Tag Archives: Greg Murphy

Post Race Report, Supercars

Coates Hire Newcastle 500 2019 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 22nd to the 24th of November 2019 was the Coates Hire Newcastle 500.

The event at Newcastle has been running since 2017 so this is the third time they will be hosting the final event of the season.

The track at Newcastle is a street track and this year they tweaked it to provide better passing opportunities.

Newcastle really knows how to put on an event and had 155,000 people attend over the 3 days.

Before the weekend started Scott McLaughlin was declared ‘Driver Champion Elect’ based on a points lead that could not be caught up to with only this race remaining for the season. With that in mind, it must have been quite a fun weekend for him.

The Team Championship point spread was a little bit closer with a gap of just 116 and the Red Bull team were in a position take the lead away from the Scott McLaughlin’s Shell V Power Racing Team which made things a little more exciting.

The weekend got off to a great start. In summary the pre-race sessions took place with the following results:

  • Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 1
  • Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 2
  • Jamie Whincup was fastest in Armour All Qualifying
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in the Armour All Top Ten Shootout.

In race 31 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

At the start of the 95-lap race Shane Van Gisbergen got the jump off the line.

Scott McLaughlin was held up high and wide at the first turn which allowed Jamie Whincup to go up to 2nd spot. I was surprised that Scott McLaughlin let Jamie Whincup pass him on the opening lap.

Shane Van Gisbergen continued to hold his lead all the way except for pit stops.

Fabian Coulthard came in to pits first to not double stack with the champion elect Scott McLaughlin.

David Reynolds was battling with Anton De Pasquale for pit priority.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup were still running 1st and 2nd .

It was only in the last laps that Jamie Whincup came off track at turn 1. He wasnt able to get into the reverse gear and lost time slipping from 2nd to 8th place by the race finish. It was this mistake that cost the Red Bull Team the season championship. The team championship spread was now just 77 points.

I think, to the surprise of everyone there were no safety cars on Saturday.

Results for Race 31

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

In preparation for the final race of the season:

  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Armour All Qualifying
  • Jamie Whincup was Fastest in the top ten shootout

In race 32 Jamie Whincup started on pole position. Alongside him was Cameron Waters.

At the start of the final race of the season Lee Holdsworth received damaged to his Ford Mustang requiring an immediate return to the pits after contact with another car.

As the rest of the pack prepped for the pits, the race leaders stayed out to avoid the dreaded double stacking.

Soon after James Courtney and Anton de Pasquale made contact in between turns 2 and 3 which required the first safety car of the weekend to be deployed to remove Anton de Pasquale’s car.

On the restart Shane Van Gisbergen was on the charge along with Will Davison after those drivers got pinged before the race and set further back on the start grid.

Regardless of efforts no could catch Jamie Whincup who dominated the race all bar pit stops. Jamie Whincup crossed the line first.

That now gives Jamie Whincup 118 career wins and 83 career poles.

Rick Kelly and Andre Heimgartner and Garry Jacobson had their final race with the Nissan Altama’s before they switch to the Ford Mustang, which will make 8 Mustangs on the Supercars grid for next year.

Results for Race 32

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
3rd Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing

Please feel free to comment on how the Newcastle event went.

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

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

Vodafone Gold Coast 600 2019 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 25th to the 27th of October was the Vodafone Gold Coast 600.

Pre-race sessions:

  • Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 1.
  • Garth Tander was fastest in Practice 2 for co-drivers.
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in practice 3 the season was red flagged due to a lot of water on the track.
  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Armour All Qualifying.
  • Scott McLaughlin was the fastest in the Armour All top ten shootout.

In Race 26 Alex Premat started on pole position alongside him was Craig Lowndes.

At the start of the 102 lap race Craig Lowndes got the jump off the start line. Alex Premat stalled his car losing his number 1 position on the grid which put the championship leading car back into 2nd off the start.

All of the co-driver’s started the race behind the wheel except main game driver. Jack Le Brocq.

During the opening stages it got overcrowded in the S-bends. In order to avoid making contact with other cars eight drivers were forced to short cut the circuit and drove straight over the chicanes. Race Control issued warnings to them about having all four wheels out of track bounds and short cutting the circuit but they didn’t penalise anyone at that stage.

Thomas Randle who was making his debut in the V8-Supercars Championship as co-driver for Lee Holdsworth showed his inexperience and held up Michael Caruso. Eventually the pass was made and he was lucky not to be penalised. Even commentator Mark Skaife said that Thomas Randle should have let Michael Caruso by a lot earlier than he did.

