Tag Archives: Matt Campbell

Bathurst 12 hour

Repco Bathurst 12 hour 2024

Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 16 – 18 of February 2024 was the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour.

The Bathurst 12 Hour was first run in 1991 so this year marks a milestone as the 21st running.

The Bathurst 12 Hour is not officially a part of the Supercars season. However, many of the Supercars drivers take part in the grand event. It is made of 4 classes; Pro AM, Silver, GT4 and the invitational class. Being a gruelling 12 hours on one of the most difficult tracks in the country, each car has three drivers that take turns behind the wheel.

Sheldon Van Der Linde claimed pole position and the Allan Simonsen Trophy for BMW team, WRT. Local Broc Feeney of the Triple 8 team qualified his 888 Mercedes to earn provisional pole position.

The race kicked off under safety car in the dark of Sunday at 5:45am. Bathurst is known for its erratic weather conditions but they started with a dry track and no major challenges. For the next 12 hours there was a spectacular display of driving from local and international teams alike.

2024 Bathurst 12 Hour Highlights

On the start, Sheldon Van Der Linde immediately made a break from the pack. Within a few laps he already created a gap of about 10 car lengths but there was still a long way to go.

There were no major incidents before the sun came up and all 25 cars were still on track.

At about the 75 minute mark, number 19 Racing Ginetta G55 GT4 caught fire in the pit lane. They were the first retirement of the race.

The first safety car was deployed after 2 hours 40 minutes of racing when the 701 Vortex spun off the track into the sand trap as it headed towards the S’s. 

As the 12 hour countdown got to 8hrs 36 minutes car number 91 found the fence at turn 2 and came to a standstill on the blind corner.               

A few minutes before they marked the 5th hour of driving, Charles Weerts behind the wheel of the pole sitting car made contact at “The Cutting”. In spectacular fashion his car was out of control and the rear mounted the concrete barrier sliding along for over 50 meters. He was lucky to have not gone right over the top. The damage was so severe # 32 was now out of the race. The team was doing so well throughout the whole weekend it is a great shame they were not able to continue. I am sure they would have been contenders for a win and offered up much more of their competitive driving.

When they were into the 6th hour of racing Bathurst did what Bathurst does. The weather changed completely and the rain came down heavily. At times there were sheets of water covering the track.

Cars were going off the track left, right and centre. The international drivers began sticking behind local drivers who knew the track and how to manage in the wet conditions. Still many cars aquaplaned off the challenging track and there were many moments that had viewers holding their breath.

Local Matt Campbell behind the wheel of #912 had the lead in the Manthey Racing / EMA Motorsport Porsche.

He was challenged multiple times with the biggest coming from the #13 Phantom Global Racing/Team 75 Porsche entry driven by Bastian Buus, Joel Eriksson and NZ local Jaxon Evans. The other challenge came from the SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes driven by Jules Gounon, Kenny Habul and Luca Stolz.

With 30 minutes remaining there was less than 1 second between the leading 3 cars and less than 8 seconds back to 8th place. It was anyone’s game and there was no room for mistakes.

The rain had stopped but the track was still wet. With leading cars so close to each other the competitive driving was incredibly fierce.

With 15 minutes on the clock the leading Porsche #912 with Matt Campbell behind the wheel edged ahead to create a 5+ second lead. Noone was giving up. Drivers were flying down the straights side by side heading into corners looking for any opportunity to make a pass.

Matt Campbells driving was incredible. He kept the lead in the #912 Porsche and even though the gap closed down to just over 2 seconds, he looked confident and strong on that last lap.

The #75 Mercedes driven by Jules Gounon crossed the finish line within 2.6 seconds to take 2nd place followed by the #22 Audi.

For Matt Campbell this is his second Bathurst 12 Hour win. It also breaks the Mercedes 3 time winning streak.

