Rick Kelly started racing in the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 2000 followed by the Australian Drivers Championship in 2001.
Now hang on! Let me do my calculation: (Professional driver:2000. Born:1983) that would make him 17!!! Really? Ok so we got this kid behind the wheel. People are taking him seriously. He must be good.
In 2001 he made his debut in the Shell Championship Series at the VIP Petfoods Queensland 500 with co-driver Nathan Pretty with the Kmart Racing Team. Rick was behind the wheel on the grid, rearing to go. Unfortunately, due to mechanical problems the car had to be pushed off the track before they even started. It didn’t hold Rick back.
In 2002 he moved to the Holden Racing Team driving car 02. He performed admirably; at one stage leading the Bathurst 1000 and had the circumstances been slightly different he could have won his first Bathurst at the age of 19!!!! Not a problem for a Kelly. It was only one year later, driving for the K-Mart Racing Team in 2003 that he took the Bathurst 1000 trophy.
When Rick Kelly rejoined Kmart Racing Team in 2003 he was co-driver to (already legend) Greg Murphy for the Enduro’s. It’s agiven that being co-driver to a legend like Murphy is a great honour but it also states clearly what they thought of Kelly.
In 2004 Rick Kelly stayed with Kmart racing and started on pole position for the 2004 Sandown 500.
In 2005 Rick Kelly drove for the HSV Dealer Team driving in car number 15. Again he started on pole position for the Sandown 500.
In 2006 and 2007 Rick Kelly drove for the Toll HSV Dealer Team.
He won the 2006 Supercars Championship and got to run the 2007series with the coveted 01 number on his car.
In 2009 the Kelly boys (brother Todd) started their own team, Kelly Racing which they both own to this day.
Rick Kelly is a 2 times Bathurst 1000 winner and a Supercars Champion.
I met Rick Kelly a in 2017 at Homebush. He was a great guy to meet. I also met him at some other race events and he was consistently nice.
So, from me (and Im sure a great many others) congrats on your outstanding 19 year Supercars career. Good luck for the future.
Whoever will replace Rick on the track for Kelly Racing in 2021 will be in good hands and should be honoured.
Results for Rick kelly’s career:
1st 2001 Sandown race 2.
1st 2003 Bathurst 1000.
1st 2004 Bathurst 1000.
1st 2004 round 2 Eastern Creek.
2nd 2006 Clipsal 500 Race 1 & 3rd in Race 2.
1st 2007 Clipsal 500 Race 2. (His brother Todd won the first race).
1st 2011 Hamilton Race 5.
Rick Kelly co-drivers over the years:
Nathan Pretty 2001 and 2002
Greg Murphy 2002, 2003 and 2004
Garth Tander 2005
Todd Kelly (Bother) 2006
Garth Tander 2007
Paul Radisch 2008 (who crashed car 15) so Rick drove with Paul Dumbrell in car 16.
On the weekend of the 2nd – 5th of March 2017 was the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide South Australia.
As the first race of the season it was interesting to note:
New season equals new cars. Many teams invest in new cars allowing their engineers to really show what they are made of. It’s always interesting to see how they tweak cars to get the best performance.
Alex Rullo was the youngest driver to make his debut in the V8 Supercars Championship at just 16 years and 8 months.
It was Jason Bright’s first race in the Prodrive Racing Australia team.
Scott McLaughlin did pretty well for his debut with the Shell V Power Racing Team and with Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
The space he left in Garry Rogers Motorsport Team has been taken up by Garth Tander.
This was Simona De Silvestro’s 3rd race in V8 Supercars. It was good to see her do well in her first event and first race as a full time V8 Supercars driver.
At the start of the 78 laps in race 1, Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position with Fabian Coulthard alongside him.
Fabian Coulthard got the jump off the start line and led the opening laps.
On Lap 2 Todd Kelly tried to go through turn 8 with three cars wide. As a result, Will Davison hit the wall and copped some bad damage. The red lights came on and he drove his car back to the pit lane. He was out of the race.
The safety came out to put the wall back in place. On restart Scott McLaughlin was weaving side to side, which is not allowed after the safety car lights have gone out and the race has gone back to green. Not sure what he was thinking but officials served him a pit lane penalty, sending him to the 24th spot at the back of the pack.
