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Supercars

Betr Darwin Triple Crown 2024

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the pre-race sessions:

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

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

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

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

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

The gap between the two leaders was 0.186 seconds.

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

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

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

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

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

Broc Feeney had a 2.6 second lead over Mark Winterbottom.

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

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

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

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

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

Results for Race 11

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results for Race 12

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

3rd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport

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

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

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

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

Supercars

Betr Darwin Triple Crown 2023

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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!!!!!

Supercars

Merlin Darwin Triple Crown 2022

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 17th to 19th of June 2022 was the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown.

This year’s event at Darwin will be the 26th time that the Supercars championship has held a round at the Hidden Valley Raceway. A total of 67 races have been held since the event debuted on the calendar in 1998.

The event is made up of 3 races, 38 laps each. Thus the name, ‘Triple Crown’.

New Zealanders have dominated the winners list in the recent history of Hidden Valley, winning 12 of the past 16 races. Current Supercars Championship leader Shane Van Gisbergen has won 3 races in that time, while Scott McLaughlin has won 8 races and his teammate Fabian Coulthard won 1.

Shell V-Power Racing Team driver Will Davison started his 500th race on Saturday at Darwin. He has become just the 10th active driver to achieve this feat. What a milestone! Congratulations!

Shane Van Gisbergen just returned from France after his debut performance in the Le Mans 24 Hours aboard a Ferrari. So, while everyone else had a 3 week break before this event, he was working extra hard and getting jetlagged.

In the pre-race sessions

  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
  • Will Davison was fastest Armour All Qualifying.

In Race 16 Will Davison started on pole position for the 24th time in his Supercars career. Alongside him was his teammate, Anton de Pasquale.

At the start of the race the 2 Shell V-Power Racing drivers got off the line quite evenly.

Andre Heimgartner gave Will Davison a bump going down the main straight, but nothing came of it. Then at turn 1, Anton de Pasquale went around the outside of Will Davison to take the lead.

Further back in the pack Macauley Jones went off the track at turn 1 onto the grass.

At turn 5 the two leaders, Will Davison and Anton de Pasquale made contact but Anton de Pasquale kept the lead.

Will Brown made contact with Chris Pither. Will Brown kept driving but he knew there was something wrong with the car.

Jack Smith went off the track on the way out of turn 6.

Jake Kostecki ran wide on the exit of the last turn. David Reynolds got spun around by Bryce Fullwood at the same corner a lap later.  David Reynolds car was damaged and it was revealed later had a broken left rear toe link.

On lap 3 Cameron Waters ran wide on the exit of turn 5 but sustained no damage and was still in the race.

Will Brown was losing pace and was the first to come into the pits on lap 4.  The incident with Chris Pither in lap1 had earned his car a broken the left front steering arm.

Chris Pither’s cool suit had failed early in the race and the Darwin heat which turned his a cool suit into a hot suit! He kept going and waited for a strategic time to pit and worry about cool suit then.

Jack Smith was the next to pit on lap 6.

No one else followed Broc Feeney into the pits on lap 8. When he re-joined, he had no cars in front or behind him. It was perfect timing.

The cars further back in the pack also began thinking about pitting to get clear track.

The race leaders were still Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison. Will Davison was under pressure from the cars behind which were; Andre Heimgartner, Shane Van Gisbergen, Chaz Mostert, Mark Winterbottom, Bryce Fullwood, Jake Kostecki, Scott Pye and Cameron Waters.    

On lap 10 Chaz Mostert was closing in on Andre Heimgartner for 4th position.

Lap 11 revealed the position changes further back in the pack. Chris Pither  had dropped 4 spots from his starting position and was now 15th. Lee Holdsworth had moved from a start in 26th and was now 17th.

James Courtney had gained 7 spots and was in 12th.  Brodie Kostecki was up 2 spots, Jack Le Brocq gained 4, Nick Percat was in 14th, he had gained 7 places.

Tim Slade tried to go around the outside of Garry Jacobson and did it.

Bryce Fulwood pitted on lap 16 but then had to serve a 15 second penalty for turning David Reynolds around in the early stages of this race.

