Tag Archives: Craig Lowndes

Supercars

Valo Adelaide 500 2024

Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 14 – 17 November 2024 was Valo Adelaide 500, Round 12 of the 2024 Supercars Championship. This was the last round for the year held on the Adelaide Street circuit in South Australia.

The Adelaide Street Circuit was purpose built to host the Australian Grand Prix when Adelaide won the rights in 1985. The 3.80 km track combined sections constructed in Victoria Park as well as utilising city streets.

Supercars started racing at the Adelaide circuit in 1999. The event was known as The Sensational Adelaide 500 and run over 2 legs. At that very first event both races were won by legend Craig Lowndes. He won the first race from the second row of the grid and on the Sunday, he won after starting at the back of the pack. He unbelievably went from last to first.

This year marks the 25 year anniversary for Supercars at the venue.

This year it was the last event for the year, so is a milestone for two people leaving the sport as full-time drivers. Tim Slade is leaving after a 15 years career and Mark ‘Frosty’ Winterbottom ends his illustrious career after 21 years. We thank you and wish you all the very best for the future.

The event kicked off on a Thursday with warm weather. Great for the visitors but making it a hot 45 degrees plus inside the race cars.

The pre-race sessions results were:

  • James Courtney was fastest in Practice 1
  • David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 2
  • Will Brown was fastest in Qualifying. The session was cut short due to a red flag with 9 minutes 41 seconds remaining, caused by a big shunt between Richie Stanaway Cameron Hill and David Reynolds.
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 3
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the top 10 Shootout

In Race 23 Cameron Waters started on pole position, alongside him was Thomas Randle.

Dale Wood started 24th on the grid as substitute for Richie Stanaway who was receiving medical attention after his crash in qualifying.

Cooper Murray was sitting in for “Dad to Be” Jack le Brocq who was heading home to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.

Chaz Mostert was having clutch problems pre-race and had to start from the pit lane.

The two Red Bull Ampol Racing driver’s came into this event as the only 2 in contention for the season title. So, although it was a tense situation it would have been relatively a friendly competition between the two, Will Brown and Broc Feeney.

At the start of the 78 lap race Thomas Randle got the jump and took the lead. Cameron Waters tucked into second place and Matt Payne was right behind them in third. The championship contenders Will Brown and Broc Feeney were battling for 4th and 5th place.

Both Broc Feeney and Will Brown soon passed Matt Payne for 3rd and 4th position.

Last year’s reigning champ, Brodie Kostecki had moved up 4 places into 7th.

Chaz Mostert who was 3rd on the season ladder wanted to keep his place on the scoreboard. He passed David Rynolds to take the 18th spot.

The first car to pit in this race was Tim Slade from 21st position on lap 17.

Soon after Slade returned to the track he was hit by David Reynolds. Slade was able to continue but David Reynolds was slowing and had to head into the garage to resolve the problems with car 20.

Broc Feeney in 3rd place was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 27. The stop was 5.5 seconds and he re-joined in 7th position. The 6 cars ahead were yet to take their pit stops. Once they did Feeney took the lead of the race.

Mark Winterbottom was spun around and pushed out of 5th place by Cooper Murray.

By the middle of the race Broc Feeney had a comfortable lead over Thomas Randle and Cameron Waters. Will Brown was in 4th place.

Broc Feeney kept edging ahead of the pack. It seemed he was untouchable.

With 8 laps to go Broc Feeney had created an 8.7 second lead on the rest of the pack. Meanwhile, his teammate Will Brown had passed Thomas Randle and Cameron Waters to take 2nd place. For Will Brown to finish within the top 5 places would be good enough for him to wrap up the 2024 Supercars Championship.

Will Brown wanted the win but just couldn’t close the gap on Feeney.

Broc Feeney crossed the finish line an amazing 12.117 seconds clear of Will Brown to take his 12th career win, and his 6th win of the 2024 season. Cameron Waters followed in 3rd place.

With this result Will Brown was named ‘2024 Champion Elect’. What a great moment for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team. Top two drivers and top team for the year!

Race 23 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

In Race 24 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Chaz Mostert alongside him.

As they took off Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney were neck in neck until they got to turn 4 when Mostert was able to finally take the lead. Meanwhile Will Brown was right behind.

On lap 4 Matt Payne went into a tyre wall at turn 11. Payne couldn’t get the car into reverse and the front end was buried under the mountain of tyres. The safety car was deployed to rescue him & after a short stint in the garage returned to the race.

The restart was on lap 8 and Chaz Mostert still had control of the race. Broc Feeney in 2nd was looking very racy after the restart and put in several challenges for the lead but Mostert defended well.

At turn 7 Will Brown was hit and spun around by Brodie Kostecki trying to make a pass for 3rd place. The new Champion Elect, Will Brown dropped from 3rd all the way down to 22nd. Although already named champ aft the previous race, being at the back of the pack was surely not how he wanted to finish the season.

Thomas Randle took advantage of the mayhem, and he was now the driver in 3rd place.

Later in the race after the officials reviewed the incident, Brodie Kostecki was issued a 15 second time penalty.

Ryan Wood in 5th place got turned around by Anton de Pasquale at turn 9. Cameron Waters trying to avoid the incident hit Pasquale and went up onto 2 wheels which looked extremely scary.

The first car to pit was James Golding on lap 20 from 20th place.

By the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was out front with a 3 + second lead over Broc Feeney. There was then a 9.927 seconds gap back to Will Davison in third place.

On lap 50 the 3 leaders pitted for the final time. On exit there was contact between Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney. Officials deemed it Feeney’s error and issued him with 15 second time penalty.

With 13 laps to go the lead pack had changed order. Anton de Pasquale was in the number 1 spot, followed by Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert and Will Brown.

Take note that Brown was in 4th place after working his way back to the front after being pushed to the rear of the pack early on in the race. I guess that shows why he earned the championship crown.

Anton de Pasquale’s car was showing the strain of the gruelling 78 lap race. The spoiler on his car was hanging loose and scraping the track. He had to relinquish the lead and head to the pits for repairs before the officials gave him a mechanical black flag.

The lead had changed once again; Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert then Will Brown. Although Feeney was in the lead he still had a 15 second time penalty that would be added post race. He knew he wouldn’t be standing on the podium.

Chaz Mostert in 2nd place looked like he would inherit the win from Feeney.  With 4 laps to go Mostert exceeded track limits and was issued a drive through penalty.

Once Mostert left the track to serve the penalty, Will Brown moved into 2nd place on the track.

Brown knew of the impending 15 second penalty hanging over Feeney, so he took no risks to challenge him. He would win by default.

When Mostert returned to the track after serving the drive through penalty he was miraculously in 3rd place.

Broc Feeney crossed the line first, followed by teammate Will Brown, Chaz Mostert and then Thomas Randle.

Feeney’s time penalty dropped him down to 7th place in the final results. Will Brown claimed the win, Chaz Mostert was declared 2nd and Thomas Randle 3rd.

It was bad luck for Feeney but what a great finish to Will Brown as the season champ.

Race 24 Results:

1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

Well, that’s it for the 2024 Supercars season.

The Sydney 500 will be the first event to kick off the new season in Feb 2025. I can’t wait and hope you will join me in the new year.

In the meantime, I wish you all a very safe and happy festive season and new year.

Supercars

Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 2024

Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of October 25 – 27 was the round 11 of the 2024 Supercars Championship, Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 held in Surfers Paradise in Queensland.