Meanwhile, Shane Van Gisbergen was putting as much pressure as possible on his fellow Kiwi, but Fabian Coulthard kept his position and the champion wasn’t able to pass.
At the start of lap 3 Jamie Whincup took an early pit stop. Once he re-joined the race he was clear of surrounding traffic and able to press on to gain valuable time.
On lap 4 Simona De Silvestro (what a honey-I want to take her home, cook her dinner & eat swiss chocolate from her clavicle) seemed to be enjoying her 3rd race in a V8 Supercar and also her first race in Adelaide.
On lap 5 Fabian Coulthard made a mistake running wide at a turn. It was just what Shane Van Gisbergen was waiting for. He passed on the inside and took the lead.
On lap 6 Mark Winterbottom was waiting for a clear pit lane to make the first of his 2 pit stops. When Mark Winterbottom came out of the pits he had to look for space to re-join the race and managed to pull in behind his teammate.
On lap 7 Chaz Mostert had taken his pit stop and really found his rhythm (playing the bongos and singing the banana boat song, ‘Daaay-0h, Da-a-a-ay oh, come Mr tally mon, tally me banana’!?) and was moving up through the pack with ease.
On lap 8 Craig Lowndes was able to pit at his own choosing. He didn’t have to worry about a double stack with Will Davison as he was out of the race after crashing on lap 1.
On lap 11 David Reynolds was feeling the need to take his pit, but was forced to stay out longer so he wouldn’t double stack with teammate, Dale Wood.
On lap 13 the cars back in the pack came in to pits to get out of the traffic.
On lap 14 Mark Winterbottom was caught up in a tight pack of cars. Due to the aggressive competition, he nearly ended up making contact with a wall but managed to stay out of trouble. The incident scared the hell out of the Prodrive Racing Australia team. (Only their dry cleaners’ will know just how much it scared them.)
On lap 16 Shane Van Gisbergen pitted after Jamie Whincup. Meanwhile Garth Tander had a good pace going in his new Holden Commodore, number 33.
On lap 17 Craig Lowndes also put his new Team Vortex Holden Commodore to the test and pushed it to its limits.
In the middle of the race at turn 5, Jamie Whincup spun Mark Winterbottom’s car around. With the new season’s rules in place, Jamie Whincup didn’t receive a drive through penalty.
Towards the end of the race Craig Lowndes was struggling. He was running out of fuel and he had to compensate by altering his driving technique.
Shane Van Gisbergen had such a good lead he was virtually unstoppable. The other drivers were not put off and competition for placings was still heated.
It all made for exciting racing with Shane Van Gisbergen comfortably crossing the finish line first.
Results for race 1
1st – Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd – Fabain Coulthard – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
3rd – James Courtney – Mobil 1 HSV Racing.
At the start of the 78 laps in race No. 2, Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.
Jamie Whincup started 10th due to putting all 4 wheels over the curb at turn 2 in the qualifying race, which meant his lap was taken away from him.
On lap 1, Fabian Coulthard took the lead. Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t get a good start from pole position so Scott McLaughlin overtook into second place. Nick Percat hit the wall at turn 8 and as a result limped the car back to the pits for repairs.
On lap 2 the leaders were pulling away from the rest of the pack; Scott McLaughlin, James Courtney and Shane Van Gisbergen.
On lap 3 Jamie Whincup again came into the pits early. This appeared to be a good call because of where Jamie Whincup had qualified. Once again, he would be able to re-join the race and concentrate on gaining valuable ground. Scott McLaughlin was doing a great job for his new team, Shell V Power Racing Team. As the newbie to V8 Supercars, Alex Rullo was getting used to being around everybody else. Shane Van Gisbergen was battling with Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin to maintain the lead. Mark Winterbottom was doing his best to keep out of trouble.
On lap 4 Simona De Silvestro was doing very well in her first weekend as a fulltime female driver in the V8 Supercars Championship.
On lap 5 James Courtney had a close call with the wall. A hit into the wall like that would have been an all-night repair job for the Mobil 1 HSV Racing team.
On lap 6 Scott Pye was trying to find a way to get passed his teammate, James Courtney to gain pit priority.