In the middle of the race, lap 19 of38 there were 13 cars out of 27 yet to pit. It was an unusual situation. Most would normally pit by now.

Will Davison peeled off to the pits on lap 20, followed by the other leader Anton de Pasquale on lap 21. Shane Van Gisbergen stayed out until lap 23. He had 18.601 second lead over Tim Slade.

Shane Van Gisbergen re- joined the race in 10th place.

On lap 24 the leaders were Tim Slade, Lee Holdsworth and Thomas Randle who were the last three yet to pit. They were shadowed by Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison in 4th and 5th place.

Shane Van Gisbergen made a charge on lap 25, first taking Scott Pye and then Broc Feeney on the same lap. He was now in 6th place.

Tim Slade and Lee Holdsworth pitted on lap 25 leaving Thomas Randle in the lead but still yet to pit. He finally came in on lap 26 put the effective leaders back at the front; Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison were followed by Chaz Mostert, Andre Heimgartner and Shane Van Gisbergen in 5th.

The track was well spread but time was running out.

Shane Van Gisbergen wanted to shake things up. On lap 29 he passed Andre Heimgartner to take 4th place. He also did the fastest lap of the race, timed at 1m 07.223s and earning 5 bonus points for the championship ladder.

He was still not satisfied and wanted a place on the podium. He was now chasing down one of the fastest drivers on the track, Chaz Mostert. Between laps 29 and 32 he reduced the gap from 3.227seconds to under 1 second.

On lap 33 Shane Van Gisbergen made his move takes 3rd place from Chaz Mostert.

Anton de Pasquale still held the lead of 1.5+ seconds over Will Davison and does not make a single mistake.

Shane Van Gisbergen was not just happy making it to the podium and now wants 2nd place from Will Davison. He relentlessly chases him and between laps 33 and 36 manages to squeeze the gap down from 1.5 to .2 seconds.  

Shane Van Gisbergen was right on his tail but loses rear grip. The gap increased .5 seconds. It was a lost opportunity and there were only 2 laps remaining.

Will Davison was too worried about Shane Van Gisbergen on his tail to make any ground on Anton de Pasquale in the lead.

Anton de Pasquale crossed the line for his first win of 2022. Will Davison was next followed by Shane Van Gisbergen right on his bumper. There was a reasonable gap to Chaz Mostert and Andre Heimgartner in 4th and 5th.

Results for race 16

1st Anton de Pasquale – Shell V Power Racing Team.

2nd Will Davison – Shell V Power Racing Team.

3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.

In Race 17 Cameron Waters started on pole position and alongside him was David Reynolds.

At the start of the race Cameron Waters was neck and neck with David Reynolds up to turn 1 where he got the lead. Somehow Will Davison squeezed through at the turn to take 2nd place from David Reynolds. Shane Van Gisbergen was right behind the 3 leading drivers.

As the pack came through turn 6 Thomas Randle and Scott Pye spun uncontrollably off the track. There were about 4 or 5 cars involved and it seemed like mayhem. James Courtney’s smashed up car was stranded and unable to move from the middle of the road. The safety car was deployed but pretty quickly the officials red flagged the race so the track could be cleared.

James Courtney’s car was such a mess that it was obvious he would not be coming back out to finish the race. It was even doubtful that he would compete in the next race the same afternoon.

When the race restarted at the end of lap 4, Shane Van Gisbergen immediately went on the attack but failed to get 3rd place from David Reynolds.

The cars soon settled into race pace but the leaders were pulling away from the rest of the pack.

On lap 7 Will Brown drove the fastest lap of the race whilst in 20th position.

Thomas Randle who was involved in the lap 1 melee of spinning cars came into pit with related damage. He wouldn’t be coming back out on the track for the rest of the race.

Brodie Kostecki was the next to pit on lap 8. Soon others began to pit as well.

After pitting, Broc Feeney rejoined the race and crossed right in front of Brodie Kostecki coming down the straight. It must of shocked Broc Feeney quite a bit because at the coming turn he left the track onto the grass. It could have been a loss of grip from fresh cold tyres but I think it was a crack in focus.

Shane Van Gisbergen had maintained 4th position all this time but couldn’t manage to get closer to the top 3 drivers. On lap 18 he changed strategy and came into the pits.

