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Supercars

Valo Adelaide 500 2024

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 14 – 17 November 2024 was Valo Adelaide 500, Round 12 of the 2024 Supercars Championship. This was the last round for the year held on the Adelaide Street circuit in South Australia.

The Adelaide Street Circuit was purpose built to host the Australian Grand Prix when Adelaide won the rights in 1985. The 3.80 km track combined sections constructed in Victoria Park as well as utilising city streets.

Supercars started racing at the Adelaide circuit in 1999. The event was known as The Sensational Adelaide 500 and run over 2 legs. At that very first event both races were won by legend Craig Lowndes. He won the first race from the second row of the grid and on the Sunday, he won after starting at the back of the pack. He unbelievably went from last to first.

This year marks the 25 year anniversary for Supercars at the venue.

This year it was the last event for the year, so is a milestone for two people leaving the sport as full-time drivers. Tim Slade is leaving after a 15 years career and Mark ‘Frosty’ Winterbottom ends his illustrious career after 21 years. We thank you and wish you all the very best for the future.

The event kicked off on a Thursday with warm weather. Great for the visitors but making it a hot 45 degrees plus inside the race cars.

The pre-race sessions results were:

  • James Courtney was fastest in Practice 1
  • David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 2
  • Will Brown was fastest in Qualifying. The session was cut short due to a red flag with 9 minutes 41 seconds remaining, caused by a big shunt between Richie Stanaway Cameron Hill and David Reynolds.
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 3
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the top 10 Shootout

In Race 23 Cameron Waters started on pole position, alongside him was Thomas Randle.

Dale Wood started 24th on the grid as substitute for Richie Stanaway who was receiving medical attention after his crash in qualifying.

Cooper Murray was sitting in for “Dad to Be” Jack le Brocq who was heading home to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.

Chaz Mostert was having clutch problems pre-race and had to start from the pit lane.

The two Red Bull Ampol Racing driver’s came into this event as the only 2 in contention for the season title. So, although it was a tense situation it would have been relatively a friendly competition between the two, Will Brown and Broc Feeney.

At the start of the 78 lap race Thomas Randle got the jump and took the lead. Cameron Waters tucked into second place and Matt Payne was right behind them in third. The championship contenders Will Brown and Broc Feeney were battling for 4th and 5th place.

Both Broc Feeney and Will Brown soon passed Matt Payne for 3rd and 4th position.

Last year’s reigning champ, Brodie Kostecki had moved up 4 places into 7th.

Chaz Mostert who was 3rd on the season ladder wanted to keep his place on the scoreboard. He passed David Rynolds to take the 18th spot.

The first car to pit in this race was Tim Slade from 21st position on lap 17.

Soon after Slade returned to the track he was hit by David Reynolds. Slade was able to continue but David Reynolds was slowing and had to head into the garage to resolve the problems with car 20.

Broc Feeney in 3rd place was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 27. The stop was 5.5 seconds and he re-joined in 7th position. The 6 cars ahead were yet to take their pit stops. Once they did Feeney took the lead of the race.

Mark Winterbottom was spun around and pushed out of 5th place by Cooper Murray.

By the middle of the race Broc Feeney had a comfortable lead over Thomas Randle and Cameron Waters. Will Brown was in 4th place.

Broc Feeney kept edging ahead of the pack. It seemed he was untouchable.

With 8 laps to go Broc Feeney had created an 8.7 second lead on the rest of the pack. Meanwhile, his teammate Will Brown had passed Thomas Randle and Cameron Waters to take 2nd place. For Will Brown to finish within the top 5 places would be good enough for him to wrap up the 2024 Supercars Championship.

Will Brown wanted the win but just couldn’t close the gap on Feeney.

Broc Feeney crossed the finish line an amazing 12.117 seconds clear of Will Brown to take his 12th career win, and his 6th win of the 2024 season. Cameron Waters followed in 3rd place.

With this result Will Brown was named ‘2024 Champion Elect’. What a great moment for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team. Top two drivers and top team for the year!

Race 23 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

In Race 24 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Chaz Mostert alongside him.

As they took off Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney were neck in neck until they got to turn 4 when Mostert was able to finally take the lead. Meanwhile Will Brown was right behind.

On lap 4 Matt Payne went into a tyre wall at turn 11. Payne couldn’t get the car into reverse and the front end was buried under the mountain of tyres. The safety car was deployed to rescue him & after a short stint in the garage returned to the race.

The restart was on lap 8 and Chaz Mostert still had control of the race. Broc Feeney in 2nd was looking very racy after the restart and put in several challenges for the lead but Mostert defended well.

At turn 7 Will Brown was hit and spun around by Brodie Kostecki trying to make a pass for 3rd place. The new Champion Elect, Will Brown dropped from 3rd all the way down to 22nd. Although already named champ aft the previous race, being at the back of the pack was surely not how he wanted to finish the season.

Thomas Randle took advantage of the mayhem, and he was now the driver in 3rd place.

Later in the race after the officials reviewed the incident, Brodie Kostecki was issued a 15 second time penalty.

Ryan Wood in 5th place got turned around by Anton de Pasquale at turn 9. Cameron Waters trying to avoid the incident hit Pasquale and went up onto 2 wheels which looked extremely scary.

The first car to pit was James Golding on lap 20 from 20th place.

By the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was out front with a 3 + second lead over Broc Feeney. There was then a 9.927 seconds gap back to Will Davison in third place.

On lap 50 the 3 leaders pitted for the final time. On exit there was contact between Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney. Officials deemed it Feeney’s error and issued him with 15 second time penalty.

With 13 laps to go the lead pack had changed order. Anton de Pasquale was in the number 1 spot, followed by Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert and Will Brown.

Take note that Brown was in 4th place after working his way back to the front after being pushed to the rear of the pack early on in the race. I guess that shows why he earned the championship crown.

Anton de Pasquale’s car was showing the strain of the gruelling 78 lap race. The spoiler on his car was hanging loose and scraping the track. He had to relinquish the lead and head to the pits for repairs before the officials gave him a mechanical black flag.

The lead had changed once again; Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert then Will Brown. Although Feeney was in the lead he still had a 15 second time penalty that would be added post race. He knew he wouldn’t be standing on the podium.

Chaz Mostert in 2nd place looked like he would inherit the win from Feeney.  With 4 laps to go Mostert exceeded track limits and was issued a drive through penalty.

Once Mostert left the track to serve the penalty, Will Brown moved into 2nd place on the track.

Brown knew of the impending 15 second penalty hanging over Feeney, so he took no risks to challenge him. He would win by default.

When Mostert returned to the track after serving the drive through penalty he was miraculously in 3rd place.

Broc Feeney crossed the line first, followed by teammate Will Brown, Chaz Mostert and then Thomas Randle.

Feeney’s time penalty dropped him down to 7th place in the final results. Will Brown claimed the win, Chaz Mostert was declared 2nd and Thomas Randle 3rd.

It was bad luck for Feeney but what a great finish to Will Brown as the season champ.

Race 24 Results:

1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

Well, that’s it for the 2024 Supercars season.

The Sydney 500 will be the first event to kick off the new season in Feb 2025. I can’t wait and hope you will join me in the new year.

In the meantime, I wish you all a very safe and happy festive season and new year.

Supercars

Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 2024

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of October 25 – 27 was the round 11 of the 2024 Supercars Championship, Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 held in Surfers Paradise in Queensland.

The Surfers Paradise street circuit was opened on the 15th March 1991 for the 1991 Gold Coast Indycar Grand Prix. The track layout stretching along the local beaches and other main streets was a tricky 4.47km circuit with 20 turns. In 2010 its length was shortened to 2.96 km with 15 turns.

In 1994 the V8 Supercars started racing at the Gold Coast as a support category to the Indy 300. So, this year marks the 30th Supercars anniversary.

It wasn’t until 2002 that it became an official championship round in the Supercars competition.

Coming into this year’s Gold Coast 500 as the second last event of the year, there were 4 drivers in contention for the championship; Will Brown, Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters.

Things were set to be a super competitive event.

In the pre – race sessions the results were:

  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 1
  • Thomas Randle was Fastest in Practice 2
  • Richie Stanaway was fastest in Qualifying
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

In Race 21 Cameron Waters started on Pole Position with Richie Stanaway alongside him. Season leader, Will Brown started 11th on the grid due to crashing in Qualifying at turn 11.