On lap 7 Tim Slade was having a ‘friendly’ battle with his teammate, Nick Percat.
On lap 8 Shane Van Gisbergen wanted to keep track position so stayed out on track a bit longer.
On lap 9 Mark Winterbottom was chasing Cameron Waters for pit priority. Garth Tander and James Moffatt were praying for smooth sailing; if the Safety Car came out their cars 33 and 34 would have had to double stack one behind the other.
On lap 10 Shane Van Gisbergen seemed happy with his car set up for the two races.
On lap 11 Simona De Silvestro got spun around by James Courtney on her way into the pit lane.
On lap 12 Michael Caruso nearly hit the tyres at the first turn. If this did happen it would have an adverse effect on the aerodynamics his Nissan Altama.
Jason Bright’s Cool Suit failed. In emergency response, The Mega Racing Crew, a part of the Prodrive Racing Australia Team had to take out the two windows on the driver’s and passenger’s side.
On lap 13 Alex Rullo was following teammate, Taz Douglas.
In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin was leading and Shane Van Gisbergen was working hard to keep up the chase for the lead.
Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin looked sure to be the winner. However, a mistake on Scott McLaughlin’s part gave Shane Van Gisbergen his second great opportunity for the day. He took the lead in the last minutes and went on to win his second race of the day.
Results for race 2.
1st – Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd – Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
3rd – Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.
The next event is the non-Championship round at Albert Park in Melbourne Victoria, 23rd – 26th of March 2017. The next Championship race is Symmons Plains raceway in Tasmania, on the 7th – 9th of April 2017.
On the weekend 3rd – 6th March 2016 was the Clipsal 500.
In race 1 Scott Pye started on pole position alongside him was Jamie Whincup. On lap 1 of 39 Jamie Whincup went straight to the race lead by passing Scott Pye at the centre chicane and from there on in Jamie Whincup was never caught. As the field was settling down into a rhythm with everyone looking for positions on the opening lap.
On lap 2 the cars near the back came in early to put tyres on to avoid double stacking it was Mark Winterbottom’s first weekend running car number 1. When the field came in for their pit stops they either brought their car in the lap before or the lap after.
On lap 3 Scott Pye was running up the pointy end of the pack until his pits stop where his crew dropped the 17 car way too early. They had not done up 1 of wheel nuts on the right rear corner.
On lap 4 Jamie Whincup was still out in front and controlling the race with ease, he stayed out as long as possible until the Red Bull team called him in.
On lap 5 everybody had not only the cars at the back had. To get track position.
On lap 6 the cars that were out front stayed on the track a bit longer.
On lap 7 Craig Lowndes pitted so he didn’t get stuck behind the cars in front of him. It was also his 251st Australian Touring car – V8 Supercars Championship Series start.
Before the race started it was already 64 degrees in the cockpit. In the middle of the race no one could catch Jamie Whincup.
After Jamie won the opening race it took his career victories tally up to 98 so he is now only 2 finishes off the magic 100 and join Craig Lowndes in the most unique of clubs. Looks like Red Bull Australia are going to be the only ones with drivers in the club…
Race 1
Results for race 1
1st – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia
2nd – James Courtney – Holden Racing Team
3rd – Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Racing Australia
In race 2 Chaz Mostert started on pole position alongside him was Jamie Whincup on lap 1 of 39 Chaz Mostert took the race lead early on through the centre chicane. Jamie Whincup tried to follow him through but James Courtney had to get out of the throttle to insure that there was no contact.
On lap 2 Jamie Whincup tried to do the crisscross at turn 4, but he couldn’t pull it off.
During the opening laps everybody was settling down to a race pace. Then the pit stops started when the pack came into the pits for the stop a few teams had to Double Stack. That is why teams like to have 2 or in our case 3 cars on different strategies.
Craig Lowndes had to try and stay in front of Will Davison so that he didn’t have to double stack behind Will Davison.
On lap 3 the cars back in the pack where trying to keep up with the race leaders.
On lap 4 the leaders stayed out longer the cars down the bottom of the field. Came in.
In the middle of the race James Courtney got track position over Jamie Whincup. As a result of a faster pitstop from the Holden Racing Team.