Mark Winterbottom had a problem with his car which made him have to re visit the pit lane to have the problem sorted out.

Fabian Coulthard was watching the opening stages race from the garage while Tony Dalberto was behind the wheel doing his minimum 34 laps required by all co-drivers. I’m sure Fabian Coulthard’s heart must have skipped a beat when Dalberto made contact Jack Perkins. Luckily it wasn’t major and both continued without stopping.

By the middle of the race Jamie Whincup was effectively leading. The cars ahead of him only lead because they had not perform their second pit stop.

Jamie Whincup was not going to blow this opportunity. He maintained his lead all the way to the finish line. Shane Van Gisbergen was on his tail pushing him along. This was a great result for the Triple Eight team and the only time this year to get a 1st & 2nd in a race.

As co-driver to Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes statistics breach 1000 laps of lead for all combined races. A momentous occasion for such a legend.

Results for Race 26

1st Jamie Whincup & Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
|2nd Shane Van Gisbergen & Garth Tander – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Scott McLaughlin & Alex Premat – Shell V Power Racing Team.

In Qualifying for race 27 Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest and then again in the Armour All top ten shootout.

Scott McLaughlin did not take part in this race at all because he crashed in Qualifying.

As co-driver for Shane Van Gisbergen, Garth Tander started on pole position. Alongside him was Craig Lowndes, co-driver for Jamie Whincup.

As they started the 102 lap race Craig Lowndes got the jump on Garth Tander but then Garth Tander took the lead and held position.

On the opening there was an accident between Ash Walsh, Will Brown, Todd Hazelwood and Dean Canto.

Garth Tander led his opening stint until it was time to pit and hand over to Shane Van Gisbergen.

James Courtney’s driver’s swung open. He tried to close it but at the next turn it swung open again. He faught with the door but it just wouldn’t close. He ended up getting a Mechanical Black Flag meaning he was forced into the pits for the team to tape it shut.

By the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was the effective race leader with cars in front of him yet to complete their 2nd pit stops.

It was looking good again for the Triple Eight Team.

In the closing stages Jamie Whincup had fresh rubber on and grip to his advantage but he just fell short on getting another race win for 2019. It was his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen who crossed the line first.

It was another 1st and 2nd for the Red Bull Holden Racing Team for the weekend.

Results for Race 27

1st Shane Van Gisbergen & Garth Tander – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Jamie Whincup & Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
|3rd David Reynolds & Luke Youlden – Erebus Motorsport.

The next event is the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 on the 8th to the 10th of November 2019.

Please feel free to comment on how the Gold Coast event was.

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

 

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

Watpac Townsville 400 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 July, 2019 was the Watpac Townsville 400.

While Scott McLaughlin has dominated the season, his teammate Fabian Coulthard has also had a great season. On this weekend he will be hitting a milestone, his 400th race. He is 2nd in the championship with career stats including 12 race wins, 54 podiums, 9 pole positions and held the lead for 689 laps over all races. It is no wonder that even this early in the year the Shell V Power Racing Team have announced re-signing Fabian Coulthard (and Scott McLaughlin) for next season.

This news ends the speculation about Scott McLaughlin racing for Roger Penske in the US. The following link is an article by ‘FoxSprts’ and gives some insight to some of the big name drivers and their prospects for 2020.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsport/supercars/v8-supercars-news-townsville-400-2019-scott-mclaughlin-fabian-coulthard-djr-team-penske-driver-lineup-2020-chaz-mostert-move/news-story/401d02b36665c3d822ff868c383651f1

As the weekend wound up to the big event, the results in the pre-race sessions were as follows: 

·        Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 1

·        Lee Holdsworth was fastest in Practice 2

·        Fabian Coulthard was fastest Practice 3

·        David Reynolds was fastest in Qualifying for race 17

In race 17 David Reynolds started on pole position. Alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

Rick Kelly ran with a new car number, 100 in honour of one of his big supporters, Castrol to celebrate 100 years in Australia and New Zealand.

At the start of the 70 lap race David Reynolds got the jump on Chaz Mostert and kept his lead for most of the opening laps.

Andre Heimgartner, Cameron Waters and Jamie Whincup nearly came together and almost hit the wall but somehow they missed. The drivers who started back in the pack came in early to try and get track position.

Jamie Whincup also came in early to get out of the traffic and also get track position. It worked out well for him and he found the clear air he was looking for. It was a big help in keeping him up front with a chance of taking his first race win of 2019.

In the middle of the race David Reynolds had bad luck in his pit stop. It was unfortunate that cross threaded wheel nut cost him his chance at victory.