The 3 leaders soon followed suit and came in as well.

Chaz Mostert in 5th place came in on lap 21.

Now every car had taken the mandatory pit stop (excepting the 2 cars of Pye and Courtney who were out of the race). The leaders were now David Reynolds, Anton de Pasquale and Bryce Fullwood.

The Darwin temperature had risen and cars were taking a second pit stop.

On lap 23 David Reynolds and Anton de Pasquale left the lead and took their second stops.

By lap 25 things had evened out and the leaders had resumed their places; Cameron Waters, Will Davison, Shane Van Gisbergen and then Anton de Pasquale.

The order of the leading drivers stayed the same. The only important change was that David Reynolds was inching towards the front again. With 7 laps to go he moved into 5th place behind Anton de Pasquale.

The 3 leaders were not giving their podium places up and stayed in their formation. Cameron Waters crossed the line first. Will Davison was next, followed by Shane Van Gisbergen.

Results for Race 17:

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.

2nd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team.

3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

In race 18 Will Davison started on pole position alongside him was Anton de Pasquale.

At the start of the race Anton de Pasquale got the jump off the line and led into turn 1 from his teammate Will Davison Scott Pye started the final race from the pit lane due to the damage sustained at the start of race 17.

During the early stages the 2 Dick Johnson Racing cars were running 1st and 2nd the rest of the field were trying to keep up with the leaders.

I was amazed that Anton de Pasquale took the lead in to turn 1 but the other drivers didn’t want them to win.

When the pitstops got underway while leaders stayed out longer while the drivers pitted first.

The race leaders early on were Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison.

In the middle of the stops were complete and Anton de Pasquale was still in the lead of the race.

After the restart Chaz Mostert took  the lead of the race while Shane Van Gisbergen wanted to get onto the podium but as a result of the contact he finished 21st and now has now got a 214 lead over Anton de Pasquale.

 On lap 25 of 38 Garry Jacobson and Zac Best hit wheel to wheel on the approach up to turn 6, and as a result of the contact the left front wheel was broken and as result the BP Ultimate safety car was deployed to remove Zac Best’s car 78, as a result of deployment of the safety car it smashed Chaz Mostert because the lead he had was gone. Before the Safety car Shane Van Gisbergen was in 4th position he only had Will Davison Anton de Pasquale and Chaz Mostert to pass for the win.

On the restart with 9 laps to go Shane Van Gisbergen was getting the benefit of the draft from the back of Will Davison’s car on approach to turn 1 Shane Van Gisbergen pushed him wide on the exit of turn 1, meanwhile Shane Van Gisbergen dropped 2 spots into 6th position with 8 laps to go due to power steering failure. Then with 6 laps to go Chaz Mostert was under huge pressure from Anton de Pasquale for race lead and race win, but he held on what an amazing drive Shane Van Gisbergen got a 15 second penalty for a driving infringement and as a result he finished 21st. Garry Jacobson got a pit lane drive thru penalty for a driving infringement with 7 laps to go Also car 99 driven by Brodie Kostecki had a pit lane penalty for a safety car restart breach.

In the end Chaz Mostert was the winner of race 18.

Results for race 18

1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.

2nd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V Power Racing Team.

3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.

The next event is the NTI Townville 500 July 8th to the 10th 2022.

Garry Jacobson has left Premier Hire Racing and Zane Godard for Townsville.

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Skycity Darwin Triple Crown 2017

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Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results for race 11

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

4th Jamie Whincup – red bull Holden racing team.
 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 Results for race 12

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Darwin Post Race Report 2016

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Craig in Darwin

Hi to all you v8 Supercars fans around the world.

For those of you that missed the Darwin event here is what happened on the weekend of the 17th -19th June 2016 was the Crown Bet Darwin Triple Crown.

In race 12. Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position alongside was Michael Caruso for the 42 lap race.

On lap 1 Michael Caruso got the jump and led the pack through turn 1. Craig Lowndes got spun around by Rick Kelly that was started by Tim Slade. When Craig Lowndes spun back around to get going again he re-joined at the very back of the field. Rick Kelly was the one who hit him, with help from Tim Slade. James Moffatt ran up the back of David Reynolds.