The Surfers Paradise street circuit was opened on the 15th March 1991 for the 1991 Gold Coast Indycar Grand Prix. The track layout stretching along the local beaches and other main streets was a tricky 4.47km circuit with 20 turns. In 2010 its length was shortened to 2.96 km with 15 turns.

In 1994 the V8 Supercars started racing at the Gold Coast as a support category to the Indy 300. So, this year marks the 30th Supercars anniversary.

It wasn’t until 2002 that it became an official championship round in the Supercars competition.

Coming into this year’s Gold Coast 500 as the second last event of the year, there were 4 drivers in contention for the championship; Will Brown, Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters.

Things were set to be a super competitive event.

In the pre – race sessions the results were:

  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 1
  • Thomas Randle was Fastest in Practice 2
  • Richie Stanaway was fastest in Qualifying
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

In Race 21 Cameron Waters started on Pole Position with Richie Stanaway alongside him. Season leader, Will Brown started 11th on the grid due to crashing in Qualifying at turn 11.

The first lap was a little messy. Cameron Waters got the jump off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 85 laps and 250kms. The cars back in the pack were crowded with no room so were forced off track at the first chicane. Broc Feeney was one of them with all wheels out of bounds. The manovuer was called into question by fellow driver Thomas Randle. Officials let it go without penalty.

Chaz Mostert moved up to 3rd place. James Golding was battling with Broc Feeney for 4th and 5th. Ryan Wood made contact with Jack le Brocq at turn 11 and ended up in the barrier wall. Wood was able to push on, but Jack le Brocq suffered damage and went straight into the garage to have repairs undertaken.

Richie Stanaway was still in 2nd place behind Cameron Waters on lap 7 but things were going to go badly over the next handful of laps.

First Chaz Mostert overtook Stanaway at turn 11. On the next lap James Golding also passed him at turn 11. Not long after Broc Feeney did the same. This was followed up by Thomas Randle. Richie Stanaway was now moved back from 2nd to 6th place.

Jaxson Evans was the first to pit on lap 20 returning in 23rd place.

The fierce competition between the top 5 drivers continued.

Broc Feeney and Thomas Randle pitted on lap 26 probably in efforts to move out the intensity up front.

James Golding pitted on lap 27. The team couldn’t get the left rear wheel off cleanly costing him time and any chance of a decent result. He was now out of the top 5.

Around the middle of the race Chaz Mostert did the fastest lap, 111.389 seconds.

Cameron Waters was still in the lead but now had Thomas Randle behind him followed by Broc Feeney.

From that point on Cameron Waters kept edging ahead. By the time they were coming closer to the finish he had a 10+ second lead.

Waters made no errors and proved to be uncatchable. He crossed the finish line 9.8 seconds ahead of his teammate Thomas Randle followed by Broc Feeney.

It was an incredible finish.

Race 21Results:

1st Cameron Waters – Monster Castrol Racing

2nd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

In Race 22 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position. Alongside him was Will Brown.

Brodie Kostecki got the jump off the start line and led into turns 1 and 2 over Will Brown for the first of 85 laps.

At turn 11 Anton de Pasquale spun. The car behind could not avoid crashing into him. It had a dominos effect and a total of 8 cars became part of the pile up. Most cars were severely damaged. The safety car was deployed to clear the track of what now looked like a wrecking yard.

All except Anton de Pasquale were able to get repairs and return to the action later. They would of course be at least a lap behind.

The restart was on lap 7. Brodie Kostecki was still leading followed by Will Brown and Chaz Mostert.

On lap 11 James Golding was the first to make a pit stop by choice. His crew, Nulon Racing Team dropped the car on the ground without the right rear wheel on. They had to jack the car up and refit the fourth wheel. The lost time resulted in returning to the race in 20th place.

Officials immediately started an investigation as to why Nulon Racing tried to send a car out with only three wheels. It wasn’t long before they issued a drive through penalty for the error.

Thomas Randle pulled off his impersonation of a pinball machine. He bounced off the tyre barriers from one side of the track to the other through turns 1 and 2. How he got out of it without any damage was just a miracle!

On lap 17 James Courtney’s car looked a mess after the damage sustained in the lap 1 pile up. It didn’t seem to stop him recording the fastest circuit time in the race so far.

Soon after Broc Feeney’s car had smoke coming from the right front corner. It was so noticeable there were concerns but as quickly as it started, it quickly disappeared.

Brodie Kostecki pitted from his leading position on lap 30. There were still 5 cars yet to pit including Will Davison who now had the lead. Before Will Davison was able to take his mandatory pit stop he received a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits going through the back chicanes; turns 8, 9 and 10.

Brodie Kostecki had resumed lead and control by the middle of race. He was followed by Will Brown, Chaz Mostert, and Broc Feeney. They were packed tightly together.

Within the last dozen laps Broc Feeney passed Chaz Mostert to sit behind teammate, Will Brown. Cameron Waters also managed to get by Chaz Mostert to take 4th position. Cameron Waters side-swiped the tyre bundles at turn 1 and 2 losing aerodynamic fittings. It didn’t help the downforce of the car as he made a bid for a podium finish.

With 11 laps to go Brodie Kostecki was looking strong and in a dominant position. I couldn’t believe that he led from start to finish.

Just like at the Bathurst 1000, Brodie Kostecki showed his championship winning form of last year. He drove faultless and increased his lead. Where they were packed close together earlier, he was now creating a noticeable gap.

Kostecki held strong to cross the finish line 3.731 seconds ahead of the series leader Will Brown. Broc Feeney followed close behind in 3rd place 0.443 seconds later.

Race 22 Results:

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

With the results of Race 22 and only one event remaining both Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters are out of championship contention.

The only driver able to challenge the season leader Will Brown is his teammate, Broc Feeney. There is only 108 points between the two. Once again, the final event will be a championship showdown: Will Brown Vs Broc Feeney.

The last and final event on the 2024 Supercars calendar is the Valo Adelaide 500, November 14 – 17 2024.

I hope you will all join me to find out who will be “The 2024 Supercars Champion”. Till then keep revving!

Supercars

Repco Bathurst 1000 2024

Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercar fans around the world!

The weekend of October 10th–13th hosted the Repco Bathurst 1000, which was Round 10 of the 2024 Supercars Championship and the 64th running of the legendary Bathurst endurance race.

The Bathurst race circuit, known as Mount Panorama, first opened on March 17, 1938. The race itself originated in 1960 as the Armstrong 500, a 500 mile race held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. In 1963, the event moved to Bathurst, where it retained the 500 mile distance until 1973 when it went metric and was extended to a 1000 kilometre race.

1000 is the most iconic race of the year in Australia and is internationally recognised as a tough and gruelling race on an extremely difficult track.

