti United team and their driver Chaz Mostert winning 2 out of 2 races this weekend. It was his third win in the 2024 Supercars season.

A look at the Driver’s Championship points after this event shows Will Brown still holds the number 1 spot. He leads by 105 points over Chaz Mostert in 2nd. Broc Feeney’s bad weekend moved him down a spot from 2nd to 3rd. Things are getting mighty interesting!

On the Team’s Championship scoreboard Red Bull Ampol Racing still lead by 805 points over Walkinshaw Andretti United.

Results for Race 16

1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
3rd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

The next event is the Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint 16 – 18 August 2024.

Supercars

NTI Townsville 500 2024

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 5th – 7th July 2024 was round 6 of the 2024 Supercars championship, the NTI Townsville 500.

The event was held in Townsville, North Queensland.

Supercars have been racing in Townsville for 16, years since the street circuit was first opened in 2009. The circuit is 2.8km long with 13 turns.

In that very first event of 2009, Lee Holdsworth and Garth Tander shared the pole positions and Jamie Whincup and Jamess Courtney shared the race wins.

Townsville displayed its typical weather pattern on the Saturday of this year’s event, bloody hot with an afternoon storm but on the Sunday it managed to stay dry.

In the pre-race sessions

  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 1
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 2
  • Will Davison was fastest in Qualifying
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

In Race 13 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Chaz Mostert alongside him.

Cameron Waters got the jump off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 88 laps, a total of 250kms.

Thomas Randle got up the inside of Will Davison at turn 3 for 3rd place but back in the pack there was chaos. As the rest of the cars got to turn 3 Nick Percat, Brodie Kostecki and Anton de Pasquale made contact heavily. As they bounced around the track there was a big risk of other cars hitting them from behind. As Jaxon Evans came through, he joined the chaos and was also turned around. Will Brown who started 13th on the grid was in the danger zone of being caught up but somehow, he managed to stay out of trouble.

The first 3 cars in the incident, Percat, Kostecki and Pasquale had to all head into the pits due to damage. Race officials investigated the incident but found no-one to at fault, so no penalties were issued.

By lap 2 the positions had changed significantly. James Courtney had gained 6 places moving up to 11th. Will Brown gained 1 place up to 12th and David Reynolds was up 8 spots in 13th place.

The leading 5 cars were reasonably close to each other. Chaz Mostert was right behind his former teammate Cameron Waters by only 0.682 seconds.

The first car to pit by choice was Aaron Love on lap 19. He came back on the circuit in 21st place.

A few laps later Chaz Mostert was the first of the leaders to pit. There were 9 cars still yet to take their stops. Once they did, they would be out of the way and Chaz Mostert would be able to resume his face-to-face battle for the lead with Cameron Waters.

When Cameron Waters pitted on lap 28 he had a 7.7 second lead over Will Davison in 2nd place.

By the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was given the space by Cameron Waters to pass and now had the number 1 spot with 1.8 seconds lead.

Chaz Mostert kept the lead and with 15 laps to go was followed by Thomas Randle and then Cameron Waters.

Further back in the pack Will Brown had gained an amazing 7 spots into 6th place and now behind Jack Le Brocq in 5th.

With 11 laps remaining the rain started to bucket down and drivers were struggling to keep the cars on the track. As suddenly as it had started, the rain passed. Although the track was still wet, I am sure the drivers were thankful.

Cameron Waters wasted no time. Soon enough he passed his teammate Thomas Randle to be in 2nd place.

Thomas Randle lost his momentum and dropped back a few places. Will Brown made contact with him on the approach to turn 3 but somehow both cars stayed away from the wall.

Cameron Waters was now challenging Chaz Mostert. Waters wouldn’t let up. Chaz Mostert must have felt he wasn’t able to defend the number 1 spot without high risk. Instead of possibly endangering his car and losing a podium finish he seemed to let Cameron Waters pass easily.

Cameron Waters edged ahead in the last laps and finally crossed the line with a 1.8 second lead over Chaz Mostert. Then there was another 4.6 seconds back to Will Brown who managed to move up into 3rd place for the finish. It was a spectacular result.

Results for Race 13

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

On the Sunday of the 3 day event Jack le Brocq started on pole position for Race 14. Alongside him was Cameron Waters.

As they took off Cameron Waters once again led into turn 1 for the first of 88 laps.

The polesitter, Jack le Brocq did not get an ideal start and dropped back to 4th.

Thomas Randle was now in 2nd place and James Courtney was in 3rd.

This year’s championship leader Will Brown missed the Top 10 Shootouts in both races of the event. He qualified 17th on the grid. To add to his woes, David Reynolds hit him from behind in lap 1 sending him into the concrete barrier wall and seriously damaged his car. Will Brown now had to head straight to the pits and returned to the race in 24th, last place. It scrapped all his hopes of protecting his championship lead.

Will Brown’s teammate Broc Feeney (who happens to be 2nd on the championship ladder) was having problems of his own. On this first lap he had dropped from 6th place on the grid back to 13th.

Chaz Mostert who had started 8th on the grid managed to get by Matt Payne for 6th place. He wasted no time and went on the charge. Soon he was in 4th place just behind the leaders. By the end of the 1st lap he was in 3rd.

Within the next few laps Chaz Mostert passed Thomas Randle for second place.

The first car to pit aside from Will Brown at the race start, was Matt Payne on lap 20. He was in 3rd place but unable to challenge the 2 cars ahead. The team strategised to come in now and be better able to make ground with fresh tyres.

By the middle of the race Jack le Brocq who had a terrible start from his pole position was now out the front and leading. Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert were right behind him.

Matt Payne’s pitting strategy paid off. In the second half of the race he managed to squeeze passed and take the lead. With 7 laps to go he had a 9.2 second lead over Cameron Waters in 2nd place with Chaz Mostert not far behind.

Waters and Mostert chased Matt Payne for all their experience was worth. The cars began to spread out. However, Matt Payne was just too fast and crossed the finish line 6.057 seconds ahead of Cameron Waters.

Mostert had slipped a little but came in 3rd place 7.6 seconds later.