On lap 2 the pack was starting settle into a pace. Also on that lap the cars were still running around on the racetrack until the race leader had commenced the 5th lap of the race – Meaning the cars could not start peeling off into pit lane until the start of that lap.

On lap 3 the race leader was still Michael Caruso but when the safety car was deployed he decided to stay out on the track.

On lap 4 the cars further back in the pack were trying to keep out of trouble. On the restart Shane Van Gisbergen passed Michael Caruso before the control line which meant that race control gave him a pit lane drive thru penalty, also on the restart Jamie Whincup and Scott Pye came together heading down towards turn 1.

In the middle of the race no one was able to catch Michael Caruso.

Results for race 12.

1st – Michael Caruso – Nissan motorsport
2nd – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia
3rd – Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team

 

In race 13 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position alongside him was Todd Kelly for the 70 lap race. The start of the was nuts on lap 1 Scott Pye, Fabain Coulthard, Lee Holdsworth and Chaz Mostert all ended up in the accident on the opening lap. There was a safety car which meant everybody came in for the first of 2 stops the pit lane was a mess, Shane Van Gisbergen gave Will Davison a bump forward so that he could get into the Red Bull pit bay.

On lap 2 the cars that were in the wall got removed and the race went back to green. But Scott Pye, Fabain Coulthard and Lee Holdsworth were not able to continue because of too much damage. But Chaz Mostert was able to keep going.

On the restart Craig Lowndes was leading and made a mistake so that meant that Shane Van Gisbergen took the lead of the race.

In the middle of the race Mark Winterbottom got 2 drive thru penalties, 1st was for hitting Todd Kelly up the back side, and the 2nd one was for speeding in the pit lane. Meanwhile no one could catch Shane Van Gisbergen.

The next Event is the Castrol Edge Townsville 400. On July 8th – 10th 2016.

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Sky City Triple Crown – Darwin NT

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HI to all you v8 fans around the world.

On the weekend of the 19th – 21st of June 2015. Was the Sky City Triple Crown Darwin NT. Event 5 on the calendar.

Race 13

In race 13 James Courtney started on pole Position alongside him was Chaz Mostert. On lap 1 James Courtney made a good start. But Chaz got the jump and led the field around turn 1 for the first of 21 laps. Both Jamie Whincup and Fabain Coulthard went off the track at turn 1. Then Craig Lowndes and Tim Blanchard, also Craig Lowndes along with Tim Blanchard, spun at turn 5. On lap 2 James was having an issue with the Holden Racing Team Commodore. Also on that same lap Rick Kelly got passed Shane Van Gisbergen. Fabain had a bent steering arm. Both the Red Bull cars were at the back of the field. On lap 3 Dale Wood tried to go around the outside of James Moffat from Nissan Motorsport. James got down the inside of David Reynolds.

The Safety car was deployed due to a grass fire, on the exit of the 5th corner. Greg Murphy was chatting Mark Dutton about the incident that sent both Jamie and Craig to the back. The restart was on lap 6. In the middle of the race Andre Heimgartner couldn’t pull up the Super Black Falcon, the criss cross was on for Jason Bright, Michael Caruso had a bit of speed way action on the exit of turn 1. Towards the end of race 13 Scott Pye and Shane Van Gisbergen were following James Courtney.

 

Results for race 13.

1st – Chaz Mostert – Pepsi Max Crew
2nd – Mark Winterbottom – Pepsi Max Crew
3rd – Rick Kelly – Jack Daniel’s Racing

Race 14

In race 14 Rick Kelly started on position alongside him was Fabain Coulthard, on lap 1 Craig Lowndes led the whole way through race 2. After the front 2 cars came together at turn 1, Craig started 5th but was leading the race by the time they got to the first turn on lap 1 of 21. Andre Heimgartner ran wide towards the end of first lap taking out Nick Percat, Will Davison and Jamie Whincup. Fabain had contact with the Jack Daniel’s racing Nissan on lap 2, Andre Heimgartner had damage to the Super Black Racing Ford Falcon, also on lap 2 a safety car was deployed to clean up the mess left behind by the damaged race cars.

