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Supercars

Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 2023

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of 27 – 29 October 2023 was the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.

It was round 11 of the 12 rounds in the 2023 Supercars Championship.

The Gold Coast race at Surfers Paradise is a street circuit which was first opened in 1991. The challenging 4.47 km circuit alongside a strip of beaches has several fast sections and four chicanes.

From 1991 to 2008 the Gold Coast Indy 300 was an annual open-wheel motor race event. In the early days Supercars were there as a support category but from 2002 through to present it has been a round of the Supercars Championship. This year      was the 21st event at the venue that has held 44 V8 Supercars races to date.

As expected, it was perfect Queensland weather excepting a small shower on the first practice day. In the pre-race sessions:

  • Scott Pye was fastest in Practice 1
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Qualifying
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top 10 Shootout

In Race 25 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Matt Payne alongside him.

As they took off Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 85 laps that makes up the 250km race. Matt Payne was right on his tail.

After starting 3rd on the grid Shane Van Gisbergen dropped to 5th before the first turn.

As Thomas Randle got to the first turn he took a shortcut across the chicanes. The officials spotted it but took no further action.

As Tim Slade got to the first turn another car made contact and spun him around. The safety car was deployed to slow drivers while he extracted himself from the dangerous position at the turn.

Brodie Kostecki was on the charge. He started 10th on the grid because his shootout lap was disallowed for going out of bounds. Now he had jumped to 7th place.

Within a few laps Chaz Mostert passed Thomas Randle to get up to 3rd place and was only 0.672 seconds behind Matt Payne.

The first car to pit was Broc Feeney on lap 9, along with Anton de Pasquale. They returned to clear track in 24th and 25th place.

Thomas Randle got by Chaz Mostert for 3rd spot.

It then seemed like the drivers were struggling with the high speed track. First Matt Payne received a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

Soon after both Chaz Mostert and Will Brown received bad sportsmanship flags for exceeding track limits.

Then it was Todd Hazelwood’s turn to receive a bad sportsmanship flag for the same reason.

Shane Van Gisbergen overtook Chaz Mostert for 4th position and was only 2.3 seconds behind Thomas Randle in 3rd place and only 4 seconds off the race lead.

Jack le Brocq alerted the team he was leaking fuel and went into the garage.

Brodie Kostecki was now in 5th place right behind Shane Van Gisbergen in their personal title battle for this year’s championship.

Cameron Waters pitted early and came back out in 8th place. When the top 7 cars took their pit stops he would resume the lead.

On lap 28 Shane Van Gisbergen took the number 1 spot off Matt Payne.

A few laps later Shane Van Gisbergen pitted and Brodie Kostecki followed him in. They came back out in 5th and 7th place.

In the middle of the race Broc Feeney was the first of the Red Bull cars to take his final pitstop. Meanwhile his teammate, Shane Van Gisbergen did the fastest lap of the race and was 6.1 seconds away from the lead.

Further ahead, David Reynolds was battling with Thomas Randle for 2nd and 3rd place.

Towards the end of the race with only 11 laps to go Cameron Waters was 1.4 seconds ahead of David Reynolds. It was another 2 seconds back to Shane Van Gisbergen in 3rd place.

Chaz Mostert once again exceeded track limits. This time he received a 5 second time penalty.

With 10 laps to go Cameron Waters still had the lead over David Reynolds but Shane Van Gisbergen had closed the gap to only 0.315 seconds.

Soon Shane Van Gisbergen took over David Reynolds. The gap to Cameron Waters in 1st was just 0.362 seconds.

With only a few laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen was desperately looking for an opportunity to overtake for the lead and win. However, Cameron Waters is a seasoned driver. He kept his cool and defended the number 1 spot. Shane Van Gisbergen kept on his tail to the end of the race.

As they crossed the finish line there was only 0.194 seconds between them. It was a spectacular tight finish.

Results for Race 25:

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing

3rd David Reynolds – Grove Racing

In Race 26 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position for the 8th time this year. Alongside him was David Reynolds.

As they took off Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 85 laps.

At turn 4 Tim Slade, James Courtney, Jack Smith and Macfauley Jones made contact and cars were spinning out of control in every direction. The cars back in the pack had to drive over the top of the first chicanes to avoid adding to the pileup. All four cars had come to a stop in this dangerous part of the track. The first safety car was deployed while the stranded cars were rescued.

The track was cleared by lap 8. However, it is the lead driver who gets to make the call for when the race goes back to green. Brodie Kostecki was waiting for the right moment to give the green light signal but the other drivers became impatient and started racing too soon. Confusion followed but the race still continued. It took a while for the officials to review, and it was only later that the offending drivers were penalised.