The first lap was a little messy. Cameron Waters got the jump off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 85 laps and 250kms. The cars back in the pack were crowded with no room so were forced off track at the first chicane. Broc Feeney was one of them with all wheels out of bounds. The manovuer was called into question by fellow driver Thomas Randle. Officials let it go without penalty.

Chaz Mostert moved up to 3rd place. James Golding was battling with Broc Feeney for 4th and 5th. Ryan Wood made contact with Jack le Brocq at turn 11 and ended up in the barrier wall. Wood was able to push on, but Jack le Brocq suffered damage and went straight into the garage to have repairs undertaken.

Richie Stanaway was still in 2nd place behind Cameron Waters on lap 7 but things were going to go badly over the next handful of laps.

First Chaz Mostert overtook Stanaway at turn 11. On the next lap James Golding also passed him at turn 11. Not long after Broc Feeney did the same. This was followed up by Thomas Randle. Richie Stanaway was now moved back from 2nd to 6th place.

Jaxson Evans was the first to pit on lap 20 returning in 23rd place.

The fierce competition between the top 5 drivers continued.

Broc Feeney and Thomas Randle pitted on lap 26 probably in efforts to move out the intensity up front.

James Golding pitted on lap 27. The team couldn’t get the left rear wheel off cleanly costing him time and any chance of a decent result. He was now out of the top 5.

Around the middle of the race Chaz Mostert did the fastest lap, 111.389 seconds.

Cameron Waters was still in the lead but now had Thomas Randle behind him followed by Broc Feeney.

From that point on Cameron Waters kept edging ahead. By the time they were coming closer to the finish he had a 10+ second lead.

Waters made no errors and proved to be uncatchable. He crossed the finish line 9.8 seconds ahead of his teammate Thomas Randle followed by Broc Feeney.

It was an incredible finish.

Race 21Results:

1st Cameron Waters – Monster Castrol Racing

2nd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

In Race 22 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position. Alongside him was Will Brown.

Brodie Kostecki got the jump off the start line and led into turns 1 and 2 over Will Brown for the first of 85 laps.

At turn 11 Anton de Pasquale spun. The car behind could not avoid crashing into him. It had a dominos effect and a total of 8 cars became part of the pile up. Most cars were severely damaged. The safety car was deployed to clear the track of what now looked like a wrecking yard.

All except Anton de Pasquale were able to get repairs and return to the action later. They would of course be at least a lap behind.

The restart was on lap 7. Brodie Kostecki was still leading followed by Will Brown and Chaz Mostert.

On lap 11 James Golding was the first to make a pit stop by choice. His crew, Nulon Racing Team dropped the car on the ground without the right rear wheel on. They had to jack the car up and refit the fourth wheel. The lost time resulted in returning to the race in 20th place.

Officials immediately started an investigation as to why Nulon Racing tried to send a car out with only three wheels. It wasn’t long before they issued a drive through penalty for the error.

Thomas Randle pulled off his impersonation of a pinball machine. He bounced off the tyre barriers from one side of the track to the other through turns 1 and 2. How he got out of it without any damage was just a miracle!

On lap 17 James Courtney’s car looked a mess after the damage sustained in the lap 1 pile up. It didn’t seem to stop him recording the fastest circuit time in the race so far.

Soon after Broc Feeney’s car had smoke coming from the right front corner. It was so noticeable there were concerns but as quickly as it started, it quickly disappeared.

Brodie Kostecki pitted from his leading position on lap 30. There were still 5 cars yet to pit including Will Davison who now had the lead. Before Will Davison was able to take his mandatory pit stop he received a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits going through the back chicanes; turns 8, 9 and 10.

Brodie Kostecki had resumed lead and control by the middle of race. He was followed by Will Brown, Chaz Mostert, and Broc Feeney. They were packed tightly together.

Within the last dozen laps Broc Feeney passed Chaz Mostert to sit behind teammate, Will Brown. Cameron Waters also managed to get by Chaz Mostert to take 4th position. Cameron Waters side-swiped the tyre bundles at turn 1 and 2 losing aerodynamic fittings. It didn’t help the downforce of the car as he made a bid for a podium finish.

With 11 laps to go Brodie Kostecki was looking strong and in a dominant position. I couldn’t believe that he led from start to finish.

Just like at the Bathurst 1000, Brodie Kostecki showed his championship winning form of last year. He drove faultless and increased his lead. Where they were packed close together earlier, he was now creating a noticeable gap.

Kostecki held strong to cross the finish line 3.731 seconds ahead of the series leader Will Brown. Broc Feeney followed close behind in 3rd place 0.443 seconds later.

Race 22 Results:

1st Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

With the results of Race 22 and only one event remaining both Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters are out of championship contention.

The only driver able to challenge the season leader Will Brown is his teammate, Broc Feeney. There is only 108 points between the two. Once again, the final event will be a championship showdown: Will Brown Vs Broc Feeney.

The last and final event on the 2024 Supercars calendar is the Valo Adelaide 500, November 14 – 17 2024.

I hope you will all join me to find out who will be “The 2024 Supercars Champion”. Till then keep revving!

Supercars

Repco Bathurst 1000 2024

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Hi to all you Supercar fans around the world!

The weekend of October 10th–13th hosted the Repco Bathurst 1000, which was Round 10 of the 2024 Supercars Championship and the 64th running of the legendary Bathurst endurance race.

The Bathurst race circuit, known as Mount Panorama, first opened on March 17, 1938. The race itself originated in 1960 as the Armstrong 500, a 500 mile race held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. In 1963, the event moved to Bathurst, where it retained the 500 mile distance until 1973 when it went metric and was extended to a 1000 kilometre race.

1000 is the most iconic race of the year in Australia and is internationally recognised as a tough and gruelling race on an extremely difficult track.

Over the years, the Bathurst 1000 has been the stage for many remarkable moments in motorsport history. Some of the most notable include:

  • Peter Brock (Brocky) was also nicknamed “King of the Mountain”. Between 1972 and 1987 (a period of 15 years) he won the Bathurst 1000 nine times. His win in 1979 was by a phenomenal 6 laps ahead of other competitors. On the final lap anyone would think he would play it safe. Instead, he broke the fastest recorded time in history.
    Peter Brock – Wins 1979 Bathurst 100 by 6 laps. Who would have thought being quick would make you popular with the girls. Sign of the times.
    • 2003: Greg Murphy astounded everyone in the top 10 shootout before the race. He clocked such a phenomenal lap time it has gone down in history as the “Lap of the Gods”.
    Lap of the Gods 2003. You don’t have to be a motor sports fan to enjoy this.
    • 2005: Marcos Ambrose was the season champion for 2003 and 2004. He was well on his way to making it three in a row. On lap 145, he and Greg Murphy were in the top 10 at the front of the pack. They made contact at The Cutting and Ambrose was taken out of the race. He earned no points for the championship. It not only ruined his chances of a Bathurst win (after 145 of 161 laps) but took him of the season running.
    • 2006: Paul Radisich crashed coming out of The Chase. His car was demolished, and he suffered injuries so bad he was unable to compete for the rest of the season.
    • 2008: Paul Radisich as co-driver to Rick Kelly locked up the front wheels at maximum speed smashing into a barrier of the upcoming turn. The impact was so intense, just watching it will give you whiplash. The car was out of the race.
    • 2010: On the first lap, competition was so fierce Fabian Coulthard left the track at max speed on Conrod Straight. He hit the sand trap, slid sideways and the car went into a 6 barrel roll. Needless to say, he missed the next 160 laps.

    Honestly, there are dozens more examples of moments in the Bathurst 1000 that have gone down in history.

    This year’s Bathurst 1000 was also a special milestone for several drivers. Craig Lowndes marked his 31st appearance, Warren Luff his 24th, Will Davison his 21st, James Courtney and Jack Perkins both celebrated their 19th Bathurst 1000.

    The hype around “The Big Race” starts well before the actual Sunday of the race itself. They even have a dedicated “Bathurst channel” starting a week in advance. The preliminary sessions started on the Thursday and went until the race on Sunday.

    Pre-Race Session fastest times:

    • Practice 1: Matt Payne.
    • Practice 2: Jamie Whincup in the co-driver session.
    • Practice 3: Broc Feeney.
    • Practice 4: Brodie Kostecki.
    • Qualifying: Matt Payne.
    • Practice 5: Cooper Murray in the co-driver session.
    • Practice 6: Broc Feeney.
    • Top Ten Shootout: Brodie Kostecki earning him Pole Position on the grid.
    • Warmup: Will Brown and co-driver Scott Pye shared the fastest lap.