Over the years, the Bathurst 1000 has been the stage for many remarkable moments in motorsport history. Some of the most notable include:

  • Peter Brock (Brocky) was also nicknamed “King of the Mountain”. Between 1972 and 1987 (a period of 15 years) he won the Bathurst 1000 nine times. His win in 1979 was by a phenomenal 6 laps ahead of other competitors. On the final lap anyone would think he would play it safe. Instead, he broke the fastest recorded time in history.
    Peter Brock – Wins 1979 Bathurst 100 by 6 laps. Who would have thought being quick would make you popular with the girls. Sign of the times.
    • 2003: Greg Murphy astounded everyone in the top 10 shootout before the race. He clocked such a phenomenal lap time it has gone down in history as the “Lap of the Gods”.
    Lap of the Gods 2003. You don’t have to be a motor sports fan to enjoy this.
    • 2005: Marcos Ambrose was the season champion for 2003 and 2004. He was well on his way to making it three in a row. On lap 145, he and Greg Murphy were in the top 10 at the front of the pack. They made contact at The Cutting and Ambrose was taken out of the race. He earned no points for the championship. It not only ruined his chances of a Bathurst win (after 145 of 161 laps) but took him of the season running.
    • 2006: Paul Radisich crashed coming out of The Chase. His car was demolished, and he suffered injuries so bad he was unable to compete for the rest of the season.
    • 2008: Paul Radisich as co-driver to Rick Kelly locked up the front wheels at maximum speed smashing into a barrier of the upcoming turn. The impact was so intense, just watching it will give you whiplash. The car was out of the race.
    • 2010: On the first lap, competition was so fierce Fabian Coulthard left the track at max speed on Conrod Straight. He hit the sand trap, slid sideways and the car went into a 6 barrel roll. Needless to say, he missed the next 160 laps.

    Honestly, there are dozens more examples of moments in the Bathurst 1000 that have gone down in history.

    This year’s Bathurst 1000 was also a special milestone for several drivers. Craig Lowndes marked his 31st appearance, Warren Luff his 24th, Will Davison his 21st, James Courtney and Jack Perkins both celebrated their 19th Bathurst 1000.

    The hype around “The Big Race” starts well before the actual Sunday of the race itself. They even have a dedicated “Bathurst channel” starting a week in advance. The preliminary sessions started on the Thursday and went until the race on Sunday.

    Pre-Race Session fastest times:

    • Practice 1: Matt Payne.
    • Practice 2: Jamie Whincup in the co-driver session.
    • Practice 3: Broc Feeney.
    • Practice 4: Brodie Kostecki.
    • Qualifying: Matt Payne.
    • Practice 5: Cooper Murray in the co-driver session.
    • Practice 6: Broc Feeney.
    • Top Ten Shootout: Brodie Kostecki earning him Pole Position on the grid.
    • Warmup: Will Brown and co-driver Scott Pye shared the fastest lap.

    Race 20

    The 2023 champion Brodie Kostecki positioned himself in the number 1 grid spot. After last year’s brilliant performance, he has had a woeful time this season, so it was great to see him up front and ready to take on “The Big Race”.

    Cameron Waters pulled up alongside him on the front row. Just behind them was Broc Feeney in Position 3 (P3) and Richie Stanaway in P4.

    The moment finally came, and they were off for the gruelling 161 laps. Kostecki was out front from the moment they waved the green flag but it was Broc Feeney who had a blistering start and was close behind.

    Richie Stanaway passed Feeney and by the time they reached “The Chase” was putting in a challenge to Kostecki for the lead.

    Even with 160 laps and hours to go, all drivers were putting in 100%.

    By Lap 2, the young Broc Feeney in his 3rd Bathurst 1000 attempt as a main driver had passed Stanaway to take second place, 1.2 seconds behind leader Kostecki.

    The front group were beginning to spread out. Stanaway was just 1.1 seconds behind in third, followed by Cameron Waters 2.7 seconds adrift, and Will Brown 3.4 seconds back.

    A few laps later at the rear of the group Matt Chada went off track with an impressive half-spin and ended up in the sand trap. He was able to recover without a safety car intervening.

    Will Davison was the first car to pit on Lap 17 and handed over to co-driver Kai Allen for his first stint at Bathurst. Kai Allen along with Cooper Murray will be moving up from the Super-2s category to become full time V8-Supercars drivers in 2025. It must have been a moment  for both of them to achieve this goal.

    As Cameron Waters started lap 23 he made a mistake at Turn 1, going straight ahead off the track and losing the number 3 spot to Will Brown. He rejoined the race in 10th place.

    Kostecki continued to show fine form like that of his 2023 championship win. On lap 25 he did the fastest lap of the race recorded so far.

    A few laps later Chaz Mostert attempted an inside pass on Brad Vaughn at Forest Elbow (turn 18). They made contact causing significant damage to the front end of Vaughn’s car. His spoiler was left abandoned on the track with other car debris. I was surprised he was able to continue without pitting. Even so, there had been no safety car deployment so far.

    Brodie Kostecki and Broc Feeney both pitted on lap 28 from their 1st and 2nd spots. Will Brown briefly minded the lead as the pit stops cycled through.

    While Feeney handed over the wheel to co-driver Jamie Whincup, a fuel hose issue in the Red Bull Ampol Racing pit stall cost them valuable time (around 3 seconds).

    Todd Hazelwood took the wheel from Kostecki, emerging from the pits with a 6.6 second lead over Jamie Whincup.

    Meanwhile, Lee Holdsworth and Dale Wood were engaged in a fierce battle for 4th and 5th. Holdsworth’s poor positioning coming up to a turn and his own driving error had him go straight ahead and leave the track. Surprisingly it worked to his advantage as he cut the corners and re-entered the track in 3rd place. He wasn’t penalised for his short cut but normally it’s a “no no”.

    Garth Tander experienced a massive lockup at the final corner of the lap and dropped back to 14th place.

    Todd Hazelwood continued to lead but Jamie Whincup had closed the gap to 3.8 seconds. Due to pit stop cycling Scott Pye in 3rd was a further 11.028 seconds behind.

    There was also plenty of action in the main pack. Cooper Murray was having an impressive drive climbing six places into 12th. Declan Fraser moved up to 5th after passing Lee Holdsworth.

    Unfortunately, a Brad Jones Racing crewman had a fumble with the garage fuel pump hose connection whilst filling car 8 for driver Declan Fraser.  They were only able to take on 20 litres of fuel and were forced into an unscheduled pitstop shortly after. 20litres instead roughly 120 litres put them at a major disadvantage while in a competitive position.

    By the middle stages of the race Brodie Kostecki was on fire, extending his lead to a commanding 14.175 seconds over Jamie Whincup.

    When it came time for Jamie Whincup to give back the driving seat to Broc Feeney, Feeeny looked like he might have enough pace to challenge for the lead, but the gap was too big to close.

    Much loved legend Craig Lowndes was in 5th, having gained an astonishing 13 positions.

    On lap 132 of 161Matt Payne had a gear downshift issue as he zig zagged up “The Mountain” through The Cutting. At such high speed he was unable to make the upcoming turn and went straight ahead into the concrete barrier wall.

    After being on the track for more than 5 hours and coming close to the end of the race, it must have been a huge disappointment to Matt Payne and co-driver Garth Tander to see their car demolished and out of the race.

    The race went to “Yellow” and the first safety car of the day was deployed while the car wreck was removed.

    I must say it is so unusual for them to get this far into the race without a safety car deployment. It might have had to do with the good weather instead of the usual wet weather and sudden storms the Bathurst area can be prone to.

    While under “Yellow” drivers have to stay in formation behind the safety car, limited to 80Kmph. All the gaps are closed up. Brodie Kostecki’s 10 + second lead up the front was lost. It was going to make the last laps extremely exciting.

    The Big Race got back underway. Broc Feeney was now in a much better position to challenge the lead. Brodie Kostecki who had the number 1 spot almost the entire race was having none of that and defended with exceptional driving. There was simply no room at any stage for Feeney to get past him.

