Tag Archives: Garth Tander

Post Race Report, Supercars

Penrite Oil Sandown 500 2019 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 8th to the 10th of November 2019 was the Penrite Oil Sandown 500.

Results for the pre – race sessions were as follows:

  • Garth Tander was fastest in practice 1 for co-drivers
  • David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 2
  • Craig Lowndes was fastest in Practice 3
  • Scott Pye & Warren Luff were fastest in the warm up for the Sandown 500.
  • Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 4 & Armour All Qualifying for Race 28
  • Craig Lowndes won Race 28
  • Jamie Whincup won Race 29

Before the race on Sunday the Supercars community at Sandown paid tribute to the life of Mike Raymond, who passed away a few days earlier at the age of 76. Mike Raymond was most well known as a commentator in the late 80s, early 90s. He gave so much to the sport, our condolences to his family and all that knew him. If anyone has a good memory to share about Mike Raymond please post it on my Supercars Facebook Fan Page. I am sure others would love to hear it. https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

At the start of the 500 kilometre 161 lap race Craig Lowndes started on pole position, alongside him was Bryce Fullwood from the Dunlop Super 2 Series.

All the co-drivers bar Scott Pye started behind the wheel for the race on Sunday. I guess this is part of the strategy as the co-drivers have to do a minimum of 54 laps and can only do a maximum 107 laps.

Jack Smith was behind the wheel co-driving with Todd Hazelwood in his debut at the Enduro’s.

Both Alex Premat (co-driver for Scott McLaughlin) and Garth Tander (co-driver for Shane Van Gisbergen) started in positions 24th and 25th. These two cars are normally at the front of the grid. Garth Tander’s positioning was caused by Shane Van Gisbergen unable to complete the ‘main driver’ race on Saturday due to to a spin off track from a poorly timed takeover with Anton de Pasquale.

Alex Premat was sentenced to the back of the grid due to officials finding Scott McLaughlin’s engine was over-specced dating back to Bathurst. Quite a drama. If you have a point of view on this please feel free to put it up for discussion on my Supercars Facebook Fan Page.

Without surprise the experienced Craig Lowndes got the jump on Bryce Fullwood off the start line. Further back in the grid 3 cars stalled on the green light causing a fair bit of havoc.

Alex Davison was in one of the cars that stalled and was extremely lucky not to be collected by the cars just behind him.

At the end of the opening lap Tony Dalberto got turned around by Richard Muscat and found himself at the very back of the pack.

Luke Youlden in car # 9 received damage and was missing the rear wing. When he got back to the pits he knew that the day was over. With only 30 laps completed it must have been a big blow for him and his main driver, David Reynolds.

I was actually surprised that Dale Wood and Luke Youlden managed to limp their cars back to the pits. They looked in very poor shape.

Later in the race there was contact between Michael Caruso and Jake Kostecki. This was a really messy situation. It was when Jake Kostecki was merging from the pit lane into the fast lane. It appeared he was unaware that Caruso was coming down the fast lane. Usually the car controller gives the driver warning to yield over the comms when merging back onto the track.

Kostecki was able to continue the race but Michael Caruso’s front left wheel was now at a strange looking angle. With this damage he had to complete a full lap at a slower in order to come back around to the pits.

It merge was deemed as unsafe and the Kostecki Brothers Racing team were issued a drive through penalty.

In the middle of the race the Red Bull Holden Racing Team were running 1st & 2nd. If they could maintain their lead to the end of the race it would also place them at the top of the Team’s Championship ladder. The pressure was on!

But as luck would have it, with only 10 laps to go and in the lead, Shane Van Gisbergen’s car lost a bolt and smoke was coming out of the right rear. He was forced to call into the pits which dropped him from 1st to 17th. Shane Van Gisbergen & co-driver Garth Tander must have been gutted. They had started from the back of the grid in position 24 and worked their way into the lead. That is pretty amazing but it wold have also been Shane Van Gisbergen’s first win at Sandown (and a second win at Sandown for Garth Tander)

It was lucky for the Red Bull Team that Jamie Whincup was just behind Shane Van Gisbergen and able to take the lead for the team. Once he was told that his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen had to pit he knew he had to hold the lead to the end.

This was not difficult for Jamie Whincup and he came across the line first.

It brings Jamie Whincup’s career win total to 117 and Craig Lowndes win total to 110.

However, Shane Van Gisbergen slipping back to 17th meant they only closed the Team Championship points trail from 132 to 116. I’m sure it will be their inspiration to ‘go hard’ in the coming last race of the season, The Newcastle 500.

Results for Race 30

1st Jamie Whincup & Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Chaz Mostert & James Moffatt – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
3rd Lee Holdsworth & Thomas Randle – Bottle O Racing Team.
Congratulations to Jack Smith who will be making his full time Virgin Australia Supercars Championship debut in 2020. Read about it in the link: https://www.speedcafe.com/2019/11/13/bjr-confirms-smith-in-expanded-four-car-2020-line-up/

Please feel free to comment on how Sandown went via my Facebook Fanpage.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

 

Post Race Report, Supercars

Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 2019 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the World!

checkout my pre vlog below. Its also available on my youtube channel.

On the weekend of the 10th to the 13th of October, 2019 was the 59th running of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. This is locally known as “The Great Race” and is the most widely viewed motorsport race in Australia and internationally renowned. There is always a hyped up vibe when this endurance   is on and it’s always exciting.

In the Pre-race sessions leading up to big event there we a few surprising results.

In Practice 1 Jamie Whincup was fastest. The session was temporarily stopped (red flagged) when Macauley Jones hit the wall at the cutting. After being towed off the track he was obliged to sit out the rest of the session. That is the penalty for causing a Red Flag in the practice sessions.

Practice 2 was a co-driver session. James Moffatt was fastest. Yet again the red flag was on display, this time for Luke Youlden who hit wall the between Reid Park and McPhillamy Park.

Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 3.

Practice 4 was another co-driver session and Will Brown was fastest.

Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 5 and then in the Armour All Qualifying.

Will Davison was fastest in Practice 6

Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 7

In the warm up session on the morning of the race, Fabian Coulthard & Tony Dalberto were fastest.