    Race 20

    The 2023 champion Brodie Kostecki positioned himself in the number 1 grid spot. After last year’s brilliant performance, he has had a woeful time this season, so it was great to see him up front and ready to take on “The Big Race”.

    Cameron Waters pulled up alongside him on the front row. Just behind them was Broc Feeney in Position 3 (P3) and Richie Stanaway in P4.

    The moment finally came, and they were off for the gruelling 161 laps. Kostecki was out front from the moment they waved the green flag but it was Broc Feeney who had a blistering start and was close behind.

    Richie Stanaway passed Feeney and by the time they reached “The Chase” was putting in a challenge to Kostecki for the lead.

    Even with 160 laps and hours to go, all drivers were putting in 100%.

    By Lap 2, the young Broc Feeney in his 3rd Bathurst 1000 attempt as a main driver had passed Stanaway to take second place, 1.2 seconds behind leader Kostecki.

    The front group were beginning to spread out. Stanaway was just 1.1 seconds behind in third, followed by Cameron Waters 2.7 seconds adrift, and Will Brown 3.4 seconds back.

    A few laps later at the rear of the group Matt Chada went off track with an impressive half-spin and ended up in the sand trap. He was able to recover without a safety car intervening.

    Will Davison was the first car to pit on Lap 17 and handed over to co-driver Kai Allen for his first stint at Bathurst. Kai Allen along with Cooper Murray will be moving up from the Super-2s category to become full time V8-Supercars drivers in 2025. It must have been a moment  for both of them to achieve this goal.

    As Cameron Waters started lap 23 he made a mistake at Turn 1, going straight ahead off the track and losing the number 3 spot to Will Brown. He rejoined the race in 10th place.

    Kostecki continued to show fine form like that of his 2023 championship win. On lap 25 he did the fastest lap of the race recorded so far.

    A few laps later Chaz Mostert attempted an inside pass on Brad Vaughn at Forest Elbow (turn 18). They made contact causing significant damage to the front end of Vaughn’s car. His spoiler was left abandoned on the track with other car debris. I was surprised he was able to continue without pitting. Even so, there had been no safety car deployment so far.

    Brodie Kostecki and Broc Feeney both pitted on lap 28 from their 1st and 2nd spots. Will Brown briefly minded the lead as the pit stops cycled through.

    While Feeney handed over the wheel to co-driver Jamie Whincup, a fuel hose issue in the Red Bull Ampol Racing pit stall cost them valuable time (around 3 seconds).

    Todd Hazelwood took the wheel from Kostecki, emerging from the pits with a 6.6 second lead over Jamie Whincup.

    Meanwhile, Lee Holdsworth and Dale Wood were engaged in a fierce battle for 4th and 5th. Holdsworth’s poor positioning coming up to a turn and his own driving error had him go straight ahead and leave the track. Surprisingly it worked to his advantage as he cut the corners and re-entered the track in 3rd place. He wasn’t penalised for his short cut but normally it’s a “no no”.

    Garth Tander experienced a massive lockup at the final corner of the lap and dropped back to 14th place.

    Todd Hazelwood continued to lead but Jamie Whincup had closed the gap to 3.8 seconds. Due to pit stop cycling Scott Pye in 3rd was a further 11.028 seconds behind.

    There was also plenty of action in the main pack. Cooper Murray was having an impressive drive climbing six places into 12th. Declan Fraser moved up to 5th after passing Lee Holdsworth.

    Unfortunately, a Brad Jones Racing crewman had a fumble with the garage fuel pump hose connection whilst filling car 8 for driver Declan Fraser.  They were only able to take on 20 litres of fuel and were forced into an unscheduled pitstop shortly after. 20litres instead roughly 120 litres put them at a major disadvantage while in a competitive position.

    By the middle stages of the race Brodie Kostecki was on fire, extending his lead to a commanding 14.175 seconds over Jamie Whincup.

    When it came time for Jamie Whincup to give back the driving seat to Broc Feeney, Feeeny looked like he might have enough pace to challenge for the lead, but the gap was too big to close.

    Much loved legend Craig Lowndes was in 5th, having gained an astonishing 13 positions.

    On lap 132 of 161Matt Payne had a gear downshift issue as he zig zagged up “The Mountain” through The Cutting. At such high speed he was unable to make the upcoming turn and went straight ahead into the concrete barrier wall.

    After being on the track for more than 5 hours and coming close to the end of the race, it must have been a huge disappointment to Matt Payne and co-driver Garth Tander to see their car demolished and out of the race.

    The race went to “Yellow” and the first safety car of the day was deployed while the car wreck was removed.

    I must say it is so unusual for them to get this far into the race without a safety car deployment. It might have had to do with the good weather instead of the usual wet weather and sudden storms the Bathurst area can be prone to.

    While under “Yellow” drivers have to stay in formation behind the safety car, limited to 80Kmph. All the gaps are closed up. Brodie Kostecki’s 10 + second lead up the front was lost. It was going to make the last laps extremely exciting.

    The Big Race got back underway. Broc Feeney was now in a much better position to challenge the lead. Brodie Kostecki who had the number 1 spot almost the entire race was having none of that and defended with exceptional driving. There was simply no room at any stage for Feeney to get past him.

    They were both driving like demons. The rest of the pack were falling further behind. Pretty soon the two leaders had created 10 + second gap over them.

    In the final laps Brodie Kostecki held strong. Broc Feeney was no slouch either and kept on his tail, but still had no opportunity to pass. Not a single mistake was made by either driver as they charged to the end.

    The crowd went absolutely insane, cheering Kostecki on as he crossed the finish line 1.3 seconds ahead of Broc Feeney. It is only the 4th time in the history of the Bathurst 1000 that the pole sitter finished first.

    Will Brown was leading the rest of the pack, finishing 13.640 seconds behind in third.

    What a spectacular finish to the biggest race of the year.

    Race 20 Final Results:

    1st Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood – Erebus Motorsport

    2nd Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    3rd Will Brown and Scott Pye – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    With their 2nd and 3rd place finishes, Red Bull Ampol Racing secured the 2024 Teams Championship even with 2 events remaining. Broc Feeney moved back to 2nd place in the Drivers Championship, 204 points behind teammate Will Brown who remains the series leader. Chaz Mostert is in 3rd place, 222 points off the lead.

    With just two events remaining in the 2024 Supercars Championship – the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on October 25–27 and the final round on November 14–17

     The Valo Adelaide 500, the battle for the title is heating up. I hope you can join me for the final two rounds of an incredible season!

    Supercars

    Panasonic air conditioning Sydney Supernight 2024

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of July 19 – 21 2024 the Panasonic Air Conditioning Sydney Supernight was held. It was round 7 of the 2024 Supercars Championship.

    The event was held at Sydney Motorsport Park formerly known as Eastern Creek Raceway.

    Sydney Motorsport Park was first opened on the 10 November 1990 however, the main event came along in 1992 when the V8 supercars made their first appearance at the circuit. The venue has been host to events such as motorcycle racing, A1 Grand Prix, Touring cars and Muscle Car Masters.

    Just 2 days before this year’s event on July 17th 2024, James Courtney announced that he will be retiring from fulltime Supercars racing at the end of season 2025. He is now 44 years old and has been a full time driver since 2006. If he completes next season he will reach the 20 year milestone in Supercars. That is quite an achievement. 

    The pre-race sessions started on the Friday. Results were as follows:

    • Ryan Wood was fastest in Practice 1
    • Cameron Waters was fastest in Qualifying
    • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

    In Race 15 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Thomas Randle alongside him.

    As they took off Thomas Randle got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 51 laps.

    As the pack got to turn 2 there was contact between Mark Winterbottom and Macauley Jones. Winterbottom’s car suffered damage and he had to head straight for the pits. Macauley Jones was just a victim in the process but he did manage to keep going.

    The top 3 cars were reasonably close to each other. Chaz Mostert started to apply the pressure on his former teammate Cameron Waters in a bid for second place.

    It wasn’t long before Chaz Mostert found his opportunity and before turn 7 passed Cameron Waters. Chaz Mostert was now in second but was still 2.079 seconds behind race leader Thomas Randle.

    On lap 13 Brodie Kostecki was the first to take his pit stop from 24th place.