It was an unexpected finish especially after this year’s dominance of Will Brown and Broc Feeney up until now.

Results for Race 14

1st Matt Payne – Grove Racing
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

Regardless of a bad weekend for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team, Will Brown still leads the championship but only by 78 points over Broc Feeney.

The next event is the Panasonic Sydney Supernight July 19 – 21.

I hope you will join me. Until then keep those engines revving!

Supercars

Betr Darwin Triple Crown 2024

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the June 14 to 16 2024 was the Betr Darwin Triple Crown.

It was round 5 of the Supercars Championship and held at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.

Hidden Valley Raceway was first opened in 1986 and is part of a larger motorsport complex. It has a 1 km drag strip alongside the racetrack itself. Originally it was first used as a dirt track, motorcross track and go kart circuit.

Since 1998 it has held an annual round of the Supercars championship.

Mark Skaife won the first ever Supercars race at the venue.

The second race went down in history. Both Holden Racing Team cars were on P1 and P2 on the starting grid but were non-starters and sitting in the garage with the same engine issue. So in a highly unusual situation the race started with the front row of the grid vacant! I don’t recall this ever happening before or since.

This year’s event saw both Will Davison and James Courtney celebrate their 250th round in Supercars.

The weekend started with typical NT winter day, 32 degrees, hot and sunny.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Will Brown was fastest in Practice 1
  • James Golding was fastest in Qualifying
  • Will Brown was fastest in Practice 2
  • James Golding was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

As they cars undertook their formation lap for Race 11 Brodie Kostecki who was going to start 11th on the grid had to drive back to the pit lane with engine issues that the team couldn’t resolve. So the defending champ was out of the race even before it started.

James Golding started on pole position, a first in his Supercars career. Alongside him was Broc Feeney.

James Golding got the jump on Feeney off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 48 laps.

Between turns 2 and 3 Broc Feeney had a slide and it looked like he was going to turn himself around but somehow, he managed to regain control stay in position.

The gap between the two leaders was 0.186 seconds.

At turn 6 of lap 4 Broc Feeney took the race lead off James Golding. Mark Winterbottom also went through in one swift motion. As a result the polesitter went from 1st to 3rd in a heartbeat.

Will Brown moved up a spot to 5th place and Chaz Mostert who started 22nd on the grid had gained 6 places and now in 16th position.

Soon after Cooper Murray went off the track at turn 1 after getting a helping hand from Jaxson Evans. Evans received a 15 second time penalty for his helping hand.

A lap later Anton de Pasquale also ran off the track at turn 1 and dropped out of the top 10 down to 11th place.

The first car to pit was Ryan Wood on lap 16. A few laps later Matt Payne and Macauley Jones also pitted.

Broc Feeney had a 2.6 second lead over Mark Winterbottom.

The pole sitter, James Golding had slipped back to 7th place.

On lap 24 while Mark Winterbottom and Will Brown were in the pits Broc Feeney was left out on track to do the fastest lap of the race, 108.219  seconds.  He had a lead of 8.4 seconds over Cameron Waters with 8 cars still to take their pit stop.

With 9 laps to go Broc Feeney still had the lead over Mark Winterbottom. Meanwhile Chaz Mostert who started 22nd on the grid was up to 7th place after passing 16 cars on track.

As they counted down the final laps the top 3 places were unchanged with Broc Feeney still in command with cars spread out.

There was no way they could catch Broc Feeney and he never let them gain on him all the way to the finish line. He took the win 8.6 seconds clear of Mark Winterbottom in second place, then it was 1 second back to Will Brown in third. It was an amazing finish.

Results for Race 11

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Mark Winterbottom – Team 18
3rd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

In Race 12 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Brodie Kostecki alongside him.

Matt Payne had electrical problems and didn’t manage to make it out on track in time for the formation lap. The Grove Racing team managed to resolve the issue but had to start the final race of the weekend from the pit lane.

As they took off Broc Feeney got jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 48 laps. Brodie Kostecki had a bad start and Will Brown moved past him to take 2nd position.

As they made their way through lap 1 Andre Heimgartner hit the back of Cooper Murray’s car and bounced up and over the top of him. Bits of cars flew everywhere, both had extensive damage but were able to make their way back to the pits for repairs. The safety car was deployed so the debris could be cleared off the track.

The restart was on lap 4 but back in the pack there was chaos. The green ‘restart flag’ was waved at one only spot instead of the multiple locations around the track. The front runners could see it but the cars further back couldn’t.  As engineers started communicating to their drivers that the race was green some drivers started to speed up but others were still uninformed and sticking to the safety speed limit of 80kmph. It was a mess and looked like there were going to be collisions in the confusion. Luckily, there were no incidents.

The leaders had a good lead on the rest of the pack. Will Brown was putting a lot of pressure on Broc Feeney, but he didn’t want to relinquish the lead.

Broc Feeney soon extended his lead out to 1.3 seconds. On lap 12 he had clear track and clocked the fastest lap of the race, 107.679 seconds.

The first 2 cars to pit were David Reynolds and Nick Percat on lap 18. They returned to the race in 23rd and 24th place.

At this stage Andre Heimgartner received a pit lane penalty for not maintaining the safety speed of 80kph after the incident during lap 1.

In the middle of the race Brodie Kostecki came into the pits from 3rd place and returned to the track in 11th place.  

Broc Feeney came in on lap 26 which temporarily handed the lead to his teammate Will Brown. At this stage there were 10 cars yet to pit including Will Brown. Once those cars took their stops, Broc Feeney would assume the lead again.

Broc Feeney and Will Brown kept edging ahead of the pack. When the final car to pit peeled off the track the 2 Red Bull Ampol Racing cars assumed 1st and 2nd place with a gap of 2.4 second between Broc Feeney and Will Brown. Meanwhile Brodie Kostecki in 3rd position was 8.8 seconds behind.

Broc Feeney and Will Brown were not satisfied and with clear track increased their lead over the rest of the pack.

In the end they crossed the finish line 1.2 seconds apart but a phenomenal 17+ seconds ahead of Brodie Kostecki in 3rd place. It was a great finish to the weekend for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team.