    They were both driving like demons. The rest of the pack were falling further behind. Pretty soon the two leaders had created 10 + second gap over them.

    In the final laps Brodie Kostecki held strong. Broc Feeney was no slouch either and kept on his tail, but still had no opportunity to pass. Not a single mistake was made by either driver as they charged to the end.

    The crowd went absolutely insane, cheering Kostecki on as he crossed the finish line 1.3 seconds ahead of Broc Feeney. It is only the 4th time in the history of the Bathurst 1000 that the pole sitter finished first.

    Will Brown was leading the rest of the pack, finishing 13.640 seconds behind in third.

    What a spectacular finish to the biggest race of the year.

    Race 20 Final Results:

    1st Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood – Erebus Motorsport

    2nd Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    3rd Will Brown and Scott Pye – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    With their 2nd and 3rd place finishes, Red Bull Ampol Racing secured the 2024 Teams Championship even with 2 events remaining. Broc Feeney moved back to 2nd place in the Drivers Championship, 204 points behind teammate Will Brown who remains the series leader. Chaz Mostert is in 3rd place, 222 points off the lead.

    With just two events remaining in the 2024 Supercars Championship – the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on October 25–27 and the final round on November 14–17

     The Valo Adelaide 500, the battle for the title is heating up. I hope you can join me for the final two rounds of an incredible season!

    Supercars

    Panasonic air conditioning Sydney Supernight 2024

    Leave a comment

    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results for Race 15

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Cameron Waters and Anton de Pasquale pitted on lap 25.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results for Race 16

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

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

    Supercars

    Bosch Powertools Perth Supersprint 2024.

    Leave a comment

    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Chaz Mostert now had a 5.2 second lead.

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

    It was an exciting finish.

    Results for Race 9

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Chaz Mostert officially came in 2nd place.

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

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

    Results for Race 10

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

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

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

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

    Until next time, keep revving!

    Bathurst 12 hour

    Repco Bathurst 12 hour 2024

    Leave a comment

    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of the 16 – 18 of February 2024 was the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour.

    The Bathurst 12 Hour was first run in 1991 so this year marks a milestone as the 21st running.

    The Bathurst 12 Hour is not officially a part of the Supercars season. However, many of the Supercars drivers take part in the grand event. It is made of 4 classes; Pro AM, Silver, GT4 and the invitational class. Being a gruelling 12 hours on one of the most difficult tracks in the country, each car has three drivers that take turns behind the wheel.

    Sheldon Van Der Linde claimed pole position and the Allan Simonsen Trophy for BMW team, WRT. Local Broc Feeney of the Triple 8 team qualified his 888 Mercedes to earn provisional pole position.

    The race kicked off under safety car in the dark of Sunday at 5:45am. Bathurst is known for its erratic weather conditions but they started with a dry track and no major challenges. For the next 12 hours there was a spectacular display of driving from local and international teams alike.

    2024 Bathurst 12 Hour Highlights

    On the start, Sheldon Van Der Linde immediately made a break from the pack. Within a few laps he already created a gap of about 10 car lengths but there was still a long way to go.

    There were no major incidents before the sun came up and all 25 cars were still on track.

    At about the 75 minute mark, number 19 Racing Ginetta G55 GT4 caught fire in the pit lane. They were the first retirement of the race.

    The first safety car was deployed after 2 hours 40 minutes of racing when the 701 Vortex spun off the track into the sand trap as it headed towards the S’s. 

    As the 12 hour countdown got to 8hrs 36 minutes car number 91 found the fence at turn 2 and came to a standstill on the blind corner.               

    A few minutes before they marked the 5th hour of driving, Charles Weerts behind the wheel of the pole sitting car made contact at “The Cutting”. In spectacular fashion his car was out of control and the rear mounted the concrete barrier sliding along for over 50 meters. He was lucky to have not gone right over the top. The damage was so severe # 32 was now out of the race. The team was doing so well throughout the whole weekend it is a great shame they were not able to continue. I am sure they would have been contenders for a win and offered up much more of their competitive driving.

    When they were into the 6th hour of racing Bathurst did what Bathurst does. The weather changed completely and the rain came down heavily. At times there were sheets of water covering the track.

    Cars were going off the track left, right and centre. The international drivers began sticking behind local drivers who knew the track and how to manage in the wet conditions. Still many cars aquaplaned off the challenging track and there were many moments that had viewers holding their breath.

    Local Matt Campbell behind the wheel of #912 had the lead in the Manthey Racing / EMA Motorsport Porsche.

    He was challenged multiple times with the biggest coming from the #13 Phantom Global Racing/Team 75 Porsche entry driven by Bastian Buus, Joel Eriksson and NZ local Jaxon Evans. The other challenge came from the SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes driven by Jules Gounon, Kenny Habul and Luca Stolz.

    With 30 minutes remaining there was less than 1 second between the leading 3 cars and less than 8 seconds back to 8th place. It was anyone’s game and there was no room for mistakes.

    The rain had stopped but the track was still wet. With leading cars so close to each other the competitive driving was incredibly fierce.

    With 15 minutes on the clock the leading Porsche #912 with Matt Campbell behind the wheel edged ahead to create a 5+ second lead. Noone was giving up. Drivers were flying down the straights side by side heading into corners looking for any opportunity to make a pass.

    Matt Campbells driving was incredible. He kept the lead in the #912 Porsche and even though the gap closed down to just over 2 seconds, he looked confident and strong on that last lap.

    The #75 Mercedes driven by Jules Gounon crossed the finish line within 2.6 seconds to take 2nd place followed by the #22 Audi.

    For Matt Campbell this is his second Bathurst 12 Hour win. It also breaks the Mercedes 3 time winning streak.

    Results for the 2024 Repco Bathurst 12 Hour:

    1st Matt Campbell, Ayhancan Guven, Laurens Vanthoor – Manthey Racing/EMA Motorsport

    2nd Jules Gounon, Kenny Habul, Luca Stolz – SunEnergy1 Racing

    3rd Christopher Haase, Kelvin van der Linde, Liam Talbot – Melbourne Performance Centre

    Supercars, V8 Supercars

    Repco Bathurst 1000 2023

    Leave a comment

    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of 5-8 October 2023 was the Repco Bathurst 1000. It was round 10 of the 2023 Supercars Championship.                 

    Mount Panorama was first opened on March 17, 1938. The track is actually a street circuit so outside of race dates it is a public road. Yes! That is the answer to your question, “Can I actually drive around the Bathurst track?” just remember it is a 60 zone.

    The first event held at Mount Panorama was a motorcycle race on the 16th of April 1938, the  Australian Tourist Trophy. Two days later the Australian Grand Prix took place (a motor car race).

    Before becoming known as The Bathurst 1000 the race was called the Armstrong 500. The first few years it ran at Phillip Island and was then moved to Bathurst in 1963. In those days it was a 500 mile race (approx. 804Km) and was done with only a single driver. A few years after Australia changed to metric measurements the race was increased to 1000kms.

    It has become the most well-known race in Australia and is also internationally revered. It’s the race that stops the nation and creates legends.

    The legend of the King of the Mountain, Peter Brock was earned through this event. Peter Brock won his first Bathurst in 1972 in the days without a co-driver. He then went on to win again in 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1987.  No other driver has beaten his record of 9 Bathurst 1000 wins.

    This year was the 60th running of the Repco Bathurst 1000. An incredible milestone for any race event.