On lap 5 all the crews where watching from the garage until they needed to go out into the pits.
Race 2
Results for race 2
1st – James Courtney – Holden Racing Team
2nd – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia
3rd – Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing
In race 3 Fabain Coulthard started on pole position alongside him was Chaz Mosert the race started behind the Lexus RCF Safety Car because the track was wet the cars did 6 laps under yellow.
MARK Dutton and the team manager at Nissan Motorsport were complaining that the race had not started on the Sighting lap.
Mark Winterbottom nearly put car 1 in the wall at turn 8. Because he was on Slick Tyres on a wet track.
The restart was on lap 7 Shane Van Gisbergen was 3rd right behind Chaz Mostert. Early on, he had a massive Tankslapper( means when a car goes into the wall sideways the cars behind have got to be careful not to get caught up with anyone’s Else dramas) James Courtney went down the inside of Cameron Waters in 6. At turn 4 Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen ran wide out of turn 7. Scott McLaughlin went up the inside of Shane Van Gisbergen right into the Spray at turn 8. Then Shane Van Gisbergen made the pass on Scott McLaughlin.
On lap 8 James Moffatt had damage on a steering arm of his car. Garth Tander spun Jamie Whincup around at turn 9. Scott McLaughlin had a problem with damage on the front of the 33 car.
On lap 9 Rick Kelly had grip and he was using it.
Shane Van Gisbergen took the race lead at turn 4, Fabain Coulthard could not take the race lead back off the wet weather master.
On lap 10 Fabain Coulthard resumed as the leader of the race once Shane Van Gisbergen made a mistake by himself down at turn 9.
There were 2 storm cells the first one wasn’t too bad but the 2nd one was horrendous. Also on that lap Craig Lowndes had the fastest lap of the race and was running 4th.
On lap 11 Fabain Coulthard was under pressure to hold the race lead from Shane Van Gisbergen. Then Shane Van Gisbergen he took the lead back from Fabain Coulthard.
On lap 12 Grant McPherson got on the Radio to inform Shane Van Gisbergen that 11 laps were complete. Chaz Mostert passed Fabain Coulthard to move to position 4.
On lap 13 the drivers were looking for wet racetrack to keep the tyres cool.
On lap 14 Jamie Whincup was battling with the two Lucas Dumbrell cars plus Lee Holdsworth as well.
On lap 15 there was contact between David Reynolds and Jamie Whincup. Back in the pack Rick Kelly Will Davison and Fabain Coulthard were battling for position at turn 9. In the middle of the race Chaz Mostert hit the wall first which put him out of the race. Then James Courtney hit the wall at turn 8 in car 22 which meant he had to go back into the garage, but after the HRT Crew fixed his car he re-joined the race.
Towards the end of the race Nick Percat was leading and managed to hold on to get his first solo win on home soil.
The commentators Neil Crompton and Mark Skaife, and the pit reporters were Greg Rust, Greg Murphy and Riana Crehan.
The next event is the non-championship event at Albert Park in Victoria.
The next championship event is the Tyrepower Tasmainia Supersprint on the 1st – 3rd of April 2016.
Race 3
Results for race 3
1st – Nick Percat – Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport
2nd – Michael Caruso – Nissan Motorsport
3rd – Garth Tander – Holden Racing Team
Hi to all you V8 Supercar fans around the world, are you ready for a brand new year?
2015 Clipsal intro
Let’s take a look back at what happened 12 months ago.
At Clipsal in race 1 Jamie Whincup started on pole position, alongside him was Fabain Coulthard.
On lap 1 of 38 Jamie Whincup led the field through the first Chicane turns 1, 2 and 3. Fabian Coulthard tried to pass Jamie Whincup but was not able to get it done.
On lap 2 everybody was just settling down into a race groove, while the cars behind were trying to catch the race leading pair of Whincup and Coulthard. During the early Stages Chaz Mostert was running 3rd. James Moffatt hit the wall at turn 8 which meant he had to take it easy for the next couple of corners.
On lap 3 no one was able to stay with Jamie Whincup because he was just pulling away from the rest of the pack. Whincup pitted early so that Craig Lowndes did not have to double stack. Because if he did double stack he would have lost time in the pits.
