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Post Race Report

Winton 400, Victoria 2014

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Hi to all the V8 Enthusiasts

On the weekend of the 4th to the 6th of April 2014 was the Winton 400 in Victoria. I was lucky enough to be at this year’s event.

In race 7 Fabain Coulthard started from pole position alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen, Fabain got the jump off the start line and led the pack through turns 1 and 2 for the first of 34 laps. Robert Dahlgren did not complete a lap in his Volvo due to engine troubles, Michael Caruso ran wide at turn 12 in his Nissan Altama, which gave the Erebus AMG E63 a chance to try and get up the inside of Scott Pye he passed Will Davison at the last corner.

In the middle of the race the 2 former teammates of Lee Holdsworth and Michael Caruso made contact on approach to turns 1 and 2, both the Volvos were out of race 7, due to no power steering. Towards the end of the race Nick Percat made contact with David Reynolds. James Courtney was stuck at the pitlane entry, so as a result the HRT crew had get the go jacks out and push his car back to their garage. Tim Slade had to be pushed into the pit bunker (garage). On lap Russell Ingall came into the pitlane for fresh tyres under safety car conditions, but then he tapped David Wall and car Michael Caruso, as a result he copped a pitlane penalty, for making contact. In the end Fabain took the race victory,

Results for race 7

1st – Fabain Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing.
2nd – Shane Van Gisbergen – Team VIP.
3rd – Dale Wood – Brad Jones Racing.

 

In race 8 Fabain Coulthard started again on pole position alongside him was Scott Mclaughlin. Scott led the second race of the weekend, but then had to drive this Volvo S 60 into the garage for a new battery, when he re-joined the race he was back in 25th spot and 3 laps down.

Our current reigning champions Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes from Red Bull Racing haven’t been able to make up much ground, even qualifying outside the top 20.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen had no grip but was able to hold onto to his spot. Towards the end of the race Lee Holdsworth took the race lead from Fabian Coulthard and managed to hold on to the lead until the checkered flag.

Results for race 8

1st – Lee Holdsworth – Erebus Motorsport.
2nd – Mark Winterbottom – Pepsi Max crew FPR.
3rd – Fabain Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing.

 

In race 9 Scott Mclaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen. Mark Winterbottom made a great start but then was passed Shane at turn 7. Meanwhile Shane went into the pits early and lost ground by being held longer in his pitbox for fuel.

In the middle of the race, Shane came in for his last stop to take on fuel, as he left his pitbox the fuel was leaking out of the hose.

In the end Mark Winterbottom took the race 9 victory, and his first win for 2014 and FPRs 1st win this season. Craig is still the championship leader, while his teammate Jamie Whincup has dropped from 2nd to 5th spot.

The next event is the Auckland 500 on the 24th to the 27th of April 2014.

Results for race 9

1st – Mark Winterbottom – Ford Performance Racing.
2nd – James Courtney – Holden Racing team.
3rd – Tim Slade – Supercheap Auto Racing.

Pre Race Report

Winton Victoria 2014 Pre Race

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Hi guys and girls.

Let’s have a look back at 2013 when it was held in August…

During   the 23rd – 25th of August 2013 was the Winton 360 we have Races 25, 26 & 27. In Race 25 they had a 60/60 Supersprint race, which means that they drive the first 60 laps where they don’t earn any points, they then take a break and the second 60 laps is for championship points.

In race 25 Jamie Whincup started on pole position alongside him was Michael Caruso. Jamie led the field through turns 1 and 2 for the 1st of 40 laps Jamie was leading during the opening laps until he had a driveshaft fail on his car inbetween laps 9 and 10.

Jamie had to watch the rest of the 60/60 Supersprint format from the pits. In the middle of race there was a halftime break of just 15 minutes. Mark Winterbottom ran out of fuel and as a result he had to be pushed back to pitlane by his teammate Will Davison.

On the restart the Nissan teammates of James Moffat and Michael Caruso, had contact approaching turns 1 and 2.  Towards the end of race 25 James almost didn’t win his 1st race because he ran wide down at turn 10. But he held on to get Nissans first race win in V8 supercars in 21 years. The last time Nissan had won a race was way back in 1992 which was 21 years ago.

Results for race 25

1st James Moffat – Nissan motorsport
2nd Michael Caruso – Nissan motorsport.
3rd Mark Winterbottom – Pepsi Max Crew – FPR.

In race 26 Jason Bright was on pole position alongside him was Tony Dalberto, this was Tony’s first time on the front row. Jason stalled his Team BOC Holden commodore off the line.  As a result of that Mark Winterbottom led the field through turns 1 and 2.  Alex Premat went off the track in the first turn and went cross country to rejoin the pack on the other side of the turn. With Alex coming back into the pack, it appeared to cause the down fall of Jamie Whincup, Russell Ingall and Alex Davison.