The first two cars to pit were Jack le Brocq and Will Davison on lap 9.

David Reynolds was challenging Brodie Kostecki for the lead and putting him under pressure. He was right on his tail and constantly on the attack.

Further back Shane Van Gisbergen got by Anton de Pasquale for 9th place. His next target was Cameron Waters in 8th place.

Brodie Kostecki held the lead until he pitted on lap 28. This relinquished the number 1 spot to David Reynolds. When Brodie Kostecki returned to the race he was in 12th place.

As the other drivers began to take their pit stops Brodie Kostecki moved up and eventually had the lead again.

Once again David Reynolds was right on his tail.

Towards the end of the race David Reynolds finally took advantage of a weak spot in the leader, Brodie Kostecki’s defence and passed him. I believe Brodie Kostecki didn’t aggressively defend the move at the risk of being knocked out of the race. All he had to do was get a podium finish ahead of Shane Van Gisbergen to protect his position in the season championship.

Cameron Waters was in 3rd place but was a few seconds behind and didn’t pose an immediate challenge to Brodie Kostecki.

With 7 laps to go James Golding had a massive shunt from behind and spun around landing in the tyre barrier. He almost collected Scott Pye in the process. They did make contact but luckily it seemed pretty light.

Shortly after Scott Pye’s car readings showed a big problem. He had to pull over immediately and the safety car was once again deployed.

When the race went back to green there was only 5 laps remaining. David Reynolds still had the lead over Brodie Kostecki, followed by Cameron Waters.

Brodie Kostecki was always close behind and a constant threat. At times there was less than 0.3 of a second between them. David Reynolds is a tough and seasoned driver. He never showed signs of cracking and at no time gave any opportunities away to his challengers.

In the end David Reynolds crossed the line 0.189 seconds ahead of Brodie Kostecki.

It was Reynold’s first race win since 2018 in what was probably the most exciting race of the year.

Congratulations to David Reynolds and his team, Grove Racing.

Results for Race 26:

1st David Reynolds – Grove Racing

2nd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport

3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

With 1 event made up of 2 races remaining, Brodie Kostecki leads over Shane Van Gisbergen by 131 points. Will Brown is 3rd and trails by 495 points, Broc Feeney is 504 points behind and Chaz Mostert is 640 points.

The grand finale event for the year will be the Valo Adelaide 500, 23 – 26 November 2023.

Hope you can join me.

Supercars, V8 Supercars

Repco Bathurst 1000 2023

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of 5-8 October 2023 was the Repco Bathurst 1000. It was round 10 of the 2023 Supercars Championship.                 

Mount Panorama was first opened on March 17, 1938. The track is actually a street circuit so outside of race dates it is a public road. Yes! That is the answer to your question, “Can I actually drive around the Bathurst track?” just remember it is a 60 zone.

The first event held at Mount Panorama was a motorcycle race on the 16th of April 1938, the  Australian Tourist Trophy. Two days later the Australian Grand Prix took place (a motor car race).

Before becoming known as The Bathurst 1000 the race was called the Armstrong 500. The first few years it ran at Phillip Island and was then moved to Bathurst in 1963. In those days it was a 500 mile race (approx. 804Km) and was done with only a single driver. A few years after Australia changed to metric measurements the race was increased to 1000kms.

It has become the most well-known race in Australia and is also internationally revered. It’s the race that stops the nation and creates legends.

The legend of the King of the Mountain, Peter Brock was earned through this event. Peter Brock won his first Bathurst in 1972 in the days without a co-driver. He then went on to win again in 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1987.  No other driver has beaten his record of 9 Bathurst 1000 wins.

This year was the 60th running of the Repco Bathurst 1000. An incredible milestone for any race event.

This year the event kicked off under almost perfect weather conditions. A surprise to all as Bathurst is known for some pretty challenging conditions at this time of the year.

The pre-race sessions kicked off on the Thursday and went through to Sunday morning. The results were:

  • Will Brown was fastest in Practice 1
  • David Russell was fastest in Practice 2
  • David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 3
  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Practice 4
  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying
  • Richie Stanaway was fastest in Practice 5
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 6
  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in the Shootout
  • Brodie Kostecki and co-driver David Russell were fastest in the warm up

In Race 24 Brodie Kostecki earned pole position but his co-driver David Russell was behind the wheel of car 99 for the start. Alongside them was co-driver Jamie Whincup after main driver Broc Feeney scored second place on the front row of the grid. There were 16 out of 28 co-drivers who started the race behind the wheel. So, it was quite a common strategy.