    As they reached into the 20 something laps Thomas Randle pitted from the lead, followed by Chaz Mostert and then Broc Feeney. While Randle pitted it was Cameron Waters who assumed the lead.

    In the middle of the race there were 4 cars yet to still pit. Once they did Chaz Mostert took the race lead. He was followed by Thomas Randle and Anton de Pasquale in third place.

    Will Davison showed how eager he was and did the fastest lap of the race, 131.505 seconds.

    Chaz Mostert’s experience showed as he defended the lead throughout the rest of the race.

    Although he couldn’t fully break away from the pack, Chaz Mostert still managed to cross the finish line 2.6 seconds ahead of Matt Payne. A further 4.5 seconds later Thomas Randle came in to take 3rd place.

    Results for Race 15

    1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
    2nd Matt Payne – Grove Racing
    3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

    In Race 16 Will Davison started on pole position. Alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

    As they took off Will Davison got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 51 laps. At turn 4 Will Davison ran wide giving Chaz Mostert the opportunity to pounce and get to the front of the field.

    At turn 8 Broc Feeney ran extremely wide causing him to drop all the way down to 23rd place. It just didn’t seem to be his weekend.

    On the next lap at turn 2 David Reynolds got up the inside of Matt Payne to enter the top 10 spots.

    It didn’t last long, and Matt Payne re-took 10th place back.

    The positions up front had not changed except for Will Brown who made up 1 spot to hold 4th place.

    Chaz Mostert had extended his lead out to 2.3 seconds over Will Davison in P2. Matt Payne unbelievably got into 7th spot and stayed side by side to Anton de Pasquale down the entire straight.

    David Reynolds got into a bind and was trying to avoid leaving the track. Unfortunately, he made contact with Ryan Wood. Brodie Kostecki was behind the two and had no chance to avoid giving David Reynolds a helping bump off the track. What a mess, Kostecki and Reynolds were now at the back of the pack. Ryan Wood fell back to 13th place (unlucky).

    The first car to pit in this race was Broc Feeney. He returned to the track in 25th place.

    Cameron Waters and Anton de Pasquale pitted on lap 25.

    There were still 3 cars yet to pit. Once they took their mandatory stops, Chaz Mostert assumed the lead.

    Once again Chaz held his place and even clocked the fastest lap of the race,131.302 seconds.

    With 9 laps to go car 26 Ritchie Stanaway had a clutch issue causing his wheels to spin whilst hoisted on the air-jacks in the pits. They tried to resolve the issue but in the end chose to send him back out to finish the race and earn the points. A much better option than a DNF (Did Not Finish).

    Chaz Mostert kept edging away from the rest of the pack and the front runners became more spread out. Mostert took advantage of the clear track and crossed the finish line 8.3 seconds clear of Cameron Waters in second place. It was another 8.9 seconds back to Will Brown in 3rd place.

    It was great weekend for the Walkinshaw Andretti United team and their driver Chaz Mostert winning 2 out of 2 races this weekend. It was his third win in the 2024 Supercars season.

    A look at the Driver’s Championship points after this event shows Will Brown still holds the number 1 spot. He leads by 105 points over Chaz Mostert in 2nd. Broc Feeney’s bad weekend moved him down a spot from 2nd to 3rd. Things are getting mighty interesting!

    On the Team’s Championship scoreboard Red Bull Ampol Racing still lead by 805 points over Walkinshaw Andretti United.

    Results for Race 16

    1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
    2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
    3rd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    The next event is the Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint 16 – 18 August 2024.

    Supercars

    NTI Townsville 500 2024

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of the 5th – 7th July 2024 was round 6 of the 2024 Supercars championship, the NTI Townsville 500.

    The event was held in Townsville, North Queensland.

    Supercars have been racing in Townsville for 16, years since the street circuit was first opened in 2009. The circuit is 2.8km long with 13 turns.

    In that very first event of 2009, Lee Holdsworth and Garth Tander shared the pole positions and Jamie Whincup and Jamess Courtney shared the race wins.

    Townsville displayed its typical weather pattern on the Saturday of this year’s event, bloody hot with an afternoon storm but on the Sunday it managed to stay dry.

    In the pre-race sessions

    • Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 1
    • Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 2
    • Will Davison was fastest in Qualifying
    • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

    In Race 13 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Chaz Mostert alongside him.

    Cameron Waters got the jump off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 88 laps, a total of 250kms.

    Thomas Randle got up the inside of Will Davison at turn 3 for 3rd place but back in the pack there was chaos. As the rest of the cars got to turn 3 Nick Percat, Brodie Kostecki and Anton de Pasquale made contact heavily. As they bounced around the track there was a big risk of other cars hitting them from behind. As Jaxon Evans came through, he joined the chaos and was also turned around. Will Brown who started 13th on the grid was in the danger zone of being caught up but somehow, he managed to stay out of trouble.

    The first 3 cars in the incident, Percat, Kostecki and Pasquale had to all head into the pits due to damage. Race officials investigated the incident but found no-one to at fault, so no penalties were issued.

    By lap 2 the positions had changed significantly. James Courtney had gained 6 places moving up to 11th. Will Brown gained 1 place up to 12th and David Reynolds was up 8 spots in 13th place.

    The leading 5 cars were reasonably close to each other. Chaz Mostert was right behind his former teammate Cameron Waters by only 0.682 seconds.

    The first car to pit by choice was Aaron Love on lap 19. He came back on the circuit in 21st place.

    A few laps later Chaz Mostert was the first of the leaders to pit. There were 9 cars still yet to take their stops. Once they did, they would be out of the way and Chaz Mostert would be able to resume his face-to-face battle for the lead with Cameron Waters.

    When Cameron Waters pitted on lap 28 he had a 7.7 second lead over Will Davison in 2nd place.

    By the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was given the space by Cameron Waters to pass and now had the number 1 spot with 1.8 seconds lead.

    Chaz Mostert kept the lead and with 15 laps to go was followed by Thomas Randle and then Cameron Waters.

    Further back in the pack Will Brown had gained an amazing 7 spots into 6th place and now behind Jack Le Brocq in 5th.

    With 11 laps remaining the rain started to bucket down and drivers were struggling to keep the cars on the track. As suddenly as it had started, the rain passed. Although the track was still wet, I am sure the drivers were thankful.

    Cameron Waters wasted no time. Soon enough he passed his teammate Thomas Randle to be in 2nd place.

    Thomas Randle lost his momentum and dropped back a few places. Will Brown made contact with him on the approach to turn 3 but somehow both cars stayed away from the wall.

    Cameron Waters was now challenging Chaz Mostert. Waters wouldn’t let up. Chaz Mostert must have felt he wasn’t able to defend the number 1 spot without high risk. Instead of possibly endangering his car and losing a podium finish he seemed to let Cameron Waters pass easily.

    Cameron Waters edged ahead in the last laps and finally crossed the line with a 1.8 second lead over Chaz Mostert. Then there was another 4.6 seconds back to Will Brown who managed to move up into 3rd place for the finish. It was a spectacular result.

    Results for Race 13

    1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
    2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
    3rd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    On the Sunday of the 3 day event Jack le Brocq started on pole position for Race 14. Alongside him was Cameron Waters.

    As they took off Cameron Waters once again led into turn 1 for the first of 88 laps.

    The polesitter, Jack le Brocq did not get an ideal start and dropped back to 4th.

    Thomas Randle was now in 2nd place and James Courtney was in 3rd.

    This year’s championship leader Will Brown missed the Top 10 Shootouts in both races of the event. He qualified 17th on the grid. To add to his woes, David Reynolds hit him from behind in lap 1 sending him into the concrete barrier wall and seriously damaged his car. Will Brown now had to head straight to the pits and returned to the race in 24th, last place. It scrapped all his hopes of protecting his championship lead.

    Will Brown’s teammate Broc Feeney (who happens to be 2nd on the championship ladder) was having problems of his own. On this first lap he had dropped from 6th place on the grid back to 13th.

    Chaz Mostert who had started 8th on the grid managed to get by Matt Payne for 6th place. He wasted no time and went on the charge. Soon he was in 4th place just behind the leaders. By the end of the 1st lap he was in 3rd.

    Within the next few laps Chaz Mostert passed Thomas Randle for second place.

    The first car to pit aside from Will Brown at the race start, was Matt Payne on lap 20. He was in 3rd place but unable to challenge the 2 cars ahead. The team strategised to come in now and be better able to make ground with fresh tyres.