By 11:30am the race was ready to begin. The cars were all lined up on the starting grid and the tension was building. All of a sudden there was an emergency call out from one of the cars. Brodie Kostecki of Kostecki Brothers Racing was in trouble. The cockpit was filling with carbon monoxide fumes and his helmet’s circulation fan had come loose. He was immediately rushed to medical centre and checked out by the official Supercars doctor, Dr Carl Le. The car was then towed off the grid. They were given dispensation by officials and were able to rejoin the race later.

After this delay the race could finally begin.

Scott McLaughlin was sitting in Pole Position with Chaz Mostert alongside him. This was the second time Scott McLaughlin had earned pole position for the Bathurst 1000. The first time was in 2017.

I was quite surprised that most of the main drivers started and only a couple of co-drivers started the race.

As they took off for the 161 lap 1,000 km race, Scott McLaughlin got the jump into turn 1 and led up mountain straight.

Craig Lowndes did the opening stint for car 888 as part of their strategy. He tried to get up the inside of Will Davison at turn 1 but the pass wasn’t able to be done cleanly and he pulled back. This was OK because he, like all the other drivers knew there was a long way to go.

On that first lap as they got to ‘The Cutting’ Tim Slade was on the outside of Scott Pye. The Cutting is an impossible turn to pass on and Time Slade left the track and hit the wall. The Vodafone Safety Car was deployed to remove the car from the track. It was bad luck for the Brad Jones Racing team. One of their two cars was already out of the race on lap 1. It must have been a massive disappointment for co-driver Ash Walsh to not get a chance to drive in the most coveted event of the year.

After this incident there was no safety car deployed for the next 100 laps.

As the race continued the cars that started further back in the pack came in early to get their first of 7 pit stops out of the way. The leading cars stayed out to make use of the clear track and gain position.

I was surprised how quick Scott McLaughlin and Chaz Mostert was in the opening stages of the race.

In the middle of the race Alex Premat was leading the race in his co-drivers stint. He had a massive lockup on the front right wheel at ‘The Chase’ which caused him go off the track. This allowed Chaz Mostert and Jamie Whincup to move from 2nd and 3rd to 1st and 2nd positions. Although he lost position I couldn’t believe that Alex Premat managed to keep his #17 Mustang straight and not spin.

For the closing stage of the race it’s normal strategy to get main drivers back in the car. For Lowndes and Tander, who were for the first time in their careers acting as co-drivers, it must have been nerve wracking to watch from the sidelines and not be behind the wheel.

When the main drivers jumped back in they needed to conserve fuel to get to the end of the race. Once again the spotlight was on Brodie Kostecki. He hit the wall going up the hill out of The Cutting and the race went to ‘Yellow’ as the Safety Car was deployed and the car was recovered and returned to the pits.

Oil Soak had to be spread on the track to absorb the oil lost from Kostecki’s car. It meant other drivers couldn’t use the racing line coming out of The Cutting at the risk of taking a slide.

At this point of the race, Jamie Whincup was the leading car cruising behind the safety car and saving fuel.

Soon after the race went back to green, at lap 135 the car of Indy drivers Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe left the track and got stuck in the sand. Once again the safety car was deployed and the car was towed out but still able to re-join the race track.

It was during this incident that the biggest controversy in history of the Bathurst 1000 occurred. Jamie Whincup in the lead and Scott McLaughlin in 2nd place were told to press on. 888 instructed Jamie Whincup to head into the pits to take the opportunity to top up on fuel. Fabian Coulthard in third place was instructed to slow down. This held the rest of the cars on the track as they were unable to pass while the race was still under yellow. It was deemed by officials as a purposeful tactic to let his teammate, Scott McLaughlin continue in the lead without any contenders. The unsporting manoeuvre earned Fabian Coulthard a drive through penalty. In the following week this incident blew up into a massive controversy of how the team and Scott McLaughlin as the race winner should be penalised. Many, including Erebus Team Manager, Barry Ryan, have called for Scott McLaughlin to be stripped of his title.

Just one lap short of the race finish, at lap 160 the Safety Car was again deployed. This time it was Andre Heimgartner of Nissan Motorsport. The officials didn’t want to delay the race or have it finish safety car, yellow so they tucked his car in behind barriers till the end of the race.

This gave the leaders a 1 lap dash to the finish line. There just wasn’t opportunity in that last lap for anyone to take the lead of Scott McLaughlin.

The last time the pole sitter won the Bathurst 1000 was Garth Tander and Will Davison back in 2009.

Results for race 25

1st Scott McLaughlin & Alex Premat – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen & Garth Tander – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd James Courtney & Jack Perkins – Walkinshaw Andretti United (started 18th gaining 15 places to finished 3rd).
4th Jamie Whincup & Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

The next event is the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 25th to the 27th of October 2019.

Feel free to give me your opinion on how the Bathurst event went via my facebook Fanpage.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

 

 

 

https://www.velocitynews.co.nz/news/confirmed-mclaughlin-keeps-bathurst-1000-win-coulthard-and-djrtp-penalized?fbclid=IwAR1ycPBzMsGabevwrSlNZIRDhVdiMwTnJozSqCi-8Qqsx8Q8iidhjZHZKu0

 

https://www.speedcafe.com/2019/10/18/grm-confirms-supercars-exit/

Supercars

The Bend Supersprint 2019 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 23rd to the August 2019 was The Bend Supersprint.

This is the second year that Tailem Bend, South Australia played host to a V8 Supercars event.

It was also a milestone for Will Davison making his 200th championship round start and Triple 8 marking their 500th Supercars race.

As part of the preparations for the biggest event of the year The Bathurst 1000, the co-drivers had their own practice session. Thomas Randle was the fastest co-driver in this practice.

Then Scott McLaughlin once again proved his invincibility by being fastest  in Practice 1, 2 and 3.

Chaz Mostert earned himself the Pole position for Race 21 being fastest in the Armour All Qualifying.

In race 21 Scott McLaughlin lined up next to Chaz Mostert in the pole position.

At the start of 24 lap race, Chaz Mostert originally took the lead off the start line but then Scott McLaughlin took him and led into turn 1.

During the opening lap there was contact between Will Davison, Todd Hazelwood and Simona De Silvestro. All 3 cars suffered damage but managed to get back the pits under their own power but all received NC’s (Not Complete). It appeared they all felt there was no point returning to track  due to the race being so short, only 24 laps.

By the middle of the race the three race leaders appeared uncatchable;  Scott McLaughlin, Chaz Mostert and Anton de Pasquale.