As the lights went green, they took off and Jamie Whincup led into turn 1 for the first of 161 laps. Pole sitter David Russell was right under his rear wing only 0.174 seconds behind.

The cars further back in the pack were dicing for places outside the top 10.

Early on Will Brown had gained 5 places up to 12th. James Golding had gained 1 spot after starting 4th on the grid.

Jamie Whincup had a hard time getting some space between himself and David Russell in 2nd place. By lap 4 Jamie Whincup managed to increase his lead to only 0.498 seconds. It was another 1 second back to James Golding in 3rd.

On lap 5 James Courtney ran wide on the exit to the final corner but didn’t lose any places.

Thomas Randle got up the inside of Lee Holdsworth exiting Forest Elbow for 10th place.

Jamie Whincup had managed to increase his lead to around 1 second over David Russell.

Richie Stanaway finally got up the inside of Garth Tander to move into 5th place. His next target was Cameron Waters sitting in 4th position.

The first car to pit in this race was car 96 of Macauley Jones and Jordan Boys on lap 10.

Between lap 4 and 10 Jamie Whincup managed to extend his lead 1.525 seconds over David Russell.

Further back Will Brown was on the charge. He was up 10 spots after starting 17th on the grid. He now smoothly passed Garth Tander moving into 6th place and was only 2.8 seconds away from the lead.

On lap 17 Craig Lowndes started slowing down due to a broken gear lever mount and was forced to pit.

James Golding in 3rd was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 18.

Car 3 driven by Todd Hazelwood and Tim Blanchard pitted on lap 21. Soon after they were investigated for a pit stop infringement and issued a 15 second time penalty to be served on their next stop. Although disappointing it was still early in the race. They had another 5 hours to catch up.

On lap 24 Dean Fiore co-driver to Bryce Fullwood made contact with Simona de Silvestro at The Chase.  Simona de Silvestro who returned from her homeland, Switzerland especially for this race was pushed off the road onto the grass. There was no damage to speak of and she re-joined the race easily. Race officials took no further action on the incident.

Kevin Estre (co-driver to Matt Payne) had a big lockup at turn 1 and ended up in the sand trap. He couldn’t get out on his own and the first safety car was deployed so the recovery vehicle could assist.

While the Yellow flag was out (indicating drivers to slow down and stay in formation behind the safety car) all drivers except 2 took the opportunity to pit.

David Reynolds was under investigation for jumping ahead in the safety car line. He was later issued a pit lane drive thru penalty. That didn’t go down too well and David Reynolds started to argue the case when told by his race engineer Alistair McVean. After the restart he was reluctant to give back 3rd place to Broc Feeney and even refused to take the drive thru penalty on the next lap. Race Director James Taylor had to warn him that he still did have to take it.

The restart which was on lap 30 saw Shane Van Gisbergen immediately took the race lead off Dylan O’Keeffe (co-driver to James Golding).

Broc Feeney was in 3rd place (after Reynolds let him pass) and then managed to get by Dylan O’Keeffe for 2nd place.

The 2 Red Bull cars were now running 1st and 2nd on the track, followed by O’Keeffe and then Reynolds.

Bryce Fullwood made contact and pushed Aaron Love off the track at The Chase. Bryce Fullwood was later issued a penalty for his actions.

On lap 39 Scott Pye made contact with Dale Wood who then went off track into the gravel trap. The safety car was sent out while Dale Wood’s car was pulled out and luckily able to return straight to the race.

When they restarted Mark Winterbottom was out front followed by Fabian Coulthard and Brodie Kostecki.

Meanwhile car 6 driven by James Moffat was under investigation for an unsafe pit release. It was later on lap 43 when he was issued a 5 second time penalty.

Brodie Kostecki soon passed Fabian Coulthard to take 2nd position.

Then Richie Stanaway got up the inside of Declan Fraser for 4th place. His next target was Fabian Coulthard in 3rd place. It wasn’t long after that Richie Stanaway made his move pushing Fabian Coulthard down another spot to 4th.

The 2 Brad Jones Racing cars with Jack Smith and Macauley Jones in the driver’s seat made contact with each other at The Chase. They both went off the track and both had minor damage that required a visit to the pits ASAP.

Not long after Macauley Jones received a 15 second time penalty for the driving infringement.

On lap 71 Dean Fiore co-driver to Bryce Fullwood was under investigation for a pit lane infringement and was issued a time penalty.

James Moffat hit the wall coming out of The Dipper and came to a stop in a dangerous part of the track. Officials thought he would not be able to get out of the predicament on his own and sent out  the 3rd safety car of the race. Before help could arrive, James Moffat was able to get going again. Unfortunately, it was only to get back to the pits in his smashed up car to then find out he would not be returning to the race.