David Reynolds’ bad luck was just the opportunity Scott McLaughlin was looking for and he was soon in the lead.

As the race came to a close he and Jamie Whincup had a good lead on the rest of the pack without a chance of being caught.

Shane Van Gisbergen who wanted to get on the podium also had some bad luck (that went by the name of Chaz Mostert ) and finished 4th with Chaz Mostert in front of him.

Results for Race 17:

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing

In race 18 on the Sunday, Cameron Waters started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

As they started the 70 lap race the rain started. A wet and slippery track usually spells disaster.

David Reynolds and Scott McLaughlin made contact between turns 1 and 2. The damage was significant enough for them to both head back to the pits.

David Reynolds’ car went back into the garage with broken steering.

I was quite surprised that the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske crew let Scott McLaughlin re-join the race. I thought for sure that the DJR Team would have put car 17 in the garage but didn’t.

The rain was getting heavier. After Jamie Whincup had re-joined from his pit stop he was still on slick tyres and the wet weather caused him to  hit the wall.

As Jamie Whincup got his car back to the pits race engineer David Cauchi said, ‘Turn it off. No oil pressure!’. It was the second time this weekend that Jamie Whincup missed out on what could have been his first race win for the season.

In the middle of the race the rain started to pour down. This meant the cars and drivers needed to be on ‘Wets’. 

Simona de Silvestro got called to come in to the pits but when she went back onto the track she crossed the yellow line to re-join which is not allowed. The drive through penalty she received cost her a few positions at the finish line.

Towards the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen took the lead after Scott McLaughlin received car damage. He and Fabian Coulthard had comfortable space ahead of the pack and were uncatchable.

But the race was interrupted. Both Nick Percat and Garry Jacobson’s cars caught fire in two separate incidents. Nick Percat’s fire was in the pits causing a huge amount of smoke and flames looked to almost reach the fuel stands (That would have been a massive disaster).

Garry Jacobson’s car caught fire out on track which meant the race finished under safety car.

As they called the end of the race there were 3 DNF’s. They were Jamie Whincup, Mark Winterbottom and Garry Jacobson.

Results for Race 18:

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske
3rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing

The next is the Century Batteries Ipswich Supersprint on the 26th to the 28th of July 2019.

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

Please feel free to comment on how the Townsville race went and if you have any Questions please feel free to let me know via my facebook Fanpage.

 

Supercars

Bet Easy Darwin Triple Crown 2019 Supercars

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HI to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 14th to the 16th of June, 2019 was the BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown.

 

 

In the preliminaries to the race:

·        Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1

·        Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2

·        Scott McLaughlin followed up with the fastest time in Practice 3

·        And then again in Qualifying for race 15.

So in Race 15 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position and alongside him was David Reynolds.

At the start of the 42-lap race both David Reynolds and Will Davison from the third position on the grid tried to take the race lead. David Reynolds made contact with Scott McLaughlin trying to take the lead from the outside of turn 1 but wasn’t going to risk serious damage and pulled back.

As Scott McLaughlin held his line into the first corner there was a tangle as the rest of the pack came through. It was James Golding, Macauley Jones and Jack Le Brocq creating havoc. All three Holdens were damaged and Macauley Jones was the only one who managed to return to the race.

On lap two Rick Kelly made contact with Tim Slade and had to serve a drive-through penalty.

Then again at Turn 1, on the third lap Simona De Silvestro collided with Todd Hazelwood and hocky pucked his car off the track. In a post-race investigation she was handed a 15 second penalty pushing her good result finishing 16th to 19th.

With the mayhem early in the race drivers back in the pack pitted early to find clear track. Meanwhile Jamie Whincup stayed out on track in the lead trying to make up some valuable time while the track was clear.

Other than Jamie Whincup’s short time up front, Scott McLaughlin was leading the race the whole way.

I was quite surprised that no one could manage to offer Scott McLaughlin any reasonable competition. He once again came across the finish line first.

His closest rivals almost 7 seconds behind in second place were Chaz Mostert followed by David Reynolds just under one second later in third place.

Jack Smith was the wildcard for Brad Jones Racing and started 25th on the grid. At the end of the race he finished 20th making up 5 places.

Results for Race 15

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing
3rd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport

In race 16, Yet again Scott McLaughlin started on pole position with Fabian Coulthard alongside him.

Scott McLaughlin got the jump off the line but Fabian Coulthard tried to make a stand and stayed on the outside of turn 1. It looked like he would make it and would end up spinning off onto the grass. Somehow he managed to make the turn but it didn’t help his position and tucked in behind the leader.