    By the middle of the race Jack le Brocq who had a terrible start from his pole position was now out the front and leading. Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert were right behind him.

    Matt Payne’s pitting strategy paid off. In the second half of the race he managed to squeeze passed and take the lead. With 7 laps to go he had a 9.2 second lead over Cameron Waters in 2nd place with Chaz Mostert not far behind.

    Waters and Mostert chased Matt Payne for all their experience was worth. The cars began to spread out. However, Matt Payne was just too fast and crossed the finish line 6.057 seconds ahead of Cameron Waters.

    Mostert had slipped a little but came in 3rd place 7.6 seconds later.

    It was an unexpected finish especially after this year’s dominance of Will Brown and Broc Feeney up until now.

    Results for Race 14

    1st Matt Payne – Grove Racing
    2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
    3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

    Regardless of a bad weekend for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team, Will Brown still leads the championship but only by 78 points over Broc Feeney.

    The next event is the Panasonic Sydney Supernight July 19 – 21.

    I hope you will join me. Until then keep those engines revving!

    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

    Beaurepaires Melbourne Supersprint 2024

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of March 21 – 24 was the Beaurepairs Melbourne Supersprint.

    It was round 2 of the 2024 Supercars Championship and was held in Albert Park, Melbourne Victoria.

    Supercars were the support category to the main event, The Rolex Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix.

    This year marks the 25th year of Supercars racing as a support category for the Australian F1 Grand Prix.  It was also the first time that the Supercars Sprints ran past sunset.

    The Albert Park track is one of the longer circuits, 5.3 km with 14 turns.

    Two drivers reached milestones at this event. In race 4 Will Davison reached his 550th race. Andre Heimgartner reached his 250th start. Both deserve a round applause for lasting this long in a very tough sport.

    For Melbourne the weather was relatively fine and there were no interruptions to the event.

    In the pre-race sessions:

    • Macauley Jones was fastest in Practice 1
    • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 2
    • Broc Feeney was also fastest in Qualifying for Race 3.

    In Race 3 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Anton de Pasquale alongside him. The race was meant to be 19 laps but due to an extra formation lap it was only an 18-lap race.

    Anton de Pasquale got the jump of the start line and led into turn 1. As they approached turn 3 Anton de Pasquale come in way too fast and ran wide. Broc Feeney pushed past and became the new leader with Anton de Pasquale back in second place. Will Brown was in third place followed by Nick Percat and then Chaz Mostert.

    It was the beginning of a backward slide for Anton de Pasquale. First, he was passed by Will Brown, then Nick Percat and on the following lap Chaz Mostert.

    To add to Anton de Pasquale’s problems, race control announced they were investigating him for possibly jumping too early at the start line.

    Further back in the pack Cameron Waters got up the inside of Bryce Fullwood. Thomas Randle was helped off the track by Cameron Hill.

    Nick Percat made contact with Chaz Mostert. It caused Mostert to fall way back to 10th place. All the other drivers between moved up a spot. Nick Percat was issued a 5 second penalty for his actions.

    Jaxson Evans hit the wall coming out of turn 14. The damage on his car #12 was extensive. After visiting the pits he did manage to rejoin and complete the race.

    Ryan Wood and James Golding made contact with each other.

    Cameron Waters passed Anton de Pasquale for 5th place.

    In the middle of the race Todd Hazelwood received a 5 second time penalty for making contact with Bryce Fullwood in car 14.

    With 9 laps remaining the top 3 places had not changed but back in the pack battles were going on for the minor places.

    On the following lap Nick Percat recorded the fastest lap of the race, 150.007s.

    Drivers started to settle down and there was less contact between cars for the remainder of the race.

    The top 3 cars still held on to their positions. In the end Broc Feeney crossed the finish line with a 2.2 second win over his teammate Will  Brown. Nick Percat followed 1.4 seconds later to claim 3rd place.

    For such a short race the leaders were spread out a little more than I would have expected.

    Results for Race 3

    1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    3rd Nick Percat – Matt Stone Racing

    In Race 4 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Will Brown alongside him.

    As they took off Will Brown got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 19 laps.

    Anton de Pasquale was helped off the track by Matt Payne at turn 5. Anton de Pasquale had severe damage and he was down the order in 24th place. He then had to come in for repairs, but the damage was so bad he was unable to return to the race. He was the only driver to receive an NC (Not Complete).

    The gap between Will Brown and Cameron Waters was tight, only 0.47 seconds. Broc Feeney was right behind them in third place.

    Further back in the pack there was also a lot of action. Thomas Randle and Ryan Wood went off the track at turn 1 and dropped a couple of places.

    Mark Winterbottom who had started 4th on the grid had slipped back but regained his position and was 0.432 seconds behind Broc Feeney.

    Just before they reached the half way mark of the race Broc Feeney got up the inside of Cameron Waters. However, the manoeuvre caused them both to run wide and Mark Winterbottom took advantage to move up to second place.

    It didn’t last long, and Broc Feeney passed him to take back 2nd place and Frosty had dropped back to third place.

    Towards the end of the race the two Red Bull cars were looking strong for another 1 2 finish.

    With 4 laps remaining Will Brown who was protect by his teammate Broc Feeney, then did the fastest lap of the race 149.720 seconds.

    Thomas Randle was once again mixing it up with other drivers. He and Cameron Hill went off the track between turns 9 and 10 putting them both back a couple of places. Later Thomas Randle received a 15 second time penalty for causing the incident.

    With only a couple laps remaining Broc Feeney made a driver error locking up the front right wheel. It was bad timing to make a mistake so close to the finish. It allowed Mark Winterbottom and Matt Payne to get between him and Will Brown in the lead.

    Will Brown was cruising to yet another win for the season. He crossed the finish line with just under a 1 second lead over Mark Winterbottom. Matt Payne followed through in 3rd place right on his tail. Broc Feeney had no time to make up for his mistake but was also hot on their heels. It was a tight and exciting finish.

    Results for Race 4

    1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    2nd Mark Winterbottom – Team 18

    3rd Matt Payne – Grove Racing

    As mentioned before, the V8 Supercars were a support category to the AGP. By the time this race came up on the Saturday the delays resulted in it being cut short to try get back to the running schedule. It was cut from 19 to 14 laps and time certain putting pressure on drivers to be aggressive as possible.

    In Race 5 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Matt Payne alongside.

    As the lights went green Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turn 1. Chaz Mostert who was 3rd on the grid had a shocker of a start dropping 3 spots back to 6th place.

    Between the final two corners of the first lap Matt Payne hit Cameron Waters from behind. They both lost control and spun off the track. Cameron Waters had extensive damage on the front left wheel and Matt Payne’s car was also in poor shape.     

    The two drivers behind them, Broc Feeney and Will Brown were handed the lead while Cameron Waters and Matt Payne started their walk back to the pits.

    The race went under yellow for the stranded cars to be collected and the track cleaned up.

    The tension could be felt everywhere as the clock and laps counted down.

    The race restarted with Broc Feeney and Will Brown pulling away while the pack was 5 abreast approaching turn 1. It was mayhem and you got the feeling that the desperation was going to cause something terrible to happen.

    With 4 laps remaining Broc Feeney only had a 0.556 second lead over Will Brown. Adding to the tension, Chaz Mostert in 3rd did the fastest lap of the race 148.389 seconds. That is a phenomenal time which was almost 1.5 seconds faster than the best time in the previous race.

    Broc Feeney didn’t crack under the pressure. He must have been given nerves of steel from his mentor/manager Jamie Whincup.

    The Payne/Waters incident causing the safety deployment at the end of lap 1 had Race Control make the time certain call to cut back to 10 laps.

    Feeney held his spot and crossed the finish line 1.791 seconds ahead of his teammate Will Brown. Chaz Mostert came across 3rd only .931 seconds later.

    Considering Broc Feeney started 4th and Will Brown 6th on the grid it was an unexpected outcome for such a short race. It was short but very tense.

    Results for Race 5

    1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

    In Race 6 Chaz Mostert started on pole position. Alongside him was Matt Payne.

    Anton de Pasquale was a non-starter and didn’t even make it to the grid in the final race of the weekend.

    As they took off Matt Payne got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 14 laps. Chaz Mostert followed with Nick Percat right behind in 3rd.

    Broc Feeney wasted no time and got up the inside of Cameron Waters to take 4th place.

    Jack le Brocq was hit by another car and before the first lap was complete went to the pit lane due to damage sustained. He was the second driver in the race to receive an NC (Not Complete) after Anton de Pasquale’s NC for not even making it to the grid.