    This year the event kicked off under almost perfect weather conditions. A surprise to all as Bathurst is known for some pretty challenging conditions at this time of the year.

    The pre-race sessions kicked off on the Thursday and went through to Sunday morning. The results were:

    • Will Brown was fastest in Practice 1
    • David Russell was fastest in Practice 2
    • David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 3
    • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Practice 4
    • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying
    • Richie Stanaway was fastest in Practice 5
    • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 6
    • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in the Shootout
    • Brodie Kostecki and co-driver David Russell were fastest in the warm up

    In Race 24 Brodie Kostecki earned pole position but his co-driver David Russell was behind the wheel of car 99 for the start. Alongside them was co-driver Jamie Whincup after main driver Broc Feeney scored second place on the front row of the grid. There were 16 out of 28 co-drivers who started the race behind the wheel. So, it was quite a common strategy.

    As the lights went green, they took off and Jamie Whincup led into turn 1 for the first of 161 laps. Pole sitter David Russell was right under his rear wing only 0.174 seconds behind.

    The cars further back in the pack were dicing for places outside the top 10.

    Early on Will Brown had gained 5 places up to 12th. James Golding had gained 1 spot after starting 4th on the grid.

    Jamie Whincup had a hard time getting some space between himself and David Russell in 2nd place. By lap 4 Jamie Whincup managed to increase his lead to only 0.498 seconds. It was another 1 second back to James Golding in 3rd.

    On lap 5 James Courtney ran wide on the exit to the final corner but didn’t lose any places.

    Thomas Randle got up the inside of Lee Holdsworth exiting Forest Elbow for 10th place.

    Jamie Whincup had managed to increase his lead to around 1 second over David Russell.

    Richie Stanaway finally got up the inside of Garth Tander to move into 5th place. His next target was Cameron Waters sitting in 4th position.

    The first car to pit in this race was car 96 of Macauley Jones and Jordan Boys on lap 10.

    Between lap 4 and 10 Jamie Whincup managed to extend his lead 1.525 seconds over David Russell.

    Further back Will Brown was on the charge. He was up 10 spots after starting 17th on the grid. He now smoothly passed Garth Tander moving into 6th place and was only 2.8 seconds away from the lead.

    On lap 17 Craig Lowndes started slowing down due to a broken gear lever mount and was forced to pit.

    James Golding in 3rd was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 18.

    Car 3 driven by Todd Hazelwood and Tim Blanchard pitted on lap 21. Soon after they were investigated for a pit stop infringement and issued a 15 second time penalty to be served on their next stop. Although disappointing it was still early in the race. They had another 5 hours to catch up.

    On lap 24 Dean Fiore co-driver to Bryce Fullwood made contact with Simona de Silvestro at The Chase.  Simona de Silvestro who returned from her homeland, Switzerland especially for this race was pushed off the road onto the grass. There was no damage to speak of and she re-joined the race easily. Race officials took no further action on the incident.

    Kevin Estre (co-driver to Matt Payne) had a big lockup at turn 1 and ended up in the sand trap. He couldn’t get out on his own and the first safety car was deployed so the recovery vehicle could assist.

    While the Yellow flag was out (indicating drivers to slow down and stay in formation behind the safety car) all drivers except 2 took the opportunity to pit.

    David Reynolds was under investigation for jumping ahead in the safety car line. He was later issued a pit lane drive thru penalty. That didn’t go down too well and David Reynolds started to argue the case when told by his race engineer Alistair McVean. After the restart he was reluctant to give back 3rd place to Broc Feeney and even refused to take the drive thru penalty on the next lap. Race Director James Taylor had to warn him that he still did have to take it.

    The restart which was on lap 30 saw Shane Van Gisbergen immediately took the race lead off Dylan O’Keeffe (co-driver to James Golding).

    Broc Feeney was in 3rd place (after Reynolds let him pass) and then managed to get by Dylan O’Keeffe for 2nd place.

    The 2 Red Bull cars were now running 1st and 2nd on the track, followed by O’Keeffe and then Reynolds.

    Bryce Fullwood made contact and pushed Aaron Love off the track at The Chase. Bryce Fullwood was later issued a penalty for his actions.

    On lap 39 Scott Pye made contact with Dale Wood who then went off track into the gravel trap. The safety car was sent out while Dale Wood’s car was pulled out and luckily able to return straight to the race.

    When they restarted Mark Winterbottom was out front followed by Fabian Coulthard and Brodie Kostecki.

    Meanwhile car 6 driven by James Moffat was under investigation for an unsafe pit release. It was later on lap 43 when he was issued a 5 second time penalty.

    Brodie Kostecki soon passed Fabian Coulthard to take 2nd position.

    Then Richie Stanaway got up the inside of Declan Fraser for 4th place. His next target was Fabian Coulthard in 3rd place. It wasn’t long after that Richie Stanaway made his move pushing Fabian Coulthard down another spot to 4th.

    The 2 Brad Jones Racing cars with Jack Smith and Macauley Jones in the driver’s seat made contact with each other at The Chase. They both went off the track and both had minor damage that required a visit to the pits ASAP.

    Not long after Macauley Jones received a 15 second time penalty for the driving infringement.

    On lap 71 Dean Fiore co-driver to Bryce Fullwood was under investigation for a pit lane infringement and was issued a time penalty.

    James Moffat hit the wall coming out of The Dipper and came to a stop in a dangerous part of the track. Officials thought he would not be able to get out of the predicament on his own and sent out  the 3rd safety car of the race. Before help could arrive, James Moffat was able to get going again. Unfortunately, it was only to get back to the pits in his smashed up car to then find out he would not be returning to the race.

    Car 888 driven by Craig Lowndes had to serve a pit lane penalty after he turned off the ‘pit limiter’ to early while in the pit lane.

    Richie Stanway clocked the best lap time of the race on lap 92. He had also moved up to 2nd place after passing Tony Dalberto.

    Jamie Whincup rounded up Garth Tander which took him from 5th up to 4th place. “The Goat” was now only 7.9 seconds away from the lead. He then pitted on lap 93 to hand the wheel over to Broc Feeney who would race all the to the end.

    Richie Stanaway pitted soon after on lap 97 from the number 1 position and Shane Van Gisbergen took the driver’s seat for the final stage of the race.

    Once these two Red Bull Ampol Racing Team cars came out of the pits, Shane Van Gisbergen returned to the number 1 spot with his team mate Broc Feeney not far behind.

    On lap 137 of 161 (25 laps remaining) Broc Feeney was slowing due to a gearbox issue stopping him from changing gears. He slipped from 2nd to 3rd allowing Brodie Kostecki to pass him. Broc Feeney had to head to the pits. It was unlucky timing being so close to the end of the race.

    The team were able to repair the issue, but Broc returned to the track in 24th position. Unfortunate for him to go from a podium contender to the back of the pack.

    It was later revealed that all 3 of the 888 Engineering cars had the same issue (the 2 cars of Gisbergen and Feeney driving for Red Bull Ampol Racing and also the Craig Lowndes/ Zane Goddard duo driving under the Super Cheap Auto banner. It’s surprising any of them finished.

    With 18 laps to go Shane Van Gisbergen was still out front with a good lead of 15.010 seconds over Brodie Kostecki.

    In the last laps Shane Van Gisbergen controlled the race and was too far ahead for Brodie Kostecki to challenge him for the win.

