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V8 Supercars 2017 Coates Hire Newcastle 500

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Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 24th to the 26th of November 2017 was the Coates Hire Newcastle 500.

This was the final race for the season. It was very exciting because the season champion was still to be determined and this race weekend was going to be the decider. The main championship contenders were Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup. They were only separated by 30 points in favour of Jamie Whincup. I didn’t get the feeling either would hold back and there would be some incredible racing.

It was also the first race event at Newcastle, a seaside city about 2 hrs north of Sydney. This was a street circuit that no one had driven at before so it made the practice sessions all critical in order to determine their car setup for the race.

Due to the circuit being local streets, some parts are quite narrow and there are plenty of ups and downs for the drivers to navigate. This would mean a reduced opportunity for passing and possibly slower speeds.

Jamie Whincup went there a couple weeks in advance in a reconnaissance mission to get a feel for the area.

The weekend finally arrived and Newcastle put on a beautiful show. The weather was beautiful and sunny with the main straight running along the shore of the sparkling beach and great crowds had turned out for the spectacle.

On the Saturday Race 25 was for 95 laps. Due to the tight schedule for other race events it was also time certain so when the time was up the winner would be called regardless of laps.

It was a special occasion for Todd Kelly as this was his 540th V8 Supercars race, which is a long time to be in this sport.

Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was David Reynolds.

Scott McLaughlin got the jump on David Reynolds and got to turn 1 first.

Later in the first lap, Jamie Whincup made contact with Michael Caruso which as a result put Jamie Whincup into the wall and broke his right front steering arm.  This was not ideal considering he went into the Newcastle event 30 points ahead of Scott McLaughlin.

Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton couldn’t believe that Jamie Whincup managed to steer his car back to the pits.

During the opening stages Scott McLaughlin was the race leader until the first round of pit stops.

Up until that first round of pit stops Craig Lowndes was on track for his first podium finish in 2017. The last time he got a podium finish (1st, 2nd or 3rd) was the Sydney SuperSprint 2016.

There was contact between Jason Bright and Alex Davison. Jamie Whincup just missed being involved which would have been disastrous as he was already 13 laps behind the race leader as a result of having a broken steering arm.

Soon after, Simona de Silvestro pulled off some amazing driving passing a bunch of cars at turn 7. My first thoughts were after looking at the racetrack that the drivers wouldn’t be able to pass at turn 7 safely but she somehow managed to do it.

In the middle of the race the two DJR cars held the lead strongly.

As the race went on the schedule time was running out and the race was going to be called short.

The 2 DJR cars driven by Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard were too quick, their pace was really fast and reached the flag in a 1, 2 finish at lap 91 (4 laps short of the set laps).

It was such bad luck for Jamie Whincup. He had been making incredible gains, after being 13 laps behind he finished in 21st position only 2 laps behind the leader. If he just had a bit more time it would have been really interesting.

Results for race 25

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing team.
3rd Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing Team. 

In Qualifying for race 26 James Courtney caused a red flag meaning his fastest time to that point was deleted and also meant he couldn’t take any further part in the session.

Scott McLaughlin started on pole position once again for the 16th time in 2017.  Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

Jamie Whincup started 5th on the grid.

At the start of the 95-lap race, Scott McLaughlin took the race lead, which was good for the DJR Team.

As the first round of pit stops started the Championship leader Scott McLaughlin got a pit lane penalty for exceeding the speed limit of 40kms p/h.  Then Fabian Coulthard pitted and had to try and fix his gearbox issue. After that Fabain Coulthard also received a pit lane penalty for the same infringement. That was a blow for the DJR Team Penske Crew.

Later Scott Mclaughlin turned Simona de Silvrestro around at turn 2. Scott McLaughlin received another penalty of 15 seconds. Things for Scott McLaughlin as one of the main championship contenders were not looking good.  Commentators Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton said it will be the longest 15 seconds of his life.

In the middle of the race the teams started to get organized for the 2nd round of stops to take place and prepare for the run to the finish.

When the Vodafone Safety Car was deployed it was to get Aaren Russell out of the tyre bundle. As a result that helped Scott McLaughlin big time.

At this stage of the race Scott McLaughlin was down the order in 16th position. He needed to finish in 11th to claim the title for 2017.

Scott McLaughlin’s car was bruised and battered and he was trying to do the best he could on the day.

Towards the end of the race with 2 laps to go, Craig Lowndes tried to get up inside of Scott McLaughlin at turn 1 but Scott McLaughlin blocked his pass and they made contact. This resulted in 2 things. First Craig Lowndes dropped from 6th to 10th. Second Scott McLaughlin got a post-race penalty dropping him all the way down to 18th in the results. Even though Scott McLaughlin would have finished 12th and not won the championship it must have been a real kick in the guts to be pushed down to 18th after the race had finished.

Jamie Whincup won the race and the season championship for 2017. A great result for the Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

Results for race 26

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen -Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.

 

Well done to all the drivers and teams in 2017.

Looking forward to seeing you in 2018.

The next event will be the Adelaide 500 on the 1st to the 4th of March 2018.

 

 

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

ITM Auckland Supersprint 2017

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Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 3rd to the 5th of November 2017 was the ITM Auckland SuperSprint.

This is held at the Pukekohe Park Raceway just south of Auckland in New Zealand.

The V8 Supercars have been racing here since 2013. The track has changed a little from last year with more turns added for the drivers to navigate so I’m sure that the teams would use a different setup for this race weekend.

Other factors that will affect team strategies are:

–          With only one race to go for the season after this one, the drivers who are in the championship fight will probably hold back from any risks as they do not want to damage their cars.

–          The cars had to be flown over to NZ for the race and their trucks stay in Australia, meaning they have limited spares on hand for repairs.

–          There are only 3 safety cars being used for the race.

I think the Red Bull team will be extra careful to ensure they don’t have a repeat of last year when Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen came together in the race.

Race 23 on Saturday and Race 24 on Sunday are both 70 laps and 200Kms each.

In the preliminaries to the race, the Qualifying session was abandoned part way through due to the wet weather. As a result, the grid was set from the Friday Practice times.

Things got better and conditions had improved by the time Race 23 started. Rain had stopped and the track had dried out somewhat.

Cameron Waters started on pole position alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

Jamie Whincup beat Cameron Waters to turn 1 and held lead for the first couple of laps. It wasn’t long before Scott McLaughlin got into 2nd place and was pressuring Jamie Whincup’s number 1 position.

Scott McLaughlin took a risk as he tried to go around the outside of Jamie Whincup but didn’t succeed. Jamie Whincup was defensive and didn’t leave him enough room which earned him a bad sportsmanship flag.

On lap 56 David Reynolds and Fabian Coulthard made contact sending David Reynolds into a tyre barrier and Fabian Coulthard had a massive roll over. He was the only DNF for the race.  The car was a mess and the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske didn’t finish the repair until 4:30a.m. Fabian Coulthard was adamant to race on Sunday.

Shane Van Gisbergen was now the race leader followed by Mark Winterbottom and Scott McLaughlin.

Chaz Mostert was trying to re dress so that he wouldn’t get pinged after making contact with David Reynolds exiting turn 8.

In the last laps Shane Van Gisbergen held his lead confidently. No one seemed to be able to catch him.

It was a tight finish. Shane Van Gisbergen reached the chequered flag first having moved up 5 places from his starting position. Mark Winterbottom had taken advantage of his grid starting position 3 and came in 2nd just over 0.8 seconds later. Closely followed by Scott McLaughlin, Jamie Whincup and Jason Bright, with finishing times 01:24:00.2363, 01:24:00.6912 and 01:24:01.3644.

Results for race 23

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Mark Winterbottom – Prodrive Racing Australia.
3rd Scott Mclaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
4th Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

In race 24 Jamie Whincup started on pole position alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

During Qualifying for race 24 Craig Lowndes nearly caused a red flag due to running wide in between turns 3 and 4. He recovered well and managed to be placed 12th on the starting grid.