    Things didn’t settle down after the first lap. On lap 2 the leaders, Matt Payne and Chaz Mostert became entangled and went off the track which put Nick Percat in the lead. It also pushed Broc Feeney up into second place. That was a big leapfrog in position considering Feeney started 6th on the grid.

    Matt Payne probably wishes he didn’t make back to the track after his incident with Mostert. It was only a short time later that he was spun around by contact from Cameron Hill.

    The lap 2 incident seemed to not want to go away. In the middle of the race after official review Chaz Mostert was given a 5 second time penalty for what was considered avoidable contact.

    It was at this point Broc Feeney tried to make his move. He got up the inside of Nick Percat for the lead but Percat did the over and under manoeuvre to retake his place. Will Brown who was right behind also slipped under Broc Feeney. Once again, the top 3 positions had changed in an incredibly short race.

    On the final lap Ryan Wood gave Cameron Hill a bump and put him in the gravel trap. Cameron Hill was stuck and became the third NC of this race. It must have been so frustrating that close to the finish.

    The top 3 cars remained unchanged but had no space between them.

    Nick Percat came across the finish line first only .381 of a second ahead of Will Brown. Broc Feeney followed through hot on their heels.

    For Percat this win breaks a drought since Adelaide 2016.

    Results for Race 6

    1st Nick Percat – Matt Stone Racing

    2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    Will Brown won the Larry Perkins Trophy for 2024.

    He leads the championship by 17 points over his teammate Broc Feeney.

    The next event is the ITM super400 April 19 – 21.

    Supercars

    Valo Adelaide 500 2023

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of the 23 – 26 November 2023 was the Valo Adelaide 500.

    The Adelaide street circuit was first opened in 1985 and hosted the F1 Australian Grand Prix until 1995. The street circuit came back into use in 1999 when Supercars moved their events from the Mallala Motorsport Park.

    Jason Bright took the very first pole position at this venue. Craig Lowndes started the leg 1 from 3rd on the grid and won the opening race. The next day he was sent to the back of the field and still came through to win leg 2. It was the stuff that legends are made of.

    This year’s Adelaide 500 was the 12th and final round of the 2023 Supercars Championship.

    As one of the longer events on the calendar made up of 2 races of 250km each, it was always going to be a tough event. To add to the tension it was also the decider for the Driver’s Championship.

    The defending champion Shane Van Gisbergen was trailing Brodie Kostecki in the number 1 spot by 131 points. A win in both races would total 300 points so the championship was still up for grabs. Shane Van Gisbergen is heading to the U.S. at the end of the season to try his hand at NASCAR so it could very well also be his final farewell to Supercars.

    The points gap from 3rd place onwards was too great to contend for 1st or 2nd place. However, the points were close enough between 3rd, 4th and 5th for there to be a change on the final scoreboard for Will Brown, Broc Feeney and Chaz Mostert.

    The Final Event and the Final Decider! A setting for nail biting stuff!

    The event started on Thursday with a wet Practice 1.

    The pre-race sessions results are as follows:

    • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
    • Thomas Randle was Fastest in Practice 2
    • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying
    • Brodie Kostecki was also fastest in the top 10 Shootout.

    For Race 27 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position which was his 9th pole for the year. David Reynolds was alongside him on the front row of the starting grid.

    At the start of the race Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for first of 78 laps.

    As the pack rounded turn 4 Will Brown tried passing Anton de Pasquale. Shane Van Gisbergen also tried following Will Brown to jump up in position. However, Anton de Pasquale made contact with Will Brown and then from behind Shane Van Gisbergen made contact with Will Brown. Brown’s car came to stop almost immediately. Shane Van Gisbergen was able to get back to the pits but it was soon evident that he wouldn’t be returning to the track. Not only was it all over for this race but also his ability to contend for the championship title. Such bad luck.

    The safety car was deployed. It was only the opening lap and things were very messed up for Will Brown and Shane Van Gisbergen.

    Later, after reviewing the incident the officials took no further action and no penalty was issued to any of the three cars involved.

    Matt Payne and Cameron Hill were in the pits because of damage they received after the start.

    The restart was on lap 6 and Brodie Kostecki was still in control of the race, followed by David Reynolds and Thomas Randle in 3rd place.

    Broc Feeney passed James Courtney for 8th place.

    On lap 15 David Reynolds took the lead off Brodie Kostecki with some incredible manoeuvring through turns 8 and 9.

    The first car to pit in this race was Anton de Pasquale on lap 16.

    Broc Feeney was next to pit on lap 19. When he re-joined the race he was in 20th place with clear track ahead.

    Up front it started getting busy. Thomas Randle moved up to 2nd place dropping Brodie Kostecki back to 3rd place.

    Cameron Waters in 4th place was 3 + seconds behind. The front of the pack were beginning to spread out.

    Soon after, Thomas Randle pitted from second place handing over the spot to Cameron Waters.

    Thomas Randle came out of the pits and was like a rocket. Within a few laps he managed to move up through the pack and regain 2nd place.

    Cameron Waters wasn’t happy to give back the second spot to Thomas Randle and found the opportunity to pass him. Once again, the order of the top 3 cars changed.

    In the middle of the race Cameron Waters was still holding second place right on the rear bumper of David Reynolds in the lead. He found his opportunity and with precision driving made the pass to get the number one spot.

    Further back in the pack, Todd Hazelwood received a 5 second time penalty for contact with another car.

    David Reynolds never gave up the fight to regain 1st place. With 17 laps to go he did the fastest lap of the race, 119.957 seconds. Unfortunately, it didn’t give him what he wanted. He was also under pressure from Thomas Randle in 3rd place. The front 3 cars were once again tight and left no room for error.

    Cameron Waters stayed strong and held the lead using his experience to fend off the two drivers right on his tail.

    Soon Cameron Water and David Reynolds edged away from Thomas Randle still holding 3rd place.

    They were both on fire screaming ahead of the pack.

    They crossed the finish line 0.67 seconds apart and way ahead of the others. Thomas Randle came in 14.353 seconds later to earn 3rd place. It was an incredible finish for an intense race.

    Results for Race 27

    1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.

    2nd David Reynolds – Grove Racing.

    3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing & Tradie Racing.

    In Race 28 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position for the 10th time this season. This is an incredible feat and he was given the Armor All Pole Award for year along with $10,000. Next to him on the front row of the grid was Matt Payne.

    As they took off Matt Payne got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 78 laps. As much as Brodie Kostecki tried he was not able to pass Matt Payne.

    Further back Shane Van Gisbergen was trying to pass Anton de Pasquale but also wasn’t able to execute a pass. It wasn’t until a few laps later that he got into his stride.

    On lap 2 Broc Feeney was able to get up the inside of Cameron Waters for 4th place.

    David Reynolds made his move on lap 3 to pass Todd Hazelwood for 9th place.

    Shane Van Gisbergen was now moving through the pack and had now passed Anton de Pasquale, Will Davison and Will Brown for 11th place.

    On lap 6 Nick Percat made contact with Jack le Brocq who went off the track and into the tyre-wall at the final turn. Surprisingly, he managed to get himself out and the safety car did not have to be deployed.

    After investigation the incident the officials took no further action against either driver.

    By lap 10 Matt Payne had a 1.2 second lead over Brodie Kostecki.

    Broc Feeney was putting pressure on Chaz Mostert for 3rd place. He managed to get by at turn 6.

    Shane Van Gisbergen showed how eager he was to make up for the NC (Not Complete) he received in the first race at this event. He did the fastest lap of the race, 120.735 seconds.

    On lap 11 Chaz Mostert was desperately trying to get 3rd place back from Broc Feeney. In his attempt Chaz Mostert made contact with him and did manage to pass. It was a messy attack and Chaz Mostert was later issued a 5 second time penalty.

    Shane Van Gisbergen was the first of the Red Bull cars to take a pit-stop.

    In the pit area Macauley Jones was spun around by Tim Slade who was coming out of his garage.

    In the middle of the race Matt Payne was still in control with a 4.8 second lead over Broc Feeney flowed by David Reynolds in 3rd.

    As the race continued Matt Payne kept edging ahead. Towards the end of the race, he had a 7.5 second lead over Broc Feeney and was on target to claim his maiden win with Penrite Racing.

    Noone seemed able to make ground on the rookie Matt Payne. In fact he managed to edge further ahead of the competitors.