    It was incredible to watch as Shane Van Gisbergen kept edging ahead to finally cross the line with a 19.9 seconds lead over Brodie Kostecki.

    Shane Van Gisbergen is now a 3-time winner of the Bathurst 1000.

    It puts him in striking distance of the season leader Brodie Kostecki for the remaining two events. Can he now become a 4-time Supercars Champion before he heads to the US in 2024? Its going to be fun finding out.

    Results for Race 24

    1st Shane Van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    2nd Brodie Kostecki and David Russell – Erebus Motorsport

    3rd Anton de Pasquale and Tony Dalberto – Shell V-Power Racing Team

    Out of the 28 starters only 24 cars finished the race. 4 cars got a DNF.

    Brodie Kostecki still leads the championship by 131 points over Shane Van Gisbergen. With 2 events to go (4 races) in the 2023 championship it is going be an exciting finish to the year,

    The next event is the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on the 27th – 29th October 2023.

    I hope you will join me.

    Supercars

    Beaurepaires Sydney Supernight 2023

    1 Comment

    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of 29 – 30 July 2023 was the Beaurepairs Sydney Supernight, the 7th round of this year’s Supercars championship.

    The event was held at Sydney Motorsport Park in New South Wales.

    Originally named Eastern Creek Raceway, the New South Wales state government approved its development back in 1988 and opened on the 10th of November, 1990. The first Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) race was held in 1993. The ATCC was the previous title before being renamed V8 Supercars in 1997).

    This event was a special occasion for me, aside from being in my home town of Sydney it was the first time I have been able to get to any track since 2017. It was a lot of fun and I was glad to finally have wheelchair accessible transport (thanks Dad) and the general threat of COVID gone. It was great to be back!

    The event started on the Saturday but I managed to get there for only the Sunday.

    In the pre-race sessions:

    • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 1
    • Shane Van Gisbergen was also fastest in Practice 2
    • Andre Heimgartner was fastest in Qualifying

    In Race 18 Andre Heimgartner started on pole position with Brodie Kostecki alongside him.

    At the start of the race Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown went into turn 1 in 1st and 2nd place. The pole sitter Andre Heimgartner had dropped from 1st to 5th place after a bad start off the line.

    Cameron Hill made a blinder of a start. He had made up 4 spots after starting 8th on the grid.

    The cars further back in the pack were dicing for positions outside the top 10 while the leading cars held their positions.

    The 2 Erebus Camaros were out in front and controlling proceedings early on.

    Brodie Kostecki had half a second lead over Will Brown by lap 2.

    Shane Van Gisbergen was also making way and gained 2 spots after starting in 20th on the grid.

    Jack le Brocq in 5th place was soon under assault from Andre Heimgartner after he lost his pole position. However, instead of gaining a spot he lost his own spot to James Golding who snuck by him.

    The leaders were comfortable out front while the cars behind were chasing them. This was probably the cause of Jack Smith in car 4 receiving a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

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

    James Golding was again on the move and got up the inside of Cameron Hill at turn 2 for 5th place.

    Chaz Mostert also tried to go around the outside of Cameron Hill, but he couldn’t make the move stick.

    Cameron Hill was being a cork in the bottle he was holding up the cars behind him.

    After Anton de Pasquale completed his pitstop he came back out in 25th position.

    A lap later Chaz Mostert finally got past Cameron Hill at turn 1 and Will Davison got up the inside of Andre Heimgartner for 8th place.

    Shane Van Gisbergen then got up the inside of Scott Pye to move into 12th place. The defending champion Shane Van Gisbergen had gained 8 places since the start.

    By lap 13 Scott Pye had dropped back to 22nd position and chose to make his first pit stop and rethink strategy.

    Cameron Hill pitted on lap 14 along with James Courtney and Thomas Randle.

    By lap 17 of 51 the top 13 cars were still yet to take their stops.

    Will Brown was the first of the front runners to pit followed by Will Davison, Cameron Waters and Jack le Brocq.

    Shane Van Gisbergen also pitted a lap later, lap 18.

    Soon after Todd Hazelwood and James Courtney received bad sportsmanship flags for exceeding track limits.

    It wasn’t over for Todd Hazelwood. He received a pit lane drive thru penalty for a refuelling breach on his first stop.

    In the middle of the race Andre Heimgartner had assumed the race lead while frontrunners were pitting. Soon he went into the pits handing the lead over to Brodie Kostecki who was followed by Cameron Waters and Will Brown in 3rd place.

    On lap 32 David Reynolds went off the track between turns 9 and 10. He hit the wall and the stricken Ford Mustang wouldn’t move. The Safety car was deployed while they removed car #26.

    The race restarted on lap 39. Chaz Mostert soon made a pass of Jack le Brocq to move into 4th place and only 0.748 seconds behind Will Brown in 3rd.

    Shane Van Gisbergen was up to 6th place and looking for further gains. As the race got closer to the finish he was on the charge and managed to pass Jack le Brocq. Shane Van Gisbergen was now only 1.144 seconds from the back of the podium.

    On lap 42 Shane Van Gisbergen showed just how much he wanted that podium finish and did the fastest lap of the race, 130.064.

    By the final 10 laps the top 5 places had not changed but quite spread out. Brodie Kostecki had a good lead and was on target for his first win since the Melbourne Grand Prix in March.

    On lap 44 Declan Fraser received a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

    James Golding managed to go around the outside of James Courtney at turn 8 with 7 laps to go.

    With 2 laps to go Chaz Mostert was up 7 places after starting 9th on the grid. Shane Van Gisbergen was behind in 3rd having moved up from a start of 20th on the grid.

    However, the gaps between the top 3 couldn’t be closed. In the end Brodie Kostecki crossed the finish line with a 7 second margin over Chaz Mostert.  Shane Van Gisbergen was a further 10.479 seconds behind.

    A post race penalty was issued to Shane Van Gisbergen for contact with Will Brown so unfortunately Shane was recorded in 7th place on the final results. Will Brown inherited the podium finish in 3rd. Credit is still owed to Shane Van Gisbergen for a phenomenal drive.

    Results for Race 18

    1st Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport
    2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
    3rd Will Brown – Erebus Motorsport

    Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Qualifying for Race 19 and earned pole position bringing his career pole total to 48. I would love for him to get another 2 more and reach a half century before he leaves Supercars at the end of this season.

    Andre Heimgartner sat alongside Shane Van Gisbergen on the starting grid.

    As they took off Andre Heimgartner got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 36 laps. Shane Van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney were in 2nd and 3rd.

    Will Brown and David Reynolds made contact and left the track. As they rejoined they were now in 24th and 25th place. Race control immediately put the incident under investigation. It took a while but they declared no penalties would be issued.

    Shane Van Gisbergen was soon closing in on the back of the leader Andre Heimgartner. Broc Feeney in 3rd was followed by Brodie Kostecki.

    Chaz Mostert had moved up 5 places into 11th after starting 16th on the grid.

    On the second lap James Golding and Thomas Randle made contact. Although they kept going the officials were investigating the incident and later issued time penalties to both drivers.

    On lap 4 Shane Van Gisbergen took the race lead off Andre Heimgartner at turn 6.

    Just to make a statement, Shane Van Gisbergen then did the fastest lap of the race 131.993.

    The first car to pit was Broc Feeney from 4th place on lap 16. When he came back out he was in 24th place.