I couldn’t believe that DJR managed to repair Fabian Coulthard’s car after he rolled it the day before, especially due to the limited spares that all the teams have at an ‘away’ race. Fabian Coulthard is a determined man and scored himself the 8th position on the starting grid. It was great to see.

At the start of the 70 lap race Jamie Whincup got the led into the first corner. Scott Mclaughlin had to pull in behind him and stay put because there isn’t room to pass between turns 2 and 3.

Garth Tander was running well early on. He started 11th on the grid but soon moved inside the top 5.

Shane Van Gisbergen was another driver doing well early on and had drama free pit stops.

After the first round of stops and the drivers re-joined the race, Jamie Whincup took his lead back.

Simona de Silvestro was following Rick and Todd Kelly because it was her first race at Pukekohe raceway in New Zealand.

When the 2nd round of pit stops started, Tim Slade making entry to the pits had his pit lane speed limiter on and Shane Van Gisbergen came into the pit lane entry behind him way too fast, and I mean way too fast! He rear-ended Tim Slade who must have gotten the shock of his life. It was a bizarre mistake on Shane Van Gisbergen’s part and he ended up with a bent up bonnet resembling a tent that blocked his view and required him to be guided into his bay.  The result was devastating; By the end of the race he had dropped from 7th place on the starting grid to 24th. Such a poor result now put an end to him being a possible contender for the championship.

In the middle of the race the weather was getting worse with clouds starting to come over the race track. It was really dark so fast. I laughed at Neil Crompton comment to fellow commentator Mark Scaife, “It’s gotten so dark, it is like night”.

Towards the end of the race no one else could catch the top 3 drivers which were Jamie Whincup, Scott McLaughlin and Cameron Waters.

Jamie Whincup said he wasn’t feeling very well before the race but he managed to start from pole and basically lead the whole way all bar pit stops.

 

Results for race 24

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Team.
2nd Scott Mclaughlin –  Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing Team.
4th Craig Lowndes – Team Vortex.

Jamie Whincup now leads the championship by 30 points heading into the Coates Hire Newcastle 500 which will take place between the 24th and the 26th of November 2017.

With this win Jamie Whincup now has 75 career pole positions and 107 career race wins.

The big question at the moment is, “who will win the 2017 V8 Supercars Championship?”.

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Vodafone Gold Coast 600 2017

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Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 20th to the 22nd of October, 2017 was the Vodafone Gold Coast 600.

There were a few dramas pre-race start of note. In practice 1 Simona de Silvestro hit the tyre wall on the exit of the last turn coming onto the main straight.

In practice 3 James Moffatt also caused a red flag. If you cause a red flag in a practice session you can’t take any further part, so he had to sit out the rest of practice 3.

In race 21, Steve Owen started on pole position and alongside him was Paul Dumbrell.

The drivers had to do an extra formation lap due to the rain. This resulted in there being a lap plucked from the total 102 laps and the race was now 101 laps.

All the co-drivers started the race accept for Alex Rullo. It was good to see a main driver start, because the race was wet on Saturday the drivers had to scrap what they learnt on Friday in the practice sessions while it was dry and tune the car into a wet setup.

Just like at Bathurst in the wet weather, all the crews had to carry their drivers out to their cars to avoid slippery feet whilst driving.

The co-drivers had to do a minimum of 34 laps before handing back to the main drivers.

I couldn’t believe how wet it was during Saturday’s race.

Again, Andre Heimgartner had to Sub for Ash Walsh who is still recovering from that big accident at Phillip Island.

Once underway, Steve Owen was battling with Paul Dumbrell for the 1st spot. When Paul Dumbrell tried to go down the inside of Steve Owen he connected with the  Supercheap Auto Ford Falcon spinning it around. As a result when Paul Dumbrell came in to hand over to Jamie Whincup he had to sit still for an extra 15 seconds to serve the penalty.

After the race, Chaz Mostert commented he didn’t think the 15 second penalty was enough because he thought it was poor driving form.

In my opinion the 15 second penalty was enough.

In the middle of the race Garth Tander and Todd Kelly made contact which resulted in Todd Kelly getting a 15-point penalty and he also scored a busted rear wing which meant he had to limp back to the pits.

By this stage all the main drivers were back in their cars for the run to the chequered flag.

Towards the end of the race no one could catch the top 3 drivers of Chaz Mostert, followed by Cameron Waters about 2.5 seconds later and then Tim Slade about 5.5 seconds behind the leader.

Fabain Coulthard started 16th and moved up 12 spots during the race. And Scott Mclaughlin started 12th and moved up 6 spots during the race.

Craig Lowndes Qualified 11th and made up 8 spots during the race.

I was thrilling race and makes me recall the line from Mark Skaife ‘If you want great racing just add water’.

 

Results for race 21

1st Chaz Mostert and Steve Owen – Supercheap Auto Racing.
2nd Cameron Waters and Richie Stanaway – Monster Energy Racing Team.
3rd Tim Slade and Andre Heimgartner – Freightliner Racing.
4th Shane Van Gisbergen and Matt Campbell – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

In Qualifying for race 22, Tim Slade had an engine let go due to hitting the back chicane too hard. Dale Wood coming up behind had to stop in the middle of the pit lane entry because Tim Slade’s car leaking oil was no on fire! The situation called for a red flag.

In race 22 Matt Campbell started on pole position alongside him was Paul Dumbrell.

At the start of the 102-lap race Paul Dumbrell got the jump so Matt Campbell had to slot in behind. Unlike Paul Dumbrell’s perfect start he didn’t get the correct amount of wheel spin off the starting grid.

Most of the co-drivers started all bar 1 which was Alex Rullo, the same as in the previous race.

Fabain Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin didn’t make the top 10 shootout. They qualified 13th and 22nd respectively.

Later James Golding hit the wall as a result of contact with Luke Youlden.

When Steven Richards went for a dive down the inside of Richie Stanaway, the contact resulted in a broken steering for Richie Stanaway in car 6 which put him back in the pits for repairs.

Soon after Andre Heimgartner hit the wall at turn 11 which meant he also had to limp back to the pits for repairs on car 14.

In the middle of the race the 3 triple 8 cars were running 1, 2 and 3 but Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske’s car 17 with Scott McLaughlin got the undercut over the Red Bull Holden Racing Team take track position. It was a blow to the Triple 8 team but made Dick Johnson very happy.

Lee Holdsworth was trying to stay with these leading cars ahead of him.

I couldn’t believe that DJR Team had managed to get the undercut in the last pit stop. This basically set them up for the race to the end which I thought was incredible.

At the end of the race the 3 triple 8 cars couldn’t catch Scott McLaughlin because he was just too fast.

Results for race 22.

1st Scott Mclaughlin and Alex Premat – Shell V Power Racing Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
2nd Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen and Matt Campbell – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
4th Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards – Team Vortex.

The next event is the ITM Auckland Supersprint on the 3rd to the 5th of November 2017.

Jamie Whincup is now the championship leader by 17 points with 2 rounds to go and 4 races remaining for 2017.

Will Jamie Whincup claim his 7th championship in 2017?

 

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 2017

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Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 5th to the 8th October 2017 was the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

The Bathurst 1000 is the biggest and most well known race in Australia. Held in Bathurst NSW at the Mount Panorama Circuit, it is a 161 lap race totalling 1000kms and is known amongst fans as ‘The Great Race’. Mount Panorama is an unusual track. The word ‘Mount’ gives it all away. There are lots of ups and downs as it winds its way over the hill. There is approximately 174m between the highest and lowest part of the circuit. It is unusual and makes for a gruelling but spectacular race.

There are so many things that happened over the weekend I couldn’t possibly report on them all so I’m going to limit it to my observations and race highlights.

Greg Murphy who is a pit reporter got to drive Triple 8 Sandman V6 Turbo around Bathurst circuit as a demo for the fans.

A special ‘congratulations’ to Craig Lowndes who made his 24th Bathurst start on Sunday. His co-driver, Steven Richards started his 200th career race at Bathurst. I must say monumental occasions for both of them.

The rookies to have their first Bathurst races were Garry Jacobson, Alex Rullo and Todd Hazelwood.

