On the weekend of the 3rd to the 5th of November 2017 was the ITM Auckland SuperSprint.
This is held at the Pukekohe Park Raceway just south of Auckland in New Zealand.
The V8 Supercars have been racing here since 2013. The track has changed a little from last year with more turns added for the drivers to navigate so I’m sure that the teams would use a different setup for this race weekend.
Other factors that will affect team strategies are:
– With only one race to go for the season after this one, the drivers who are in the championship fight will probably hold back from any risks as they do not want to damage their cars.
– The cars had to be flown over to NZ for the race and their trucks stay in Australia, meaning they have limited spares on hand for repairs.
– There are only 3 safety cars being used for the race.
I think the Red Bull team will be extra careful to ensure they don’t have a repeat of last year when Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen came together in the race.
Race 23 on Saturday and Race 24 on Sunday are both 70 laps and 200Kms each.
In the preliminaries to the race, the Qualifying session was abandoned part way through due to the wet weather. As a result, the grid was set from the Friday Practice times.
Things got better and conditions had improved by the time Race 23 started. Rain had stopped and the track had dried out somewhat.
Cameron Waters started on pole position alongside him was Jamie Whincup.
Jamie Whincup beat Cameron Waters to turn 1 and held lead for the first couple of laps. It wasn’t long before Scott McLaughlin got into 2nd place and was pressuring Jamie Whincup’s number 1 position.
Scott McLaughlin took a risk as he tried to go around the outside of Jamie Whincup but didn’t succeed. Jamie Whincup was defensive and didn’t leave him enough room which earned him a bad sportsmanship flag.
On lap 56 David Reynolds and Fabian Coulthard made contact sending David Reynolds into a tyre barrier and Fabian Coulthard had a massive roll over. He was the only DNF for the race. The car was a mess and the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske didn’t finish the repair until 4:30a.m. Fabian Coulthard was adamant to race on Sunday.
Shane Van Gisbergen was now the race leader followed by Mark Winterbottom and Scott McLaughlin.
Chaz Mostert was trying to re dress so that he wouldn’t get pinged after making contact with David Reynolds exiting turn 8.
In the last laps Shane Van Gisbergen held his lead confidently. No one seemed to be able to catch him.
It was a tight finish. Shane Van Gisbergen reached the chequered flag first having moved up 5 places from his starting position. Mark Winterbottom had taken advantage of his grid starting position 3 and came in 2nd just over 0.8 seconds later. Closely followed by Scott McLaughlin, Jamie Whincup and Jason Bright, with finishing times 01:24:00.2363, 01:24:00.6912 and 01:24:01.3644.
Results for race 23
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Mark Winterbottom – Prodrive Racing Australia.
3rd Scott Mclaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
4th Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
In race 24 Jamie Whincup started on pole position alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.
During Qualifying for race 24 Craig Lowndes nearly caused a red flag due to running wide in between turns 3 and 4. He recovered well and managed to be placed 12th on the starting grid.
I couldn’t believe that DJR managed to repair Fabian Coulthard’s car after he rolled it the day before, especially due to the limited spares that all the teams have at an ‘away’ race. Fabian Coulthard is a determined man and scored himself the 8th position on the starting grid. It was great to see.
At the start of the 70 lap race Jamie Whincup got the led into the first corner. Scott Mclaughlin had to pull in behind him and stay put because there isn’t room to pass between turns 2 and 3.
Garth Tander was running well early on. He started 11th on the grid but soon moved inside the top 5.
Shane Van Gisbergen was another driver doing well early on and had drama free pit stops.
After the first round of stops and the drivers re-joined the race, Jamie Whincup took his lead back.
Simona de Silvestro was following Rick and Todd Kelly because it was her first race at Pukekohe raceway in New Zealand.
When the 2nd round of pit stops started, Tim Slade making entry to the pits had his pit lane speed limiter on and Shane Van Gisbergen came into the pit lane entry behind him way too fast, and I mean way too fast! He rear-ended Tim Slade who must have gotten the shock of his life. It was a bizarre mistake on Shane Van Gisbergen’s part and he ended up with a bent up bonnet resembling a tent that blocked his view and required him to be guided into his bay. The result was devastating; By the end of the race he had dropped from 7th place on the starting grid to 24th. Such a poor result now put an end to him being a possible contender for the championship.
In the middle of the race the weather was getting worse with clouds starting to come over the race track. It was really dark so fast. I laughed at Neil Crompton comment to fellow commentator Mark Scaife, “It’s gotten so dark, it is like night”.
Towards the end of the race no one else could catch the top 3 drivers which were Jamie Whincup, Scott McLaughlin and Cameron Waters.
Jamie Whincup said he wasn’t feeling very well before the race but he managed to start from pole and basically lead the whole way all bar pit stops.
Results for race 24
1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Team.
2nd Scott Mclaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing Team.
4th Craig Lowndes – Team Vortex.
Jamie Whincup now leads the championship by 30 points heading into the Coates Hire Newcastle 500 which will take place between the 24th and the 26th of November 2017.
With this win Jamie Whincup now has 75 career pole positions and 107 career race wins.
The big question at the moment is, “who will win the 2017 V8 Supercars Championship?”.
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.
Jamie Whincup now leads the championship by 30 points heading into the Coates Hire Newcastle 500 which will take place between the 24th and the 26th of November 2017.