    The front runners were tightly packed. Shane Van Gisbergen was still the leader with a 1 second gap over Andre Heimgartner. Then it was only 0.968 of a second back to Brodie Kostecki.

    Further back in the running Declan Fraser received a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

    Then Will Brown and Macauley Jones received a bad sportsmanship flag for the same reason.

    By the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was in a commanding position with a 6.7 second lead over Andre Heimgartner. The front runners were yet to pit. Andre Heimgartner was the first to make his stop from 2nd place.

    Shane Van Gisbergen took his stop towards the end of the race and returned to the track in 7th place. He must have known he was in great shape because the 6 cars in front still had to take their pit stops so he would naturally assume the lead when they did.

    One by one they peeled off the track for the mandatory pit stop leaving Shane Van Gisbergen back in the number 1 spot with a 3 second lead over Andre Heimgartner. It was then 1.4 seconds back to Broc Feeney in 3rd place.

    As the race was coming to its conclusion Shane Van Gisbergen was showing his authority and seemed uncatchable as he edged ahead.

    After his incident on lap 2 Thomas Randle was in trouble again but this time only receiving a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

    James Courtney was next in line for a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

    In a surprise on the last lap Anton de Pasquale passed Broc Feeney for 3rd place. Broc Feeney had no time to make it up. Anton de Pasquale took the podium finish in 3rd. Andre Heimgartner had finished 10.4 seconds earlier in 2nd place with Shane Van Gisbergen taking the chequered flag 5.5 clear of him.

    It was a spectacular finish for SVG and I’m so glad I was at the track on that day!

    Results for Race 19

    1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing
    2nd Andre Heimgartner – Brad Jones Racing
    3rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V Power Racing Team

    Brodie Kostecki still leads the championship by 41 points over his teammate Will Brown. Shane Van Gisbergen is only 54 points off the championship lead and Broc Feeney is 4th with 57 points off the championship lead. With 5 events remaining the championship title could be any of these great drivers.

    The next event is the OTR Supersprint at the Bend on 18 – 20 August 2023.

    Supercars

    Betr Darwin Triple Crown 2023

    2 Comments

    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of the 16- 18 of June was the Betr Darwin Triple Crown.

    Being in the Northern Territory the weather for this event is always hot and sunny with temperatures of 30 to 35 degrees ambient, which makes the in-car temperatures 40 degrees plus. The Triple Crown is always held in the middle of winter because any other time of the year would be way too hot putting the drivers at risk.

    The opening date of the Hidden Valley Raceway was 1986 but Supercars didn’t venture north until 1998.

    The track is 2.8km with 14 turns and the event is made up of three races (thus, the name “Triple Crown”) of 35 laps each.

    Fox Sports presenter, Riana Crehan was absent from her usual role on this weekend because she and husband Will Davison are expecting the birth of their first child (any minute).

    Hidden Valley Raceway always makes me think of this freaky fact; It was here that Craig Lowndes won his 100th race back in 2015 on his team Triple Eight on their 888th race in his car which was numbered 888.

    The event kicked off according to schedule and the results of the pre-race sessions follow:

    • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 1
    • Anton de Pasquale was fastest in Practice 2
    • Cameron Waters was fastest in Qualifying

    In Race 13 Cameron Waters started on pole position for the first time this year and the 20th time in his career. Alongside him in the number 2 position was Broc Feeney.

    At the start of the race Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 35 laps. Mark Winterbottom who started 3rd on the grid moved up to 2nd place when Broc Feeney ran wide at turn 1.

    The opening stages were fairly chaotic because everybody was trying make gains from back in the field.

    Jack le Brocq also ran wide on approach to turn 1 and dropped all the way down to 12th place.

    Declan Fraser went into the garage on the opening lap after he sustained damage in the mayhem.

    James Courtney got turned around by Andre Heimgartner at turn 14 on lap 2, sending him to the back of the pack.

    Shortly after David Reynolds had a big lockup at turn 1 and went off the track. He hit the pits on lap 3 to change the front left tyre.

    While the drivers behind were battling for places inside the top 10, Cameron Waters was out front leading the race until lap 5. When he was coming down the main straight he came over the radio to his team and said “My car is on fire!”. His race engineer Sam Potter ordered him, “get out mate!” so Waters pulled over and jumped from the driver’s seat. He grabbed the fire extinguisher from the Fire Marshall and put the flames out himself!

    The lead was now in the hands of the sport veteran, Mark Winterbottom.

    The safety car was deployed to remove Cameron Waters Monster Energy ‘Flaming’ Ford Mustang from the tack.

    Meanwhile, the majority of the field chose to take their pit stops while the safety car was out. The pit lane was extremely busy.

    Restart was on lap 11 and soon enough the cars back in the pack were jostling for positions again, while the leaders maintained track position.

    Jack Smith went off the track at turn 1. Scott Pye made connection with someone or something and had torn the right rear wheel guard. The tyre was now rubbing on the dangling piece of guard. His team instructed him to keep going and they’ll let him know if it gets dangerous.

    On Lap 16 the safety car was deployed for the second time due to a grass fire.

    It took a few laps under the safety car before the race went back to green.

    As the cars returned to their battle Chaz Mostert was able to take advantage and gained 3 spots moving up to 8th place.

    The leaders kept in place but Mark Winterbottom was under huge pressure from Broc Feeney only 0.449 seconds behind. Will Davison in 3rd place was over a second behind Feeney.

    Broc Feeney pushed hard but in the end, Mark Winterbottom was able to prevail and win the opening race at Darwin.

    This has broken a 7 year winless streak for Mark Winterbottom. His last win was Perth 2016.

    It was fantastic to see!

    Results for Race 13

    1st Mark Winterbottom – Team 18
    2nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Racing
    3rd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team

    In Race 14 Broc Feeney earned pole position. Alongside him was Andre Heimgartner.

    Generated by pixel @ 2023-06-18T23:36:11.103002

    Broc Feeney got the jump off the start and led into turn 1 for the first of 35 laps. Meanwhile, Shane Van Gisbergen gained 1 spot and moved into 3rd place.

    Matt Payne and Declan Fraser made contact and went off the track at turn 7. It dropped them back to 25th and 26th place.

    Both cars headed to the pits for repairs. Not long after Matt Payne was able to rejoin the race but Declan Fraser was not so lucky. It took a while for his car to be repaired losing several laps.

    Otherwise, the opening stages were relatively clean.

    The first car to take an unforced pit was Jack Smith on lap 5.

    Around this stage of the race Brodie Kostecki had lost 2 spots from his starting position of 4th.  Jack le Brocq went off the track at turn 7 losing a number of places. At the front end Broc Feeney had carved a 1.225 second lead over Andre Heimgartner with Shane Van Gisbergen in pursuit.

    Scott Pye pitted on lap 9 from 12th place.

    James Golding was battling with Brodie Kostecki for positions 5th and 6th and they put on a great show.

    Will Brown was the first of the front runners to pit along with Macauley Jones.

    In the middle of the race Nick Percat pitted from 14th position. When he came back out he was in 20th place.

    The leading three drivers stayed locked in and edged away from the rest of the pack.

    After David Reynolds took his pit stop he was issued a 5 second time penalty for a pit lane merging breach.

