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Supercars

Betr Darwin Triple Crown 2024

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the pre-race sessions:

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

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

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

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

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

The gap between the two leaders was 0.186 seconds.

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

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

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

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

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

Broc Feeney had a 2.6 second lead over Mark Winterbottom.

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

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

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

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

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

Results for Race 11

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results for Race 12

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

3rd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport

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

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

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

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

Supercars

Betr Darwin Triple Crown 2023

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was fantastic to see!

Results for Race 13

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

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

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

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

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

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

Otherwise, the opening stages were relatively clean.

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

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

Scott Pye pitted on lap 9 from 12th place.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results for Race 14

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results for Race 15

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

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

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

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

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

Supercars

Merlin Triple Crown 2021

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of June 18 to 20, 2021 was the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway.

It was an exciting weekend that I had been looking forward to. Not just because Hidden Valley is a fast track but also the last event at Winton was cancelled due to COVID lockdowns. So it’s been a while since the last race.

Neil Crompton was not in Darwin last weekend because he was recovering from prostate cancer surgery. Crompo, we are all praying for you and wish you a speedy recovery.

In other news, Chaz Mostert has signed a new multi year deal with Walkinshaw Andretti United until the end of 2023. This puts an end to the speculations that he may be replacing Jamie Whincup in 2022 at the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team alongside Shane Van Gisbergen.

Also last weekend it was confirmed that Thomas Randle will make his full-time debut in 2022 with Tickford Racing under a 4th Rec – Racing Entitlements Contract.

The weekend’s event was underway as scheduled. In the pre-race sessions it was a mix of results:

  • Nick Percat was fastest in Practice 1
  • Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 2
  • Anton de Pasquale was fastest in Qualifying for race 12.

In race 12 Anton De Pasquale started on pole position with Mark Winterbottom alongside him.

As the race got underway things immediately went wrong and by turn 1 there was a 6 car pileup.

Mark Winterbottom lost power and went wide to avoid being a hinderance. Shane Van Gisbergen managed to sweep down the inside of Anton de Pasquale to take the lead. Anton de Pasquale turned in tight clipping Shane Van Gisbergen’s back wheel. It slowed Pasquale, changing his driving line and Scott Pye ended up in his behind spinning him round. As this brought them to a halt in the middle of the turn, others came to join the ‘pile up party’; Including Todd Hazelwod, Jack Smith, Fabian Couthard, Garry Jacobson. It was utter mayhem and the safety car had to be deployed to clean up the mess. Garry Jackobson was the only one able to continue the race. The others were out with NC (Not Complete).

When the race went back to green Shane Van Gisbergen was leading the race.

Jamie Whincup came in early to find some clear air and not get caught up in traffic. The leaders stayed out until lap 5.

Will Davison was the remaining Dick Johnson Racing car after the retirement of car 11 driven by Anton de Pasquale. De Pasquale’s car looked such a mess I was thinking that they wouldn’t be able to repair car overnight, but somehow they did.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen’s was on target for another race win in 2021 but it was a day of mishaps. When he came in for the pit stop the team couldn’t get the wheel nut undone, so instead of the stop being a 3 or 4 seconds it ended up being a 30 seconds. They delay  cost him the race lead and win. After looking so strong he finished in 13th position.

The race lead was now in the hands of Cheeky Chaz Mostert. His experience and great driving made it impossible for anyone else to catch him before he crossed the finish line first.

Results for Race 12

1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

3rd Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing

In race 13 Will Davison started on pole position. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen. The last time Will Davison started on pole position was 2014 at Homebush Sydney Olympic park.

David Reynolds qualified 21st for race 13 which he wasn’t happy with because he wanted to be further up but it didn’t work out.

At the start of the race Shane Van Gisbergen got the jump and led into turn 1. The cars further back in the pack came in early to get track position.

Nick Percat who qualified to start in 10 position wanted to repeat his podium finish achieved on Saturday. His driving throughout the race was more aggressive than usual but his experience means he knows what he is doing and poses less risk than most. Unfortunately for him it was a tough race and only managed to gain one place by the finish.