From that moment Scott McLaughlin set out to prove just how fast he was and stretched his lead on the other two. He crossed the finish line nearly 8 seconds ahead of Chaz Mostert and just over 25 seconds ahead of Anton de Pasquale. It was an incredible finish.

Results for race 21

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.
3rd Anton de Pasquale – Erebus Motorsport.

 In race 22 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position, alongside him was Will Davison.

At the start of 41 lap race Will Davison got the jump and led into turn 1.

Scott McLaughlin followed Will Davison for most of the opening stint and wasn’t able to to get by him.

I thought that Will Davison looked on track to claim his first race win for 2019.

In an effort to claim his second race for the year, Jamie Whincup also tried to pass Will Davison but couldn’t get the job done.

Will Davison made his first mistake, locking up his tyres he almost when off the track. I thought he was going to lose race positioning but somehow he held on to the lead. It honestly surprised me.

Jamie Whincup then dropped a couple of spots. It was still early on he knew there was a long way to go to the finish line.

Rick Kelly was trying to keep up with his teammates but it wasn’t his day and fell further back into the pack.

In the middle of the race Scott Mclaughlin was still the race leader and looking good for another race win.

Towards the end of the race no one could catch Scott Mclaughlin.

In the middle of the race Will Davison had an air box fire on pit entry. Although he managed to get back out on the track it had slowed him down. Now Scot McLaughlin had the lead with Chaz Mostert in hot pursuit.

Scott McLaughlin was unbeatable and held his lead to the finish line followed by Will Davison and then Chaz Mostert.  Who can stop Scott McLaughlin’s winning run?

The teams’ cars and equipment will be going to New Zealand via a boat because the its too expensive to fly everything to New Zealand by plane. The drivers of course will be flying in.

Results for race 22

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Will Davison – 23 Red Racing.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.

The event is the ITM Auckland Supersprint on the 13th to the 15th of September 2019.

 

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/ please feel free to comment on how the Bend was.

 

Supercars

Century Batteries Ipswich Supersprint 2019 Supercars

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HI to all you Supercars fans around the World!

On the weekend of the 26th to the 28th of July 2019 was the Century Batteries Ipswich Supersprint.

This Queensland raceway is home territory to the legend Craig Lowndes where he has had 12 race wins through his career. Considering that this is the 23rd Supercars event at this venue, Craig Lowndes’ stats go prove why he is a legend.

This is not to say it is a ‘friendly’ track to everyone. In 2005 Jason Richards had a massive rollover after Paul Morris made contact with him. At the same event Cameron McLean also rolled in the same section of the track. In 2010 Mark Winterbottom had a huge crash that I am sure still sticks in his mind.

Heading into the weekend Scott McLaughlin leads the championship by 292 points over his teammate, Fabian Coulthard. If there is going to be any challenges for the championship, this weekend is the time to make a move.

As it turned out Scott McLaughlin ruled in the pre-race sessions; Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 1, 2 & 3 and then again for the Armour All Qualifying.

In race 19 he started on pole position, alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

At the start of the 39-lap race Scott McLaughlin didn’t want to have any contact with Jamie Whincup so he let him go at turn 2.

By the end of the opening lap Scott McLaughlin went from 1st to 4th

There was contact between Will Davison and Scott McLaughlin which was not good. I thought that Scott McLaughlin would have had damage but somehow he didn’t.

Scott McLaughlin’s troubles were not over. Later he had a 9.2 second pit stop due to a jammed left front wheel nut. It surely affected his result at the finish line slipping from pole position to 4th.

Lee Holdsworth had a massive slide but saved it, which was super impressive.

Scott Pye had contact with another car which resulted in problems in the pits later on when removing the left rear wheel. He dropped 7 positions and finished 21st.

Jamie Whincup had a 4.1 second stop. Excepting pit stops, Jamie Whincup held his lead throughout the race.

Fabian Coulthard didn’t have a great race at all. He started 9th on the grid and finished 10th.

As they crossed the finish line, no one else could catch the top 3 drivers; Jamie Whincup with a 2 + second lead over Will Davison, then Chaz Mostert  following a further 3.87 seconds later.

Although no safety car was deployed during the race, Tim Slade and Macauley Jones were both NC’s.

It was a convincing win for Jamie Whincup whose last race win was the Sandown 500 in 2018. His tally now reaches 114 wins from 484 races. 

Results for Race 19

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Will Davison – 23 Red Racing.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.

The unusual result for Scott McLaughlin in race 19 didn’t seem to affect him the next morning. He was fastest in practice 4 and Qualifying, earning him pole position for race 20. That is his 13th pole start this year.

In race 20 Scott McLaughlin in pole position had Chaz Mostert alongside him.

At the start of the 200 Km, 65 lap race Chaz Mostert tried to go around the outside of the Championship leader but he wasn’t able to and had to pull back in behind.

Scott McLaughlin led the whole way excepting in his 2 pit stops.

Fabian Coulthard had a shocking weekend because he didn’t qualify in the top ten on Sunday.

After such a positive result in Saturday’s race Will Davison drove with inspiration and seemed to really want to get back to back podiums. However, he just wasn’t able to move up from his starting position of 5.

By the middle of race Shane Van Gisbergen had taken over Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert. Now in second place he was putting pressure on Scott McLaughlin for the race lead.

In the last laps Shane Van Gisbergen stayed right on Scott McLaughlin’s tail but he wasn’t given any opportunity to take advantage of.  They crossed the finish line just 0.7 seconds apart and nearly 10 seconds ahead of their closest rival, Chaz Mostert.

Results for Race 20

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.

Scott McLaughlin got pinged for doing his post race burnouts in the wrong spots.

He also got fined $1000 for taking a poster on to the podium.

https://www.motorsport.com/v8supercars/news/mclaughlin-fine-poster-podium-burnout/4502597/

 

https://autoaction.com.au/2019/07/30/infamous-podium-poster-to-raise-funds-for-charity

The next event is the OTR Supersprint at the Bend in South Australia on the 23rd to the 25th of August 2019.

Please feel free on how the Ipswich event was via my Facebook Fanpage.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

Supercars

Truck Assist Winton Supersprint 2019 Supercars

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HI to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 24th to the 26th of May was the Truck Assist Winton Supersprint

The hot news as this goes to press is that Chaz Mostert has a big decision to make about his future because at the end of this season he will be off contract with Tickford Racing. There is talk about opportunities for him at Team Penske as well as going overseas. It’s a; happening for him right now. What will Chaz Mostert choose to do? (AutoAction published a really interesting article on Chaz https://autoaction.com.au/2019/05/30/chazs-big-decision).