Car 888 driven by Craig Lowndes had to serve a pit lane penalty after he turned off the ‘pit limiter’ to early while in the pit lane.

Richie Stanway clocked the best lap time of the race on lap 92. He had also moved up to 2nd place after passing Tony Dalberto.

Jamie Whincup rounded up Garth Tander which took him from 5th up to 4th place. “The Goat” was now only 7.9 seconds away from the lead. He then pitted on lap 93 to hand the wheel over to Broc Feeney who would race all the to the end.

Richie Stanaway pitted soon after on lap 97 from the number 1 position and Shane Van Gisbergen took the driver’s seat for the final stage of the race.

Once these two Red Bull Ampol Racing Team cars came out of the pits, Shane Van Gisbergen returned to the number 1 spot with his team mate Broc Feeney not far behind.

On lap 137 of 161 (25 laps remaining) Broc Feeney was slowing due to a gearbox issue stopping him from changing gears. He slipped from 2nd to 3rd allowing Brodie Kostecki to pass him. Broc Feeney had to head to the pits. It was unlucky timing being so close to the end of the race.

The team were able to repair the issue, but Broc returned to the track in 24th position. Unfortunate for him to go from a podium contender to the back of the pack.

It was later revealed that all 3 of the 888 Engineering cars had the same issue (the 2 cars of Gisbergen and Feeney driving for Red Bull Ampol Racing and also the Craig Lowndes/ Zane Goddard duo driving under the Super Cheap Auto banner. It’s surprising any of them finished.

With 18 laps to go Shane Van Gisbergen was still out front with a good lead of 15.010 seconds over Brodie Kostecki.

In the last laps Shane Van Gisbergen controlled the race and was too far ahead for Brodie Kostecki to challenge him for the win.

It was incredible to watch as Shane Van Gisbergen kept edging ahead to finally cross the line with a 19.9 seconds lead over Brodie Kostecki.

Shane Van Gisbergen is now a 3-time winner of the Bathurst 1000.

It puts him in striking distance of the season leader Brodie Kostecki for the remaining two events. Can he now become a 4-time Supercars Champion before he heads to the US in 2024? Its going to be fun finding out.

Results for Race 24

1st Shane Van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Brodie Kostecki and David Russell – Erebus Motorsport

3rd Anton de Pasquale and Tony Dalberto – Shell V-Power Racing Team

Out of the 28 starters only 24 cars finished the race. 4 cars got a DNF.

Brodie Kostecki still leads the championship by 131 points over Shane Van Gisbergen. With 2 events to go (4 races) in the 2023 championship it is going be an exciting finish to the year,

The next event is the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on the 27th – 29th October 2023.

I hope you will join me.

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Red Rooster Sydney Supersprint 2017

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Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 18th to the 20th of August 2017 was the Red Rooster Sydney Supersprint.

This was a great weekend of racing at the Sydney Motorsport Raceway (Eastern Creek) because I’m a Sydneysider and was able to attend. Alongside me in Pole Position was my Dad (bless him for getting the wheelchair accessible van for the weekend, navigating and supporting me in my V8 Supercars passion).

We also had my Support Worker and friend, Sam join us for the Friday practice sessions. It was Sam’s first race event and he really got into it. He spent the day running around like a made chook filming and photographing the on and off track action. This was later edited along with my own footage and photos for my youtube channel and Facebook fan page.

Before the practice started on Friday we walked and talked our way through the pit viewing area. The ‘Dunlop Promo Girls’ past us going the other way. To our surprise Sam broke conversation and in split second reflex spun around, whipped out his ……er um ….phone and was filming as he followed them. Dad and I just burst into hysterical laughter. We knew we found the right man for the job of cam man and were going to have a great day.

Over the weekend I managed to get autographs, take photos and videos that you can see ……here.

My YouTube Channel

Facebook Fan Page Eastern Creek album.

There are plenty of other stories to tell but that would take all day. Following is a quick summary of the on-track action for the weekend.

The qualifying session for race 17 was exciting. Yet again, Scott McLaughlin won the pole position. That’s the 7th time in a row!. Not only that but he broke the Supercar record for the fastest lap around the Eastern Creek track.

It was also a first for both Alex Rullo and Simona de Silvestro to race at this track.

So as I mentioned, Scott McLaughlin started on pole position for race 17. Alongside him was mark Winterbottom.

At the start of the 31 lap race Mark Winterbottom got the jump and led into turn 1.