Rick Kelly was putting pressure on Simona De Silvestro and Andre Heimgartner for position.

Soon after on Turn 5, Andre Heimgartner got spun around and other drivers had to avoid the spinning Nissan Altama. The mistake put him to the back of the pack.

The front runners stayed out to keep track position and the rest of the pack came in for the first round of pit stops.

David Reynolds lost his Window Rubber which wasn’t ideal.

Through the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin maintained his lead of over teammate Fabian Coulthard.

Once again Scott McLaughlin comfortably came in first. David Reynolds was over 13 seconds behind with Fabian Coulthard close on his tail. Cameron Waters held his own position and came in 4th.

Winning the two races over the weekend made Scott McLaughlin the first to earn Darwin’s Triple Crown (on it’s 13th anniversary) since it started back in 2006

So far this year Scott McLaughlin stats show out of 15 races he has been on the podium 14 times, 12 of which were 1st place. That is a phenomenal 80% win rate and 93.3% on the podium.

He has been the dominant driver so far in 2019. can anybody stop him?

 

Results for race 16

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport Penrite Racing
3rd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team

 

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/ please feel free to have your opinion on how the Darwin Event went.

 

 

The next event is the Watpac Townsville 400 on the 5th to the 7th of July 2019.

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.

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

Supercars

Beaurepaires Melbourne 400 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 14th to the 17th of March 2019 was the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400 at Albert Park in Melbourne, Victoria.

The Larry Perkins Trophy is up for grabs with Jamie Whincup defending ownership after his great win last year. Incidentally, earlier in the previous week Larry Perkins went into hospital for surgery to remove a gallbladder.

In the past The Melbourne 400 was run as a support category to the Australian Grand Prix F1 series. It was only last year that the Melbourne 400 officially became the second round of the V8 Supercars championship. I think it makes for more exciting racing as it is no longer seen as a ‘test run’.

The Melbourne 400 is an interesting opportunity in the championship because there are actually four races (25, 13, 25 & 13 laps), giving drivers with different strengths an opportunity to take advantage.

It also means 4 qualifying rounds which give the rookies a better chance to get to know the track.

Albert Park is an interesting venue as it is one of the longer tracks being 5.303Kms.

Race 4 also had the honour of being the 1000th race since the championship started in 1960. So the weekend was quite a milestone for the sport.

As we entered the weekend, the Red Bull Holden Racing Team held the Team’s Championship lead by 5 points, while Scott McLaughlin defends his lead in the Driver’s Championship.

In the pre-race sessions it was Chaz Mostert driving his new superfast Ford Mustang who had his best weekend in a while:

  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
  • Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2
  • Scott McLaughlin was also fastest in Qualifying for Race 3, 4 & 5
  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Qualifying for Race 6

All 4 Qualifying sessions were only 10 minutes each.

Race 3 was run on Friday as sunset approached at 5:55pm

Scott McLaughlin started on pole position and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.

At the start of 130 Kilometre, 25 lap race Scott McLaughlin got the jump on his teammate Fabian Coulthard.

Scott McLaughlin now didn’t have to worry about clean air or about being stuck behind his teammate.

It was all Mustangs at the front, Scott McLaughlin, Fabian Coulthard and Cameron Waters followed by Red Bull’s Shane Van Gisbergen in his Commodore.

However, it was the compulsory tyre change pit stop that would be the decider for many.

The only time Scott McLaughlin wasn’t leading the race was during the pitstop shuffle.

Scott McLaughlin hit the pits on lap 12 with a 4 second lead and once again came out on track to dominate.

Jamie Whincup pitted first because he didn’t want Shane Van Gisbergen who was running with a chance for a podium position to be waiting in the pits for too long behind him.

However, Shane Van Gisbergen waited to pit on lap 15 and it just mucked up his flow. There were now 4 Mustangs ahead of him.

Will Davison was happy with the way his ford Mustang was performing with only 10 laps to go he was now in 4th position.

Macauley Jones was travelling well and enjoying his first Albert Park event as a rookie.

With 6 laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen picked up and returned to his lead over Will Davison.

Towards the end of the race, with only 4 laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen’s engine let go which meant he was the only car to have no points. He came into Albert Park 2nd in championship, but after a disastrous weekend he is now 11th in the championship on minus 175 points.

Scott McLaughlin comfortably took in first place. This made it his 3rd win from the first 3 races in the season.