In the co–drivers’ session which was Practice 0, Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander finished 1st and 2nd.

Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1.

Chaz Mostert was also fastest in Armour All Qualifying which gave him pole position for Race 13.

This weekend was also a milestone for some out on track:

·        It was Shane Van Gisbergen’s 100th race as a member of Triple Eight Race Engineering.
·        It was also Jamie Whincup’s 220th round start, equalling him with Mark Skaife for 8th on the all-time list of starts.

I just had a flashback to Winton 2013. Jamie Whincup, Russell Ingall and Dean Fiore had an accident which took them out of the race.  I hoped nothing like that would happen on this weekend.

In Race 13 Chaz Mostert started on pole position and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.

At the start of the 40-lap race Both Chaz Mostert and Fabian Coulthard made contact in between turns 1 and 2 which allowed James Courtney to take the race lead!

Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard came together on lap 1 at turn 5 and re-joined at turn 9.

I thought Scott McLaughlin was going to get a drive thru penalty or a 15 second stop and hold for re-joining between turns 8 and 9 but apparently they were within the rules for the Winton weekend.

Fabian Coulthard received a 15 second penalty for making that contact with Scott McLaughlin.

Throughout the race a number of drivers got pinged for a range of driving infringements.

When David Reynolds gave James Courtney a bump and took the race lead he copped a 15 second penalty.

Fabian Coulthard was trying keep up with his teammate, Scott McLaughlin but he couldn’t quite get close enough.

Scott Pye was struggling to stay in the top 10.

By the middle of the race the two Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske drivers, Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard were running 1st and 2nd.

Towards the end of the race no one could catch Scott McLaughlin in first and Fabian Coulthard, second.

Unfortunately Fabian Coulthard’s 15 second penalty early on in the race pushed him down to 15th place, dropping 13 spots. Must have been a hard pill to swallow but the weekend was not over yet.

Results for Race 13

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V power Racing Team.
2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
3rd David Reynolds – Penrite Racing.
 4th James Courtney – Mobil 1 Mega Racing.
5th Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
6th Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

In the lead up to Sunday’s race Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2 and then also fastest in the Armour All Qualifying.

For the 67 lap Race 14, once again Scott McLaughlin started on pole position with Fabian Coulthard alongside him.

Scott McLaughlin got the jump on his teammate Fabian Coulthard and pretty much dominated the race accept for pit stops.

Will Davison was hoping for a solid result so I was quite surprised that Will Davison broke down and Rick Kelly’s engine blew. They both ended up with DNF’S .

In the middle of the race, after the 2nd round of pit stops no one could catch the 2 Shell V Power Mustangs of Scott McLaughlin and teammate, Fabian Coulthard.

Once again the pair held position and crossed the finish line 1st and 2nd. This time Fabian Coulthard made it onto the podium.

Results for Race 14

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

The next event is the Bet Easy Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway starting on June 14.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

Please feel free to comment with your thoughts on the event.

Supercars

Tyrepower Tasmania Supersprint 2019 Supercars

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HI to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 5th to the 7th of April, 2019 was the Tyrepower Tasmania Supersprint.

The pre-race sessions for race 7 were almost as fun to watch as the main race.

In the additional co-driver practice session Warren Luff was the fastest.

Jamie Whincup lost his fastest time passing under a yellow flag due to Nick Percat getting stuck in the sandtrap. The result of this was Chaz Mostert clocked the fastest time in Practice 1.

Jamie Whincup got back and was fastest in Practice 2.

Then Nick Percat was fastest in Practice 3.

In Qualifying for Race 7, Jamie Whincup spun around at turn 4 meaning he couldn’t take any further part in the session. Originally he was destined to go into the race at the 25th spot but somehow he ended up starting 15th.

Mark Winterbottom was fastest in Qualifying and gained himself the pole position.

In race 7, alongside Mark Winterbottom on pole was Scott McLaughlin.

At the start of the 50-lap race Scott Mclaughlin got the jump off the line which meant that  Mark Winterbottom had to pull back into 2nd place, only Because he  didn’t get to turn 1 and 2 1st.

Jamie Whincup had gained 1 spot up to 14th but made contact as he tried to get past Chaz Mostert at turn 6 and received damage to the front end and was forced to pit. As a result that put him 2 laps down.

When he re-joined, he had to stay out of the way because he was 2 laps down which made it impossible to gain any ground.

Fabian Coulthard was following his teammate Scott McLaughlin who had ‘the man flu’. It didn’t seem possible that he would take the number 1 position from Scott McLaughlin. However, it seemed more likely that Scott McLaughlin would need to exit the race due to his poor condition from the flu.

Scott McLaughlin was in the lead and simply not giving up another win for the season just because of the flu. (Proving it is harder to beat the ‘man flu’ than it is to beat everyone in the V8 Supercars).

By the middle of the race no one could catch Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard. They had such a strong lead and maintained it right to the end.

Results for Race 7

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

 

In the Pre-Race sessions for race 8; Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 4 and Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Qualifying for Race 8.

In Race 8 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.

At the start of the 84-lap, 200 Kilometre race I think most cars were fitted with slicks, which I thought was brave given that it was spitting on the sighting lap.

On the opening lap there was contact between Lee Holdsworth and Andre Heimgartner.

James Courtney tried to get around the outside of Rick Kelly at turn 4 but wasn’t able to get the run on Rick Kelly.

Before the race started it had started to rain but once the race got underway it started to pour.

But I was Surprised that no one pitted for wets (tyres) because the clouds looked black as the ace of spades.

Garry Jacobson and a lot of other teams and drivers got pinged for not using the handbrake in the pitlane. Whoops!

After the first round of pitstops Fabian Coulthard was able to warm his wet weather slicks over the next lap before Scott McLaughlin rejoined the race. On fresh cold tyres Scott McLaughlin had to let Fabian Coulthard through at turn 4, the hairy hairpin.

Both the Ford Mustang’s of Lee Holdsworth and Cameron Waters were still in or exiting the pits when flames started coming out the left-hand side. There wasn’t any crash or apparent reason and it did seem weird that both seemed to have the same issue (was it sabotage by Red Bull? If any knows please post on my fanpage – a link is at the bottom of this article.)