The Bathurst race rules require teams to complete a minimum of 7 pit stops though out the day. All teams seemed to manage this.

The weather this Sunday was not looking good. Commentator Neil Crompton thought the rain would hit at midday but it hit a lot earlier than that, soaking the track even before the race begun. A setting for a messy Bathurst.

In race 20, Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was David Reynolds.

It was interesting to note all of the main drivers started the race. Usually it’s the less experienced co-drivers that take the wheel at the start. The heavy rain may have had something to do with this.

At the start of the 161 lap race Scott McLaughlin got to turn 1 first. Mark Winterbottom tried to move past David Reynolds for the 2nd spot but had to pull back realising he didn’t have enough space for the manoeuvre.

On lap 2 Scott McLaughlin went down the escape road coming into turn 23 too fast. Now Chaz Mostert had the race lead.

Shane Van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes driving close together both left the track on the same corner turn 1, which wasn’t good for either of them.

Later in the race when Shane Van Gisbergen’s co-driver, Matt Campbell jumped in the number 97 Red Bull Holden Commodore he got spun around by Michael Caruso.  By the time he turned his car around and re-joined the race he ended up right at the back of the pack. This didn’t impress the Triple 8 team one bit.

When co-driver Alex Premat took over from Scott McLaughlin that’s when an engine issue started. Alex Premat brought the car in for the team to check it out. It was running off song. They couldn’t work out the problem and Alex Premat was told to push on. He went back out on track but stopped due to no oil pressure at turn 4 known as ‘the cutting’. Any corner is a high-risk spot to break down and the Vodafone Safety Car was deployed. The race was now under yellow.  Car 17 had to be towed back to pits and to the team’s distress was out for the rest of the race. DNF at lap 74! Not even half way through the race.

It was a complete disaster for Scott McLaughlin as the 2017 Championship leader. There is only one other event to go for the year and he will now have to make up 30 points to close the gap on the new leader, Jamie Whincup.

Then 2 laps later, the Preston Hire Racing team of Lee Holdsworth and Karl Reindler left the track also due to engine problems. Another DNF!

Paul Dumbrell was running 3rd going down Conrod Straight and couldn’t see out of the front window because of the heavy rain. Due to some controversy earlier in the year the Triple 8 team made an official request to the V8 Supercars Technical Manager, David Stuart to be allowed to use a squeegee while driving. David Stuart weighed up the risk between visibility and ‘squeegeeing whilst driving’ and permitted its use for this occasion.  

‘Squeegeeing Whilst Driving’ (SWD) a new technical phrase. You heard it here first at Williams Perfect Ride.

With permission now granted, both Paul Dumbrell and Matt Campbell also joined the SWD ranks.

A funny part was, while it was raining the crews had to carry the drivers on their backs out onto the pit lane so that the driver’s shoes didn’t get wet. No driver wants slippery feet going at those speeds.

I couldn’t believe how many cars went off the track throughout the race down at turn 23. It was just crazy.

It was funny to see one of fans up at the top of the hill in McPhillamy Park offering pit reporter Greg Rust a beer before he had to get back down to the pit lane.

As Lee Holdsworth was coming in, David Wall in nearly made contact with him in car 18.

In the middle of the race the Vodafone Safety car came out due to a Kangaroo being close to the track.  In total there were 6 Safety cars.

On lap 141 James Moffat hit the wall at the top of the hill. Once again the Safety Car came out and car 34 was towed from the track. Co-driver Richard Muscat watching intently from the garage must have known what this meant for the race.

Towards the end of the race, at lap 152 Simona De Silvestro had DNF due to a wet track making her lose it at the last turn and hit the pit lane wall. It was so bad the car had to be towed off track. Except for possibly a bruised ego she came out of it fine. It was so close to the end of the race I am sure she and her co-driver David Russell felt terrible. They had done so well throughout the race.

Soon after, at lap 159 with Mark Winterbottom at the wheel, he and co-driver Dean Canto left the track with a DNF. Another casualty of the wet weather, dropping 19 spots from their start at position 3.

The gruelling race took another victim a lap later (160). Nick Percat and Macauley Jones had their car #8 taken from the track and also received a DNF.

As the race drew to a close no one else could catch the top 3 podium spots. The Erubus team with drivers David Reynolds and Luke Youlden finished an amazing 4 seconds ahead of the next team, Scott Pye and Warren Luff. They were followed less than a second later by Fabain Coulthard  and Tony D’Alberto.

The reason why Craig Lowndes surprisingly finished 11th was because he had an issue with his car for the 2nd year in a row.

Also surprisingly, Jamie Whincup finished 20th completing only 124 laps when time was called. This was because his car dropped a cylinder. The team decided to get back out there was better than a DNF. Such bad luck for both of them.

Results for race 20

1st David Reynolds and Luke Youlden – Erebus Motorsport.
2nd Scott Pye and Warren Luff – Mobil 1 HSV Racing.
3rd Fabain Coulthard and Tony D’Alberto – Shell V Power Racing
Team.
4th Dale Wood and Chris Pither – Erebus Motorsport.
5th Shane Van Gisbergen and Matt Campbell – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

 

The next event is the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 on the 20th to the 22nd of October 2017.

Interesting to note, Fabian Coulthard has now taken back the championship over Jamie Whincup by 91 points and Scott McLaughlin has now dropped from 1st to 3rd, 97 points away.

This was David and Luke Youden’s first Bathurst win together.

Erebus Team owner Betty Klimenko couldn’t talk because she had happy tears coming out of her eyes.

Congratulations Betty and Erebus Motorsport.

 

 

 

 

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Coates Hire Ipswich Supersprint 2017

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Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the Weekend of the 28th to the 30th of July, 2017 was the Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint.

In Qualifying for race 15 Scott McLaughlin got on his 2nd run to try and improve his time. He zoomed past 8 or 9 slower cars out on track, most moving out of the way for him. Later in the lap he had to pull back for safety as he came across Alex Davison right in his path. It was a close call and forced him to abort his qualifying lap. Post race there were many comments made about better race control to avoid such high risk situations.

For the main game it was a special day for Todd Hazelwood making his debut in the V8 Supercars Championship. He joins the ‘main game’ coming up from the Dunlop Super2s under sponsorship from Bigmate Racing.

Another interesting point is that during the Telecast on Friday, Saturday and Sunday on Fox sports 5 channel 506, there was a drone following the cars around the track. It is something that I had not seen before and should make for some interesting footage.

In race 15 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. Alongside him was Craig Lowndes.

On lap 1 of 39 C raig Lowndes got the jump on Scott McLaughlin and led into turn 1. This was a great start to the race for him considering he had qualified in 2nd spot on the front row of the grid.

Later at turn 3 all hell broke loose. Dale Wood made contact with James Moffat. As James Moffat spun around he made contact with his teammate James Golding. James Golding was able to just continue with bent steering, a brave thing to do. However, James Moffat wasn’t so luck and had to eventually pit with an overheating engine. All this mayhem cause Simona de Silvestro to make contact with Alex Rullo. He came out of turn 3 with a left front tyre pointing in the wrong direction and at the wrong angle. Alex Rullo limped his car back to the pits and unfortunate could not return the race. A DNF even before the first lap was over.

On lap 2 Scott McLaughlin was putting pressure on Craig Lowndes and down at turn 3 he passed him for lead of the race.

On lap 3 all the wildcards were following behind the main game drivers trying to learn as much as they could. It’s a good strategy to learn how the pros do ‘what and when’ as they navigate the track.

On lap 8 Shane Van Gisbergen was down in the position order after he pitted. However, he gained the advantage of rejoining the race with fresh air.

On lap 9 Simona de Silvestro had put the lap 1 incident behind her and was now enjoying her first race at Ipswich . She followed her team owners, Todd and Rick Kelly gaining valuable pointers from these experienced drivers.

Mark Winterbottom had to abort his attempt to pass Cameron Waters to avoid making contact.

As the race moved on, Shane Van Gisbergen easily made it back through the field after his one and only pit stop.