There was a safety car deployed on the opening lap. While Jamie was able to limp back to pit lane for repairs to car 1 in the Red Bull Racing garage, with smoke pouring out of right front of  his Holden. While Russell Ingall was taken out of the weekend altogether with too much damage and Alex Davison was able to stay in the race as he had the least amount of damage.

Then on the restart Michael Caruso went into his garage. When Jamie rejoined he had race tape all over the front of the bonnet.  In the middle of the race Tony Dalberto passed James Courtney down at turn 12.

Towards the end of the race Mark Winterbottom was under massive amounts of pressure from Jason Bright not only for the race lead but the race win, and the top spot the Winton podium. This was Mark Winterbottoms first win at Winton…

Results for race 26

1st Mark Winterbottom – Pepsi Max Crew FPR.
2nd Jason Bright – Team BOC.
3rd James Courtney – Toll Holden racing team.

In race 27 James Courtney started on pole position alongside him was Jason Bright but Jason got off to another bad start. Then Todd Kelly in the Nissan Altima went off the road before turns 1 and 2. Todd Kelly in his Jack Daniels Nissan made contact with Jamie Whincup and this caused him to go off road into the barriers and took him out of the race for the day while Jamie was able to stay in the race. (Todd Kelly had to walk back to pitlane)

Then on lap 2 Scott Pye was hit from behind and that started the fire on the left hand side. Scott attempted to drive back to the pits but only made it to pitlane and had to abandon his car as it filled with smoke.

James Courtney lead the way on the restart as Chaz Mostert chased him down, meanwhile Craig Lowndes passed Tony Dalberto and took him from 13th place to 12th position.

Then in the middle of the race Jonathan Webb and Maro Engel came together inbetween turns 1 and 2 sending Maro off the track. Michael Caruso was battling away with Jamie Whincup.

Towards the end the race Scott McLaughlin was passed by David Reynolds. Then Rick Kelly and Mark Winterbottom came together inbetween turns 5 and 6 taking Rick out of the race taking the Jack Daniels team out of the race altogether. Jason bright had to get towed off the slippery grass. On the last lap James was being chased down by Fabain Coulthard and Chaz Mostert.

Results for race 27

1st James Courtney – Toll HRT.
2nd Fabain Coulthard – Lockwood Racing.
3rd Chaz Mostert – DJR.

Trivia

Jamie Whincup still leads the championship by 55 points his former housemate Will Davison. The Wilson Security Sandown 500 is on September 13th to the 15th 2013.

 

Post Race Report

Adelaide Clipsal 500 2014

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Hi Guys and Girls on the 27th February to the 2nd of March 2014 was the Clipsal 500.

In race 1 Red Bull Racing Australia’s Jamie Whincup started on pole position alongside him was his teammate Craig Lowndes.  Craig got the jump into turns 1, 2 and 3 for the first of 39 laps. Also on lap 1 Chaz Mostert went into the wall at turn 5, due to an oil leaking from the rear of car 6.

Tim Slade was trying to pass the Rick Kelly, towards the end of the opening lap, Shane Van Gisbergen was ahead of Mark Winterbottom in 3rd spot. On lap 2 the race leaders had to be careful due to the oil that Chaz had left behind in-between turns 4 and 5. Chaz’s car ended up in the pit garage to fix the oil leak issues, and the sister car of David Reynolds also pitted due to damage on the front right hand corner, from hitting the wall at turn 11. Scott Pye ran wide down at turn 9 due to a locked brake on the front left corner. On lap 3 Lee Holdsworth had David Wall and James Moffat. Jason Bright ended up being passed by Russell Ingall. Garth Tander passed the DJR car, for position 12.

On lap 4 Jamie was the first car to make his pitstop for tyres and fuel, so that his teammate didn’t have to double stack, the 2nd car was Garry Rogers motorsport Volvo Polestar racing, car 34 driven by Robert Dahlgren. On lap 5 David was in the garage getting checked over by the doctor after a hard hit at turn 11. On lap 6 James Courtney was chasing Mark Winterbottom, through turns 1, 2 and 3. Todd Kelly was asked to enter pit lane in car 7 on lap 7, cars 7, 21 and 16 pitted on the same lap. James Courtney, also Scott McLaughlin pitted together.  On the pit exit Todd got passed Scott as he was re-joining the racetrack.