In the middle of the race while Shane Van Gisbergen was pitting, David Reynolds was close in behind Fabian Coulthard at the lead. When the right opportunity came, David Reynolds made all the right moves and took the lead. Both drivers are veterans so it became exciting to see who would hold out the longest.

This became even more exciting as Shane Van Gisbergen returned to the race from his pit stop. Soon it was Shane Van Gisbergen’s race again. He returned to the lead and continued to dominate to the end.

The funniest moment of the weekend was When Garry Rogers rode a bike out on the Starting Grid fully clad in cycling gear. He looked hilarious in lycra. LOL.

Near the end of the race Anton de Pasquale’s gear leaver came loose in his car. My first thought was come in and get it fixed. Surprisingly he pressed on. Madness, I tell you, MADNESS!!

As the race came to a close nobody could catch Shane Van Gisbergen who crossed the finish line over 5 seconds ahead of Fabian Coulthard  in second place, followed by David Reynolds nearly 2 seconds behind in 3rd place. Scott McLaughlin had made up 1 place to finish 4th with his man flu.

So it was Pole and Podium for Shane Van Gisbergen. A very nice result for Red Bull.

The next event is the WD40 Phillip Island Supersprint on the 12th to the 14th of April 2019.

Results for Race 8:

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V-Power Racing Team
3rd David Reynolds – Penrite Racing

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

Please feel free to comment on how the Tasmania weekend went via my facebook Fanpage.

 

Bathurst 12 hour

Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour 2019

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend 1st to the 3rd of the February, 2019 was the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour which is a pre-season race before the Supercars Championship starts.

This is an international endurance race for GT and production cars, not V8 Supercars but there were so many drivers from the Supercars Championship in the race I include it in my reviews.

The title ‘Bathurst 12 Hour’ is true to its name. It is a time based race of 12 hours and disregards the number of laps performed.

In order to do the 12 hours in one hit the race started at 5:45am when it was still dark.

Englishman, Jake Dennis driving the Aston Martin was originally supposed to start in pole position but had been docked 2 grid spots for speeding in the pit lane. Then due a technical infringement by the team the Aston Martin started in 12th spot.

Car #999, the Mercedes Benz driven by Maximilian Buhk started in pole position; alongside him was the Mercedes Benz #77 driven by Luca Stolz.

V8 Supercars star, Shane Van Gisbergen started 19th on the grid after not making the top ten shootout on Saturday afternoon.

When the Mercedes Benz safety car took off for the warm up lap the 12-hour clock started for the race. After the first lap the race gets underway with a rolling start (not a standing start).

During the opening laps everybody was trying to keep their cars nice and straight as they knew it was a long race.

The two AMG Mercedes, cars #999 and #77 maintained their 1st and 2nd places.

In this early stage Shane Van Gisbergen made up 4 positions going from 19th to 15th. An excellent start but there was a long way to go.

It wasn’t long after that the carnage started.

On lap 6 while still early and quite dark car #71 ended up going down the escape road, an error not often seen.

Car #27, the Ferrari driven by Nick Percat got spun around at Forest Elbow after getting involved with the lapped car, MARC Focus V8 driven by Dutchman, Mathijs Bakker.  Later, Percat laid claim that this was an incident that couldn’t be helped and a result of multi-class racing. Bakker was not so diplomatic and did not hold back to vehemently blame Percat. The repair time cost percat at least 25 laps.

The 888 Vodafone Mercedes had a drama with the brakes. After Shane Van Gisbergen had to pit to try and have it repaired the team could not find the issue. Shane Van Gisbergen had to return to the track he was not happy. Little did he know how this was going to affect all the drivers.

Martin Tomczyk was battling with Craig Lowndes and nearly took his BMW into the wall on the right-hand side.

James Winslow received a lot of damage to the rear of his car and had parts flapping around which meant he had to pit to get them removed, otherwise risk receiving a mechanical black flag.

Garth Tander in car #22 had an accident by running into the back of #19 driven by Danish Kristina Neilson. He had to limp his Audi back to the pits and was soon declared out of the race.

When the accidents started, I thought these are going be expensive repair jobs.

On the race broadcast Chad Neylon, pit reporter for fox/10 used a giant touch screen to explain how he believed the strategies would unfold. It was a great insight.

Mark Dutton, racing engineer and current manager of Triple 8 was the Car Controller for the day, which was cool to see.

Shane Van Gisbergen ran wide at turn 1 due to sitting on the left-hand side of the car and lost the positions he had previously made.

When the sun started to rise the race was still under green. The cars that started further back in the pack now tried to make their move to get inside the top ten.

Braking problems continued to bother the three drivers of the 888 Vodafone Mercedes. The crew were unable to repair the issue and drivers were required to use both feet to apply the brakes. I am sure this did not help their driving form. At the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen literally rolled out of the car onto the ground in exhaustion.

The funniest part of the weekend was when Chad Neylon gave David Reynolds a lift in the AMG Mercedes Benz Safety Car to the race track. Neylon’s driving caused Reynolds to spill his coffee. Chad Neylon said ‘Lesson learnt, don’t drive to the track in the AMG Safety Car’. Reynolds response was “you’re a bad driver”. LOL

Jamie Whincup was given a Drive Through Penalty for passing the AMG Safety Car. Somehow  Roland Dane (triple 8 Owner) flexed his muscles of influence because he got the stewards and officials to negate the penalty.

The last time Jamie Whincup got a Drive Through Penalty was 2015 in the Bathurst 1000 but never in the Bathurst 12 hours.

Towards the end of the of the race Matt Campbell was leading with 2nd and 3rd chasing him down for the win, while  Shane Van Gisbergen was on an almighty charge to try to get on the Bathurst 12-hour podium but the top three were not giving up their positions.

38 cars started the race. By the end of the 12 hours of true endurance racing 15 cars had received DNFs. It’s a damned tough race.

 

Results for the 2019 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hours

1st Matt Campbell – Car 912, Porsche 911 GT3-R for Earl Bamber Motorsport
2nd Jake Dennis –  Car 62, Aston Martin Vantage  for R Motorsport
3rd Raffaele Marcello – Car 999, Mercedes AMG for Mercedes AMG Team GruppeM Racing
4th Shane Van Gisbergen – Car 888, Mercedes AMG Team Vodafone.