Results for the 2024 Repco Bathurst 12 Hour:

1st Matt Campbell, Ayhancan Guven, Laurens Vanthoor – Manthey Racing/EMA Motorsport

2nd Jules Gounon, Kenny Habul, Luca Stolz – SunEnergy1 Racing

3rd Christopher Haase, Kelvin van der Linde, Liam Talbot – Melbourne Performance Centre

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Vodafone Gold Coast 600 2017

Leave a comment

Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 20th to the 22nd of October, 2017 was the Vodafone Gold Coast 600.

There were a few dramas pre-race start of note. In practice 1 Simona de Silvestro hit the tyre wall on the exit of the last turn coming onto the main straight.

In practice 3 James Moffatt also caused a red flag. If you cause a red flag in a practice session you can’t take any further part, so he had to sit out the rest of practice 3.

In race 21, Steve Owen started on pole position and alongside him was Paul Dumbrell.

The drivers had to do an extra formation lap due to the rain. This resulted in there being a lap plucked from the total 102 laps and the race was now 101 laps.

All the co-drivers started the race accept for Alex Rullo. It was good to see a main driver start, because the race was wet on Saturday the drivers had to scrap what they learnt on Friday in the practice sessions while it was dry and tune the car into a wet setup.

Just like at Bathurst in the wet weather, all the crews had to carry their drivers out to their cars to avoid slippery feet whilst driving.

The co-drivers had to do a minimum of 34 laps before handing back to the main drivers.

I couldn’t believe how wet it was during Saturday’s race.

Again, Andre Heimgartner had to Sub for Ash Walsh who is still recovering from that big accident at Phillip Island.

Once underway, Steve Owen was battling with Paul Dumbrell for the 1st spot. When Paul Dumbrell tried to go down the inside of Steve Owen he connected with the  Supercheap Auto Ford Falcon spinning it around. As a result when Paul Dumbrell came in to hand over to Jamie Whincup he had to sit still for an extra 15 seconds to serve the penalty.

After the race, Chaz Mostert commented he didn’t think the 15 second penalty was enough because he thought it was poor driving form.

In my opinion the 15 second penalty was enough.

In the middle of the race Garth Tander and Todd Kelly made contact which resulted in Todd Kelly getting a 15-point penalty and he also scored a busted rear wing which meant he had to limp back to the pits.

By this stage all the main drivers were back in their cars for the run to the chequered flag.

Towards the end of the race no one could catch the top 3 drivers of Chaz Mostert, followed by Cameron Waters about 2.5 seconds later and then Tim Slade about 5.5 seconds behind the leader.

Fabain Coulthard started 16th and moved up 12 spots during the race. And Scott Mclaughlin started 12th and moved up 6 spots during the race.

Craig Lowndes Qualified 11th and made up 8 spots during the race.

I was thrilling race and makes me recall the line from Mark Skaife ‘If you want great racing just add water’.

 

Results for race 21

1st Chaz Mostert and Steve Owen – Supercheap Auto Racing.
2nd Cameron Waters and Richie Stanaway – Monster Energy Racing Team.
3rd Tim Slade and Andre Heimgartner – Freightliner Racing.
4th Shane Van Gisbergen and Matt Campbell – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

In Qualifying for race 22, Tim Slade had an engine let go due to hitting the back chicane too hard. Dale Wood coming up behind had to stop in the middle of the pit lane entry because Tim Slade’s car leaking oil was no on fire! The situation called for a red flag.

In race 22 Matt Campbell started on pole position alongside him was Paul Dumbrell.

At the start of the 102-lap race Paul Dumbrell got the jump so Matt Campbell had to slot in behind. Unlike Paul Dumbrell’s perfect start he didn’t get the correct amount of wheel spin off the starting grid.

Most of the co-drivers started all bar 1 which was Alex Rullo, the same as in the previous race.

Fabain Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin didn’t make the top 10 shootout. They qualified 13th and 22nd respectively.

Later James Golding hit the wall as a result of contact with Luke Youlden.

When Steven Richards went for a dive down the inside of Richie Stanaway, the contact resulted in a broken steering for Richie Stanaway in car 6 which put him back in the pits for repairs.