Greg Murphy was interviewing Brad Jones about the start of race 2 and Riana Crehan was interviewing Mark Dutton about opening race tangles, the restart was on lap number 7. In this race it was the 888th race in V8 supercars. Craig was only 15 laps away from claiming his 100th win in this sport. Scott Pye got down the inside of Michael Caruso. In the middle of the race David Reynolds tried to get down the inside of Michael at turn 5, Dale Wood and David Wall went off the track at turn 5. Towards the end of the race Chaz Mostert tried to get up the inside of Tim Slade but in the end Craig was the first of the current V8 drivers to reach that incredible milestone.

Results for race 14

1st – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia
2nd – Tim Slade – Supercheap Auto Racing
3rd – Chaz Mosert – Pepsi Max Crew

Race 15

In race 15 David Reynolds started on pole position alongside him was Fabain Coulthard. On lap 1 Fabain got the jump on David and led the field into turn 1 for the first of 70 laps. Fabain was still out in front while the car to make a compulsory pit stop was Jamie Whincup.   On lap 2 then Todd Kelly was first to make a pit stop, so that the 2 Kelly boys didn’t have to double stack behind. On lap 3 the 2 Red Bull Racing Australia had to split their strategy to stop the 2 Red Bull cars from doing the awful double stacking. This is Craig’s 19th season in V8 Supercars. On lap 4 Scott Mclaughlin ran wide on the exit of turn 1, then he went onto grass out of the first corner. The Red Bull Racing Australia team thought that they could do the whole race on the soft compound tyres, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. In the middle of the race both the Red Bull cars came back due to flat spots on both tyres on the front left towards the end of the race, with David Reynolds was the leader of the race   all the way to the end. The commentators were Greg Rust and Neil Crompton the pit reporters were Greg Murphy and Riana Crehan.

The next event is the Townsville 500 on the 10th – 12th of July 2015, which is in 2 weeks. Will Red Bull Racing Australia start there fightback in Townsville.? Craig Lowndes is 95 points off the championship leader Mark Winterbottom in 2nd and Jamie Whincup 286 points off the lead in 8th.

Mark Skaife interviews his former teammate Craig Lowndes to reflect on a magnificent V8 career and about his V8 journey.

Results for 15

1st – David Reynolds – Bottle ‘O’ Racing
2nd – Chaz Mostert – Pepsi Max Crew
3rd – Fabain Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing

Pre Race Report, V8 Supercars

Sky City Triple Crown – Darwin NT Pre – Race Report

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Hi to all you v8 fans around the world.

This weekend is the Sky City Triple Crown Darwin, Northern Territory. Let’s look back at what happened at Darwin in 2014. In race 17 Red Bull Racing Australia’s Jamie Whincup started on pole position alongside him was Scott McLaughlin, on lap 1 of 35 Jamie Whincup made a blinder of a start from pole, Craig Lowndes grabbed 2nd spot immediately. Scott and Shane Van Gisbergen went side by side through turns 2 and 3 Scott McLaughlin had the ideal line for the right hander. But Shane stayed with it on the outside. Then he had the position for turn 6. On lap 2 David Wall got up the inside of Todd Kelly at turn 1. On lap 3 the pack behind the front runners were settling into a pace. Scott Pye got up the inside of Tim Slade.

Results for Race 17 from 2014.

1st – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia.
3rd – Shane Van Gisbergen – Tekno Autosports.

Who will win the Sky City Triple Crown this weekend? Can Red Bull Racing Australia repeat what they did 12 months ago?

History of the Hidden Valley event, it started back in 1998. Best of luck to everybody for this weekend’s event.

This week is races 13, 14 and 15. The last time Craig won at Hidden Valley was 2006 and 2007.   This week’s races are 2, 21 lap races and 1, 70 lap race. This week is Craig’s 41st Birthday on the 22nd of June, which is this Sunday. Can Lowndesy be the first of the current V8 drivers to get 100 career wins this weekend coming? On Fox sports 5 channel 506, the highlights will be on channel 10 at 4pm or channel 110 and one in HD on channel 209.

https://youtu.be/vhcve2yZWWw