The next event is the first race of the V8 Supercars Season, The Superloop Adelaide 500 from the 28th of February to the 3rd of March 2019.

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ITM Auckland Supersprint 2018 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the World!

On the weekend of the 2nd to the 4th of November 2018 was the ITM Auckland Supersprint.

The big bomb-shell of the weekend was from Mark Winterbottom announcing that he has chosen not to sign a new contract with his current team Tickford Racing. Having originally signed with them back in 2006, this ends 13 years as a Ford driver under the Tickford banner. What is surprising is that he has not announced who he will be signing with.

In the preliminaries to the races over the weekend:

·       Scott McLaughlin was the fastest in Practice 1

·       Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 2.

·       Scott McLaughlin crashed in practice 2 taking him out of that session.

·       Also Todd Hazelwood got so bogged in the sand he needed help to get his car out.

·       Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 3.

·       Scott McLaughlin was the fastest in armour all qualifying for race 28.

·       Simona De Silvestro caused a red flag in qualifying which meant she started race 28 from position 26.

·       David Reynolds was fastest in qualifying for race 29 which gave him the last go out on track to try and claim pole position. He did well but in the end the pole was claimed by the 7 times Supercars Champion, Jamie Whincup.

On Saturday’s race 28 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. This made it his 13th pole position for this season and 45th in his career. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

Craig Lowndes didn’t start in the top ten, in fact he started 18th.

At the start of the 70-lap race Scott McLaughlin took the lead. Shane Van Gisbergen tried to get up the inside of him between turn 2 and 3. When he realised he couldn’t get by he tucked back in behind car 17.

Later Todd Hazelwood got pinged for passing the Safety Car so copped a PLP – Pit Lane Penalty. Naughty boy Todd Hazelwood! Jamie Whincup knows this shame all too well because he got pinged for the same thing at Bathurst in 2015. It’s a mistake that you don’t repeat too soon.

Shane Van Gisbergen was going really quick during the opening laps and I thought he might take the lead off Scott McLaughlin but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

The Vodafone Safety Car was deployed due to Fabian Coulthard being in the wall after Richie Stanaway and Lee Holdsworth made contact. Fabian Coulthard was close behind and tried to avoid them but oversteered, first hitting the wall on one side of the track and then careening to the other side of the track hitting the wall again. My first thought when I saw Fabian Coulthard’s car in the wall was there will be no way the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske crew can repair the car in time to get back out on the track, especially with the limited spares all the teams had with the race being ‘off-shore’.

When car 12 returned to the back of the pits the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske crew put the cover over the car. Commentator, Mark Skaife said it wasn’t repairable and was right. Fabian Coulthard was out of the race with an NC (Not Complete).

Jamie Whincup qualified 5th so when the Vodafone Porsche Safety Car was deployed for Fabian Coulthard, Jamie had to double stack behind Shane Van Gisbergen.

There were a lot of cars going off the track between turns 2 and 3. I can only assume this was due to the wet weather.

Mark Winterbottom was holding up the race leader Scott McLaughlin. Scott McLaughlin asked for Mark Winterbottom to get the blue flag (informs a driver that a faster car is approaching and that the driver should move aside to allow one or more faster cars to pass) which was fair enough. Unfortunately the flag didn’t come out soon enough.

In the end Scott McLaughlin’s race engineer, Ludo Lacroix brought him in to the pits to try give him a clear track when he re-joined the race and not get held up any further. If Scott McLaughlin had stayed out on the race track for one more laps with traffic in front of him he would have lost a massive amount of time and ruin his existing chance of a race win.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was battling with Scott McLaughlin for the lead and the Championship. The stakes were high and they both knew it.

Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin still had the race lead. Shane Van Gisbergen was in hot pursuit and tried to overtake on turn 8 but Scott McLaughlin blocked him. Shane Van Gisbergen had nowhere to go and made contact. It wasn’t really his fault but Shane Van Gisbergen was given a 5 second penalty.

Finally in the last few lapse Shane Van Gisbergen got his way and took the lead, holding it to the finish line by just .5118 seconds.

Results for race 28

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.

At the end of race 28, the gap for the Driver Championship between Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen was now just 2 points.

 

In race 29 Jamie Whincup started on pole position. Alongside him was championship leader Scott McLaughlin.

I was amazed that the Dick Johnson Team Penske crew managed to repair Fabian Coulthard’s car overnight in time for the race, given the amount of limited spare parts all the teams had.

At the start of 70 lap race Scott McLaughlin tried to get up the inside of Jamie Whincup between turns 2 and 3 but wasn’t successful.

Scott McLaughlin wasn’t fazed as he knew there was a long way to go, which was a good call I thought as there was no point taking serious risks at this stage of the game.

Jamie Whincup pitted first so that Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t have to double stack.

Craig Lowndes was trying to get passed David Reynolds’ for third position but unfortunately didn’t manage to do that. It would’ve been a great result to see Craig Lowndes on the Podium in his second last event as a full time driver.

When Shane Van Gisbergen pitted for his 2nd stop the team put the car up on the incompressible jacks to reverse the setup change they did at the his first pit stop.

Anton De Pasquale followed his teammate, David Reynolds as he has done for most of this year as a rookie.

At one stage I thought there was going to be contact between Mark Winterbottom and Scott McLaughlin but luckily there wasn’t. In fact there weren’t any other major accidents with any of teams the whole weekend.

In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup was behind Scott McLaughlin trying to get the lead and give his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen a better chance to close the Championship points gap between him and Scott McLaughlin.

I thought Jamie Whincup was going was to either win or finish 2nd but he is a team player and moved over when asked by his race engineer, David Cauchi to try and help Shane Van Gisbergen earn extra points and win the 2018 Supercars championship.

Unfortunately for Triple 8 Scott McLaughlin was just too fast and came across the line first.

Results for race 29

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
4th Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

The gap between Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen is 14 points.

The next event is the Coates Hire Newcastle 500 on the 23rd to the 25th of November 2018.

This event will be Craig Lowndes final fulltime Supercars drive and it will also Tim Blanchard’s final race.

The funniest part of the weekend was when Mark Skaife made a bet with Russell Ingall. Ingall saying that Jamie Whincup still stood a chance to win the 2018 Championship and Skaife stating it was not likely at all.