Soon after Andre Heimgartner hit the wall at turn 11 which meant he also had to limp back to the pits for repairs on car 14.

In the middle of the race the 3 triple 8 cars were running 1, 2 and 3 but Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske’s car 17 with Scott McLaughlin got the undercut over the Red Bull Holden Racing Team take track position. It was a blow to the Triple 8 team but made Dick Johnson very happy.

Lee Holdsworth was trying to stay with these leading cars ahead of him.

I couldn’t believe that DJR Team had managed to get the undercut in the last pit stop. This basically set them up for the race to the end which I thought was incredible.

At the end of the race the 3 triple 8 cars couldn’t catch Scott McLaughlin because he was just too fast.

Results for race 22.

1st Scott Mclaughlin and Alex Premat – Shell V Power Racing Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
2nd Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen and Matt Campbell – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
4th Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards – Team Vortex.

The next event is the ITM Auckland Supersprint on the 3rd to the 5th of November 2017.

Jamie Whincup is now the championship leader by 17 points with 2 rounds to go and 4 races remaining for 2017.

Will Jamie Whincup claim his 7th championship in 2017?

 

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 2017

Leave a comment

Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 5th to the 8th October 2017 was the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

The Bathurst 1000 is the biggest and most well known race in Australia. Held in Bathurst NSW at the Mount Panorama Circuit, it is a 161 lap race totalling 1000kms and is known amongst fans as ‘The Great Race’. Mount Panorama is an unusual track. The word ‘Mount’ gives it all away. There are lots of ups and downs as it winds its way over the hill. There is approximately 174m between the highest and lowest part of the circuit. It is unusual and makes for a gruelling but spectacular race.

There are so many things that happened over the weekend I couldn’t possibly report on them all so I’m going to limit it to my observations and race highlights.

Greg Murphy who is a pit reporter got to drive Triple 8 Sandman V6 Turbo around Bathurst circuit as a demo for the fans.

A special ‘congratulations’ to Craig Lowndes who made his 24th Bathurst start on Sunday. His co-driver, Steven Richards started his 200th career race at Bathurst. I must say monumental occasions for both of them.

The rookies to have their first Bathurst races were Garry Jacobson, Alex Rullo and Todd Hazelwood.

The Bathurst race rules require teams to complete a minimum of 7 pit stops though out the day. All teams seemed to manage this.

The weather this Sunday was not looking good. Commentator Neil Crompton thought the rain would hit at midday but it hit a lot earlier than that, soaking the track even before the race begun. A setting for a messy Bathurst.

In race 20, Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was David Reynolds.

It was interesting to note all of the main drivers started the race. Usually it’s the less experienced co-drivers that take the wheel at the start. The heavy rain may have had something to do with this.

At the start of the 161 lap race Scott McLaughlin got to turn 1 first. Mark Winterbottom tried to move past David Reynolds for the 2nd spot but had to pull back realising he didn’t have enough space for the manoeuvre.

On lap 2 Scott McLaughlin went down the escape road coming into turn 23 too fast. Now Chaz Mostert had the race lead.

Shane Van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes driving close together both left the track on the same corner turn 1, which wasn’t good for either of them.

Later in the race when Shane Van Gisbergen’s co-driver, Matt Campbell jumped in the number 97 Red Bull Holden Commodore he got spun around by Michael Caruso.  By the time he turned his car around and re-joined the race he ended up right at the back of the pack. This didn’t impress the Triple 8 team one bit.

When co-driver Alex Premat took over from Scott McLaughlin that’s when an engine issue started. Alex Premat brought the car in for the team to check it out. It was running off song. They couldn’t work out the problem and Alex Premat was told to push on. He went back out on track but stopped due to no oil pressure at turn 4 known as ‘the cutting’. Any corner is a high-risk spot to break down and the Vodafone Safety Car was deployed. The race was now under yellow.  Car 17 had to be towed back to pits and to the team’s distress was out for the rest of the race. DNF at lap 74! Not even half way through the race.