Results for Race 12

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

3rd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport

Congratulations to Red Bull Ampol Racing. Their drivers Broc Feeney taking a win in both races for the event and Will Brown taking a 3rd and 2nd place.

Will Brown still leads the championship, but Broc Feeney’s double win closed the score gap to only 108 points.

The next event is the NTI Townsville 500 on 5th – 7th July 2024.

I hope you can join me. Until then, Live it, Breathe it, Dream it, Drive it!

Supercars

Bosch Powertools Perth Supersprint 2024.

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of May 17 – 19 was the Bosch Power Tools Perth Supersprint.

It was round 4 of the 2024 Supercars Championship and held at Carco.com.au Raceway.

The raceway was first opened on the 2 of March 1969 and originally known as Wanneroo Raceway. In 1992 it was renamed to Barbagallo Raceway. Then in 2020 it took back the original name of Wanneroo. Two years later in 2022 it changed to the sponsors name Carco.com.au.

ATCC (Australian Touring Cars Championship)/Supercars Championship have raced at the venue every year since opening except 1978, 2010 and 2020 (The COVID year).

The track is 2.411km with 7 turns. It is lined with sandtraps everywhere and is considered quite a challenge.

Legend Craig Lowndes seems to love this challenge and holds the record of 16 race wins at the venue.

This year’s event will mark Tim Slade’s 200th round start in Supercars. That is quite a number of years out on the track.

The weekend kicked off with fine weather and results in the pre-race sessions were:

  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
  • Will Brown was fastest in Practice 2
  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Qualifying.

In Race 9 Chaz Mostert started on pole position alongside him was his teammate, Ryan Wood.

At the start of the race Ryan Wood got jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 55 laps.

Brodie Kostecki who started 14th on the grid ran wide at turn 1 and went off the track. He was able to recover and return to the track but it him to the back of the field. Not a great start for defending champ.

As the pack tried to stay in touch with the leaders, on lap 3 Aaron Love made contact with Richie Stanaway at turn 7 and put into the fence. Aaron Love was able to continue but Richie Stanaway had a lot of damage front and back of car 26. He also lost power due to a fuel pump issue and had to drive slowly back to the pits. The repairs took a lot of time but he was able to return to the race.

Ryan Wood still had the lead of about half a second over his more experienced teammate Chaz Mostert.

It took about a dozen laps before Chaz Mostert found the opportunity to take the race lead off Ryan Wood.

The first car to pit in this race was Thomas Randle on lap 22 from 23rd position.

In the middle of the race Ryan Wood went in for his pit stop allowing Cameron Waters to move into 2nd place on the track.

On lap 31 Chaz Mostert pitted leaving 9 cars on track yet to take theirs.

As the laps clicked by the 9 cars peeled off one by one to take their mandatory stops. Once they did Chaz Mostert was back in the lead.

At this stage Chaz Mostert was 3.2 seconds ahead of Ryan Wood. Will Brown in 3rd was close behind.

With 13 laps remaining Will Brown took the risk and got up the inside of Ryan Wood at turn 6. Ryan Wood was pushed to the outside and had two wheels in the dirt coming out of the turn. Not only did it slow him down but it allowed Cameron Waters to follow through into 3rd place.

Chaz Mostert now had a 5.2 second lead.

Will Brown’s performance so far this year has put him at the top of the championship ladder. Even so, Chaz Mostert’s speed and experience kept him from any mistakes and crossed the finish line with a with a huge 4.9 second over Will Brown. Cameron Waters also an experienced driver followed in 3rd place.

It was an exciting finish.

Results for Race 9

1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

In Race 10 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Chaz Mostert alongside him.

As they took off Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 55 laps. Chaz Mostert tried to go around the outside of him but wasn’t able to make the move stick.

On the next lap at turn 1 Cameron Waters ran wide at the last turn of the lap (turn 7) which allowed Chaz Mostert to take the race lead at turn 1.

Thomas Randle in 3rd place immediately put his teammate Cameron Waters under pressure for 2nd.

On lap 5 Chaz Mostert did the fastest lap of the race so far, 56.173 seconds.

On the next lap the leader went .2 seconds faster. With track position Mostert is one of the fastest drivers in the field. He now extended his lead out to 1.2 seconds over his ex-teammate Cam Waters.

On lap 7 Nick Percat made contact with Jack le Brocq who came to a stop in the middle of the track. Luckily, he was able to get going again which meant there was no need for a safety car and the race was able to stay green.

Later Nick Percat was issued a 15 second time penalty for his part in the incident.

Soon after Broc Feeney got up the inside of Ryan Wood at turn 7 which moved him up to 7th place. He was desperate to catch up to his teammate Will Brown a few spots ahead.

The first car to pit was Mark Winterbottom on lap 16 from 22nd position.

On lap 21 Brodie Kostecki went into the Erebus garage with an overheating engine. The problem was too for the team to repair quickly and Brodie Kostecki was unable to finish the race. He was the only NC (Not Complete).

In the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was looking very strong and ready to make this 2 wins from 2 races on the weekend.

As Chaz Mostert headed into the pits Cameron Waters now had the lead.

Soon after Chaz Mostert returned to the track it was revealed he was being investigated for an unsafe pit release and making contact with Thomas Randle in the pit lane. It wasn’t a big incident, but he was still issued a 5 second time penalty. He had already taken his mandatory pit stop to the 5 seconds would be applied to his race finish time.

Towards the end of the race Chaz Mostert had resumed the lead.

Will Brown gave Thomas Randle a bump and took 3rd place from him. Thomas Randle dropped from 3rd to 5th place.

With 4 laps remaining Thomas Randle was put under further pressure from Anton de Pasquale trying to take another place from him.  Randle held strong against the challenge.

Chaz Mostert was out in front. His speed made him uncatchable. The top 3 drivers were well spread out. Mostert crossed the line just over 2.5 seconds ahead of Cameron Waters.

Unfortunately for Chaz Mostert who dominated the track this weekend, the 5 second time penalty applied post finish meant Cameron Waters was awarded the win.

Chaz Mostert officially came in 2nd place.