Will Davison spun at turn 1 sending him to the back of the field. As a result of his incredible spin he had to pit early due to the massive flat spot on all 4 tyres.  Meanwhile, Jamie Whincup moved up from 5th to 4th.

At the early stage of the race, Fabian Coulthard tried to stay on the rear bumpers of the leaders but couldn’t quite hang on. They were just too quick and pulled away.

Will Davison had to come into pits earlier than expected. It was later revealed he was having engine problems.

Craig Lowndes started in 10th position and went from 10th straight to 9th and was now moving up trying to catch the cars in front of him.

In the middle of the race the Vodafone safety car was deployed due to Todd Kelly’s tyre exploding.

On restart the leaders were bumping which wasn’t ideal.

Later towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin had the living nightmare of all drivers. He was in the lead but got spun by Shane Van Gisbergen. It was so late in the race that by the time they recovered Scott McLaughlin ended up finishing 21st. A far cry from his pole position. Shane Van Gisbergen also dropped 20 places from his start position and finished 23rd.

Due to this there was an unexpected change in the race leaders. They stayed in sequence to the chequered flag. Fabian Coulthard, Chaz Mostert (singing the ‘Banana Boat Song’ at the top of voice; Day-o, Da-ay-ay O…) and then Jamie Whincup .

Results for race 17

1st Fabian Coulthard – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske Shell V Power racing team.
2nd Chaz Mostert – Super Cheap Auto Racing.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

In race 18 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position yet again. This claimed his 13th pole position for 2017. Alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

At the start of the Scott McLaughlin got swamped and he went from pole back to 5th which was caused by him bogging down getting off the start line. It didn’t impress the Championship leader at all.

The mistake by Scott McLaughlin paid Chaz Mostert with the lead.

Craig Lowndes got called in by engineer, John McGregor (aka ‘Irish’) because the team suspected he had a tyre going down, which wasn’t the case at all. It wasn’t a bad mistake because on rejoining the race he was in the clear with no cars in front or behind him.  Unfortunately, his troubles weren’t over and was soon back in the pits for an unscheduled stop.  His car was off song and it turned out it dropped a cylinder from 8 to 7.

When Dad and I heard the team Vortex boys restart Craig’s car we knew that it was off song. Craig Lowndes said himself that he was very disappointed about being parked in the garage. But there is nothing he could do about it.   

Todd Kelly was trying to get passed Simona De Silvestro.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen got told by his engineer, Grant Mcpherson to let Jamie Whincup go, which he did.

Towards the end of the race Fabian Coulthard said to Phil Keed, “Keep the information coming”.

He responded with, “There are 5 laps to go. You need to pass Gizzy to come 2nd “.

Fabian’s response was, “Well that’s OBVIOUS”.

Mark Skaife said that’s the best line of the weekend. And Neil Crompton said we will give that a run later in the week.

In the thrilling final moments of the race Fabian Coulthard passed Shane Van Gisbergen to break the hopes of 888 cleaning up with 1st and second position.

Close behind Scott McLaughlin and Chaz Mostert were in very close pursuit for the 3rd position. They were just split seconds apart.

Jamie Whincup made it look all too easy coming across the finish line first over 9 seconds ahead of Fabian Coulthard, followed by Shane Van Gisbergen another 3 seconds later.

This gives Jamie Whincup his 106th career win. He humbly talked it down but it beats the record currently held by Craig Lowndes. Whincup wil go down in V8Supercars history.

Results for race 18

1st Jamie Whincup – red bull Holden racing team.
2nd Fabian Coulthard – DJR Team Penske.
3rd Shane van Gisbergen – red bull Holden racing team.
 

As Jeromy Moore exclaimed at the  2015  Red Rooster Sydney Supersprint, “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner”.

The next event is the Wilson Security Sandown 500 on the 15th to the 17th of September 2017.

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Coates Hire V8 Supercars Challenge 2017

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Coates Hire V8 Supercars Challenge Albert Park 2017.

Hi to all you v8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 23rd to the 26th of March 2017 was the Coates Hire V8 Supercars Challenge, a non-championship round run at Albert Park (Vic).

This weekend the teams got the chance to try out the brand new Dunlop Super Soft tyres. It was the first time the V8 Supercars Championship has tried a super soft tyres normally used in F1 racing. These are under issue from Dunlop motorsport manager Kevin Fitzsimons and intended to be used for the entire Supercars 2017 season.

In race 1 Fabian Coulthard started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

On lap 1 of 13 Scott McLaughlin got the led into turns 1 and 2. Fabian Coulthard got a bit of wheel spin so didn’t get the traction that he wanted off the starting grid.