It was a complete disaster for Scott McLaughlin as the 2017 Championship leader. There is only one other event to go for the year and he will now have to make up 30 points to close the gap on the new leader, Jamie Whincup.

Then 2 laps later, the Preston Hire Racing team of Lee Holdsworth and Karl Reindler left the track also due to engine problems. Another DNF!

Paul Dumbrell was running 3rd going down Conrod Straight and couldn’t see out of the front window because of the heavy rain. Due to some controversy earlier in the year the Triple 8 team made an official request to the V8 Supercars Technical Manager, David Stuart to be allowed to use a squeegee while driving. David Stuart weighed up the risk between visibility and ‘squeegeeing whilst driving’ and permitted its use for this occasion.  

‘Squeegeeing Whilst Driving’ (SWD) a new technical phrase. You heard it here first at Williams Perfect Ride.

With permission now granted, both Paul Dumbrell and Matt Campbell also joined the SWD ranks.

A funny part was, while it was raining the crews had to carry the drivers on their backs out onto the pit lane so that the driver’s shoes didn’t get wet. No driver wants slippery feet going at those speeds.

I couldn’t believe how many cars went off the track throughout the race down at turn 23. It was just crazy.

It was funny to see one of fans up at the top of the hill in McPhillamy Park offering pit reporter Greg Rust a beer before he had to get back down to the pit lane.

As Lee Holdsworth was coming in, David Wall in nearly made contact with him in car 18.

In the middle of the race the Vodafone Safety car came out due to a Kangaroo being close to the track.  In total there were 6 Safety cars.

On lap 141 James Moffat hit the wall at the top of the hill. Once again the Safety Car came out and car 34 was towed from the track. Co-driver Richard Muscat watching intently from the garage must have known what this meant for the race.

Towards the end of the race, at lap 152 Simona De Silvestro had DNF due to a wet track making her lose it at the last turn and hit the pit lane wall. It was so bad the car had to be towed off track. Except for possibly a bruised ego she came out of it fine. It was so close to the end of the race I am sure she and her co-driver David Russell felt terrible. They had done so well throughout the race.

Soon after, at lap 159 with Mark Winterbottom at the wheel, he and co-driver Dean Canto left the track with a DNF. Another casualty of the wet weather, dropping 19 spots from their start at position 3.

The gruelling race took another victim a lap later (160). Nick Percat and Macauley Jones had their car #8 taken from the track and also received a DNF.

As the race drew to a close no one else could catch the top 3 podium spots. The Erubus team with drivers David Reynolds and Luke Youlden finished an amazing 4 seconds ahead of the next team, Scott Pye and Warren Luff. They were followed less than a second later by Fabain Coulthard  and Tony D’Alberto.

The reason why Craig Lowndes surprisingly finished 11th was because he had an issue with his car for the 2nd year in a row.

Also surprisingly, Jamie Whincup finished 20th completing only 124 laps when time was called. This was because his car dropped a cylinder. The team decided to get back out there was better than a DNF. Such bad luck for both of them.

Results for race 20

1st David Reynolds and Luke Youlden – Erebus Motorsport.
2nd Scott Pye and Warren Luff – Mobil 1 HSV Racing.
3rd Fabain Coulthard and Tony D’Alberto – Shell V Power Racing
Team.
4th Dale Wood and Chris Pither – Erebus Motorsport.
5th Shane Van Gisbergen and Matt Campbell – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

 

The next event is the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 on the 20th to the 22nd of October 2017.

Interesting to note, Fabian Coulthard has now taken back the championship over Jamie Whincup by 91 points and Scott McLaughlin has now dropped from 1st to 3rd, 97 points away.

This was David and Luke Youden’s first Bathurst win together.

Erebus Team owner Betty Klimenko couldn’t talk because she had happy tears coming out of her eyes.

Congratulations Betty and Erebus Motorsport.

 

 

 

 

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Wilson Security Sandown 500 2017

Leave a comment

 Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 15th to the 17th of September 2017 was the Wilson Security Sandown 500.