However, it was Chaz Mostert who had everyone’s eyebrows raised. He started in 22nd on the grid and was 13th by the middle of the race. Once out of the pits he showed everyone just what his car could do and came across the finish line 5th just behind Will Davison. That is a gain of 17 in 25 laps!!!! (I am sure I could hear Chaz singing ‘Day-o, day-o. Come, mister tally man, tally me banana’).

Results for race 3

1st Scott McLaughlin  – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
3rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing Team
4th Will Davison – 23 Red Racing Team car 23
5th Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team

In race 4 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

But again Scott McLaughlin dominated race 4, which wasn’t surprising because the Mustang’s were quick all weekend.

Jamie Whincup was battling with Chaz Mostert for 3rd place. When Chaz Mostert passed him and then Cameron Waters, Jamie Whincup had dropped back to 4th place.

Garry Jacobson and James Golding made contact on the main straight which I thought would end in a massive shunt but thankfully there wasn’t.

Scott McLaughlin was still the driver no one could beat because he was flying and dominated the race from start to finish. He crossed the finish with 2.5 seconds plus lead. This made it his 4th win out 4 starts in the championship.

It also seems the Mustangs, the newest entry to the track this year are making quite a splash. It was Chaz Mostert (Mustang) and Cameron Waters (Mustang) that pushed Red Bull’s Jamie Whincup in his ZB Commodore out of the top 3 positions.

Results for Race 4

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing
3rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing

Before race 5 started on the warm up lap, both Scott McLaughlin and Cameron Waters came together which resulted in both drives not starting and being classified as a NC (Not Complete) as a result Nick Percat and Tim Slade were affectively on the front row of the grid.

Tim Slade kept the lead as Jamie Whincup who started from 6th position came in behind him.

Fabain Coulthard was trying to stay out of trouble because he didn’t want to help the Dick Johnson Racing Team by leaving the track to repair his car.

At lap 13 Jamie Whincup finally took the lead. Tim Slade and Nick Percat then battled for the trailing positions. Nick Percat came into turn 15 in a poor position on the outside driving wide and lost several places that he just couldn’t recover from in the remaining time.

After the pitstops it was Mostert who was right behind Whincup at the lead. The pressure was on.

With only 6 laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen lost his right back wheel! The Vodafone Safety Car was called out.

With four laps to go Chaz Mostert once again wanted to prove what his Mustang could do and took the lead off Jamie Whincup who was now closely followed by Tim Slade. David Reynolds in his ZB Commodore was not far behind. I get the feeling it was more important to him to stay ahead of Fabian Coulthard’s Mustang than to try take 3rd position from Time Slade (also Commodore).

Chaz Mostert was incredibly fast and opened the gap on his lead to over a second. It was incredible to watch. This was his first race win for 2019. Congratulations Chaz! ‘Day-o, day-o
Daylight come and me wan’ go home’.

Aside from Scott McLaughlin and Cameron Waters who never made it past the warm up lap, it was only Richie Stanaway who was disqualified from the results due to making contact with another car. He later received a $10,000 fine for the incident. Ouch!

Results for Race 5

1st Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing team.
3rd Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing.

In race 6 Chaz Mostert started on pole position and alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

At the start of the race Scott McLaughlin got the jump and led the way early on. Given that it was only a 13-lap race with no pit stops, Scott McLaughlin dominated the race once again.

Chaz Mostert got off to a bad start from pole and was immediately behind Jamie Whincup.

It took until lap 3 for Mostert to take Whincup and get into 2nd position but by now Scott McLaughlin had a 2+ second lead.

Rick Kelly didn’t want to get to close to the drivers in front of him otherwise he would get caught up in an accident.

In the middle of the race Macauley Jones had another massive shunt which meant the safety car was deployed to clear Macauley Jones car. He was the only car to leave the race with a Not Complete.

As the race resumed Chaz Mostert made a go for Scott McLaughlin’s lead spot but couldn’t come close. It was still exciting to watch and Im sure it did have Scott McLaughlin on edge.

As they came across the line no one could catch those top 3; Scott McLaughlin, Chaz Mostert and Jamie Whincup.

Results for race 6

1st Scott McLaughlin  – Shell V Power Racing team
2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

Chaz Mostert won the Larry Perkins Trophy and Jamie Whincup claimed his 200th podium in his Supercars Career.

Supercars has dropped the time certain race finishes unless there are major Safety Car delays.

Triple 8 are going to debut a new Supercars wheel retention system which is to stop the wheel from coming off the car out on the race track.

The next event is the Tyrepower Tasmania Supersprint on the 5th to the 7th of April 2019.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/
please feel free to comment on How the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400 went.