Fabian Coulthard tried to stay with his teammate Scott McLaughlin in the lead but soon found out just how fast Scott McLaughlin is.

Dick Johnson and Roger Penske would have been very happy with Scott McLaughlin’s race performance. He had held the lead for most of the race and made it look easy.

Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup were battling it out in attempt to gain a podium position.

On lap 33 Jason Bright left the race receiving a DNF.

As the race came to a close, Scott McLaughlin maintained his lead a past the checkered flag.

Chaz Mostert had a great run and moved up from his starting position of 3 to a finish of second.

Shane Van Gisbergen had come from a start further back in the track gaining 4 positions to come in 3rd.

Craig Lowndes who started the race next to pole position faced some great competition and came in 5th. Still a great performance.

The surprise for me was Jamie Whincup finishing 20th, down 6 spots from his start position and about 30 seconds behind the winner.

Results for race 15

1st Scott McLaughlin – Dick Johnson racing Team Penske.

2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap auto racing Team.
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – red bull Holden racing team.

4th Tim Slade – Freightliner Racing.
5th Craig Lowndes – Team Vortex

 

In race 16 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Chaz Mostert

At the start of the 65-lap race Chaz Mostert got the right amount of throttle to get off the line with a fine start and take the lead into turn 1. Scott McLaughlin pulled in behind him.

At the start of the 2nd lap of the race Garth Tander wanted to pass James Moffat but wasn’t close enough to get the job done and losing his ongoing battle with James Moffat for pit priority.

Jamie Whincup was trying get by his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen but didn’t get close enough.

Craig Lowndes pitted early so that he wouldn’t have to double stack with Will Davison.

Scott McLaughlin was leading after the front runners went into the pits for the first round of pitstops.

Alex Rullo stayed out while his teammate Taz Douglas pitted and then re-joined with clear air which was handy.

There was contact between the 2 Nissan Motorsport cars of Michael Caruso and Shae Davies in between turns 1 and 2 which had ruled Michael out of race 16.

In the middle of the race Fabian Coulthard had made his way back into the top 3 for the final time, later dropping back a couple of positions to finish 5th.

By lap 41 Dale Wood left the race receiving a DNF. He was the fourth one out of the race receiving a DNF after Will Davison, Michael Caruso and Jack Le Brocq.

Towards the end of the race it was a certain for the top 3 drivers; Chaz Mostert, Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen. Jamie Whincup came in 4th about 1.5 seconds later.

Results for 16

1st Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team
2nd Scott Mclaughlin – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
4th Jamie Whincup Red bull Holden Racing Team

The next event is the Red Rooster Sydney Supersprint on the 18th to the 20th of August 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Watpac Townsville 400 2017

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Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend to the 7th to the 9th of July 2017 was the Watpac Townsville 400. Races 13 and 14 were both 200 Kilometres and 70 laps.

Its interesting to note:

  • Craig Lowndes had a worrying start to the weekend. In both practice sessions on Friday he lost control and spun his car.
  • Later in qualifying Jamie Whincup baulked Craig Lowndes costing him a solid top ten starting spot. Craig Lowndes was now placed 19th in the start.
  • Tim Edwards who is the Managing Director at Prodrive Racing Australia was not present for the weekend because he was with his boys watching them play Soccer. Rod Nash was delegated to the role over the weekend.
  • It was Simona De Silvestro first V8 Supercars event in North Queensland. Mark Skaife commented during this race he believed she was improving with every race that she does. I believe without a doubt as she returns next season to the different tracks for a second time she will be a force to be reckoned with.
  • For this season there have been only 2 Aussie drivers to win a race, Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert. It has been predominantly NZ drivers so it will be interesting to see if this becomes a matter of contention.

In race 13 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position, alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

On lap 1 of 70 Jamie Whincup got the jump on Scott McLaughlin off the start line after starting from 2nd spot which was on the clean side of the race track (meaning it has got more grip).

Towards the end of Lap 1 Jamie Whincup let Scott McLaughlin take over the race lead. Commentator Mark Skaife thought that letting Scott McLaughlin pass him was too soft.

On lap 2 Jamie Whincup tried to stay close as possible but Scott McLaughlin just pulled away.

Fabian Coulthard had starting in the top ten. He held high hopes to maintain his position as championship leader to the end of the season. On lap 3 he was hit from behind and spun around. As a result he ended up at the back of the pack and probably felt his championship hopes fade. However, I am sure he knew it was still early in the race and had plenty of opportunity to do something about it.

His worries weren’t over yet. On lap 6 he had a close call. Fabian Coulthard’s rear wing clipped the driver’s side door of Lee Houldsworth’s car. The damage didn’t look too bad but the door on Lee Houldsworth’s car wouldn’t stay shut. Fabian Coulthard got off without damage but Lee Houldsworth had to make it the pits and have his door taped shut.

On lap 7 Scott McLaughlin was still the race leader but chose to pit now. I can only assume it was part of the strategy to give him as much opportunity to retake the lead later in the race.

On lap 11 Chaz Mostert was battling with Mark Winterbottom to get fresh air but it wasn’t going to be easy trying to take a position while in the top ten.

By lap 12 Fabian Coulthard was trying to fight back from the spin on the opening couple of laps.

On lap 13 Shane Van Gisbergen was battling with Jamie Whincup for 3rd and 4th and also pit priority.

On lap 14 Jason Bright caught up with his teammates but had to wait till after the hairpin turn to make a pass safely.

On lap 19 Simona De Silvestro was following Rick and Todd Kelly for experience at the new track.

By lap 23 Macauley Jones was getting  noticed carving his way through the field after starting near the back.

On lap 24 some drivers hit the pits to get out from the battle going on near the back of the pack.

On lap 26 Jason Bright caught up to his teammates mark Winterbottom and Cameron Waters. He couldn’t manage to pass them so decided to pit again.

On lap 29 Jamie Whincup was putting pressure on Scott McLaughlin hoping he would make an error but Scott McLaughlin was faultless and wasn’t going to give the lead away easily.

In the middle of the race no one could catch the top 3 drivers which were Scott McLaughlin, Jamie Whincup and Mark Winterbottom.

On lap 34 Todd Kelly ran into engine problems and could go on. He received a DNF.

Towards the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen had a sick car not running on all eight cylinders. Regardless, he managed to complete the race coming in at 7th position.

Scott McLaughlin finished with nearly a 4 second lead over Jamie Whincup.  Mark Winterbottom came in third over 15 seconds after the winner. Quite a spread at the finish line.

Results for race 13

1st Scott McLaughlin – Dick Johnson racing Team Penske.

2nd Jamie Whincup – Red bull Holden Racing Team.

3rd Mark Winterbottom – Prodrive racing Australia.

In race 14 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

Craig Lowndes started in 21st on the grid due to not making the top 10 shootout.  To add to the pressure he also had to get passed Will Davison to get pit priority.

On the start of the 70 lap race Shane Van Gisbergen tried to go around the outside of the pole sitter but couldn’t get the job done.

On lap 2 Scott McLaughlin was still the race leader but he was under pressure from Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup which was good to see such a challenge.

On lap 3 John Mcgregor who is Craig Lowndes race engineer told him to pit because even though it wasn’t ideal timing he could see he was getting held in traffic.

On lap 5 Jamie Whincup was still chasing Scott McLaughlin for the race lead.

On lap 7 Fabian Coulthard was trying to regain the Championship lead but it wasn’t his day. He must have been  gutted over losing his championship lead.

On lap 9 Jamie Whincup running second to Scott McLaughlin him in their first round of pit stops.

On lap 10 Simona De Silvrestro was battling with Michael Caruso for positions 12 and 13. Both knew they were just outside the top 10 so these were critical spots.

On lap 11 Alex Rullo was doing a great job for his first V8 Supercars race at Townsville.

On lap 13 Jason Bright pitted to re-enter the race track with no cars in front or behind him.

On lap 15 Craig Lowndes was doing a fantastic job moving up through the field.  He was picking cars off with every lap which I thought was very impressive.

