Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!
On the weekend of 19 – 21 April was the ITM Taupo Super400 held at the Taupō International Motorsport Park in New Zealand.
It was round 3 of the 2024 Supercars Championship and was the first time that Supercars had raced at this new venue.
The Taupō International Motorsport Park circuit first began life in 1959 when the Taupo Car Club carved out a short dirt track to the northwest of the town. Nestled in open countryside with the spectacular volcanic mountain of Mountain Tauhara as the backdrop, the track was soon asphalted and become a bustling venue for the club’s activities. The track length is 3.3 kms with 14 turns.
The event marked a special milestone for David Reynolds starting his 200th round in Supercars.
Last year’s champion Brodie Kostecki also had his 100th race start in Supercars.
The event started on the Friday. The weather was sunny as the weekend kicked off, but temperamental New Zealand weather was wet and miserable on the Saturday. It changed again and was dry for Sunday.
There were two races, 60 laps (200kms) each.
In the pre-race sessions:
- Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
- Matt Payne was fastest in Qualifying
- Cameron Waters was fastest in the top 10 Shootout
In Race 7 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Will Brown alongside him in P2.
At the start of the race Will Brown got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 60 laps.
Tim Slade had a great start from P3 and tried to go in-between Will Brown and Cameron Waters. He made contact with Cameron Waters and both drivers spun around before the first turn. Cameron Waters was able to get his car back to the pits for repairs and return to the race later. Tim Slade wasn’t so lucky. He was stranded in the middle of the track and the safety car was deployed to clean up. Unfortunately, the damage was so severe Tim Slade was not able to return to the race.
Before the safety car could be deployed Matt Payne and Broc Feeney made contact and spun around at the first turn. It was also immediately investigated to see who was at fault.
Later the stewards found Tim Slade at fault but couldn’t issue a penalty as he was already out of the race. Matt Payne received a 15 second time penalty.
The restart was on lap 5 and Will Brown still had control with a slender lead of 0.688 seconds followed by Andre Heimgartner and Chaz Mostert. Meanwhile the cars further back in the pack were struggling in the wet conditions.
The first car to pit in was Nick Percat on lap 6 from 23rd place .
The drivers back in the pack were finding it difficult to deal with the spray coming up from other cars.
Chaz Mostert did the fastest lap of the race 136.291 in third place. He was 1.3 seconds away from the race leader Will Brown.
Bryce Fullwood got spun around at turn 11 by Jack le Brocq. Fullwood couldn’t get going again because he had no oil pressure. The safety car was deployed to get his car out of the way.
The majority of the field pitted under yellow except for Nick Percat who pitted on lap 6.
Nick Percat was issued a 15 second time penalty for doing 90kmph when the race was under yellow (FCY) and he should have been doing 80kmph.
On the restart Andre Heimgartner assumed control of the race followed by Will Brown and Chaz Mostert. Meanwhile, James Courtney passed Thomas Randle for 7th place.
Will Brown in second place started closing in on the lead.
Brodie Kostecki turned James Courtney in a tussle and Kostecki was issued a 15 second time penalty at his next stop.
Chaz Mostert got up the inside of Will Brown for second place. Will Brown was then under pressure from behind by Will Davison.
By this stage Broc Feeney made it into the top 10 positions.
Chaz Mostert was now only 0.364 seconds behind the lead.
Suddenly the nut from Chaz Mostert’s right rear wheel came off. After the next turn the wheel made its own bid for freedom rolling down the track on its own. What an unusual set of circumstances! He managed to limp back to the pits on three wheels to get a fourth one but it took him out of contention for the race.
With 8 laps to go Andre Heimgartner was looking strong with a 2.052 second lead.
He was being followed by the 2 Shell V-Power Racing Fords of Will Davison and Anton de Pasquale.
Andre Heimgartner kept his spot and crossed the finish line with a 1.171 second win over Will Davison followed by Anton de Pasquale 1.4 seconds behind.
Results for Race 7
1st Andre Heimgartner – Brad Jones Racing
2nd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing
3rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing
In Race 8 Matt Payne started on pole position with Broc Feeney alongside him.
As they took off Matt Payne got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 60 laps.
Chaz Mostert had an unusually bad start and immediately lost 6 places taking him all the way down to 15th place.
After a few laps Matt Payne edged ahead to have a 1 second lead over Broc Feeney, followed by Anton de Pasquale in third place.
Will Brown was busting to get in on the action and was putting pressure on Brodie Kostecki in 4th place.
Within the next few laps Will Brown finally managed to get by Brodie Kostecki. His next target was Anton de Pasquale 2.5 seconds ahead in 3rd place.
On lap 13 Broc Feeney found the opportunity to take the race lead off Matt Payne and gained track position.
The first car to pit was David Reynolds on lap 13 coming in from 24th place (the back of the field).
After chasing Broc Feeney for a few laps and making no headway Matt Payne chose to pit. This gave Anton de Pasquale second place 1.8 seconds behind the lead.
Soon after Will Brown got up the inside of Matt Payne who was back in 3rd place. Will Brown now had 1.5 seconds to make up to take Anton de Pasquale in second place.
By the middle of the race the front of the field became more spread out. Broc Feeney had a 2.6 second lead over Anton de Pasquale. Will Brown in 3rd was 2 seconds further behind.
Chaz Mostert was trying to make up for lost ground at the start of the race. He got up the inside of Cameron Hill and was now in 10th place.
At lap 30 Will Brown was significantly faster than the two leaders and gained enough ground to be right on Anton de Pasquale’s tail. It wasn’t too long before Will Brown passed him to take second place.
Broc Feeney and Will Brown were looking strong to score another 1 2 finish.
On lap 48 Will Brown did the fastest lap of the race 127.920. The two leaders had edged so far ahead the gap back to Anton de Pasquale in 3rd place was 16+ seconds.
With 9 laps to go Will Brown was driving so fast Broc Feeney was slowing him down. The opportunity came and Will Brown passed his teammate Broc Feeney for the lead.
Further back in the pack Chaz Mostert re-entered the top 10 and was soon in 7th place.
James Golding who started in 17th on the grid moved into 6th place (a hike of 11 spots).
On the last lap Brodie Kostecki made contact with Richie Stanaway and received a 15 second time penalty (added to his post race finish time). It edged him out of the top 10 to end up in 12th place.
The leaders once again were spread out. Will Brown had control and confidently raced to the finish line with a 3.358 seconds lead clear of his teammate Broc Feeney in 2nd place.
The Jason Richards trophy is awarded to the round winner. Although Anton de Pasquale finished 3rd in both races it still made him the highest points scorer. A great result for him and the Shell V-Power Racing team. Congratulations!
Results for Race 8
1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing
Will Brown is still leading the championship with a 71 point lead over his teammate Broc Feeney.
The next event is the Perth Supersprint running from the 17th – 19th May 2024.
I hope you can join me.
Until then, to all you Supercars fans around the world KEEP REVVING!