The gap between Cam Waters and Will Brown in 3rd was over 11 seconds.

It was great watching but must have been devastating for Mostert. Regardless, congratulations to all the drivers especially the podium finishers.

Results for Race 10

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti united
3rd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

After all the points were tallied Will Brown still leads the championship by 136 points over Broc Feeney.

The next event is the Betr Darwin Triple Crown on 17 – 19 June 2024.

To keep up to date with all the latest V8-Supercars news check out my Facebook fan page. (https://www.youtube.com/@williamsperfectride8710)

Until next time, keep revving!

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

Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 2023

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of 27 – 29 October 2023 was the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.

It was round 11 of the 12 rounds in the 2023 Supercars Championship.

The Gold Coast race at Surfers Paradise is a street circuit which was first opened in 1991. The challenging 4.47 km circuit alongside a strip of beaches has several fast sections and four chicanes.

From 1991 to 2008 the Gold Coast Indy 300 was an annual open-wheel motor race event. In the early days Supercars were there as a support category but from 2002 through to present it has been a round of the Supercars Championship. This year      was the 21st event at the venue that has held 44 V8 Supercars races to date.

As expected, it was perfect Queensland weather excepting a small shower on the first practice day. In the pre-race sessions:

  • Scott Pye was fastest in Practice 1
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Qualifying
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top 10 Shootout

In Race 25 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Matt Payne alongside him.

As they took off Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 85 laps that makes up the 250km race. Matt Payne was right on his tail.

After starting 3rd on the grid Shane Van Gisbergen dropped to 5th before the first turn.

As Thomas Randle got to the first turn he took a shortcut across the chicanes. The officials spotted it but took no further action.

As Tim Slade got to the first turn another car made contact and spun him around. The safety car was deployed to slow drivers while he extracted himself from the dangerous position at the turn.

Brodie Kostecki was on the charge. He started 10th on the grid because his shootout lap was disallowed for going out of bounds. Now he had jumped to 7th place.

Within a few laps Chaz Mostert passed Thomas Randle to get up to 3rd place and was only 0.672 seconds behind Matt Payne.

The first car to pit was Broc Feeney on lap 9, along with Anton de Pasquale. They returned to clear track in 24th and 25th place.

Thomas Randle got by Chaz Mostert for 3rd spot.

It then seemed like the drivers were struggling with the high speed track. First Matt Payne received a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

Soon after both Chaz Mostert and Will Brown received bad sportsmanship flags for exceeding track limits.

Then it was Todd Hazelwood’s turn to receive a bad sportsmanship flag for the same reason.

Shane Van Gisbergen overtook Chaz Mostert for 4th position and was only 2.3 seconds behind Thomas Randle in 3rd place and only 4 seconds off the race lead.

Jack le Brocq alerted the team he was leaking fuel and went into the garage.

Brodie Kostecki was now in 5th place right behind Shane Van Gisbergen in their personal title battle for this year’s championship.

Cameron Waters pitted early and came back out in 8th place. When the top 7 cars took their pit stops he would resume the lead.

On lap 28 Shane Van Gisbergen took the number 1 spot off Matt Payne.

A few laps later Shane Van Gisbergen pitted and Brodie Kostecki followed him in. They came back out in 5th and 7th place.

In the middle of the race Broc Feeney was the first of the Red Bull cars to take his final pitstop. Meanwhile his teammate, Shane Van Gisbergen did the fastest lap of the race and was 6.1 seconds away from the lead.

Further ahead, David Reynolds was battling with Thomas Randle for 2nd and 3rd place.

Towards the end of the race with only 11 laps to go Cameron Waters was 1.4 seconds ahead of David Reynolds. It was another 2 seconds back to Shane Van Gisbergen in 3rd place.

Chaz Mostert once again exceeded track limits. This time he received a 5 second time penalty.

With 10 laps to go Cameron Waters still had the lead over David Reynolds but Shane Van Gisbergen had closed the gap to only 0.315 seconds.

Soon Shane Van Gisbergen took over David Reynolds. The gap to Cameron Waters in 1st was just 0.362 seconds.

With only a few laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen was desperately looking for an opportunity to overtake for the lead and win. However, Cameron Waters is a seasoned driver. He kept his cool and defended the number 1 spot. Shane Van Gisbergen kept on his tail to the end of the race.

As they crossed the finish line there was only 0.194 seconds between them. It was a spectacular tight finish.

Results for Race 25:

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing

3rd David Reynolds – Grove Racing

In Race 26 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position for the 8th time this year. Alongside him was David Reynolds.

As they took off Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 85 laps.

At turn 4 Tim Slade, James Courtney, Jack Smith and Macfauley Jones made contact and cars were spinning out of control in every direction. The cars back in the pack had to drive over the top of the first chicanes to avoid adding to the pileup. All four cars had come to a stop in this dangerous part of the track. The first safety car was deployed while the stranded cars were rescued.

The track was cleared by lap 8. However, it is the lead driver who gets to make the call for when the race goes back to green. Brodie Kostecki was waiting for the right moment to give the green light signal but the other drivers became impatient and started racing too soon. Confusion followed but the race still continued. It took a while for the officials to review, and it was only later that the offending drivers were penalised.

The first two cars to pit were Jack le Brocq and Will Davison on lap 9.

David Reynolds was challenging Brodie Kostecki for the lead and putting him under pressure. He was right on his tail and constantly on the attack.

Further back Shane Van Gisbergen got by Anton de Pasquale for 9th place. His next target was Cameron Waters in 8th place.

Brodie Kostecki held the lead until he pitted on lap 28. This relinquished the number 1 spot to David Reynolds. When Brodie Kostecki returned to the race he was in 12th place.

As the other drivers began to take their pit stops Brodie Kostecki moved up and eventually had the lead again.

Once again David Reynolds was right on his tail.

Towards the end of the race David Reynolds finally took advantage of a weak spot in the leader, Brodie Kostecki’s defence and passed him. I believe Brodie Kostecki didn’t aggressively defend the move at the risk of being knocked out of the race. All he had to do was get a podium finish ahead of Shane Van Gisbergen to protect his position in the season championship.