On lap 16, Grant McPherson, race engineer for Shane Van Gisbergen called a change in strategy; Shane Van Gisbergen was behind Jamie Whincup so was called into pits early. The strategy was so that Jamie Whincup would not have to double stack behind him.

On lap 18 Scott Pye was forced into pits at an un-ideal time because he was getting held up by James Courtney.

By lap 22 Craig Lowndes had worked his way up to 11th position, which in my opinion was a mighty drive.

On lap 25 a lot of cars started pitting for the 2nd round of pit stops to prepare for the race to the chequered flag.

On lap 27 Jamie Whincup ended up getting the undercut which made him the effective race leader at that point of the race.   He was not only on his way to his first race win for 2017 but also being on the same number of race wins as Craig Lowndes, in fact        equalling the same of Career wins.

On lap 28 the top 3 at that stage were Jamie Whincup, Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen.

In the middle of the race no one else could catch the top drivers which were Jamie Whincup, Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen. Holden, Ford, Holden.

They kept the pattern and finished the race in that order.

The win by Jamie Whincup  puts him only 6 points behind Scott McLaughlin.

 

Results for race 14

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing team.

2nd Scott McLaughlin – Dick Johnson racing Team Penske Shell V Power Racing Team.

3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red bull Holden racing team.

The next event is the Coates hire Ipswich Supersprint 28th to the 30th of July 2017.

 

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Skycity Darwin Triple Crown 2017

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Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 16th to the 18th of June 2017 was the CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown.

This year Darwin celebrated its 20th year anniversary for V8 Supercars races.

For the 42 laps of race 11, Rick Kelly started on pole position with Scott McLaughlin alongside him.

Rick Kelly got a good start and held Scott McLaughlin’s pass attempts off.

Craig Lowndes started in position 18 due to not getting a clear lap in Qualifying. Roland Dane (888 owner) didn’t attend the weekend’s racing probably based on Craig Lowndes poor starting position.  

Craig Lowndes immediately wanted to get out of the pack traffic to get some cool air but he had to hang out there for an extra lap and give pit priority to Will Davison whom he shares pit boom with.

On lap 2 Fabian Coulthard gained second position when Scott McLaughlin ran off the race track.

On lap 4 Garth Tander and Scott Pye put on a show as they battled for positions 5 and 6.

·        On lap 5 Rick Kelly was holding onto the race lead quite Comfortably. Which he was happy with. 

·        On lap 6 Shane Van Gisbergen was staying out on the track and doing good lap times.

On lap 7 Shane Van Gisbergen had moved from his starting position 5 into 3rd. His race engineer, Grant McPherson made the call to stay out on track while the going was good. Jamie Whincup wasn’t far behind him, so I guess the strategy was for the 888 team to hold onto those good positions.

·        On lap 8 Rick Kelly was enjoying not being back in the pack, and not hot brake temps and engine temps.

·        On lap 9 Simona De Slivestro had to get used to hot and warm Temperature’s in a v8 Supercar.

·        On lap 10 Maculey Jones was 1 of 4 wildcards to have a run in the main game. In prep for the Endurance races.

Rick Kelly had been comfortably holding the lead from the start but on lap 11 he overshot the first turn. Fabian Coulthard had been unable to catch the leader until now and used the opportunity to take the lead.

Soon after Shane Van Gisbergen had the lead but it didn’t last long. As he came down the main straight he wasn’t able to slow down and just kept going straight. His lead was over and once again Fabian Coulthard had the number 1 spot.

On lap 15 James Courtney made contact with Jack Le Brocq, which didn’t make him very happy because he went right to the very back of the pack.

It wasn’t the end of Rick Kelly’s unfortunate luck. Later, on lap 16 the throttle got stuck and he had a massive off hitting the tyre barriers. It was the end of the race for Rick Kelly and he received a DNF.

As it approached the middle of the race Fabian Coulthard maintained his lead but things had changed behind him, Scott McLaughlin and Nick Percat were now in 2nd and 3rd. The drivers further back in the pack couldn’t catch them.

With so many changes in the top ten positions up until now, it felt as though anything could happen and nothing could be taken for granted.

Amazingly these three drivers held position right to the end of the race and those behind them battled it out between themselves without hope of catching them.

Shane Van Gisbergen made contact with Garth Tander in lap 38. Garth Tander got to the finish the race but Shane Van Gisbergen lost his steering controls. It was just 4 laps to the finish but he had no option and left the track with a DNF.

In preparation for the Endurance races there were also a few wildcards on track. They seemed to benefit from the earlier mayhem:

·        Macauley Jones starting in position 26 moved up 2 positions finishing 24th.
·        Jack Le Brocq starting 24th finished 19th.
·        Tim Blanchard moved up 2 positions and finished 12th.
·        Cameron McConville made the best show, starting 28th gained 11 places and finished 17th.
In the following order Fabian Coulthard, Scott McLaughlin and Nick Percat crossed the finish line. Close behind was Jamie Whincup, Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters. Craig Lowndes was the closest car behind them about 4.5 seconds later. A surprising finish considering.

Results for race 11

1st Fabian Coulthard – Dick Johnson racing team Penske.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Dick Johnson racing team Penske.
3rd Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing.

4th Jamie Whincup – red bull Holden racing team.
 

In race 12 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position, alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

At the start of the 70 lap race Jamie Whincup got the jump on Scott McLaughlin and led during the opening stages. I was thinking that Jamie Whincup would get his first race win for 2017 in Darwin but wasn’t to be. Then Scott McLaughlan was trying to get past Jamie Whincup as quickly as possible so his engine didn’t overheat.

On the 2nd lap Mark Winterbottom was battling away with Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert for the positions behind the two leaders.

Craig Lowndes was desperately trying to get out from behind his teammates and get some fresh air.

Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t quite get the result he wanted but did manage to get a position on the podium. Mark Dutton wasn’t pleased with the result either, having high expectations for Shane Van Gisbergen to win the race like last year.

Will Davison had come in early because how far down the in the race he was. Which he knew there was a long way to go but he was still happy with the pace of the Tekno car number 19.

Shae Davies had his first race at Darwin. He stuck close behind Rick and Todd Kelly.

Just 12 laps to go, James Moffat had a tyre blowout. It was bad timing and cost him dearly, crossing the finish line 25th from a start position of 3.

Jamie Whincup had control of the lead in the early stages of the race but in the end it was Scott McLaughlin’s day. He took the chequered flag ahead of Jamie Whincup by over 2 seconds.

This puts Scott McLaughlin second in the championship to his teammate Fabian Coulthard.

 Results for race 12

1st Scott McLaughlin – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red bull Holden racing team.
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red bull Holden Racing Team.
The next event is the Watpac Townsville 400.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Woodstock Winton Supersprint 2017 Melbourne Victoria

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Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world.

On the weekend of the 19th to the 21st of May 2017 was the Winton SuperSprint.

Some interesting background notes on this race:
·        Craig Lowndes started 19th due to not getting a clear run in Qualifying.
·        There were 3 wild cards (solo debuts) at Winton which were Macauley Jones, Shae Davies and James Golding. I have no doubt that this would change the dynamics out on track.
·        Fabian Coulthard has a different colour number on his Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske car is because he is the current championship leader. This seems to be the ‘new thing’ since Shane Van Gisbergen turned down the traditional championship leader Number One sticker and kept his usual number. Was it superstition or other reasoning?  I am not sure.
·        Simona De Silvestro seemed to enjoy her first race at Winton, and did pretty well in this race finishing 2 spots up from her starting position on the grid.
·        During Friday’s practice there were a lot of drivers and cars that went off the wet track and onto the grass. It made the drivers weary of conditions but fortunately the weather cleared for the weekend.
·        LOL… During Friday’s 2nd practice session, presenter and commentator Neil Crompton got Mark Skaife’s name wrong during an interview and called him Mike Skaife.

In the 120km race 9, Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. Alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

On lap 1 of 40 Scott McLaughlin beat Chaz Mostert off the start line and led into turns 1 and 2. Between turns 6 and 7 James Moffatt spun James Courtney and put him right to the back of the pack. As a result, he had to start making his way back up through the pack.