Supercars

Superloop Adelaide 500 2019 Supercars

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HI to all you Supercars fans around the world!                              

From Thursday 28th of February to the 3rd of March, 2019 was the Superloop Adelaide 500.

As the official first race of the 2019 V8 Supercars Championship Season it is an exciting start to the year with two races of 250Km each.

Before I get into the rest of my review I must say that I really missed the familiar faces of Garth Tander and Craig Lowndes out on track. Both retired from full time driving at the end of last season and I am sure I am not the only one who will miss their presence.

The big talk on the scene over the last few months is the introduction of the Ford Mustangs into the V8 Supercars Championship. It seems everyone out there loves the Mustang.  So its new cars all round for DJRTP drivers and Tickford with Chaz Mostert’s Supercheap Auto and Lee Holdsworth’s Bottle-O cars. I am sure that they will be under heavy scrutiny by everyone to see if the Mustangs have what it takes to race in Australia.

In last year’s Superloop 500 it was Shane Van Gisbergen who made this his event for a second time by a double win of both races. That’s right! He won the 2 season opening races in both 2017 and 2018. This year was no exception to spectacular driving and amazing results.

The Red Bull Holden Racing Team won the 2018 Teams Championship so it earned them the privilege to lead the field out of the pit lane this year (always an advantage).

There were some interesting happenings in the pre-race sessions:

Anton De Pasquale was the fastest in Practice 1 and Scott McLaughlin stopped outside turn 11 due to a loss of oil pressure.

Scott McLaughlin wasn’t phased and proved himself and his car as fastest in Practice 2.

Fabian Coulthard was fastest in Practice 3.

Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Qualifying for Race 1 and then followed that up as fastest in Practice 4.

Macauley Jones didn’t join Race 1 due to a massive accident caused by brake failure at the end of Practice 4.

Fabian Coulthard followed up his great run in Practice 3 and was fastest in the Race 1 Top Ten Shootout.

So in Race 1, Fabian Coulthard started on pole position and alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

Surprisingly both Fabian Coulthard and Jamie Whincup stalled off the starting grid which allowed Scott McLaughlin to take the race lead early on.

Off the line the cars were 4 wide which I thought was going to end up in a massive shunt.

After the opening lap Fabian Coulthard got pinged by race control for jumping the start. This mistake earned him a 10 second stop and hold penalty dropping him from 2nd to 20th.

Pretty soon Cameron Waters was complaining about the heat because his cool suit failed. I’m sure it didn’t help him cool down when officials forced him to come in to the pits.

Lee Holdsworth and Scott Pye ended up in tyre bundle together at turn 7.  Surprisingly they managed to get out of the mess themselves without needing assistance from the safety car so the race continued.

In the middle of the race Fabian Coulthard was still fighting back from his 10 second Stop and Hold Penalty.

Also, the Red Bull Holden Racing Team had a problem with their regulator which holds the pressure for the rattle guns hose.  It was going nuts and hissing loudly because it wasn’t done up tight enough.

Towards the end of the race no one could catch Scott McLaughlin who dominated Race 1.

As Scott McLaughlin crossed the finish line he appeared to be singing. When Greg Murphy asked him what he was singing he said ‘Horses from Daryl Braithwaite’. LOL!

Results for Race 1

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Ford Mustang
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

 Scott McLaughlin once again proved he is one of the fastest out on track claiming the Qualifying and Top ten Shootout rounds to earn him Pole Position. It was a nice way for Scott McLaughlin to start the 200th race of his career.

In race 2 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position and alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

Shane Van Gisbergen was the only Red Bull Holden Racing Team car to make the Top Ten Shootout. His teammate Jamie Whincup qualified 12th.

At the start of the 78 lap race Shane Van Gisbergen tried to go around the outside of Scott McLaughlin but that didn’t work. When Scott McLaughlin ran wide at turn 4 Shane Van Gisbergen tried to criss cross, over and under but that didn’t work either. McLaughlin was not prepared to give up the race lead that easily so Shane Van Gisbergen had to pull back in behind him.

Simona De Silvestro made a mistake in all the traffic at turn 4 and went straight up the escape road.

Rick Kelly nearly made contact with Nick Percat on track.

Jack Le Brocq caused the first deployment of the Vodafone Safety Car due to him being stranded at turn 11 unable to get restarted. With the race now under ‘yellow’ most teams took the opportunity to head to their pits to meet race requirements.