If Mark Skaife lost the bet he would’ve had to wear a t shirt printed with ‘I Love the Enforcer’ (the Enforce being Russel Ingall’s nickname).

Now Russell Ingall has to wear a t shirt that Mark Skaife creates with content still to be announced. LOL.

As the season draws to a close, the drivers that don’t have a contract for 2019 at the moment are:

·       Mark Winterbottom

·       Lee Holdsworth.

·       Michael Caruso.

·       Richie Stanaway

·       Tim Blanchard

Also at this stage Tickford looks like it will only have 2 cars in 2019, Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert.

It will be interesting to see how things will turn out for next season.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/ if you have any thoughts or Opinions on how the race weekend went please feel free to let me know via my Facebook Fanpage.

 

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Vodafone Gold Coast 600 2018 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans Around the world!

On the weekend of the 19th to the 21st of October 2018 Was the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 in Queensland, this race track is a Concrete Canyon.

Rick Kelly was fastest in Practice 1, James Golding caused a red flag in the final 30 seconds of practice number 1, meaning that if a car or driver brings out the Red Flag they are not allowed to continue in that session.

Aaren Russell was fastest in practice 2 for the co drivers, while Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in practice 3 for main drivers and Will Davison caused a red flag, when the front left suspension broke and as a result of that Will Davison went into the wall in-between turns 2 and 3.

In Qualifying Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest but in the Top Ten shootout, both Shane Van Gisbergen and James Courtney had their laps deleted by race control for putting all 4 wheels over the curbs at the Virgin Australia back chicane.

In race 26 Scott Mclaughlin and Alex Premat started on pole position alongside them was Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell.  Most of the co-drivers started the race accept for 1 main driver which was Craig Lowndes.

The minimum laps the co-drivers had to do were 34 before handing back to the main drivers and the maximum was 68 laps.

At the start of the race Alex Premat was leading the opening lap until Paul Dumbrell tried to make a move on car 17 which didn’t end well for Alex Premat. Because he ended up dropping from 1st to 11th. Which wasn’t ideal for Scott Mclaughlin’s championship hopes. But my first thought was I wouldn’t be surprised if Alex Premat had any damage as a result of the whack with the wall in-between turns 11 and 12.

The incident between Alex Premat and Paul happened on lap 2 which race control said no further action meaning there was no penalty to be issued.

Brad Jones Racing got pinged for losing a wheel, and that wasn’t all they also got fined $5,000 and also got docked 30 team’s championship points, which would not make Brad Jones a very happy team boss.

After Will Brown hit the wall heavily and broke the rear wing the Vodafone safety car was deployed, I thought there was no way that Steve Owen could get passed Will in that spot, but he tried it anyway.

While the Safety car was out, everybody took the opportunity to pit, that was when pit lane got busy.

Both Paul Dumbrell and Earl Bamber copped a drive thru penalty for unsafe pit releases after making contact with James Moffatt.

In the middle of the race most of the co drivers had done their 34 laps. Which was a good the only 1 that hadn’t done the 34 laps was Steven Richards because he didn’t start the race, James Courtney was battling with Craig Lowndes for 2nd spot. He finally got by after James Courtney made a mistake and ran wide.

What happened between the middle and the end? Will Davison tried to get passed Scott Pye while James Courtney was trying to hold back the people’s champion in Craig Lowndes from getting on the podium but wasn’t able to hold him back towards the end of the Race Shane Van Gisbergen had to fighting back because he was down in 15th spot.

 

Towards the end of the Chaz Mostert was battling Craig Lowndes for the race win, but unfortunately Craig didn’t have enough laps or time to catch up to him.  I thought Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards were going to win.

 

Results for race 26

1st Chaz Mostert & James Moffatt – Supercheap Auto Racing.
2nd Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.
3rd James Courtney & Jack Perkins – Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing.

 

The only 2 drivers to get a Do Not Finish – DNF or NC – Not Complete were Will Brown and Steve Owen.

In total 24 cars finished race 26.

In Qualifying for race 27, Shane Van Gisbergen was the fastest driver meaning he got the last go in the top 10 Shootout.

The drivers who didn’t set a time were, Jamie Whincup, Scott Mclaughlin and Tim Slade who started 8th 9th and 10th respectively. This means that 3 drivers that started 8th 9th and 10th didn’t complete their laps.

In race 27

David Reynolds and Luke Youlden on pole, alongside them was Chaz Mostert and James Moffatt. What started out as a 102 lap, 300 kilometres race, ended short due to the weather.

Luke Youlden got the jump on and led though the turns 1, 2 and 3. While the start of the race was dry and for the opening, basically all of the co-drivers started accept for Erebus motorsport car 99 which was started with Anton De Pasquale.

After the race got underway the dark clouds started rolling in, I thought oh my god here comes the rain, when the conditions started to get worse everybody was out on the track with dry tyres on.

I thought if the drivers who started the race were out with dry tyres, they could end up hitting the wall if they are not careful.

Steven Richards turned Scott Pye around at turn 4 which normally would mean that Steven Richards would have copped a drive thru penalty.

When Scott Pye and Steven Richards come together Paul Dumbrell was right behind them.  And I thought oh no it looked like Paul Dumbrell was going to be involved in the Incident, but thankfully he missed it early on in that. I wondered why Luke Youden had moved over and it was because he knew there was a long way to go which is a good call because if the other doesn’t see you and turns in you can do a pit penalty, which wouldn’t be helpful, especially for the drivers who are in Championship contention,

Which is Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen, so if any of those drivers made a mistake they have either give the spot back or cop a pit lane penalty.

There were 5 cars in the wall at turn 12 when Neil Crompton first started counting them. Which allowed Paul Dumbrell to push on. The rain arrived and it came bucketing down with thunder and lighting at that point I was, oh no this is dangerous for not only drivers, but the fans and camera crew.

The drivers only did   29 laps under green flag racing, before the Vodafone Safety was deployed due to bad weather.

Both the Brad Jones Racing cars ended up in the wall at turn 12 they were driven by Macauley Jones and Ash Walsh. What does this mean? It mean that when the team got back to their Albury workshop they had to start repairing their damaged cars which Brad Jones wouldn’t have been happy with doing.

Also, David Russell ended hitting the wall at the same place due to having no grip.