Mark Winterbottom ran well during the opening stages of the race.

Craig Lowndes’ race engineer, John McGregor (aka “Irish”) called him into the pits. As mentioned Craig Lowndes had a poor starting position of 19, so this was a strategy to get him out of the traffic and get a clear track and make headway later on.   

On lap 4 cars further back in the pack were crowded up so started pitting to get clear air. Scott McLaughlin was still leading the race so stayed out longer while the going was good.

On lap 5 Scott Pye and James Courtney were contending for positions 8 and 9 and desperate to stay in the top 10.

On lap 7 David Reynolds was close in behind his Erebus Motorsport teammate Dale Wood.

On lap 10 Craig Lowndes was making his presence felt and was in battle with Will Davison trying to gain another position.

On lap 11 Garth Tander was trying hard to get passed James Moffatt to get fresh air so that engine does overheat

On lap 13 Chaz Mostert could feel something wrong with his engine. Adam De Borre, his race engineer told him to come in to the pits. At first he stayed in the car then Adam De Borre told him to get out. It was all over for the race and Chaz Mostert received a DNF.

Rick Kelly was trying to pass Tim Slade at turns 1 and 2, both trying to stay in the top 10.

On lap 13 Todd Kelly also just made it into the top 10. He was desperate for this after his start position of 11th.

On lap 14 Will Davison was staying cautious after his experience in a12 car pile-up at Tasmania. He ended up in hospital and his car was close to demolished. The Tekno team had to do an all-nighter to get back out on track the next day.

On lap 17 Macauley Jones was safely following James Golding, one of the wildcards on the day to not get caught up in an incident.

At this stage engineers usually start calling cars in to the pits but the going was good and most drivers stayed out on track not wanting to lose any advantage they could gain pitting later on.

On lap 19 Tim Slade managed a successful pass of his teammate, Nick Percat after his pit stop.

On lap 21 Craig Lowndes was moving up through the field due to his pit stop strategy.

On lap 23 there was a battle between Garth Tander, James Moffatt, James Courtney and Nick Percat.

On lap 24 Scott McLaughlin was still leading over his teammate and Championship Leader, Fabian Coulthard.

On lap 25 Shae Davies had a close call with Simona De Silvestro and only just avoided making contact.

On lap 26 Shane Van Gisbergen was trying to keep up with his teammate, Jamie Whincup.  It was exactly Roland Dane wanted to see. The only thing that Roland Dane didn’t want to see was the 2 teammates making contact.

By this stage of the race Craig Lowndes was running in 6th after starting in the 19th spot. It is no easy feat to gain 13 positions in a 40 lap race and then maintain it to the finish. Proof of why he gets paid the big bucks.

On the second last lap James Courtney ended up in the sand and couldn’t get out. He received a DNF which was just plain bad luck for him.

As the race progressed into it final laps it was clear the top 3 drivers were untouchable; Scott McLaughlin (who managed to hold his lead from start to finish), Jamie Whincup and Fabian Coulthard.

David Reynolds was the closest in 4th position crossing the finish line nearly 8 seconds later, but it was a good race for him having gained 10 spots from his 14th position on the starting grid.

Things in the championship are now getting really interesting. With the win going to Scott McLaughlin, Fabain Coulthard only leads the Championship by only 4 points.

Results for race 9:

1st Scott Mclaughlin – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske Shell V Power racing team.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Fabain Coulthard – Dick Johnson Racing team Penske Shell V power racing team.

 

In race 10 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. Alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

On lap 1 of 67 Jamie Whincup got into turn 1 and 2 first over Scott McLaughlin.

On lap 2 Shane Van Gisbergen and Fabian Coulthard were battling for 2nd and 3rd. Shane Van Gisbergen got the better of him making a pass for clear track. Scott McLaughlin slipping to 4th.

On lap 3 888 race engineer, David Cauchi stategised for Jamie Whincup to stay out on track longer and not pit too early, especially while he maintained pit priority over Shane Van Gisbergen.

On lap 4 Chaz Mostert was trying to find a way passed Cameron Waters. But he couldn’t get the job done.

On lap 5 Chaz Mostert wasn’t making headway out on track so pitted early to avoid the pit lane congestion. This strategy paid off for him later on.

On lap 7 Craig Lowndes was on a charge, moving up from 26th up to 23rd.

On lap 9 Fabian Coulthard dropped to 4th giving Scott McLaughlan an easy pass. He knew it was a long race so was saving his energies for later.

On lap 10 Mark Winterbottom was following his teammates Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert. This was also OK by him so early on in the race.

On lap 11 Simona de Silvestro was keeping up with her team owners Rick and Todd Kelly. It was a great setup where she could get some first hand knowledge from them on her first visit to Winton Raceway.

On lap 13 Macauley Jones one of the other wild cards on the day was making his dad, Brad Jones proud of him in his solo V8 Supercars Championship debut.

On lap 14 Scott Mclaughlin was happy to be back in the lead after dominating the first race of the weekend. Roland Dane, 888 owner did not want to see their main rivals, Dick Johnson Racing make it 2 for 2.

On Lap 15 James Courtney was driving cautiously not wanting to have another bad race for the 2nd day in a row.

On Lap 17 Fabian Coulthard took advantage of Shane Van Gisbergen going wide at turn 3. He managed to slip through on the inside. It was a very cool move.

On lap 18 Mark Winterbottom also passed Shane Van Gisbergen and was now trying to find a way past Fabian Coulthard. Fabian Coulthard wasn’t going drop the ball and Mark Winterbottom couldn’t get far enough up to make the pass.

On lap 20 David Reynolds was on the charge after he disengaged the pit lane speed limiter. He just got in front of Rick Kelly which was planned by the team before the start of the race.

On lap 21 Craig Lowndes wanted to pit first but because he was behind teammate, Will Davison the pit priority was not his.

On lap 22 Alex Rullo stayed in close behind his more experienced teammate Taz Douglas, gaining valuable pointers.

Chaz Mostert was trying to catch up to the race leaders and capitalise on any mistakes made. Unfortunately for him, Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen weren’t giving him any opportunities.

On lap 25 Alex Rullo was blocking Mark Winterbottom, which is considered poor form so early in the race. In fact, later Mark Winterbottom told host of RPM Matthew White that he wasn’t impressed with the move that the Rookie made whatsoever

On lap 29 Todd Kelly passed his brother Rick Kelly but it was a short lived result. In usual sibling rivalry Rick Kelly took back the lead over his brother.

On lap 31 the 2 Red Bull Holden Racing team cars were holding the top two positions, Jamie Whincup 1st and Shane Van Gisbergen 2nd. 

In the middle of the race Mark Winterbottom gave Alex Rullo a lesson in good driving manners and didn’t block him as he passed.

Towards the end of the race the Vodafone Safety Car was deployed due to Michael Caruso getting stuck in the tyre barrier after making contact with Shae Davies.

On the race restart Jamie Whincup was on target to match Craig Lowndes career wins of 104. It would have been a nice way for the 888 team to finish the weekend but things didn’t go quite to plan. At the final corner he ran wide, Shane Van Gisbergen slipped through on the inside to take the chequered flag. Jamie Whincup will just have to wait till net time.

Results for race 10:

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Fabain Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.

The next event of the v8 Supercars Championship is the Crown bet Darwin Triple Crown on the 16th to the 18th of June 2017.

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Perth Supersprint 2017 Western Australia

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Perth SuperSprint 2017

Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 5th to the 7th of May 2017 was the Perth Super Sprint at Barbagallo Raceway.

In the 2nd run of qualifying Shane Van Gisbergen nearly hit the wall at a top speed of 255km/h. It could have been catastrophic and put everyone on edge.

Mark Dutton, the team manager later stated he would like see qualifying be done via a ‘go point’. He felt such a close call was an obvious example of how dangerous it is for drivers qualifying (hot lap) to be dealing with drivers warming up on track (I must say that I do agree with him).