Then the day of the ‘Pit Lane Mess’ started. As the pit lane became very busy I knew there was going to be chaos. Chaz Mostert had just been in the pits a lap before but still went back like all the others. I don’t know how this happened but his car controller gave him the go-ahead. As he came out of the pits Rick Kelly was travelling along the pit lane and ‘T-boned’ him. Kelly seemed angry and didn’t take his foot off the accelerator. They were blocking the pit lane. The other cars had to drive through the DJRTP and Red Bull garages to get around. All high risks activities. Chaz Mostert copped a drive through penalty and later apologised publicly but there were differing opinions on this.

Nick Percat and David Reynolds stayed out on track to avoid the congestion and it worked to their advantage. Both of them ended up with track position coming in at 5th and 9th respectively.

Towards the end of the race officials had to ‘call time’. They weren’t going to complete the total number of laps and cut the race short.

Once again no one could catch Scott McLaughlin who managed to start his title defence of the Supercars Championship with a perfect score 300 points. A double win puts him up there with some of the great drivers of all time.

Mark Winterbottom was my hero of the day. He started 24th due to not recording a time in Qualifying. Throughout the race he managed to gain 18 places to finish 6th. What an amazing effort.

 

Results for Race 2

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing team
2nd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

In my opinion personally I would like to see Supercars get rid of timed race because it would make more enjoyable for the fans not only watching on but live at the track as well.

That is my Opinion anyway.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/ please feel free to let me know how the event from your Opinion via my Facebook Fanpage.

The next event is the Beaurepairs Melbourne 400 on the 14th to the 17th of March 2019.

Drivers

Craig Lowndes – looking back on a fantastic motor racing career

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HI to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

Earlier this year Craig Lowndes announced his retirement from full time driving in V8 Supercars. Although he will participate in the Enduros next year, he will be sorely missed as a brilliant and exciting driver to watch and an all-round ‘hell of a nice guy’.

The 2018 V8 Supercars season has now ended and Craig Lowndes has run his last race as a full time driver so I thought I might take the opportunity to put together a brief retrospective on his fantastic career.

Craig Lowndes was born on the 21st of June 1974 in Melbourne, Australia.

At the tender age of 9 with his father’s encouragement, Craig Lowndes started racing go karts at a track in the town of Whittlesea.

He moved into race cars in 1991 driving a Van Diemen in the Motorcraft Formula Ford Championship. Think about it. That would make him roughly 17 years old. Quite an achievement don’t you think?

In 1993 Craig Lowndes won the Australian Formula Ford Championship which was a good way to start his motor racing career. It caught everyone’s attention and all eyes were on him to see what he could do next.

The following year, 1994 he accepted the offer to be co-driver to Brad Jones who was already a legend. It must have been quite an honour to be ‘the chosen’ but also it said quite a lot about the faith they had in him.

In 1995 he earned the pole position at Sandown and Bathurst. Unfortunately, both ended with a DNF but he soon returned to his usual form.

In 1996 he made his fulltime Australian Touring Car Championship debut and won the championship.

By 1997 his rapid rise through the ranks put him in a position to go overseas and try his hand as a Formula 1 driver. Things didn’t appear to go to plan so he ended up coming back to Australia for the Endurance races which were the Tickford 500 at Sandown and the Primus 1000 at Bathurst.

In 1998 he accepted an offer from the Holden Racing Team to be teammate to Mark Skaife (moving from Ford).  He replaced the massive gap left in the team by Peter Brock, who retired at the end of the 1997 season. They were big shoes to fill but Craig Lowndes (CL) proved his worth by winning The Shell Championship Series for a second time (the first being 1996).

Then the following year (1999) just to prove a point, he won the Shell Championship Series for the third time.

So let me just recap that because it is quite astounding:

·       1991 at 17 years old he starts his career in professional race cars

·       1993 in his 3rd season he wins the Australian Formula Ford Championship

·       1994 becomes co-driver to Brad Jones.

·       1996 becomes a fulltime driver and wins the Australian Touring Car Championship

·       1998 replaces the retired Peter Brock in the Holden Racing Team

o   Teamed up with another race legend, Mark Skaife

o   Wins the Shell Championship Series (for a second time).

·       1999 wins the championship again. That is his 3rd season as a full time driver and 3rd season win.

If not before, he now had really made a name for himself.

He was going for his 4th championship in 2000 but that went to his teammate Mark Skaife.

In 2001 he joined Gibson Motorsport but it didn’t seem to be a good fit.

The following year he moved to 00 Motorsport. This was also a short term relationship and for 2003 and 2004 joined Ford Performance Racing.