In the end no could catch the 6 time and defending Champion.
Who will win the 2016 Clipsal 500?
The Clipsal 500 will be run from the 3rd – 6th of March 2016.
2015 Race 1
Results for race 1
1st – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia
2nd – Chaz Mostert – Pepsi Max Crew
3rd – Fabain Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing
In race 2 Jamie Whincup started on pole position (his favourite place) alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.
On lap 1 of 39 Scott McLaughlin got the jump off the grid. But it seems that Scott McLaughlin got investigated for a jump start. The rest of the pack tried to stay with Scott McLaughlin. The drivers at the front stayed with him but the drivers in the mid field couldn’t.
On lap 2, Channel Ten showed a replay of Scott jumping the start. Greg Rust and Neil Crompton said it was borderline.
On lap 3 Scott McLaughlin was out in front controlling the race well.
On lap 4 Scott McLaughlin lost a bit of ground to Jamie in 2nd spot.
On lap 5 James Courtney and Craig Lowndes try and gain track positions. When the pits was clear everybody else on different laps. Chaz had a “Did Not Finish” result in race 2.
In the end no one could catch Fabain Coulthard.
2015 Race 2
Results for race 2
1st – Fabain Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing
2nd – James Courtney – Holden Racing Team
3rd – Scott McLaughlin – Volvo Polstar Racing
In race 3 James Courtney started on pole position alongside him was Fabain Coulthard.
On lap 1 of 78 James Courtney got the jump from pole position and led the field into turns 1 and 2, Shane Van Gisbergen ran wide on the exit of turn 6 which had allowed James Moffatt to pass him at turn 7. Towards the end of the opening the leaders were starting to settle down.
On lap 2 Mark Winterbottom was the first car to pit along with Andre Heimgartner. Jamie Whincup was putting the pressure on James Courtney. Marcos Ambrose was in the top 10 during the opening laps.
On lap 3 Craig Lowndes was behind Marcos Ambrose in position number 10.
On lap 4 Lee Holdsworth pitted for tyres and fuel.
On lap 5 Marcos Ambrose had to get his groove back for driving a V8 Supercar again in 2015 because the last time he drove a V8 was Phillip Island back in 2005. Garth Tander made a mistake exiting turn 7 which allowed Shane Van Gisbergen to get up the inside at turn 8.
Towards the end of the race no one could catch James Courtney.
2015 Race 3
Results for race 3
1st – James Courtney – Holden Racing Team
2nd – Shane Van Gisbergen – Tekno Autoaports
3rd – Garth Tander – Holden Racing Team
Welcome to the 2015 racing season, starting off in Adelaide for the Clipsal 500.
Boy have we had some changes since last year, firstly a change of telecaster, it will no longer be seen on Channel 7, it will be telecast through Fox Sport 5 and Channel 10. While we have lost the talent of Mark Beretta as he is still with Channel 7. We welcome to the commentary team, such people as Riana Crehan from Fox Sport, Greg Murphy, Russell Ingall former drivers.
Secondly we saw the last of V8 Extra on Channel 7, so it is now going to be called RPM and televised through Channel 10, so the fun continues…
Check out the list on the side to see car changes and driver changes for this year. Red Bull has a new engineer, welcome to Grant Macpherson.
The Clipsal 500 was started back in 1999.
After such a successful year and breaking a few records, we are wondering if Jamie Whincup can continue on his winning streak and make 2015 his seventh championship. Good luck Jamie…
Results for the 2014
Race 1 – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia
Race 2 – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia
Race 3 – James Courtney – SP Tools Holden Racing team
Hi Guys and Girls on the 27th February to the 2nd of March 2014 was the Clipsal 500.
In race 1 Red Bull Racing Australia’s Jamie Whincup started on pole position alongside him was his teammate Craig Lowndes. Craig got the jump into turns 1, 2 and 3 for the first of 39 laps. Also on lap 1 Chaz Mostert went into the wall at turn 5, due to an oil leaking from the rear of car 6.