Regardless of this hair raising moment the racing this weekend was excellent. Scott McLaughlin held race 7 in the palm of his hand and then (spoiler alert) took out race 8 as well, an almost unimaginable feat.

So here is the run-down on how it happened.

In race 7 Fabian Coulthard was on pole position and alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

On lap 1 of 50 Scott McLaughlin got the jump on his team mate, Fabian Coulthard in a fantastic launch.  It was a pretty clean start no one ended off the race track.

It was those two cars that dominated. Except for a few moments the other cars didn’t see the two for the rest of the race.

Fabian Coulthard tried passing to take the lead and pit priority but Scott McLaughlin held on to the number one position. 

On lap 3 Chaz Mostert who started in position 5 was now in position 3 following the two Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske cars at the lead.

During the opening stages Craig Lowndes was doing well.

Alex Rullo was also doing well for his first race on his home turf.

Garth Tander was also on home turf showing his best form to impress his local crowd.

Simona de Silvestro was following her two team owners, the Kelly brothers out on track, getting some good pointers and experience.

James Courtney was outside the top 10 and just couldn’t understand why he wasn’t up near the leaders.

On lap 10 Fabian Coulthard’s race engineer, Phil Keed told him, if you get held up by Scott McLaughlin come in so that you re-join in clear air but that’s only if you’re getting held up.

On laps 16 & 17 the telecast crossed over to Mark Dutton (Red Bull Team Manager) and then Mark Skaife (Foxsports Commentator) and you could just see by their expressions how much they were enjoying the race.

By lap 24 the drivers had completed their 1st round of pit stops.

On lap 25 Scott McLaughlin was still holding the lead and looking strong.

It must have felt pretty good for him as he continually gained more lead on the chasing cars.

The Red Bull team seemed surprised and unsure of what to do about the two DJR cars up ahead that were getting further and further away. First, Shane Van Gisbergen gave chase but with little result.  He then swapped his 3rd position with Jamie Whincup in 4th.  I’m not sure but, it looked as though the strategy was for one to give chase and the other to hold off cars from behind. That way they would be sure to get Red Bull a spot on the podium.

It did pay off in the end with Jamie Whincup coming in at 3rd. However, Scott McLaughlan and Fabian Coulthard were just too good on the day; coming in at 1st and 2nd place respectively and Jamie Whincup over 7 seconds behind at 3rd. It was a spectacular finish for the DJR Team.

Results for Race 7

1st Scott McLaughlin – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

In race 8 Scott McLaughlin started in pole position with Chaz Mostert alongside him.

On lap 1 of the 83 lap race, Scott McLaughlin got the jump on Chaz Mostert. Chaz Mostert tried to go around the outside but it didn’t work so before the turns he quickly tucked in behind Scott McLaughlin.

On lap 2 Craig Lowndes was displaying his talents and coming through the field well.

In lap 7 Scott Pye saw the opportunity to put some pressure on James Courtney and tried passing him but he couldn’t get it done cleanly.

On lap 9 Todd Kelly was in front of Rick Kelly both pushing hard in their usual sibling rivalry.

By this stage Chaz Mostert dropped back in the pack from his 2nd position at the start. It didn’t seem to be going his way and Mark Winterbottom made it look easy to get a clean pass of Chaz Mostert to take 7th position.

On lap 14 Craig Lowndes came in for his next stop before he got trapped out on the track. His drive after that stop was cool.

On lap 15 Fabian Coulthard tried to pass Scott McLaughlin but it was the same as race 7, Scott McLaughlin was having his day and held tight to his position.

On lap 17 Todd Kelly came in because he was getting held up by the cars in front of him which wasn’t ideal in terms of track position and strategy.

On lap 18 Cameron Waters was handling the pressure from David Reynolds reasonable well.

In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup pitted to try to get track position. This did work for a while but soon after Scott McLaughlin took the lead of the again.

Chaz Mostert seemed to be going crazy as he tried to make his way up through the pack. It was like the stressed guy having to go into the office on a Sunday, appearing frustrated at not being able to make his way past the ‘Sunday Drivers’ fast enough. His pit stop strategies paid off ( his first at lap 21) and he was soon on his way to the podium pack (singing ‘Day-o, Day – ay – ay –ay –O!).

The leaders began moving further and further from the rest of the pack. It soon became obvious no one was going to catch them.

Scott McLaughlin held tight to his leading spot and came across the line first (a second race win for the weekend. It really was his day.

He was then followed by Chaz Mostert across the line and once again for this weekend, Jamie Whincup in third.

Results for Race 8

1st Scott McLaughlin – Dick Johnson racing Team Penske.
2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

The next event after Perth Western Australia was the Winton Supersprint on the 19th to the 21st of May 2017. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

WD 40 Phillip Island 500 21st to the 23rd of April 2017

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Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 21st to the 23rd of April 2017 was the WD-40 Phillip Island 500.

It was a fantastic weekend for many reasons, the main being that my Dad & I were actually there.

I am wheelchair bound with Cerebral Palsy and a long list of other issues, so getting to the races is not as simple as purchasing a ticket and booking a room. All sorts of things need to be considered and organised (it becomes damn expensive having to cater for a wheelchair!). In addition, I need someone to accompany me for support needs. So who better than my own dad to come with me? There is no one better to go to a sporting event with than your own father. He will never know how much I appreciate him not just for taking me, but also for spending the time with me and having a blast.

As you can see this was a special weekend for me and I’m really happy to share this experience, personal photos and videos with my readers.

Dad picked up the wheelchair accessible KIA rental from Freedom Motors Australia in St Marys (suburb of greater Sydney area) on the Tuesday. A big “Hello” to their fabulous sales manager, Carolyn Hurst. Thank you for such great, friendly service.

We left on the Wednesday to head down to Victoria ahead of the weekends racing. By mid-afternoon we crossed the border from New South Wales into Victoria and checked into The Comfort Inn Benalla (north east Victoria). There was a mix up with our bookings (due to on-line booking agency) but the operators Di and Brian Hogg, were so friendly and considerate they made sure we got a suitable room without any hassle. It is appreciated that they went out of their way but made it seem effortless and welcoming.

On Thursday morning we headed down to Phillip Island. We stayed at the Coachman Motel Phillip Island operated by a beautiful friendly couple Bill and Monica that also made us feel welcome. If you like a nice garden this is the place to stay. We rested up and got prepared for going out to the track the next day.

When we got to the track on Friday it was raining, so we had to go undercover until it stopped. We then went into “The Paddock” to see which drivers we could catch to get photos with. There was a Triple 8 autograph session but we didn’t know at what time, so we just stayed around the V8 pit paddock and tried to catch up with as many drivers as we could from both the V8 Supercars Championship series and the Dunlop Super 2 series.

I got photos with many of my favourites; Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes, Mark Dutton, Roland Dane, Jess Surrey Dane, Tim Schenken, Garry Rogers, Nick Percat, Brad Jones, Chaz Mostert, Cameron McConville, Paul Dumbrell, Dale Wood, David Reynolds,  Betty Klimenko, Simona De Silvestro and Doctor Carl Le (the official Supersprint medical delegate).

You can see these photos on my fan page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1321664561282386.1073741847.554033848045465&type=1&l=f15b1bc9fd

Dad and I also got grid passes from the Red Bull Holden Racing team.  It was great and we got more photos out on the grid. Then dad and I returned to the pits to watch the race at the back of the Team Vortex garage.

Interesting to note, on Friday at the end of Practice 1 Craig Lowndes had a tyre blowout spearing him into the wall. His car had so much damage he wasn’t able to go out on track for Practice 2. Team Vortex did an all-nighter repairing the car for Saturdays qualifying and race.

Race 5 was 57 laps covering some 250Kms.

The Phillip Island track is known to be a fast track. What I did notice is the number of drive-through penalties received by drivers mostly caused by higher speeds coming around the track and crossing the safety line at the pit entry. Drivers receive a penalty if they cross over the pit line on the track which is to be kept clear for safe entry.