2003 he won round 2 at Phillip Island after the race got red flagged due pouring rain.

With his teammate Glenn Seton came runner up for the Bathurst 1000, 2nd to Greg Murphy and Rick Kelly in 2003 and 2004.

For the 2005 he moved under the wing of Triple 8 Race Engineering. He finally seemed to have found his perfect match and it started a 14 year relationship with Triple 8.

In that first year with Triple 8 he won the Betta Electrical Sandown 500 and finished runner up to ‘The Enforcer’, Russell Ingall for the season Championship.

With co-driver Yvan Muller he should have won the supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 in 2005. If it wasn’t for Craig Lowndes hitting the wall and collecting a wheel from the Larry Perkins’ Castrol Commodore I reckon they would’ve won Bathurst in 2005.

In 2006 Craig Lowndes won the Clipsal 500 Race 1

While in race 2 he had a DNF (Did Not Finish) due to an accident with Cameron McConville, James Courtney and Jason Richards.

He also won Oran Park Race 3 and the coveted the 2006 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

From 2007 to 2012 Team Vodafone was the new sponsor for Craig Lowndes and also Jamie Whincup. They were a great match as team mates and soon became a force to be reckoned with.

2008 Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup made a 3-peat, winning the Bathurst 1000 for a third time in a row. 2006, 2007 and 2008.

2009 both Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes won 6 from 6 races to start the 2009 V8 Supercars Championship.  The year for Triple 8 was looking great.

Over the next 9 seasons he continued in the same form with far too many accomplishments to list.

In 2013 Red Bull took over as the naming rights sponsor.

Caltex Vortex came in as the sponsor for Craig in 2016 and 2017. Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen stayed sponsored by Red Bull.

In his final year, 2018 Craig Lowndes was again under new sponsorship Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

With the completion of the 2018 season it ends Craig Lowndes’ 22 year career as a fulltime driver in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship and his 14 year relationship with Triple Eight Race Engineering.

His stats clearly define him as one of the all-time greats.

Craig Lowndes – stats of a legend:

Races:   667

Crashes (obviously survived):     1996 Phillip Island, Race 2

1999 Calder Park, Race 2

2001 Clipsal 500 Adelaide,  Race 2

2003 Barbagallo Raceway, Race 2

2005 Clipsal 500, Race 2

2006 Phillip Island, Race 3

2008 Clipsal 500, Race 2

2011 Abu Dhabi, Race 2 (I don’t see a pattern here. Do you?)

Race wins:          107. The first in the history of racing to reach 100 race wins.

Pole positions:   42

Bathurst 1000 Wins:      7

The Bathurst tally includes a trifecta having won 3 years running 2006,2007 & 2008.

Winner of the opening race 3 years in a row 1999, 2000 and 2001.

He has been team mates with some of the most well-known drivers in the history of the sport including;

·       Peter brock 1994 – 1996

·       Brad Jones 1994

·       Greg Murphy 1995 – 1997

·       Mark Skaife 1998 – 2000

·       Neil Crompton 2001 – 2002

·       Glenn Seton 2003 – 2004

·       Steven Ellery 2005

·       Jamie Whincup 2006 -2018

 

Co-drivers include many of the above plus:

·       Cameron McConville 1999

·       Glenn Seton 2003, 2004

·       Yvan Muller 2005

·       Warren Luff 2012, 2013

·       Steven Richards 2014, 2018

He has worked with some of the best race engineers in the industry including:

·       Matthew Crawford 1996 – 2000

·       Oscar Fearonoto 2001 2002

·       Campbell little 2005 – 2007

·       Jeromy Moore 2008 – 2014 Jeromy Moore’s nickname is JJ. In 2015 Jeromy Moore moved to Germany to work with the Porsche LMP1 Team for 2015, 2016 and 2017.

·       Grant Mcpherson – Nickname is Shippy 2015

·       Ludo Lacroix 2016

·       John McGregor – Irish 2017 – 2018

At his last race for the 2018 season he did his lap of honour to a cheering crowd. What amazed me was the response from not just his team, but all the other drivers. Some on hands and knees bowing in his presence, asking to have their driving suits signed and more. No-one has ever had a bad thing to say about Craig Lowndes (except that he beat them in a race). It really says a lot about the character of the man.

Congratulations Craig Lowndes! You truly are one of the greats in the sport. I am looking forward to the Enduros next year but am sure that I speak for everyone when I say ‘Gonna miss you’ from full time racing.

Good luck with everything you do in the future.

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

Please feel free to let me know what your favourite Craig Lowndes moments are.