The Red Bull cars which qualified well, Shane Van Gisbergen started 2nd and Jamie Whincup started 6th on the grid, stayed out longer because they had track position. It paid off for both of them.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was back at the front. Soon after his teammate, Jamie Whincup had moved up from 6th to 3rd. Will Davison was holding onto 2nd position and was proving a tough nut to crack for Jamie Whincup to make the result 1st and 2nd for Triple 888 Racing..

The three drivers kept their position and proved impossible for anyone else to catch them. They also  finished the race in that order; Shane Van Gisbergen, Will Davison and Jamie Whincup.

Results for Race 13

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team

2nd Will Davison – Dick Johnson Racing

3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team

4th Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

In race 14, the third and final race for the weekend it was again Will Davison whi started on pole position. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

Shane van Gisbergen went around the outside at turn 1 and in the process kept the lead which I wasn’t surprised with at all.

The cars further back in the pack came in to get track position and stay out of the hot air from the cars in front of them.

As the pit stops started taking place the leaders stayed to keep their positions.

Jamie Whincup was happy about having a good performance in Darwin with a 2nd and 3rd finish in the previous races..

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was the leader of and looking like winning the race comfortably.

The series season leader Shane Van Gisbergen showed why he was the series champ to date and drove faultlessly to the finish line with more than a two second lead over Will Davison and Jamie Whincup in thrid. Shane Van Gisbergen now leads the championship by 221 points.

Results for Race 14

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team

2nd Will Davison – Dick Johnson Racing

3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team

Social media reacts to Mostert WAU contract extension – Supercars

Randle confirmed for 2022 full-time Supercars seat – Speedcafe

The next event is the NTI Townsville 500 on the 9th to the 11th of July 2021.

Post Race Report, Supercars

crownbet Darwin Triple Crown 2018 Supercars

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Crownbet Darwin Triple Crown 2018

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 15th to the 17th of June, 2018 was the Crownbet Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.

There was lots of unexpected excitement in the preliminary events leading up to the two races this weekend:

  • Fastest in Practice 1 was Rick Kelly.
  • Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2 and 3.
  • David Reynolds was fastest in Qualifying for race 15.
  • Scott McLaughlin was the fastest in Qualifying for race 16.
  • Rick Kelly was the fastest in the race shootout.

Same as at last event, the owner of the Erebus Motorsports team Betty Klimenko wasn’t at Darwin because she was sick with the flu. It must be a bad flu for her to stay away. Get well soon Betty!

Also, Fox Sports commentator Russell Ingall wasn’t in attendance either.

Macauley Jones was the wildcard for the weekend.

The LOL moment for the weekend was James Courtney got fined 1,000 dollars for calling Richie Stanaway a ‘Buffoon’ on the last lap of Saturday’s Race.

In practice 3 before Qualifying, Macauley Jones caused a red flag which meant he couldn’t take any further part in the race. The roof of his car was kinked because of the sideways angle he went into the sand trap.

It was also another milestone for Jamie Whincup, starting his 450th race on the weekend.

In race 15 David Reynolds started on pole position. Alongside him was championship leader, Scott McLaughlin.

David Reynolds led early on with Scott McLaughlin in hot pursuit.

On lap 2 David Reynolds cracked under the pressure, locking the right front wheel and running wide. It gave Scott McLaughlin the opening he was looking for to take the race lead.

Andre Heimgartner ran out of room when he was getting towards making it within the top 10. Although he didn’t make it, the point was he gave it a go!

Craig Lowndes qualified in position 12 and moved up 5 spots straight off the grid, which I though was very impressive.

Jamie Whincup almost made contact with the rookie Anton De Pasquale, but in the end backed off the throttle to avoid contact with him. That wouldn’t have been cool. I am also sure Jamie Whincup’s team owner, Roland Dane was happy to see his own driver make a call to back off and not risk his car.