Cameron Waters was in 3rd place but was a few seconds behind and didn’t pose an immediate challenge to Brodie Kostecki.

With 7 laps to go James Golding had a massive shunt from behind and spun around landing in the tyre barrier. He almost collected Scott Pye in the process. They did make contact but luckily it seemed pretty light.

Shortly after Scott Pye’s car readings showed a big problem. He had to pull over immediately and the safety car was once again deployed.

When the race went back to green there was only 5 laps remaining. David Reynolds still had the lead over Brodie Kostecki, followed by Cameron Waters.

Brodie Kostecki was always close behind and a constant threat. At times there was less than 0.3 of a second between them. David Reynolds is a tough and seasoned driver. He never showed signs of cracking and at no time gave any opportunities away to his challengers.

In the end David Reynolds crossed the line 0.189 seconds ahead of Brodie Kostecki.

It was Reynold’s first race win since 2018 in what was probably the most exciting race of the year.

Congratulations to David Reynolds and his team, Grove Racing.

Results for Race 26:

1st David Reynolds – Grove Racing

2nd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport

3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

With 1 event made up of 2 races remaining, Brodie Kostecki leads over Shane Van Gisbergen by 131 points. Will Brown is 3rd and trails by 495 points, Broc Feeney is 504 points behind and Chaz Mostert is 640 points.

The grand finale event for the year will be the Valo Adelaide 500, 23 – 26 November 2023.

Hope you can join me.

Supercars

OTR Supersprint the Bend 2023

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 19 – 20 of August 2023 was the OTR Supersprint at The Bend.

The Tailem Bend racetrack was first opened in 2017 and is the youngest circuit in Australia. The Bend Motorsports Park is also known by its sponsorship name Shell V-Power Motorsport Park.

The Bend first hosted a V8-Supercars championship round in 2018 and has staged Supercars racing ever since. This includes two rounds during the Covid affected 2020 season.

This year’s round 8, the OTR Supersprint at “The Bend” was a significant round in the history books of the Australian Touring Car Championship – Supercars Championship. It was the 600th round of the championship since starting 63 years ago in 1960.

In the pre-race sessions for this years’ event:

  • Thomas Randle was fastest in Practice 1
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 2
  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 20 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position and alongside him was Thomas Randle.

At the start of the race Thomas Randle got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of the quick 20 laps.

As the rest of the pack came through turn 1 Jack Le Brocq made contact with Will Brown and chaos broke loose. Will Brown was spun around and tightly packed cars behind were going in all directions to avoid colliding with him. Some we simply unlucky, Jack Smith and Cameron Hill ploughed straight into him. Somehow Mark Winterbottom who was directly behind them missed the carnage.

The safety car was immediately despatched to clean up the mess. The three cars of Will Brown, Jack Smith and Cameron Hill were removed from the track unable to return and received a Not Complete (NC).

The officials had a look at the incident and decided to take no further action so no one was penalised.

The restart was on lap 5 and it was the cars outside of the top 10 that were dicing for position.

The first cars to pit were Broc Feeney, James Courtney, Bryce Fullwood and Jack le Brocq on lap 6.

The leaders stayed out to maintain their track position while the going was good.

Brodie Kostecki passed Chaz Mostert for 2nd place. He was now only 0.588 seconds off the race lead, Thomas Randle.

In the middle of the race Andre Heimgartner pitted from 10th place. No one else followed him into the pits.

Brodie Kostecki soon found the opportunity and passed Thomas Randle for the lead. Thomas Randle and Chaz Moster knew it was a losing battle to try and chase the championship leader and all three pitted on lap 12. Macauley Jones also came in. There were now only 6 drivers yet to pit.

With 9 laps remaining the challenge was now on. Once the 6 cars ahead pitted Brodie Kostecki assumed the lead of the race with Thomas Randle and Chaz Mostert right behind him.

With 8 laps to go Cameron Waters, Shane Van Gisbergen and Nick Percat all pitted, only leaving 3 cars to pit.

The top three drivers kept their positions until the final laps when Chaz Mostert was able to pass Thomas Randle for 2nd place.

Even though the front runners were reasonably close together, on the last lap no one could catch Brodie Kostecki.

He crossed the line 1.71 seconds ahead of Chaz Mostert. He was followed by Thomas Randle and Cameron Waters.

Results for Race 20

1st Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport

2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

In Race 21 Thomas Randle started on pole position for the first time since starting his full time Supercars career in 2022.

Brodie Kostecki started next to pole and led off the start line into turn 1 for the first of 20 laps. Shane Van Gisbergen who started 4th on the grid immediately moved up to 3rd place.

Meanwhile the cars further back in the pack were battling for places outside the top 10.

Inside the top 10 Will Davison, Cameron Waters and Jack le Brocq all got spun around at turn 6 which put them back in the running order. They dropped down to 22nd, 24th and 25th place.

Race control investigated the incident and not long after issued Jack le Brocq with a drive thru penalty for the driving infringement that was the cause.

The first car to pit in this race was Mark Winterbottom on lap 3. He started 24th on the grid and was probably just wanted to get out of the traffic.

Brodie Kostecki did the fastest lap of the race 152.106 seconds on lap 5.

Chaz Mostert was behind Thomas Randle and 2.8 seconds off the lead.

Nick Percat, Bryce Fullwood and Macauley Jones all pitted on the same lap.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was still in 4th place but running was 36 seconds off Brodie Kostecki’s lead.

While still commanding the number 1 spot, Brodie Kostecki was the first of the front runners to pit with 8 cars still yet to take their stops. 6 of these were the top 6 cars so when they did pit it would allow Brodie Kostecki to resume his lead.

Towards the end of the race no one else was able to chase down the leaders.

Brodie Kostecki was still in 1st place followed by Thomas Randle, Chaz Mostert, David Reynolds and Shane Van Gisbergen.

The series leader Brodie Kostecki seemed untouchable. He crossed the line 1.0866 seconds clear of Thomas Randle. Chaz Mostert was 1.06342 seconds further back in 3rd place.