    He crossed the line with a 8.548 second lead over Broc Feeney. David Reynolds come in 3rd a few seconds later.

    It was a spectacular and solid win for Matt Payne. Congratulations!

    Results for Race 28:

    1st Matt Payne – Grove Racing.

    2nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

    3rd David Reynolds – Grove Racing.

    A massive congratulations to Erebus Motorsport and Brodie Kostecki. Well done!

    This was the final race for the 2023 season. The next event will be the Bathurst Superfest on the 16th to the 25th of February 2024.

    It’s with a sense of sadness that we say farewell to Shane Van Gisbergen. Well done on everything you have achieved in Supercars and best of luck for your new adventures in Nascar. Go get em!

    Supercars

    Penrite Oil Sandown 500 2023

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of the 15 – 17 September 2023 was the Penrite Oil Sandown 500, round 9 of the 2023 Supercars Championship. 

    Sandown International Raceway was first opened as a horse racetrack in 1888 (135 years ago) and known as Oakleigh Park. Four years later it was renamed to Sandown Park.

    It boasts to be one of the first locations for a motor racing event way back in 1904. However, it didn’t have a dedicated track for motorsports until 1962. The first big event was held in 1965 with a record crowd of 52,379 attending causing traffic chaos in the quiet suburb of Springvale, Melbourne Victoria.

    The track is known to be a fast run consisting of two straights, the main straight and a back straight allowing for speeds between 250 and 260kmph. Its layout and high speeds lends itself to endurance races and Supercars have consistently made the Sandown 500 a warm up to the Bathurst 1000.

    I imagine its not the favourite track for the Triple 8 team. They have had wins at this location but some very bad luck as well.

    In 2012, on lap 159 out of 161 Jamie Whincup was in 2nd place chasing down the lead. Mark Winterbottom made contact with Jamie Whincup forcing him off the track and losing a spot to move back to 3rd.

    In 2019 again with only a few laps remaining, Shane Van Gisbergen received a puncture while leading the race. It not only robbed him of a sure win but took him off the podium all together. The only consolation was it gave the lead and win to car 888 of his teammates Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes.

    In this year’s event there were no surprises in the pre – race sessions.

    • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 1
    • Zane Goddard was fastest in Practice 2
    • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Practice 3
    • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 4
    • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying.
    • Will Brown was fastest in the Top 10 Shootout
    • David Reynolds and Garth Tander were fastest in the warmup.

    In Race 23 the two Erebus cars started in the front row. Co-driver Jack Perkins started in the number 1 spot after Will Brown earned them pole position. Alongside them was David Russell, the co-driver for season leader Brodie Kostecki.

    The majority of the co-drivers started behind the wheel except for Craig Lowndes and Aaron Love.

    At the start of the race Jack Perkins got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 161 laps.

    The 2 Erebus cars took the lead into the first turn followed by James Moffat, co-driver to Cameron Waters.

    Richie Stanaway was co-driver to Shane Van Gisbergen. He started 19th on the grid and was stuck behind the main pack trying hard to look for a gap to move ahead. It was too tight and he just couldn’t do it.

    The leaders were starting to edge away while the cars behind settled into their race pace.

    Up the front the leaders were tightly packed. Jack Perkins had a slender lead of 0.290 seconds over David Russell.

    On the commencement of lap 2 Jamie Whincup passed Garth Tander for 4th position and James Moffat for 3rd.  Jamie Whincup was now only 0.328 seconds behind David Russell.

    By lap 3 Jamie Whincup seemed to do the impossible and passed David Russell to take 2nd place and find himself only 0.792 seconds away from the lead.

    On lap 5 he took the number 1 spot off Jack Perkins at turn 1. From that point on Whincup didn’t make any mistakes.

    Just outside the top 10 cars, Zak Best went off the track between turns 1 and 2. The lost time put him to the back of the pack.

    On lap 19 the left rear wheel parted company with the car of David Reynolds / Garth Tander. The car slid, turned around, collided into the guard rail and came to a stop. Meanwhile, the wheel continued along the track on its own.  After bouncing off the ground it freakishly landed on the rear of the passing Monster Energy Mustang driven by James Moffat and tore the rear wing completely off the car.

    With debris all over the track plus Garth Tander stranded with only 3 wheels and facing the wrong way, the first safety car was deployed.

    It was truly a bizarre incident!  The Reynolds / Tander car was towed from the track and was in such poor shape it wasn’t able to return. Main driver, David Reynolds didn’t have a chance to get behind the wheel.

    Lee Holdsworth pitted for repairs while the safety car was still out. The main issue was with the rear diffuser but the team wasn’t able to get it off straight away. They sent the car back out on the track and then called Holdsworth back in once they got appropriate tools ready. The repairs were done before the safety car left the track.

    The restart was on lap 26 and Jack Perkins was back in the number 1 spot for Erebus.

    Tony Dalberto, co-driver to Anton de Pasquale received a 15 second time penalty for an unsafe pit release.

    Jordan Boys had a massive lock up going into turn 1 and went off the track. Surprisingly there was no damage, except for maybe a flat spot on the tyres.

    Race leader Jack Perkins exceeded track limits and received a bad sportsmanship flag. This is more a warning than a penalty.

    By lap 41 Jamie Whincup regained the race lead pushing Jack Perkins back to 2nd place.

    Jaylyn Robotham, co-driver to Cameron Hill made contact with Craig Lowndes. Lowndes managed to keep control and avoided hitting the wall. I have no doubt that any other driver would have suffered significant damage but Craig Lowndes’ experience showed.

    Soon after James Moffat got spun around at turn 1 by Dylan O’Keeffe.

    On lap 47 Richie Stanaway did the quickest lap of the race.

    Jayden Ojeda went off the track dropping him from 3rd to 6th place.

    After receiving previous warnings, Mark Winterbottom received a 15 second time penalty for exceeding track limits.

    After Jamie Whincup had earlier taken the race lead, main driver Broc Feeney was now behind the wheel. In the middle of the race he had a 6.3 second lead over Will Brown. Brodie Kostecki was a further 12.5 seconds back.

    The gruelling length and high speeds of the race were really showing. Macauley Jones was next to receive a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

    Craig Lowndes dropped a spot to Andre Heimgartner.

    Towards the end of the race Broc Feeney was still holding the lead. On lap 130 he pitted with 18.798 seconds over teammate Shane Van Gisbergen. Shane Van Gisbergen had to wait until lap 131 to take his last pit stop.

    On lap 140 of 161 Cameron Hill had to be rescued from the sand trap at turn 9. For such a long race it was surprising that this was only the second time the safety car was deployed.

    On lap 147 Chaz Mostert received a 15 second time penalty for making contact with another car.

    The gap at the front of the race was closing. Broc Feeney was still out front but only by 0.203 seconds over Brodie Kostecki.

    In addition, this was a time certain race and time was running out. The pressure was really on.

    With 2 minutes 59 remaining Will Brown ran wide at turn 9 and Shane Van Gisbergen squeezed past to take 3rd place. Shane Van Gisbergen had moved up 16 spots throughout the race. What an amazing drive.

    However, a champion like Shane Van Gisbergen is never satisfied with being third and put the pressure on Brodie Kostecki. Kostecki kept his cool and made no mistakes but the pressure from Gisbergen didn’t allow him to pressure Broc Feeney for the win.

    In the end Broc Feeney crossed the line with a 0.9816 second margin over Brodie Kostecki with another 2.2 seconds back to Shane Van Gisbergen in 3rd place.

    The win earned 888 Race Engineering their 250th race win in Supercars. Wow! What an amazing achievement. Congratulations team.

    On the season scoreboard Brodie Kostecki has extended his championship lead to 155 points over Shane Van Gisbergen. Broc Feeney is 3rd with 204 points off the lead. Will Brown is 4th and 294 points off the lead.

    Erebus are still leading the Team’s Championship but only by 95 points over the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.

    Jamie Whincup is now a 6 time winner of the Sandown 500. Can he and Broc Feeney do it again at Bathurst?

    Results for Race 23

    1st Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    2nd Brodie Kostecki and David Russell – Erebus Motorsport

    3rd Shane Van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    There are 3 events to go in the 2023 Supercars championship.

    900 points left on the table across the final 3 events.

    The next event is the Repco Bathurst 1000 on the 5 – 8 of October 2023.

    The Bathurst channel begins Monday October 2  on Fox Sports channel 506.