    Broc Feeney was the first of the two Red Bull cars to take the mandatory stop on lap 20.  He returned to the track in 4th place. There was a strategy in this. Andre Heimgartner had already pitted and was now out of the leading three cars. Shane Van Gisbergen who was in second place now received the lead from teammate Feeney. Also, the leading 3 cars were yet to pit; Shane Van Gisbergen, Bryce Fullwood and Cameron Waters. Once they did Broc Feeney would automatically resume the lead.

    On lap 29 Will Davison had gone into the garage with a bent right front steering arm. This took him out of the top 10.

    Broc Feeney resumed the lead and soon had a 2 second gap over Shane Van Gisbergen in second place.

    With 3 laps to go Broc Feeney would have felt he had the race win in the bag.

    Broc Feeney drove faultlessly the remaining laps and crossed the line 1.4 seconds ahead of his illustrious teammate Shane Van Gisbergen. Andre Heimgartner followed another 1.8 seconds later to take 3rd place.

    A great one / two finish for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team.

    Results for Race 14

    1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
    2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing
    3rd Andre Heimgartner – Brad Jones Racing

    In Race 15 Jack le Brocq started on pole position and once again alongside him was Andre Heimgartner.

    As they took off Jack le Brocq led the field through turn 1 for the first of 35 laps.

    Scott Pye was hit from behind and had pretty substantial damage on the right rear corner. Brodie Kostecki also had issues on the first lap, receiving steering damage on the right side.

    Todd Hazelwood put in a challenge to Shane Van Gisbergen for 8 place but he couldn’t get the pass executed for a while. It wasn’t long before Shane Van Gisbergen took back 8th.

    After repairs to the steering arm Brodie Kostecki re-joined the race but was 3 laps down and running last.

    Scott Pye also had to take his pit early to remove flapping rear bumper for the second time that weekend. He returned to the track in 25th place.

    David Reynolds came into the pits for his compulsory stop on lap 10.

    In the middle of the race Declan Fraser made connection with another competitor and received a 15 second time penalty

    Broc Feeney and Will Brown running 3rd and 4th pitted at the same time on lap 17.

    The race leaders Jack le Brocq and Andre Heimgartner took their pit stops on the next lap.

    Towards the end of the race Matt Payne got turned around by Jack Smith at turn 6 sending him to the back of the pack.

    With three laps to go Jack le Brocq had managed to hold the number one spot and carve a 1.8 second lead over Andre Heimgartner in 2nd place. They were both well ahead of the rest of the pack.

    Heimgartner pushed hard to close the gap but at no stage seemed a threat to le Brocq.

    Jack le Brocq crossed the line 1.3 seconds clear of Andre Heimgartner. It was a further 8.4 seconds before Broc Feeney crossed the line to come in 3rd.

    It was a spectacular finish especially for the young Broc Feeney who managed a podium place in all three races of the Darwin Triple Crown; 2nd,1st and then 3rd. It earned him a win for the entire round.

    Results for Race 15

    1st Jack le Brocq – Matt Stone Racing
    2nd Andre Heimgartner – Brad Jones Racing
    3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    Brodie Kostecki still leads the championship but only by 59 points over his teammate Will Brown and 91 points over Broc Feeney.

    It still keeps Erebus in the lead of the teams championship by 222 points over the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.

    There are 7 events remaining in the 2023 Supercars championship season.

    The next event is the NTI Townsville 500 starting on July 7th 2023.  I just can’t wait!!!!!

    Bathurst 12 hour

    Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hour 2022

    Leave a comment

    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of the 13th to the 15th of May 2022 was the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

    The Bathurst 12 hour is a time race independent of laps.

    It is also a GT not a Supercars race, so the results don’t affect the Supercars series.

    There were plenty of drivers from the Supercars paddock that competed, like; Lee Holdsworth, Broc Feeney, David Reynolds, Cameron Waters, Shane Van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes, Alex Davison, Chaz Mostert, Will Brown and Jack Perkins.

    Some of the more well-known internationals that competed included; Kenny Habul, Jules Gounon, Kelvin van der Linde, Marcus Winklehock and Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

    I was keeping my eye on Chaz Mostert, Broc Feeney, Shane Van Gisbergen, Lee Holdsworth, Dean Fiore, Craig Lowndes, Cameron Waters and Grant Denyer.

    Normally this event is run in February but due to Covid messing with things, it was re-scheduled for May.

    Also, it usually starts between 6am and 6:15am (during daylight savings). Marketing determined it best to have the race finish during TV peak-time for better ratings. This meant an earlier start of 5:15am, so the first 90 minutes of the race were in the early morning dark.

    The first 90 minutes were in the dark before sunrise.

    Before the race started the fog had descended on Mount Panorama.

    Chaz Mostert earned himself pole position. He was teamed with Liam Talbot and Fraser Ross in car 65, an Audi from Melbourne Performance Centre. I wasn’t surprised that Chaz Mostert started behind the wheel because of his experience at this venue in the Supercars Series.

    South African, Kelvin van der Linde was alongside pole.

    Broc Feeney, the Red Bull Ampol Racing rookie started the 888 Mercedes from 5th position. In his Bathurst 12 Hour debut this was a big assignment, but no doubt because the team have faith in him.

    There were only 20 cars on the grid this year compared to the normal 30 or 40 cars. The reduction was of limited international competitors due to COVID.

    A rolling start behind the safety car is the norm for the Bathurst 12 Hour, I guess to reduce the risks of a standing start in the dark. It was also a good choice considering this year’s foggy conditions.

    When the safety car peeled off, the start of the race was absolutely spectacular. The drivers in the top 10 held their positions with Mostert and Linde being the pace setters.

    The safety car came out more than once due to the foggy conditions. The visibility was so poor that even the drivers were making comments. Typical of Bathurst, the fog turned to rain, then fogged up again and then rained again.

    Before the sun came up, Zane Morse in car 52 tagged the wall at the top of the hill forcing a safety car. The Wheels/FX Racing PNG Marc II V8 was the first car to leave the track.

    Two hours into the race Dale Wood in car 50 was the next victim of The Mountain.

    About halfway through car 95 was pulled from the race with engine problems.

    Car 45 hit the wall exiting The Dipper and required immediate repairs. When it rejoined the race they suffered another hit taking it out of the race for good.

    I am not superstitious but I note that the above cars mentioned all have the number 5 in their car numbers; 52, 50, 95 and 45. Coincidence?

    Of all the things that happened to the cars in such a gruelling race, it was the pole sitter car 65 that had my eyes wide open in disbelief. The car had stopped on Mountain Straight. To rectify the issues, you wont believe this….. They literally pressed Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart and then … they were off and away! LOL!

    The weather played havoc through the day. There were multiple occasions that the safety cars were deployed, and other cars were pulled from the track to sit out the rest of the race.

    It was the team of Jules Gounon, Martin Konrad, Kenny Habul and Luca Stolz who crossed the line first with an 8.7 second lead. They were in car 75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG. (note another 5 in the car number).

    The Craft Bamboo Mercedes, car 91 was the next across the line. Daniel Juncedella, Kevin Tse and Maro Engel put in an incredible challenge to the leader in the last 2 hours of the race. It really was an intense extended battle to the finish line.

    The third car to come across the line was also a Mercedes AMG, giving Merc a 1,2 & 3 on the podium. This was the 888 car from my favoured team Triple Eight Race Engineering, driven by Supercars defending champ Shane Van Gisbergen, Broc Feeney and Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

    It was an incredible race and im already looking forward to its return next year. Good thing is it is expected to run in its usual schedule of February, so I don’t have to wait a full year!!!!