For Brodie Kostecki it was his 2nd win for the weekend. Also Thomas Randle had his second podium finish. A great result for both of them.

Results for Race 21

1st Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport

2nd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

In Race 22 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.

As they took off Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turn 1. Nick Percat made a blinder of a start and was in 2nd place by turn 1.

After passing Nick Percat, Cameron Waters got up inside of Thomas Randle at turn 6 and managed to make the move stick.

Cameron Waters was now in second place hunting down the race leader Brodie Kostecki who only had a 0.574 second lead.

The cars behind were battling for pit priority.

Just behind those front runners Shane Van Gisbergen was trying to get up the inside of Will Davison but couldn’t make the move stick.

That was when Will Davison did the fastest lap of the race, 152.502 seconds.

Within a few laps Brodie Kostecki had a 1.3 second lead over Cameron Waters. I was amazed at the pace that he had.

The first car to pit was Bryce Fullwood on lap 5. He came in way too quick and hit the dirt by the pit lane entry. He recovered quite easily but after review by race control it was deemed a driving infringement and he was issued a 15 second time penalty.

It wasn’t long before the drivers back in the pack also pitted to get out of the traffic.

Todd Hazelwood got up the inside of David Reynolds between turns 2 and 3.

On lap 9 Nick Percat was the first of the front runners to take his mandatory pit stop.

Thomas Randle also pitted from 5th place. When he come back out he was in 12th.

There were 11 cars still yet to pit.

On the next lap Shane Van Gisbergen took his pit stop. On departure the right rear wheel gun was still in place. A very dangerous mistake to make and as a result of this 888 were docked 30 teams championship points post-race.

There were only 2 cars remaining to pit, Brodie Kostecki and Mark Winterbottom.

Chaz Mostert hit the unlucky lap number 13 making contact with another driver and received a bad sportsmanship flag.

The front runners kept their position but Brodie Kostecki had to defend the number 1 spot from Cameron Waters constant threat. The others were a little further back so it was really between those 2 drivers.

On the last lap Broc Feeney who had managed to stay in the top 10 was helped off the track by David Reynolds. It was so unfortunate for the young driver as he dropped down to 24th place.

Brodie Kostecki managed to hold off Cameron Waters all the way to the checkered flag. He crossed the line with only a 0.946 second margin.  It was another 6+ seconds before Thomas Randle crossed the line in 3rd place.

Brodie Kostecki must have felt it was a magic weekend getting 3 of 3 wins. Thomas Randle was another driver that must have been pretty happy earning a 3rd, 2nd and then another 3rd place.

Results for Race 22

1st Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport

2nd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing

3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

Brodie Kostecki still leads the drivers championship by 137 over Shane Van Gisbergen in 2nd place Broc Feeney is still in 3rd place he is only 228 points off the lead of the championship.

Will Brown is in 4th 258 points behind the series leader Brodie Kostecki.

Chaz Mostert is 5th  313 points off the series lead.

The next event is the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 on the 15 – 17 of September 2023.

There are 4 events remaining 1200 points still up for grabs.

Sandown and Bathurst are 300 points each for the winners.

Supercars

Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint 2023

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of May 20 – 21, 2023 was the Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint held at the Symmons Plain Raceway.

The raceway was first opened in March 1960. After the closure of the Longford Road circuit Symmons Plains quickly established its own reputation as Tasmania’s home of Motor Racing. The track is 2.4 km with 7 turns and must be one of the shorter tracks used in the Supercars Championship.

The Tasmania Supersprint was round 4 of the championship. Brodie Kostecki came into the round with a 100 point lead over Chaz Mostert in 2nd place.

It is the 50th time that the Supercars have visited. The track seems to be favoured by Triple Eight. They have won 25 out of the last 36 races in Tasmania.

Both Andre Heimgartner and Nick Percat had milestones. It was Andre Heimgartner’s 100th round start in Supercars and Nick Percat started his 300th race in Supercars.

In the pre-Race sessions:

  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Practice 1
  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Practice 2
  • Will Brown was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 10 Will Brown started on pole position with Jack le Brocq alongside him.

At the start of the race Will Brown got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 42 laps. The opening lap was relatively clean until James Courtney went into the wall at turn 6.

Coming out of turn 4 on the following lap Cameron Waters made contact with Brodie Kostecki which put him in the wall. Then Broc Feeney made contact with Chaz Mostert spinning him around. Scott Pye gave Broc Feeney a nudge and put damage on car 88 but he was able to keep going.

The result of the chaos had Chaz Mostert and Brodie Kostecki heading to the pits for repairs. As it turned out Chaz Mostert was not able to re-join the race.

James Courtney was another casualty from the turn 4 incident. A few laps later he went into the garage to replace a bent steering arm.

Will Brown was still leading with 1.8 seconds over Cameron Waters.

Shane Van Gisbergen was up 3 places from his grid start position and now in 6th.

It wasn’t long before Cameron Waters showed how much he wanted the win. He did the fastest lap of the race clocking in at 51.67 seconds.

Shane Van Gisbergen also showed his desire for a podium finish and got up the inside of Cameron Hill for 4th position.

The first car to pit in this race was Scott Pye on lap 14. He came in from 21st position and returned to the track in 22nd.

Mid-field Will Davison got up the inside of David Reynolds exchanging 15th and 16th place.

In the middle of the race James Golding pitted and David Reynolds followed him in. Andre Heimgartner and Cameron Waters then pitted from 3rd and 4th position.

Race leader, Will Brown made his pit stop on lap 23. He returned to the track in 5th place giving  Shane Van Gisbergen the number 1 spot. At this stage there were still 8 cars to pit.

Shane Van Gisbergen pitted on lap 27 from the lead of the race.

After Jack Smith took his pit stop he was investigated for an infringement. He was issued a 15 second time penalty post-race finish.

Now there were only 3 cars yet to pit; Todd Hazelwood, Matt Payne and Broc Feeney. Once they did Will Brown assumed the lead of the race.

Towards the end of the race Will Brown was still in the lead with 1.3 seconds over Andre Heimgartner. It was another 1.1 seconds back to Cameron Waters in 3rd.

