Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!
On the weekend of the 4th to the 7th of October 2018 was the 2018 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
It was the 58th running of what has now become the most well known race in Australia.
It was also race 25 in the annual championships.
The weather was poor throughout the preliminaries to the race and the rain and wet track gave additional challenges in fine tuning the cars.
The results of the lead up events proved interesting with the following drivers clocking the fastest times:
· Practice 1 – Will Davison.
· Practice 2 – Alex Premat (a co drivers only session).
· Practice 3 – Richie Stanaway.
· Practice 4 – Luke Youlden.
· Practice 5 – Michael Caruso.
· Armour All Qualifying – Jamie Whincup.
· Practice 6 David Reynolds and Luke Youlden.
· Top Ten Shootout – David Reynolds.
· Warm Up – Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat.
When it came time for the big race to start the skies didn’t clear but it did stop raining and the track was looking a lot dryer.
For the start of the 161 lap race David Reynolds and Luke Youlden started on pole position, alongside them was Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell.
I assume I am not spoiling anything about the results by mentioning Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards started 9th.
Erebus Motorsport were running 1st and 2nd during the opening laps due to Jamie Whincup bogging down off the start line. I thought, “It’s a long way to go and there is plenty of time for a pro like Jamie Whincup to make it up’.
Most of the main drivers started the race. The only co-drivers to start the race were Ash Walsh, Tony Dalberto and James Moffatt.
Cameron Waters was not happy with Chaz Mostert due to an incident at Forest Elbow. Chaz Mostert came into contact with David Russel while he was co-driving for Cameron Waters. The car suffered badly in the contact and got a broken steering arm.
Ash Walsh went off track twice due to out braking himself.
James Courtney had an engine failure while his co-driver Jack Perkins was at the wheel. It couldn’t be repaired and they received no point and DNF.
In the first stint David Reynolds went to 23 laps before pitting and handing over to his co-driver Luke Youlden. Luke Youlden ran wide at turn 1 and I thought that the Red Bull cars were going to run 1st and 2nd after but that wasn’t the case. Youlden managed to keep the lead.
The first Vodafone Safety Car was deployed due Dean Fiore slowing down due to hitting the wall at turn 1.
On lap 40 of 161, The Red Bull Holden Racing Team car number 1 driven by Paul Dumbrell was in second place to Luke Youlden. Coming down the main straight he lost a front right wheel, which also took the hub along with it. Paul Dumbrell had a lot of speed but amazingly managed to control the car back to the pits with just 3 wheels!!!! It wasn’t that controlled because at one stage he looked as if he was going to run into the back of Tim Slade. My first thought was, ‘OMG – slow down! Don’t do too much damage’. The end result was going a lap down which to be honest is not a bad effort considering the repairs needed.
They were well into the race when the rain started to come down and most drivers pitted for the correct rubber. Some teams choose to stay on dry tyres which I thought was a bit risky. I guess it wasn’t that heavy and if it just spits then it is ok to stay on slicks.
In the middle Alex Premat nearly had a massive crash when he was re-joining the race after going off track at the ‘Bottle O Chase’ at high speed. Im sure it wouldn’t have impressed Scott McLaughlin one bit.
Chris Pither avoided an accident which I didn’t think he would pull-off because he was so close to the car in front of him.
Towards the end of the race David Reynolds was still leading with Craig Lowndes following close behind in 2nd place.
Prior to the race David Reynolds stated that he hadn’t been sleeping well and feeling pretty aweful (probably nerves about the big race). As the race moved on past half way David Reynolds told engineers he was cramping and fatigued but still chose to drive on. The team repeatedly asked him if he was OK and he should come in and handover to his co-driver Luke Youlden.
David Reynolds soon stated he had blurry vision but was still determined to carry on. He was called into pits and given fluids with electrolytes and a few other things.
When he was just about to leave the pits he had another cramp and spun his wheels while still jacked up. He was given a drive through penalty which he had to serve and it just broke his lead that he had maintained all through the race. He even had set a lap record earlier but now it was clear he had to come back in for an unscheduled pit stop to hand over to Luke Youlden. The lost time was too much and they finished up crossing the line luck 13th. It was a sad moment for the Erebus team.
If there was anyone that you would wish was going to be in a position to take advantage, it would be Craig Lowndes. He recently announced his retirement from full-time racing and is considered by many as a great driver plus a hell-of-a-guy! I even wished this win for him as a perfect way to close his last year of full time driving.
It was lap 133 when Craig Lowndes took the race lead and was never headed, meaning no one could catch him. It was a big lead too that no one was closing. He finished an incredible 6.2919 seconds ahead of Scott Pye. The crowd just went wild!
Results for race 25
1st Craig Lowndes & Steven Richards – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.
2nd Scott Pye & Warren Luff – Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing.
3rd Scott McLaughlin & Alex Premat – Shell V Power Racing Team.
The next event is the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 19th to the 21st of October 2018.
Can Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards win the 2018 Pirtek Enduro cup?
The 2 races at the Gold coast will be races 26 and 27.
if you have any Questions or Opinions on how the race panned out please feel to let me know via.