Jamie Whincup was on standby waiting for Paul Dumbrell to come into the pit lane so that he could get in for his stint.  But interesting to note because Paul Dumbrell was stuck in tyres at turn 12 he couldn’t drive car 1 back to the pitlane, so, car 1 went back on the back of a tow truck.

While the Red Flag was out, which meant the race was suspended until the track dried out. I don’t think they wanted another incident like Symonds Plains Tasmania.

But the rains didn’t let up.

The funniest part of race 27 was when Mark Skaife asked Neil Crompton “call him crazy” which was funny, but other people may not have seen it that way.

Even Barry Ryan from Erebus Motorsport said that the race should been stopped because the weather was so bad. And that would make it a non-Event. When tried to restart the race, I thought they were mad in doing so because that would’ve meant the teams would have wrecked race cars and knowing that the next race meeting is a fly away event the teams didn’t want to risk it. Which I thought was a good idea.

When the race was suspended again for the 2nd time Tim Schenken made a call to stop the completely.

Mark Skaife said it was the right call.

There were no results for race 27, their are still 14 points between Scott Mclaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen heading to the ITM Auckland Supersprint on the 2nd to the 4th of November 2018.

 

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/ if you have any thoughts on the how the weekend went please feel free to let me know via my Facebook Fan page.

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Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 4th to the 7th of October 2018 was the 2018 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

It was the 58th running of what has now become the most well known race in Australia.

It was also race 25 in the annual championships.

The weather was poor throughout the preliminaries to the race and the rain and wet track gave additional challenges in fine tuning the cars.

The results of the lead up events proved interesting with the following drivers clocking the fastest times:

·        Practice 1 – Will Davison.

·        Practice 2 – Alex Premat (a co drivers only session).

·        Practice 3 – Richie Stanaway.

·        Practice 4 – Luke Youlden.

·        Practice 5 – Michael Caruso.

·        Armour All Qualifying – Jamie Whincup.

·        Practice 6 David Reynolds and Luke Youlden.

·        Top Ten Shootout – David Reynolds.

·        Warm Up – Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat.

When it came time for the big race to start the skies didn’t clear but it did stop raining and the track was looking a lot dryer.

For the start of the 161 lap race David Reynolds and Luke Youlden started on pole position, alongside them was Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell.    

I assume I am not spoiling anything about the results by mentioning Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards started 9th.

Erebus Motorsport were running 1st and 2nd during the opening laps due to Jamie Whincup bogging down off the start line. I thought, “It’s a long way to go and there is plenty of time for a pro like Jamie Whincup to make it up’.

Most of the main drivers started the race. The only co-drivers to start the race were Ash Walsh, Tony Dalberto and James Moffatt.

Cameron Waters was not happy with Chaz Mostert due to an incident at Forest Elbow. Chaz Mostert came into contact with David Russel while he was co-driving for Cameron Waters. The car suffered badly in the contact and got a broken steering arm.

Ash Walsh went off track twice due to out braking himself.

James Courtney had an engine failure while his co-driver Jack Perkins was at the wheel. It couldn’t be repaired and they received no point and DNF.

In the first stint David Reynolds went to 23 laps before pitting and handing over to his co-driver Luke Youlden. Luke Youlden ran wide at turn 1 and I thought that the Red Bull cars were going to run 1st and 2nd after but that wasn’t the case. Youlden managed to keep the lead.

The first Vodafone Safety Car was deployed due Dean Fiore slowing down due to hitting the wall at turn 1.

On lap 40 of 161, The Red Bull Holden Racing Team car number 1 driven by Paul Dumbrell was in second place to Luke Youlden. Coming down the main straight he lost a front right wheel, which also took the hub along with it. Paul Dumbrell had a lot of speed but amazingly managed to control the car back to the pits with just 3 wheels!!!! It wasn’t that controlled because at one stage he looked as if he was going to run into the back of Tim Slade. My first thought was, ‘OMG – slow down! Don’t do too much damage’. The end result was going a lap down which to be honest is not a bad effort considering the repairs needed.

They were well into the race when the rain started to come down and most drivers pitted for the correct rubber.  Some teams choose to stay on dry tyres which I thought was a bit risky. I guess it wasn’t that heavy and if it just spits then it is ok to stay on slicks.

In the middle Alex Premat nearly had a massive crash when he was re-joining the race after going off track at the ‘Bottle O Chase’ at high speed. Im sure it wouldn’t have impressed Scott McLaughlin one bit.

Chris Pither avoided an accident which I didn’t think he would pull-off because he was so close to the car in front of him.

Towards the end of the race David Reynolds was still leading with Craig Lowndes following close behind in 2nd place.

Prior to the race David Reynolds stated that he hadn’t been sleeping well and feeling pretty aweful (probably nerves about the big race). As the race moved on past half way David Reynolds told engineers he was cramping and fatigued but still chose to drive on. The team repeatedly asked him if he was OK and he should come in and handover to his co-driver Luke Youlden.  

David Reynolds soon stated he had blurry vision but was still determined to carry on. He was called into pits and given fluids with electrolytes and a few other things.

When he was just about to leave the pits he had another cramp and spun his wheels while still jacked up. He was given a drive through penalty which he had to serve and it just broke his lead that he had maintained all through the race. He even had set a lap record earlier but now it was clear he had to come back in for an unscheduled pit stop to hand over to Luke Youlden. The lost time was too much and they finished up crossing the line luck 13th. It was a sad moment for the Erebus team.

If there was anyone that you would wish was going to be in a position to take advantage, it would be Craig Lowndes. He recently announced his retirement from full-time racing and is considered by many as a great driver plus a hell-of-a-guy! I even wished this win for him as a perfect way to close his last year of full time driving.

It was lap 133 when Craig Lowndes took the race lead and was never headed, meaning no one could catch him. It was a big lead too that no one was closing. He finished an incredible 6.2919 seconds ahead of Scott Pye. The crowd just went wild!

Results for race 25

1st Craig Lowndes & Steven Richards – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.
2nd Scott Pye & Warren Luff – Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing.
3rd Scott McLaughlin & Alex Premat – Shell V Power Racing Team.

 

 

The next event is the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 19th to the 21st of October 2018.

 

Can Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards win the 2018 Pirtek Enduro cup?

The 2 races at the Gold coast will be races 26 and 27.

if you have any Questions or Opinions on how the race panned out please feel to let me know via.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/