    Supercars

    Beaurepaires Sydney Supernight 2023

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of 29 – 30 July 2023 was the Beaurepairs Sydney Supernight, the 7th round of this year’s Supercars championship.

    The event was held at Sydney Motorsport Park in New South Wales.

    Originally named Eastern Creek Raceway, the New South Wales state government approved its development back in 1988 and opened on the 10th of November, 1990. The first Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) race was held in 1993. The ATCC was the previous title before being renamed V8 Supercars in 1997).

    This event was a special occasion for me, aside from being in my home town of Sydney it was the first time I have been able to get to any track since 2017. It was a lot of fun and I was glad to finally have wheelchair accessible transport (thanks Dad) and the general threat of COVID gone. It was great to be back!

    The event started on the Saturday but I managed to get there for only the Sunday.

    In the pre-race sessions:

    • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 1
    • Shane Van Gisbergen was also fastest in Practice 2
    • Andre Heimgartner was fastest in Qualifying

    In Race 18 Andre Heimgartner started on pole position with Brodie Kostecki alongside him.

    At the start of the race Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown went into turn 1 in 1st and 2nd place. The pole sitter Andre Heimgartner had dropped from 1st to 5th place after a bad start off the line.

    Cameron Hill made a blinder of a start. He had made up 4 spots after starting 8th on the grid.

    The cars further back in the pack were dicing for positions outside the top 10 while the leading cars held their positions.

    The 2 Erebus Camaros were out in front and controlling proceedings early on.

    Brodie Kostecki had half a second lead over Will Brown by lap 2.

    Shane Van Gisbergen was also making way and gained 2 spots after starting in 20th on the grid.

    Jack le Brocq in 5th place was soon under assault from Andre Heimgartner after he lost his pole position. However, instead of gaining a spot he lost his own spot to James Golding who snuck by him.

    The leaders were comfortable out front while the cars behind were chasing them. This was probably the cause of Jack Smith in car 4 receiving a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

    The first car to pit was Anton de Pasquale on lap 11.

    James Golding was again on the move and got up the inside of Cameron Hill at turn 2 for 5th place.

    Chaz Mostert also tried to go around the outside of Cameron Hill, but he couldn’t make the move stick.

    Cameron Hill was being a cork in the bottle he was holding up the cars behind him.

    After Anton de Pasquale completed his pitstop he came back out in 25th position.

    A lap later Chaz Mostert finally got past Cameron Hill at turn 1 and Will Davison got up the inside of Andre Heimgartner for 8th place.

    Shane Van Gisbergen then got up the inside of Scott Pye to move into 12th place. The defending champion Shane Van Gisbergen had gained 8 places since the start.

    By lap 13 Scott Pye had dropped back to 22nd position and chose to make his first pit stop and rethink strategy.

    Cameron Hill pitted on lap 14 along with James Courtney and Thomas Randle.

    By lap 17 of 51 the top 13 cars were still yet to take their stops.

    Will Brown was the first of the front runners to pit followed by Will Davison, Cameron Waters and Jack le Brocq.

    Shane Van Gisbergen also pitted a lap later, lap 18.

    Soon after Todd Hazelwood and James Courtney received bad sportsmanship flags for exceeding track limits.

    It wasn’t over for Todd Hazelwood. He received a pit lane drive thru penalty for a refuelling breach on his first stop.

    In the middle of the race Andre Heimgartner had assumed the race lead while frontrunners were pitting. Soon he went into the pits handing the lead over to Brodie Kostecki who was followed by Cameron Waters and Will Brown in 3rd place.

    On lap 32 David Reynolds went off the track between turns 9 and 10. He hit the wall and the stricken Ford Mustang wouldn’t move. The Safety car was deployed while they removed car #26.

    The race restarted on lap 39. Chaz Mostert soon made a pass of Jack le Brocq to move into 4th place and only 0.748 seconds behind Will Brown in 3rd.

    Shane Van Gisbergen was up to 6th place and looking for further gains. As the race got closer to the finish he was on the charge and managed to pass Jack le Brocq. Shane Van Gisbergen was now only 1.144 seconds from the back of the podium.

    On lap 42 Shane Van Gisbergen showed just how much he wanted that podium finish and did the fastest lap of the race, 130.064.

    By the final 10 laps the top 5 places had not changed but quite spread out. Brodie Kostecki had a good lead and was on target for his first win since the Melbourne Grand Prix in March.

    On lap 44 Declan Fraser received a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

    James Golding managed to go around the outside of James Courtney at turn 8 with 7 laps to go.

    With 2 laps to go Chaz Mostert was up 7 places after starting 9th on the grid. Shane Van Gisbergen was behind in 3rd having moved up from a start of 20th on the grid.

    However, the gaps between the top 3 couldn’t be closed. In the end Brodie Kostecki crossed the finish line with a 7 second margin over Chaz Mostert.  Shane Van Gisbergen was a further 10.479 seconds behind.

    A post race penalty was issued to Shane Van Gisbergen for contact with Will Brown so unfortunately Shane was recorded in 7th place on the final results. Will Brown inherited the podium finish in 3rd. Credit is still owed to Shane Van Gisbergen for a phenomenal drive.

    Results for Race 18

    1st Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport
    2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
    3rd Will Brown – Erebus Motorsport

    Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Qualifying for Race 19 and earned pole position bringing his career pole total to 48. I would love for him to get another 2 more and reach a half century before he leaves Supercars at the end of this season.

    Andre Heimgartner sat alongside Shane Van Gisbergen on the starting grid.

    As they took off Andre Heimgartner got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 36 laps. Shane Van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney were in 2nd and 3rd.

    Will Brown and David Reynolds made contact and left the track. As they rejoined they were now in 24th and 25th place. Race control immediately put the incident under investigation. It took a while but they declared no penalties would be issued.

    Shane Van Gisbergen was soon closing in on the back of the leader Andre Heimgartner. Broc Feeney in 3rd was followed by Brodie Kostecki.

    Chaz Mostert had moved up 5 places into 11th after starting 16th on the grid.

    On the second lap James Golding and Thomas Randle made contact. Although they kept going the officials were investigating the incident and later issued time penalties to both drivers.

    On lap 4 Shane Van Gisbergen took the race lead off Andre Heimgartner at turn 6.

    Just to make a statement, Shane Van Gisbergen then did the fastest lap of the race 131.993.

    The first car to pit was Broc Feeney from 4th place on lap 16. When he came back out he was in 24th place.

    The front runners were tightly packed. Shane Van Gisbergen was still the leader with a 1 second gap over Andre Heimgartner. Then it was only 0.968 of a second back to Brodie Kostecki.

    Further back in the running Declan Fraser received a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

    Then Will Brown and Macauley Jones received a bad sportsmanship flag for the same reason.

    By the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was in a commanding position with a 6.7 second lead over Andre Heimgartner. The front runners were yet to pit. Andre Heimgartner was the first to make his stop from 2nd place.

    Shane Van Gisbergen took his stop towards the end of the race and returned to the track in 7th place. He must have known he was in great shape because the 6 cars in front still had to take their pit stops so he would naturally assume the lead when they did.

    One by one they peeled off the track for the mandatory pit stop leaving Shane Van Gisbergen back in the number 1 spot with a 3 second lead over Andre Heimgartner. It was then 1.4 seconds back to Broc Feeney in 3rd place.

    As the race was coming to its conclusion Shane Van Gisbergen was showing his authority and seemed uncatchable as he edged ahead.

    After his incident on lap 2 Thomas Randle was in trouble again but this time only receiving a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

    James Courtney was next in line for a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

    In a surprise on the last lap Anton de Pasquale passed Broc Feeney for 3rd place. Broc Feeney had no time to make it up. Anton de Pasquale took the podium finish in 3rd. Andre Heimgartner had finished 10.4 seconds earlier in 2nd place with Shane Van Gisbergen taking the chequered flag 5.5 clear of him.

    It was a spectacular finish for SVG and I’m so glad I was at the track on that day!

    Results for Race 19

    1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing
    2nd Andre Heimgartner – Brad Jones Racing
    3rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V Power Racing Team

    Brodie Kostecki still leads the championship by 41 points over his teammate Will Brown. Shane Van Gisbergen is only 54 points off the championship lead and Broc Feeney is 4th with 57 points off the championship lead. With 5 events remaining the championship title could be any of these great drivers.

    The next event is the OTR Supersprint at the Bend on 18 – 20 August 2023.