Crownbet Darwin Triple Crown 2018
Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!
On the weekend of the 15th to the 17th of June, 2018 was the Crownbet Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.
There was lots of unexpected excitement in the preliminary events leading up to the two races this weekend:
- Fastest in Practice 1 was Rick Kelly.
- Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2 and 3.
- David Reynolds was fastest in Qualifying for race 15.
- Scott McLaughlin was the fastest in Qualifying for race 16.
- Rick Kelly was the fastest in the race shootout.
Same as at last event, the owner of the Erebus Motorsports team Betty Klimenko wasn’t at Darwin because she was sick with the flu. It must be a bad flu for her to stay away. Get well soon Betty!
Also, Fox Sports commentator Russell Ingall wasn’t in attendance either.
Macauley Jones was the wildcard for the weekend.
The LOL moment for the weekend was James Courtney got fined 1,000 dollars for calling Richie Stanaway a ‘Buffoon’ on the last lap of Saturday’s Race.
In practice 3 before Qualifying, Macauley Jones caused a red flag which meant he couldn’t take any further part in the race. The roof of his car was kinked because of the sideways angle he went into the sand trap.
It was also another milestone for Jamie Whincup, starting his 450th race on the weekend.
In race 15 David Reynolds started on pole position. Alongside him was championship leader, Scott McLaughlin.
David Reynolds led early on with Scott McLaughlin in hot pursuit.
On lap 2 David Reynolds cracked under the pressure, locking the right front wheel and running wide. It gave Scott McLaughlin the opening he was looking for to take the race lead.
Andre Heimgartner ran out of room when he was getting towards making it within the top 10. Although he didn’t make it, the point was he gave it a go!
Craig Lowndes qualified in position 12 and moved up 5 spots straight off the grid, which I though was very impressive.
Jamie Whincup almost made contact with the rookie Anton De Pasquale, but in the end backed off the throttle to avoid contact with him. That wouldn’t have been cool. I am also sure Jamie Whincup’s team owner, Roland Dane was happy to see his own driver make a call to back off and not risk his car.
It didn’t stop Jamie Whincup’s aggressive driving style. At the end of the race, Rick Kelly was defending his racing line while Jamie Whincup tried get to around the outside which was a brave move but it didn’t pay off. He ended up getting swamped by Shane Van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes. Jamie Whincup dropped 2 spots from 8th to 6th.
Shane Van Gisbergen chose to stay out on track longer before pitting in order to maintain track position or double stack with Jamie Whicup.
In the middle of the race Fabian Coulthard was getting towards the top 5, desperately wanting a single digit finish position next to his name.
At the end of the race Garth Tander came in to put a fresh set of tyres on which helped him charge through and finished 5th after starting 13th. An impressive effort.
Towards the end of the race nobody could catch the top 3 drivers they were Scott McLaughlin, Shane Van Gisbergen and David Reynolds.
Greg Murphy was hoping that Shane Van Gisbergen got onto the podium on Saturday and wasn’t let down. He finished 2nd after starting 5th on the grid.
Craig Lowndes gained 5 spots, starting 12th and finishing 7th.
Everybody finished race 15. No DNFs.
No one else does the ‘shoey’ (drinking the winner’s Champaign from his driving boot) only David Reynolds. That is GROSS!
For Scott McLaughlin this makes his 6th race win for 2018.
It was very Entertaining race.
Results for race 15
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
In race 16 Rick Kelly started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.
Interesting to note, newcomer Anton De Pasquale made it into the top 10 shootout and started 3rd on the grid.
I’m sure Betty Klimenko would have been very happy and proud of Anton de Pasquale for being on Provisional Pole Position before the shootouts.
Garth Tander also made the top 10 shootout on Sunday.
The 3 Triple 8 cars Qualified 3rd 11th and 14th.
Jamie Whincup gained a better grid position on Sunday compared to Saturday.
I was surprised that David Reynolds starting at 4th position went right around the outside of everybody from turn 1 to take the lead.
Jamie Whincup tried to get into 2nd but it didn’t pay off.
Jamie Whincup and Anton De Pasquale nearly made contact at turn 1 in the opening laps.
Jamie Whincup then dropped a few places and was crowded so came in early to get a clear track.
Fabian Coulthard was inside the top 10 but after he had his first pitstop he was back in the pack a bit.
Pit reporter, Greg Murphy was talking to Barry Ryan, Erebus Team Manager about Anton de Pasquale’s race excellent performance and how moving David Reynolds to the other side of the garage was to help more to improve Anton de Pasquale’s consistency.
This year was Macauley Jones’ 2nd year as a wildcard in Darwin. Brad Jones was happy to see his progression. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up a full-time driver in the future.
A lot of cars that started in the top 10 stayed out longer while the going was good.
David Reynolds must have been really happy with his performance leading in the opening stint of the race after also finishing on the podium for race 15 the day before.
In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin had smoke pouring out the back. My first thought was to bring it in, check it over, then fix it.
He did come into the pits but after he turned off the pit lane speed limiter the smoke started pouring out again. Then I started to think there is no way he would make it to the finish with the amount laps that were left. Comentator, Neil Crompton said the same thing but somehow, he made it to the finish line.
Later the team revealed the reason why Scott McLaughlin had smoke coming out of the back of his car was because of an overheating problem. Fabian Coulthard also suffered the same overheating problem.
Will Davison got through both of the races which was a great effort considering he had a moon boot on due to hurting his left ankle during training for the Darwin event.
Towards the end of the race it was getting very exciting to watch because David Reynolds was heading for another win in 2018.
Craig Lowndes gained 4 spots by starting 14th and finishing 10th.
There were 3 DNFS; Cameron Waters, Lee Holdsworth and Jack Le Brocq.
Cameron Waters car stopped on the main straight due to overheating and when interviewed by Riana Crehan he wasn’t happy at all.
In the end no one could catch the top 3 drivers – which were David Reynolds, Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup.
What an amazing weekend for David Reynolds!
The next event is the Watpac Townsville 400 on the 6th to the 8th of July, 2018.
Results for race 16
1st David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team