For the first lap Jamie Whincup was running 3rd, early behind Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin.

Scott Pye went wide exiting turn 1. Fabian Coulthard passed his teammate, Scott McLaughlin heading into turn 3. However, as a result Fabian Coulthard ran wide and Jamie Whincup went from 4th to 3rd to 2nd then to 1st position on the opening lap.

Mark Winterbottom was in front of his teammate, Jason Bright.

Meanwhile further back in the pack, Cameron Waters got the better of Rick Kelly after some fierce competition against each other.

At the back end of the Albert Park track the other Kelly (brother), Todd was facing problems of his own. Smoke was coming out the back of his car. James Courtney gained a position passing him easily.

James Courtney soon found himself up behind the leading brother Rick Kelly, attempts to pass him but fails, tries again later and finally does? Tim Blanchard was also having a poor opening lap. First he ran wide in between turns 10 and 11 and Simona De Silvestro passed him. Then towards the end of the lap David Reynolds also passed.

Chaz Mostert also gained a position as he managed to get down the inside of Shane Van Gisbergen between turns 14 and 15. (This put Chaz in a great mood and he broke out into his favourite tune, ‘Day o, day ay ay ay yo. Come Mr Tally mon tally me banana’…)

On lap 2 Lee Holdsworth got past Dale Wood going into turn 1. Nick Percat also tried to make the move on Dale wood but couldn’t manage it.

Jamie Whincup was still in the lead but under pressure from Scott McLaughlin.

On lap 4 Alex Rullo was near the back of the pack understandably, as it was his first race at Albert Park and had to get used to the track.

On lap 4 Shane Van Gisbergen was trying to get as far up the field as possible.

On lap 6 the drivers were putting their best foot forward as it was already the middle of the race and only 7 laps to go. Jason Bright, however, overdid it and locked the loaded left front tyre as he was going into a turn and just sailed straight ahead.

On lap 7 pit reporter, Mark Larkham made comment about the rivalry between the two race leader’s teams, Red Bull Holden Racing Team and Dick Johnson Racing team Penske, stating how enjoyable it was to see these teams vigorously competing against each other today. I can only agree with his comments.

On lap 8 Chaz Mostert was near the front of the pack. Mark Winterbottom wasn’t too far behind.

On lap 9 Scott McLaughlin did not want to make any mistakes while Fabian Coulthard was following him so closely.

On lap 10 Nick Percat was close behind Lee Holdsworth. At his first opportunity he tried to overtake Lee Holdsworth on the inside of a turn. At 260kms/ph Nick Percat’s breaks failed on entry to the turn. He had no chance of taking the corner. His car screaming straight ahead and crossed in front of Lee Holdsworth’s path. Contact was made and they both ended up off track. They were both disappointingly now out of the race with a DNF.

On lap 11 Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard were running 1st and 2nd. Both cars being on the same team it was as if they were saying to everybody else behind them ‘catch us if you can we are the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske’.

On lap 12 Chaz Mostert was trying to catch Fabian Coulthard for 2nd spot but just wasn’t able to.  Jamie Whincup was close behind them both, desperately wanting a piece of the action but it was the second last lap and they weren’t going to make it easy.

In the final lap the top 4 cars had such a good lead they couldn’t be caught; Scott McLaughlin, Fabain Coulthard, Chaz Mostert and Jamie Whincup.

Although this is a short race (only 13 laps) it was exciting and really enjoyable to watch.

Result for race 1.

1st Scott McLaughlin – Dick Johnson racing Team Penske.
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Dick Johnson racing team Penske.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
4th Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

In race 2 Fabian Coulthard started on pole position with his (Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske) teammate, Scott McLaughlin alongside him.

On lap 1 of 13 Fabian Coulthard took the lead over Scott McLaughlin. Garth Tander tried to make a move on Michael Caruso but it didn’t happen. He then tried it on with Chaz Mostert and did pass him.

Mark Winterbottom and Cameron Waters made contact which wouldn’t have made Tim Edwards a very happy team owner at all.

James Moffatt tried to get down the inside of Craig Lowndes but wasn’t successful. David Reynolds and Todd Kelly were battling back in the pack. Tim Slade was looking to make a move on Craig Lowndes as well and he got the job done. Scott Pye was following the two cars in front of him and hoping to take advantage of any mistake in their 1-on-1 battle.

On lap 2 Jamie Whincup went back to 7th from 3rd on the grid.  Dale Wood made contact with Simona De Slivestro but both managed to stay on track.