Once Todd Hazelwood had pitted on lap 30 he re-joined in 15th place.

After this it was a sprint to the checkered flag.

Shane Van Gisbergen was in 4th position with fresher tyres for the sprint to the finish line but he was 8.2 seconds off the lead and 5.8 seconds away from Cameron Waters in 3rd place.

In the final Will Brown was still holding the lead over Andre Heimgartner. Shane Van Gisbergen was obviously not satisfied with 4th and managed to finally get past Cameron Waters to steal 3rd place.

Results for Race 10:

1st Will Brown – Erebus Motorsport
2nd Andre Heimgartner – Brad Jones Racing
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing

In Race 11 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position, alongside him was Broc Feeney.

At the start of the race Brodie Kostecki pushed Broc Feeney wide at turn. Will Brown used the opportunity to go up to 2nd place while Broc Feeney was displaced back to 4th.

The opening lap was relatively clean until turn 6 when Shane Van Gisbergen went into tyre wall after a bump from David Reynolds. Shane Van Gisbergen managed to get the car out but had to head straight to the pits. The damage was worse than first thought. The damage would take so much time to repair he wasn’t able to return to the race. Luckily he was able to participate in the final race of the weekend.

Shortly after Will Brown took the lead off his teammate Brodie Kostecki.

The top 5 cars were packed close to each other and anything could happen to change the results.

Aggressions seemed to be increasing and Declan Fraser received a 15 second time penalty for a driving infringement.

Meanwhile, Will Davison clocked the fastest lap at 52.011 seconds.

The first car to pit (aside from Shane Van Gisbergen) was Mark Winterbottom on lap 13. Noone else followed him in.

By the middle of the race the top 13 cars had still not visited pits. It seemed they all were afraid to give up their positions.

Once Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown had pitted there was a 35 second gap between the two.

Towards the end of the end of the race Broc Feeney was in the lead with 0.721 seconds over the championship leader Brodie Kostecki. It was a further 1.4 seconds back to Will Brown in 3rd.

In the final laps the gap between the top 3 cars became even tighter.

Broc Feeney was looking solid out front even though they were right on his tail. The drivers behind were really  battling for the minor places.

On the last lap Broc Feeney was in cruise mode with a confident lead of 2 seconds.

He kept his hard-earned lead to finish line ahead of Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown.

As he crossed the line Broc Feeney announced over the radio, “Team Sunday is back!”.

Results for Race 11:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport

3rd Will Brown – Erebus Motorsport

In Race 12 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position with Will Brown alongside him.

As they took off Will Brown got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 42 laps. Andre Heimgartner went off the track at turn 1 and so did Anton de Pasquale.

While the 2 Erebus Camaro’s were commanding proceedings everybody else was trying to play catch up. Further back in the field the 2 Penrite Racing cars were battling for positions outside the top 10 in 14th and 16th place.

At the second last corner Declan Fraser got turned around by Jack Smith.

Things went smoothly until lap 9 when Andre Heimgartner gave James Courtney a bump and they both went off into the gravel.

On lap 10 Broc Feeney managed to get up the inside of Jack le Brocq for 3rd place. Will Brown and his teammate Brodie Kostecki were still holding the number 1 and 2 spots.

The first car to pit in this race was Nick Percat on lap 12 from the back of the pack and had a loose brake pedal as a secondary issue. Shane Van Gisbergen also pitted. He was in 18th and when he came back out on the track was in 23rd place.

By the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen had worked his way up through the field and was able to take 11th place from Jack le Brocq. At this stage there were 9 cars yet to take their stops.

Will Brown pitted on lap 24 which left Broc Feeney in control of the race.

Towards the end of the race Will Brown had a 5.5 second lead over Broc Feeney. It was only 0.633 seconds back to Shane Van Gisbergen who had now worked his way into 3rd place.

Matt Payne’s car had suffered damage earlier and the tyre was rubbing on the front bumper. It was too close to the end of the race so he kept going to the finish line.

At the front of the pack Will Brown still kept his lead and finished with a 4 second gap over Broc Feeney and Brodie Kostecki.

Another spectacular finish for Erebus to end the weekend.

Results for Race 12:

1st Will Brown – Erebus Motorsport
2nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport

Brodie Kostecki still leads the championship by 87 points over Will Brown. Erebus are also leading the teams’ championship by 276 points over the Red Bull Ampol Racing team.

There are only 8 rounds to go in the 2023 Supercars season. The next event is the Betr Darwin Triple Crown on June 16th to 18th 2023.

Looking forward to it already!

Supercars, V8 Supercars

Thrifty Newcastle 500 2023

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the World!

On the weekend of March 10 – 12 was the Thrifty Newcastle 500.  

There was excitement in the air as it was the first round of the 2023 season and the first return to Newcastle’s street circuit since 2019 (Grrrr covid be gone!).

Fuelling the excitement were two major changes in V8 Supercars. The first being the start of the Gen 3 build standards for competing cars.

The second was the introduction of Camaros which replaces the Holden Commodore that is no longer manufactured. The old Aussie question, “Are you a Holden or Ford man?” will fade and be replaced with “Mustang or Camaro?”. RIP Holden. You will not be forgotten.

The event also marked important milestones for some drivers. Tim Slade had his 400th race start. Will Davison had his 500th and for Mark Winterbottom it was his 555th in Supercars. Quite an achievement for all of them. Well done!

In the pre-race sessions of this event:

  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Practice 1
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Practice 3
  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying
  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

In Race 1 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.

At the start of race Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 95 laps. Shortly after there was contact between Mark Winterbottom and Bryce Fullwood further back in the pack.

By the end of lap 1 Brodie Kostecki had half a second lead over Cameron Waters.

Things went smoothly for about the first 10 laps. Then Anton de Pasquale got turned around by Todd Hazelwood on the approach to Zara Street. Anton de Pasquale’s car spun off the track and was lucky to nudge the tyre wall only slightly. However, it did drop him 8 places to the very back of the pack.

On lap 14 Brodie Kostecki still in control of the race made a mistake which allowed Cameron Waters and Broc Feeney to close in and challenge him for the lead. Kostecki had to work hard to regain the gap he had.