Early on in the race the drivers that got drive-through penalties were Scott McLaughlin Chaz Mostert, Will Davison, Shane Van Gisbergen, Fabian Coulthard, Mark Winterbottom, Tim Slade, Tim Blanchard, Nick Percat, Scott Pye, James Courtney and Simona de Silvestro. There wasn’t consistency in upkeeping the rule so there were a lot of drivers that didn’t get pinged for crossing the pit entry line.

Also there were a high number of tyre blowouts. Thirteen (13) in total. This is unusually high and caused teams concerns about the new regulation Dunlop supersoft tyres being used this season.

Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. Alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.

On lap 1 Scott McLaughlin got the jump on his teammate Fabian Coulthard. Mark Winterbottom was up to 2nd spot by turn 1. Then Fabian Coulthard got that spot back on the exit of turn 4. Shane Van Gisbergen was keeping up with the leaders. He wanted his presence felt even though it was early on in the race. Fabian Coulthard pushed hard to get his 2nd spot back off Mark Winterbottom down at MG corner.

On lap 2 there were a couple of drivers that came into the pits early to avoid the double stacking. For some drivers this paid off.

In the early stages of lap 3 Chaz Mostert was holding 3rd position.

Taz Douglas’ car ran over something on the track and got a puncture causing him to make a spectacular exit off the track, leaving rubber and debris everywhere along the main straight.

On lap 5 Michael Caruso moved up within the top 10 positions.

On lap 7 Scott McLaughlin was still the race leader and he would have got pit priority if the safety car came out onto the track, but it didn’t until later on in the race.

On lap 8 Cameron Waters stayed out on the track to avoid a double stack with Mark Winterbottom. Even though they are not on the same team they share the same pit bay.

On lap 9 Jason Bright was getting held up on the track by his teammates, Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert, so he decided to pit and get a clear race track to re-join on.

On lap 10 Garth Tander was running up front with the leaders so he stayed out on track longer while the going was good. His teammate, James Moffatt was back in the pack so he chose to take the opportunity to pit.

On lap 11 internal footage of Shane Van Gisbergen’s car showed him changing down with just a flick of the wrist. It was done with such proficiency as if it was nothing. It was a very cool thing to see.

On lap 13 Scott McLaughlin was still leading the race until he pitted for tyres and fuel then when he went to re-join the track he saw the red light on due to the Vodafone safety car going passed the pit exit. Scott McLaughlin got a pit lane penalty was because he wasn’t far enough over before he turned in to his pit bay.

On lap 14 Cameron Waters nearly got a punctured tyre due to the fast nature of the Phillip Island circuit. But he eased off and just got away with it.

On lap 15 when the Vodafone safety car came out nearly everyone up the front decided to stay out longer to keep their track position. This seems the right thing to do if there were more than 2 cars up at the pointy end of the field otherwise known as sharp end.

On lap 16 Rick Kelly pitted before the other 3 cars in his team. This was a good strategy call to avoid the ugly double stacking that the teams and drivers hate doing.

On lap 19 Jason Bright was pushing hard to get up into the top 5.

On lap 20 David Reynolds was on the charge trying to stay up with the leaders.

On lap 21 Shane Van Gisbergen was running well trying to get in front of Jamie Whincup but he wasn’t able to.

On lap 22 Fabian Coulthard was pushing hard after having to serve a pit lane penalty for not stopping when the red light was on at the pit lane exit. He admitted to his mistake but that didn’t make him any happier.

On lap 23 Simona De Silvestro was putting pressure on Todd Kelly to pass him at turn 4. Mark Winterbottom was putting pressure on Cameron Waters to get pit priority.

On lap 26 James Courtney was trying to pass Scott Pye to get inside the top 10 to get pit priority for the 2nd round of pit stops.

On lap 27 the drivers were adjusting their anti-roll bars. I assume this was to reduce the chance of tyre blowouts as there had been so many by this stage.

On lap 29 all the drivers were getting their cars ready for the race to the checkered flag.

From that point on it seemed that one could catch the front 3 cars (Craig Lowndes, Fabian Coulthardt, Jamie Whincup) and there seemed that the number of tyre blowouts also changed driver tactics so the chance of a great catch up didn’t look to be on the cards.

In the last 5 laps Craig Lowndes was leading the race. Even though he crossed the finish line first, the 15 second pit lane penalty he received meant he ultimately finished 12th. It must have been a hard pill to swallow considering if he kept the race win it would be his first race win for 2017 with team Vortex and his career tally would have gone up to 106 wins.

Nevertheless, Fabian Coulthard took race win followed by Jamie Whincup, then Garth Tander.

Results for race 5.

1st Fabain Coulthard  –  Shell V Power Racing Team.  Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Garth Tander – Garry Rogers Motorsport.

In race 6 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Fabian Coulthard

On lap 1 of 57 Fabian Coulthard got the jump on Scott McLaughlin. The cars further back in the pack were trying to find clear space.

On lap 2 most of the cars came in to the pit lane, all bar the race leaders.

On lap 3 Will Davison hit the wall coming out of turn 2. The car was damaged but he managed to get it back to the garage. When he emerged from the garage later, he did not look happy at all.

On lap 4 Chaz Mostert was running in 4th which the Supercheap Auto racing team would have been happy with.

Rick Kelly pitted before the rest of the Nissan team.

On lap 5 Jamie Whincup was running in the top 5. Cameron Waters wanted to get passed his teammate Mark Winterbottom to get to the pit box first.

On lap 6 Simona De Silvestro just outside the top 10 was keeping the Nissan Motorsport team happy.

Lap 7 was when the tyre blowouts started happening again. Overall there weren’t as many as in race 5 the previous day. It must have helped that most teams reduced tyre pressure on cars, even though it does affect handling.

On lap 8 Fabian Coulthard came in to the pits before Scott McLaughlin.

On lap 10 Garth Tander made his first pit stop which helped get him out of the traffic and get fresh air for the engine so it didnt get too hot. On the next lap, James Moffatt was in the same situation.

On lap 12 Tim Slade tried to pass his teammate Nick Percat but wasn’t  able to get far enough up to make the move stick.

On lap 13 James Courtney came in to pits so that Scott Pye didn’t have to wait later on.

On lap 16 Scott Pye followed James Courtney into the pits and double stacked when the safety car came out. Im sure there was strategy from the team on this choice.

On lap 17 Jamie Whincup was up near the front which he and the team were happy with.

On lap 18 Mark Winterbottom was back on the track after his first pit.

On lap 19 Cameron Waters wanted to be strong during the race which he was.

On lap 20 Chaz Mostert was near the race leaders. His parents, Anne and Eddy Mostert looked proud as the watched the race from the side lines.

On lap 25 the safety car returned to the track to clear up spent rubber. Not moments later, on the next lap Nick Percat had a tyre blowout on the front right hand side of the car. He had to limp straight into the pits.

On lap 27 Todd Kelly and Rick Kelly were battling for positions 11 and 12 in their usual display of sibling rivalry.

The triple 8 Team’s luck had run out. Where in the previous day’s race they didn’t have a single tyre blowout, in this race all 3 cars had blowouts.

I’m sure that the Teams’ big question is ,why? Kevin Fitzsimmons is the Motorsport Manager for Dunlop. He had a lot of to do to find out what would have caused the tyres to blow.

It was lap 41 when Chaz Mostert took the lead. From that point on no one could catch him. Mark Winterbottom tried but Chaz Mostert was in great form and crossed the finish line so forcefully it was as though he had a higher purpose.

Andrew Roberts was down at Phillip Island which was good because Dad and I hadn’t seen him in a while.

My personal experience at Phillip Island for the weekend of racing was memorable. I had a ball with dad.

Results for race 6.

1st Chaz Mostert – Prodrive Racing Australia. Supercheap Auto Racing.
2nd Mark Winterbottom – Bottle O Racing Team Prodrive Racing Australia.
3rd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.

The next event is the Perth Supersprint on the 5th to the 7th of May 2017.

http://www.freedommotorsaustralia.com.au/

http://www.comfortinnbenalla.com.au/

http://www.coachmanmotel.com.au/