Chaz Mostert was putting pressure on Shane Van Gisbergen and passed him at turn 3. But Shane Van Gisbergen had the racing line going into turn number 4 and he took back his original spot.

On lap 3 Chaz Mostert was under pressure from Jamie Whincup.

Then Chaz Mostert turned Shane Van Gisbergen around in between turns 14 and 15 clipping him at the left rear corner as he attempted a pass. As a result Chaz got a drive thru penalty. Shane Van Gisbergen then got into more trouble. As he went forward to turn his car around and get going in the right direction again, James Moffatt hit him head on. Both drivers had to walk back to pit lane. The damage caused was extensive enough and they were both out of the race.

Roland Dane and Garry Rogers would not have been happy with their 2 cars being damaged so severely.

On lap 3 the Safety Car came out to clean up the damaged Holden Commodores of Shane Van Gisbergen and James Moffatt.

Simona De Slivestro was also out of race 2 due to a stuck throttle.

On the restart the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske cars were leading, that is Scott Mclaughlin and Fabian Coulthard. The Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske were putting in a good challenge to the Triple 8 race engineering team (Jamie Whincup, Shane Van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes).

Pit reporter, Mark Larkham interviewed Roland Dane, team owner of Triple 8 Race Engineering. In regards to the extensive and costly car repairs needed after the incident with James Moffatt, he told Mark Larkham ‘I will never be as rich as Roger Penske’.

Mark Larkham then interviewed Shane Van Gisbergen who stated his deep disappointment about the incident with James Moffatt.

On lap 5 the cars were still under the safety car. After the restart there was bad news coming for Supercheap Auto Racing’ and Chaz Mostert. He copped a black flag (drive thru penalty) for spinning Shane Van Gisbergen around.

On lap 6 After Chaz Mostert came in to serve his pit lane drive thru penalty. The 2 DJR Shell V power racing team fords had bolted into the distance and couldn’t be caught by the cars behind them.

On lap 7 Todd Kelly was battling with his brother Rick Kelly for 8th and 9th spot. On 8 David Reynolds was following his teammate Dale Wood to get fresh and cool air for the engine due to how long he was behind him for.

On lap 9 Fabian Coulthard had Scott Mclaughlin chasing him down for the race lead. It was exactly what Dick Johnson racing Team Penske wanted.

On lap 10 Scott Pye was following James Courtney for 11th and 12th. On lap 11 Michael Caruso was putting pressure on Scott Mclaughlin for 2nd place but he couldn’t get the move done in time.  Which Michael Caruso wasn’t happy with at all.

On lap 12 David Reynolds was following James Moffatt but wasn’t able to pass him cleanly. Meaning without contact and no damage.

In the final lap of the race teammates Fabain Coulthard and Scott Mclaughlin took the race win,

Results for race 2

1st Fabain Coulthard – Shell V Power racing team. Dick Johnson racing team Penske.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power racing team. Dick Johnson racing team Penske.
3rd Michael Caruso – Nissan Motorsport.
4th Garth Tander – Garry Rogers Motorsport.

In race 3 Fabian Coulthard started on pole position alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

On lap 1 of 13 Jamie Whincup tried to go around the outside of the pole sitter Fabain Coulthard but couldn’t quite pass him. Jason Bright, Garth Tander and Alex Rullo made contact in concertina affect. Taz Douglas was right behind them and just managed to swerve around them. Jason Bright and Garth Tander both spun around. When they re-joined the race they were at the back of the pack.  They were all doubled up on turn 3. Gath Tander was on the outside of Rick Kelly. Will Davison was on the outside of Michael Caruso. James Courtney was on the outside of David Reynolds. David Reynolds gave James Courtney enough racing room for them to continue their battle for positions 5 and 6.

Shane Van Gisbergen started race 3 in position 25 on the grid and made it all the way up to 11th on the first lap. Mark Winterbottom passed Craig Lowndes back in the pack. Tim Blanchard, Cameron Waters and Tim Slade were three abreast. Cameron Waters managed to pass both of them in 1 go. Then Tim Slade got up the inside of his teammate, Tim Blanchard.

On lap 2 the field was settling down into a race pace and rhythm.  While everyone else was trying to catch the leaders up front, Simona De Silvestro went off the track  due to trying to pass her teammate Rick Kelly  . Scott Pye went off on to the grass to avoid making contact with Simona. James Courtney went into pit lane to inspect some damage that he may have suffered as a result of contact with another car. Garth Tander had a flat right front tyre (which meant he had to limp back to the pits to get it changed). It seemed that once again for a short race there was going to be lots of excitement.