It didn’t stop Jamie Whincup’s aggressive driving style. At the end of the race, Rick Kelly was defending his racing line while Jamie Whincup tried get to around the outside which was a brave move but it didn’t pay off. He ended up getting swamped by Shane Van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes. Jamie Whincup dropped 2 spots from 8th to 6th.

Shane Van Gisbergen chose to stay out on track longer before pitting  in order to maintain track position or double stack with Jamie Whicup.

In the middle of the race Fabian Coulthard was getting towards the top 5, desperately wanting a single digit finish position next to his name.

At the end of the race Garth Tander came in to put a fresh set of tyres on which helped him charge through and finished 5th after starting 13th. An impressive effort.

Towards the end of the race nobody could catch the top 3 drivers they were Scott McLaughlin, Shane Van Gisbergen and David Reynolds.

Greg Murphy was hoping that Shane Van Gisbergen got onto the podium on Saturday and wasn’t let down. He finished 2nd  after starting 5th on the grid.

Craig Lowndes gained 5 spots, starting 12th and finishing 7th.

Everybody finished race 15. No DNFs.

No one else does the ‘shoey’ (drinking the winner’s Champaign from his driving boot) only David Reynolds. That is GROSS!

For Scott McLaughlin this makes his 6th race win for 2018.

It was very Entertaining race.

Results for race 15

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.

 

 

In race 16 Rick Kelly started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

Interesting to note, newcomer Anton De Pasquale made it into the top 10 shootout and started 3rd on the grid.

I’m sure Betty Klimenko would have been very happy and proud of Anton de Pasquale for being on Provisional Pole Position before the shootouts.

Garth Tander also made the top 10 shootout on Sunday.

The 3 Triple 8 cars Qualified 3rd 11th and 14th.

Jamie Whincup gained a better grid position on Sunday compared to Saturday.

I was surprised that David Reynolds starting at 4th position went right around the outside of everybody from turn 1 to take the lead.

Jamie Whincup tried to get into 2nd but it didn’t pay off.

Jamie Whincup and Anton De Pasquale nearly made contact at turn 1 in the opening laps.

Jamie Whincup then dropped a few places and was crowded so came in early to get a clear track.

Fabian Coulthard was inside the top 10 but after he had his first pitstop he was back in the pack a bit.

Pit reporter, Greg Murphy was talking to Barry Ryan, Erebus Team Manager about Anton de Pasquale’s race excellent performance and how moving David Reynolds to the other side of the garage was to help more to improve Anton de Pasquale’s consistency.

This year was Macauley Jones’ 2nd year as a wildcard in Darwin. Brad Jones was happy to see his progression. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up a full-time driver in the future.

A lot of cars that started in the top 10 stayed out longer while the going was good.

David Reynolds must have been really happy with his performance leading in the opening stint of the race after also finishing on the podium for race 15 the day before.

In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin had smoke pouring out the back. My first thought was to bring it in, check it over, then fix it.

He did come into the pits but after he turned off the pit lane speed limiter the smoke started pouring out again. Then I started to think there is no way he would make it to the finish with the amount laps that were left. Comentator, Neil Crompton said the same thing but somehow, he made it to the finish line.

Later the team revealed the reason why Scott McLaughlin had smoke coming out of the back of his car was because of an overheating problem. Fabian Coulthard also suffered the same overheating problem.

Will Davison got through both of the races which was a great effort considering he had a moon boot on due to hurting his left ankle during training for the Darwin event.

Towards the end of the race it was getting very exciting to watch because David Reynolds was heading for another win in 2018.

Craig Lowndes gained 4 spots by starting 14th and finishing 10th.

There were 3 DNFS; Cameron Waters, Lee Holdsworth and Jack Le Brocq.

Cameron Waters car stopped on the main straight due to overheating and when interviewed by Riana Crehan he wasn’t happy at all.

In the end no one could catch the top 3 drivers – which were David Reynolds, Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup.

What an amazing weekend for David Reynolds!

The next event is the Watpac Townsville 400 on the 6th to the 8th of July, 2018.

Results for race 16

1st David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team