Tim Slade was trying to pass the Rick Kelly, towards the end of the opening lap, Shane Van Gisbergen was ahead of Mark Winterbottom in 3rd spot. On lap 2 the race leaders had to be careful due to the oil that Chaz had left behind in-between turns 4 and 5. Chaz’s car ended up in the pit garage to fix the oil leak issues, and the sister car of David Reynolds also pitted due to damage on the front right hand corner, from hitting the wall at turn 11. Scott Pye ran wide down at turn 9 due to a locked brake on the front left corner. On lap 3 Lee Holdsworth had David Wall and James Moffat. Jason Bright ended up being passed by Russell Ingall. Garth Tander passed the DJR car, for position 12.
On lap 4 Jamie was the first car to make his pitstop for tyres and fuel, so that his teammate didn’t have to double stack, the 2nd car was Garry Rogers motorsport Volvo Polestar racing, car 34 driven by Robert Dahlgren. On lap 5 David was in the garage getting checked over by the doctor after a hard hit at turn 11. On lap 6 James Courtney was chasing Mark Winterbottom, through turns 1, 2 and 3. Todd Kelly was asked to enter pit lane in car 7 on lap 7, cars 7, 21 and 16 pitted on the same lap. James Courtney, also Scott McLaughlin pitted together. On the pit exit Todd got passed Scott as he was re-joining the racetrack.
The Pepsi Max crew FPR team did Mark’s pitstop on lap 9, James Moffat had to serve a pit lane penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed limit which is 40 klms/hour. Car 97 peeled off on lap 13 for his compulsory pitstop. Craig pitted on lap 14, for 2 tyres and fuel. Craig said ‘what the heck happened there’, and his race engineer Jeromy Moore said sorry to Craig about the pitstop issue with the right rear wheel.
In the middle of the race Shane was following Craig for the effectively 2nd and 3rd positions. Towards the end of the race cars 22, 47 and 2 are all were battling for 10th 11th and 12th spots. Tim nearly hit the wall on the left hand side.
Nick Percat made contact with Michael Caruso. In the end Nick ended up in the garage. Craig caught the grass on approach to turn 14. Rick was under pressure from Scott, in the end Jamie ended the first race of the season on the top spot of the podium and he claimed his 8th win at Clipsal and race win number 74.
Results for race 1
1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia.
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Team VIP – Tekno Autosports.
In race 2 Craig Lowndes started on pole position alongside him was Scott McLaughlin, Craig got the jump into the turns 1, 2 and 3 chicane. On lap 1 Lee Holdsworth tried to get passed the Pepsi Max Crew Ford. When James passed the FPR car, he started to chase Lee Holdsworth. Meanwhile Nick Percat and Garth Tander made contact at turn 9. On lap 2 Craig got a kerb strike Neil Crompton said that Craig burning a kerb hop after lap 1 was not good. Jamie managed to get passed Scott McLaughlin, for 2nd spot. On lap 3 Jason Bright tried to a make a move down the main straight. Mark Beretta was right at the last corner, turn 14. On lap 4 Jason Bright tried get down the inside of the Volvo at turn 9. On lap 5 Scott was complaining about the over steer to his race engineer Richard Hallway. The first car to make to a pit was Robert Dahlgren. Robert stalled on exit of the pits Matt White was talking to Robert and he said to him ‘I bet it is not 30 degrees where you come from on the east coast of Sweden’, he replied ‘yeah minus’. In the middle of the race James Courtney nearly lost the passenger’s side door on approach to turn 4. Towards the end of the race, Scott and Jamie were battling for 2nd and 3rd.
Results for race 2
1st Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd Scott Maclaughlin – Volvo Polstar racing GRM.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.
In race 3, Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position alongside him was the 5 times V8 Supercars Champion Jamie Whincup. Jamie got the jump and led the field into turns 1, 2 and 3 for the first of 78 laps. Rick Kelly made contact with the tyre bundle at turn 1. As a result of the guard rubbing on the front left tyre, there was smoke pouring out of the left hand side of his car. On lap 2 David Reynolds pitted early for fuel. On lap 3 Todd Kelly had no throttle meaning the car running only on idol due to a broken throttle cable.