On lap 3 Fabian Coulthard was pulling away from Jamie Whincup. Mark Larkham had a chat to Ryan Story, Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske team manager and asked why the 2 Dick Johnson Racing team Penske cars were going so well at Albert park.

Craig Lowndes got in front of Cameron Waters. Cameron Waters tried to get the spot back but couldn’t get the job done. At turn 3 Shane Van Gisbergen tried to get up the inside of Rick Kelly but the Champion couldn’t get job done

On lap 4 the drivers up front were doing well and had the cars behind chase them down. Tim Slade got up the inside of Cameron Waters at turn 3. But then Cameron Waters did the switch back and got the spot back after Tim Slade ran very wide.  Tim Slade  could only  re-join safely on lap 5

On lap 6 Chaz Mostert was chasing Cameron Waters for 10th place,   the cars were doing well in terms of No Damage, on lap 7 Scott Mclaughlin and Fabain Coulthard the 2 Dick Johnson Racing team Penske Cars couldn’t be caught because they were just too quick. On lap 8 Mark Winterbottom was following his teammates to get in front to be in the top half of the race instead of the bottom half.  Which Tim Edwards wanted. So they did. On lap 9 James Courtney was doing a great job making places for the Mobil1 HSV Racing Team. Which he wanted to do on lap 10 the cars up the front of the field were racing towards the Checkered Flag. On lap 11 Jamie Whincup was running 2nd which he the red bull Holden Racing Team and Roland Dane who is the team boss at Triple 8 race engineering were very happy with. In the middle of the race the fords were just too fast for the Holden’s too catch them. On lap 12     No One was able to catch the front runners. Towards the end of the race no one could catch Fabain Coulthard and Jamie Whincup. On the final lap which was lap 13 Dick Johnson was getting Excited because his team was about to score another 1st and 2nd finish.

Results for race 3

1st Fabain Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team. Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Scott McLaughlin – Dick Johnson Racing team Penske.
4th Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing team.

In race 4 Jamie Whincup started on pole position alongside him was Fabain Coulthard on lap 1 of 13 Fabain Coulthard got the jump Jamie Whincup got Wheel spin off the line. Tim Slade lost a couple of spots at the start of the race. Shane Van Gisbergen tried to get up the inside of Chaz Mostert in between turn 15 and 16. But Chaz wouldn’t let him pass.

On lap 2 Garth Tander and Cameron Waters both had Damage to their race cars heading into turn 1. Scott McLaughlin passed Cameron Waters on exit of turn 1. Craig Lowndes tried to go around the outside of Cameron Waters and Craig managed to get him.

On lap 3 Tim Slade was putting a lot of pressure on the 2016 V8 Supercars Champion Shane Van Gisbergen. Cameron Waters had Extreme heat problem with the engine on the monster energy racing ford car 6.

On lap 4 Tim Slade tried to pass Shane Van Gisbergen at turn 3 but wasn’t able to be done. He was rattling the rear bumper of car 97 just letting him know that he was there. Michael Caruso was putting the pressure on James Courtney.

On lap 5 Shane Van Gisbergen was holding up a bunch of cars behind him.

On lap 6 the cars and drivers were starting to think about the end of the race, in the middle of the race Fabain Coulthard had a flat tyre due to an Aggressive Set up. On car 12.

On lap 7 Chaz Mostert was up in 2nd place while the cars were battling back in the pack. Which wasn’t ideal. But when the drivers don’t qualify up the front the car can get caught up in the mess.

On lap 8 Mark Winterbottom wanted to finish in a strong spot so that prodrive racing Australia. Didn’t have to do an all-nighter. Towards the end of race Jamie Whincup also had a Flat Tyre on the left rear due to a broken Anti Roll bar.  Alex Rullo and Simona De Slivestro were battling for position 18 and 19. In the end no one could catch Chaz Mostert.

On lap 9 David Reynolds was following Dale Wood his teammate for position 12 and 13. Which they were not happy with. But they were just outside the of the top ten.

On lap 10 Chaz Mostert was the leading the race. Which Chaz Mostert wanted.

On lap 11 the cars and drivers behind him but couldn’t which made their teams Frustrated about.

On lap 12 Shane Van Gisbergen and Tim Slade and Todd Kelly all tried to get up to the rear bumper of Chaz Mostert’s Supercheap Auto Racing Car. Car number 55.

Results for race 4.

1st Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing.
4th Todd Kelly – Nissan Motorsport.

The hosts were Jessica Yates and Russell Ingall. The Commentators were Richard Crail and Jack Perkins. And the pit lane reporter was Mark Larkham. The next event is the Tyre power Tasmania Super sprint from the 7th to the 9th of April 2017.