Meanwhile, Shane Van Gisbergen made up 2 spots. He went from 6th to 4th place and seemed to be waiting to make his move.

He finally managed to get past his teammate Broc Feeney in 3rd place but then had a hard time taking on Cameron Waters for 2nd. This activity allowed Brodie Kostecki to extend his lead out to 1.1 seconds.

The first car to pit was Bryce Fullwood on lap 16 to remove the right rear mud guard flapping loosely after his earlier contact with Mark Winterbottom.

Then Will Brown pitted from 11th position.

On lap 22 James Courtney pitted. A few laps later Chaz Mostert also did.

Cameron Waters pitted on lap 31 to get out from behind the leader Brodie Kostecki. He could see it was a battle that was going nowhere.

Shane Van Gisbergen also pitted on lap 31 from 2nd place. He maintained the same position when he returned to the track. He also still had Cameron Waters and Broc Feeney behind him.

Soon after Tim Slade pitted. The team couldn’t get the right front tyre off his car for quite a while. It completely destroyed his race time and position.

Pretty soon Shane Van Gisbergen was at the front of the field. He had loaded his car with less fuel at his pit stop making him lighter and faster. Now Red Bull Ampol Racing held 1st place by Shane Van Gisbergen and 3rd place by his teammate, Broc Feeney.

It took a while but Shane Van Gisbergen managed to build a 5 second lead over Cameron Waters in 2nd place.

Nick Percat came into the pits and headed straight into the garage. His brakes were failing even with his foot pushing it all the way to the floor. OMG! That is not what anyone would want.

David Reynolds in car 26 had no comms back to the pits. It meant the Grove Racing team had to use an old fashion pit board to communicate with him.

Towards the end Broc Feeney managed to move up to 2nd place. With Shane Van Gisbergen leading the way, they crossed the finish line in a spectacular fashion earning a 1st and 2nd.

After such a great performance by the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team a protest was made by both Tickford Racing and Walkinshaw Andretti United. They claimed the 2 winners had dry ice fed into their cool suit system from the wrong side of the car during the race. The regulation to perform this from the passenger side is mostly for safety reasons and in no way gave advantage to the drivers, but rules are rules.

After an overnight review it was announced on Sunday morning the two drivers were disqualified.  Regardless of appeals from Red Bull Ampol Racing the verdict was upheld. It must have been a terrible blow for the team with new podium results naming Cameron Waters in 1st, Chaz Mostert 2nd and Brodie Kostecki 3rd.

Results for Race 1:

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

3rd Brodie Kostecki – Coke a Cola Racing powered by Erebus

In the shootout for Race 2, James Courtney made it turn 7 before hitting the wall hard. His car suffered substantial damage. It was so bad they weren’t able to repair it in time for the grid line up.

In Race 2 David Reynolds started on pole position with Chaz Mostert alongside him.

As they took off Chaz Mostert got the jump and led up What Street for the first of 95 laps.

Further back Declan Fraser stalled and didn’t make it off the grid. Macauley Jones who was right behind ploughed straight into him. The red flag was brought out immediately and all other drivers had to leave the track while the mess was cleaned up. Macauley Jones was able to get going again but Declan Fraser’s car was towed away and would not return to the race.

The restart was on lap 5. Chaz Mostert was in the lead and setting the pace. Behind him was David Reynolds and Cameron Waters so it was all Fords running 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

Shane Van Gisbergen was in 5th place and wasn’t taking the goodness out of the tyres too early. He was being a cork in the bottle holding the other cars back..

Tim Slade tried putting in a challenge for Shane Van Gisbergen’s position but he just couldn’t find the right spot to make his move.

There was noticeable damage on the back of Will Davison’s Ford Mustang. I’m not sure where it came from but he was able to continue and wait until his first pit stop for repairs.

The first car to pit in this race was Anton de Pasquale on lap 11.

On lap 12 Scott Pye and Nick Percat came into the pits together to get out of the traffic.

Broc Feeney came in on lap 15 from 12th place. He was followed by Will Davison.

Matt Payne and Thomas Randle came in on lap 16.

By this stage Chaz Mostert was still going hard up the front. He had already built a 2.8 second lead over David Reynolds in 2nd place.

Coming down the hill out of turn 3 on lap 20, Mostert had a moment where he looked almost out of control. His experience shined and he continued.

On lap 24 he was the first out of the leading pack to take his pit stop while everybody else was still making up there minds as when to come in. This handed the lead over to David Reynolds.

As Mark Winterbottom was exiting the pit lane he came on radio and said he had lost 80% of his power steering. Having just pitted he chose to press on.

In the middle of the race while chasing his former teammate Chaz Mostert, Cameron Waters hit the wall coming out of turn 8 which tweaked the steering of car 6. He made it around the track one more time before being forced to come in for repairs. This ultimately cost him any chance of a podium finish.

As they came closer towards the end of the race and the second round of pit stops, Chaz Mostert had a 10.9 second lead over Shane Van Gisbergen who was now in second place.

Thomas Randle gave Todd Hazelwood a bump at turn 9 pushing him off the track into the tyre barrier. It took a few seconds but Hazelwood managed to extract himself and resume racing. Had the safety car been needed at this stage of the race it may have had an influence on its outcome.

In the last few laps Shane Van Gisbergen had amazingly closed the 10+ second gap of leader Chaz Mostert.  

Contact was made between the two leading drivers as Shane Van Gisbergen attempted to make a pass. It was incident was considered fair play and no action was taken by race control or the stewards.

Shane Van Gisbergen wanted to make up for being disqualified in Race 1. He was obviously putting in a great effort. It paid off and he finally took the race lead off Chaz Mostert. Once he had the lead he was able to hold it all the way to the checkered flag.

Shane Van Gisbergen claimed his 76th career win in Supercars. Congratulations!

Result for Race 2

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

3rd David Reynolds – Grove Racing

The next event is Round 2, the Beaurepairs Melbourne Supersprint. This is held as a support category to the F1 Australian Grand Prix starting March 30th. I cant wait and hope you all will join me.