Mark Skaife said that the Sandown 500 is the precursor to the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. I agree and believe it can make the drivers a little overeager to push hard.

It may be why the extra rule on this weekend was to have the seat belts done up and fastened before leaving the pit lane.

Even pre-race I felt it was going to be an exciting weekend. On the final lap of the Armor All Race for the Grid 1, Jonathon Webb locked the brakes at the end of the back straight.  This resulted in Todd Hazelwood crashing into the tyre wall at a terrifying top speed of 260 kilometres an hour.  This also resulted in Will Davison not racing in Race for the Grid 2 for the main drivers.

Regardless, it didn’t mean that fun was not had. Russell Ingall was in an old Castrol Perkins race suit and wig. Also, Mark Skaife donned a Fox Sports race suit.  Whenever I spotted them I couldn’t stop laughing.

In Race 19, Cameron Waters and Richie Stanaway started on pole position with Richie Stanaway behind the wheel. Alongside them were Scott McLaughlin and Alexandre Premat.

It was interesting to note only 2 main drivers started the race. These were Shane Van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes in cars 97 and 888 respectively.

Craig Lowndes started 23rd due to a DNF in Race for the Grid 2 with a power steering issue.

Shane Van Gisbergen started in position 21.

At the start of what was supposed to be a 161-lap race, Richie Stanaway got the jump and led into turn 1.

Dean Canto got turned around between turns 3 and 4. Ash Walsh also got spun around at turn 4 on the opening lap.

Then Taz Douglas hit the wall at the end of the back straight due to a flat right front tyre. The red flag came out for the Marshalls and Officials to repair the tyre barrier.  

The result of the hold-up was the race went to a ‘time certain’ finish. When the race got back underway the clock started ticking.

When the green flag went up, Richie Stanaway took off into the distance which the drivers behind didn’t want to see. Close behind him was Alex Premat.

Early on Tony Dalberto was running inside the top 5.

Paul Dumbrell was running 3rd trying to catch the race leaders up front. However, he knew he had to keep the car ‘straight’ for when he handed it back to Jamie Whincup.

When Paul Dumbrell got a puncture, it was coming out of turn 4 and he knew he had to back right off to reduce chance of damage to car 88.

A lot of tyres let go I think due to the end of the turn 1 curb. The race engineers were telling their drivers to stay off the turn 1 curb edge.

Craig Lowndes pitted early to hand over to Steven Richards ensuring he re-joined with a clear race track in front and behind.

It was funny that Todd Kelly ran wide and collected the Dunlop Break Marker. The only way he could get rid of it was to make sure there were no other cars behind him and brake hard.

In the middle of the race Cameron Waters was back in the driver’s seat being chased down by Scott McLaughlin.

Soon all main drivers got back in the driver’s seat for the run to the checkered flag. With the race becoming ‘time certain’ strategies had changed.

Towards the end of the race no one could catch the top 3 cars. All were Fords; Cameron Waters Scott Mclaughlin and Chaz Mostert.

As the others crossed the line it became a little messy.

Ash Walsh and Tim Slade got excluded from the results due to both drivers not completing the minimum 54 laps.

Taz Douglas was out of the race and received a DNF.

Shane Van Gisbergen was docked 2 grid spots due to spinning Fabian Coulthard earlier on.

Aside from this the other noteworthy points were:

This was Matt Campbell’s 2nd Enduro campaign but first with the Red Bull Holden Racing Team. I was quite impressed with his performance.

Craig Lowndes line of the weekend was perfect. It was like James Bond not the Colin Bond like the Livery is.

HA HA! I Was Laughing at Garth Tander because he was trying to be a camera man while the race was under red flag.

Results for the 2017 Wilson Security Sandown 500 race 19.

1st Cameron Waters and Richie Stanaway – Monster Energy Racing team.
2nd Scott Mclaughlin and Alex Premat – Shell V Power racing team.
3rd Chaz Mostert and Steve Owen – Supercheap Auto racing team.

Ford 1 2 and 3.

The next event is the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 on the 5th to the 8th of October 2017.