Shane tried to pass Jamie at turn 9, but wasn’t able to make the move stick. On lap 4 the first 3 cars to pit were Craig Lowndes, Chaz Mostert and Fabain Coulthard. On lap 5 Car 7 was limping back to the pits. On lap 6 James Courtney made his first compulsory pitstop. On lap 7 Nick Percat came in for tyres and fuel. On lap 8 the Volvo 560 got through on Tim Slade, at turn 9. Micheal Caruso got a black flag for speeding in the pitlane. Will Davison went into the wall at turn 8 on lap 10, as a result a safety car was deployed, that meant that cars 1 and 2 could make their compulsory pitstops.
At the restart on lap 14, Jason Bright ended up rolling his car at turn 1, the cars that were involved were cars 8 Jason Bright, 6 Chaz Mostert, 16 Scott Pye, and 4 Lee Holdsworth. The 2nd safety car was deployed due to this crash.
On the 2nd restart on lap 19, cars 15 and 97 got drive thru penalties for not maintaining the speed after the restart, Mark went into the tyres between turns 6 and 7. When Rick took his pit lane penalty that left cars 1 and 888, to start the next lap in positions 1 and 2.
In the middle of the race Craig came in for his last pit stop and
towards the end of the race Jamie got a pit lane drive thru penalty for the car controller touching his car as Jamie was trying to save his day he made contact at turn 9 with Michael Caruso. In the end James Courtney won race 3.
Results Race 3
1st James Courtney – Holden Racing Team
2nd Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen –Techno Auto Sports
The next event is the Tasmania 400 on the 28th to the 30th of March 2014 races 4, 5 and 6. Craig Lowndes currently leads the 2014 V8 Supercars Championship series points standing by 282 points over 2nd placed Fabain Coulthard.
Trivia
Tekno Auto Sports, VIP Petfoods, Lucas Dumbrell motorsport and HHA Racing have only got one car in this year’s Championship. Mark Larkham has a new inferred camera which he uses for checking out the temperatures on both the front and rear brake routes and pads.
The last time that Tim drove for Supercheap Auto Racing before this year was 2009.
This weekend is the start of the 2014 V8 Supercars Championship series. The Clipsal 500 will be run from the 27th of February to the 2nd of March 2014.
Some of the things that are happening this year –
This year will be the last year for theV8 Supercars broadcasting on channel 7 before they move to channel 10 from 2015 onwards. Channel 10 will have the broadcast rights for 6 years, starting from 2015.
Volvo is joining the V8 teams.I am looking forward to seeing how the new Manufacture in Volvo will go in its first year in the v8s. Volvo will make it 5 Manufacturer.
This year will be Russell Ingalls’s 19th fulltime season in V8 Supercars.
Jamie Whincup has won 5 V8 Supercar championships, can he make it 6?
Mark Dutton will be replacing Adrian Burgess as Team Manager at Red Bull Racing Australia. Best of luck this weekend everyone for the Clipsal 500, in Adelaide South Australia event number 1.
Let’s take a look back at what happened in 2013 at the Clipsal 500, in the 2nd Qualifying session. Lee Holdsworth nearly hit the wall on the exit of turn 8 due to oversteering. Jamie Whincup went to the top of the timesheet during Qualifying for race 2, Mark Beretta was talking to Dick Johnson, about Jonny Reid, not finishing, (DNF which stands for did not finish), David Reynolds finished his previous lap in qualifying number 2 in 5th spot. Three cars came in during the session to make changes to the tyre pressures, on all 4 tyres, and give the drivers fresh rubber to give them grip on the racetrack, they were Shane Van Gisbergen Will Davison and David Reynolds. After Craig Lowndes in car 888 exited turn 4 he moved over to make sure that Jamie was not being held up. He led the timesheets for the 2nd time, with a 12164. Fabain Coulthard went to the top of the list, Alexander Premat jumped to 3rd Mark Skaife said that he loves the Sunday Qualifying Session. Towards the end of the Qualifying session Garth Tander got spun around by Fabain. Jamie won the Clipsal 500 in 2006 2008 2009 and 2011 and the first race of 2012.
Results from 2013
Results for Race 1
1st – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia
2nd – Will Davison – Pepsi Max Crew Ford Performance Racing
3rd – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.
Results for race 2
1st – Shane Van Gisbergen – Tekno Autosport
2nd – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia
3rd – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia,