The Pepsi Max crew FPR team did Mark’s pitstop on lap 9, James Moffat had to serve a pit lane penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed limit which is 40 klms/hour. Car 97 peeled off on lap 13 for his compulsory pitstop. Craig pitted on lap 14, for 2 tyres and fuel. Craig said ‘what the heck happened there’, and his race engineer Jeromy Moore said sorry to Craig about the pitstop issue with the right rear wheel.

In the middle of the race Shane was following Craig for the effectively 2nd and 3rd positions. Towards the end of the race cars 22, 47 and 2 are all were battling for 10th 11th and 12th spots. Tim nearly hit the wall on the left hand side.

Nick Percat made contact with Michael Caruso. In the end Nick ended up in the garage. Craig caught the grass on approach to turn 14. Rick was under pressure from Scott, in the end Jamie ended the first race of the season on the top spot of the podium and he claimed his 8th win at Clipsal and race win number 74.

Results for race 1

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia.
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Team VIP – Tekno Autosports.

 

In race 2 Craig Lowndes started on pole position alongside him was Scott McLaughlin, Craig got the jump into the turns 1, 2 and 3 chicane. On lap 1 Lee Holdsworth tried to get passed the Pepsi Max Crew Ford. When James passed the FPR car, he started to chase Lee Holdsworth. Meanwhile Nick Percat and Garth Tander made contact at turn 9. On lap 2 Craig got a kerb strike Neil Crompton said that Craig burning a kerb hop after lap 1 was not good. Jamie managed to get passed Scott McLaughlin, for 2nd spot. On lap 3 Jason Bright tried to a make a move down the main straight. Mark Beretta was right at the last corner, turn 14. On lap 4 Jason Bright tried get down the inside of the Volvo at turn 9. On lap 5 Scott was complaining about the over steer to his race engineer Richard Hallway. The first car to make to a pit was Robert Dahlgren. Robert stalled on exit of the pits Matt White was talking to Robert and he said to him ‘I bet it is not 30 degrees where you come from on the east coast of Sweden’, he replied ‘yeah minus’.  In the middle of the race James Courtney nearly lost the passenger’s side door on approach to turn 4. Towards the end of the race, Scott and Jamie were battling for 2nd and 3rd.

Results for race 2

1st Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd Scott Maclaughlin – Volvo Polstar racing GRM.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.

In race 3, Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position alongside him was the 5 times V8 Supercars Champion Jamie Whincup. Jamie got the jump and led the field into turns 1, 2 and 3 for the first of 78 laps. Rick Kelly made contact with the tyre bundle at turn 1. As a result of the guard rubbing on the front left tyre, there was smoke pouring out of the left hand side of his car. On lap 2 David Reynolds pitted early for fuel. On lap 3 Todd Kelly had no throttle meaning the car running only on idol due to a broken throttle cable.

Shane tried to pass Jamie at turn 9, but wasn’t able to make the move stick. On lap 4 the first 3 cars to pit were Craig Lowndes, Chaz Mostert and Fabain Coulthard. On lap 5 Car 7 was limping back to the pits. On lap 6 James Courtney made his first compulsory pitstop. On lap 7 Nick Percat came in for tyres and fuel. On lap 8 the Volvo 560 got through on Tim Slade, at turn 9. Micheal Caruso got a black flag for speeding in the pitlane. Will Davison went into the wall at turn 8 on lap 10, as a result a safety car was deployed, that meant that cars 1 and 2 could make their compulsory pitstops.

At the restart on lap 14, Jason Bright ended up rolling his car at turn 1, the cars that were involved were cars 8 Jason Bright, 6 Chaz Mostert, 16 Scott Pye, and 4 Lee Holdsworth. The 2nd safety car was deployed due to this crash.

On the 2nd restart on lap 19, cars 15 and 97 got drive thru penalties for not maintaining the speed after the restart, Mark went into the tyres between turns 6 and 7. When Rick took his pit lane penalty that left cars 1 and 888, to start the next lap in positions 1 and 2.

In the middle of the race Craig came in for his last pit stop and

towards the end of the race Jamie got a pit lane drive thru penalty for the car controller touching his car as Jamie was trying to save his day he made contact at turn 9 with Michael Caruso. In the end James Courtney won race 3.

Results Race 3

1st James Courtney – Holden Racing Team
2nd Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen –Techno Auto Sports

The next event is the Tasmania 400 on the 28th to the 30th of March 2014 races 4, 5 and 6. Craig Lowndes currently leads the 2014 V8 Supercars Championship series points standing by 282 points over 2nd placed Fabain Coulthard.

Trivia

Tekno Auto Sports, VIP Petfoods, Lucas Dumbrell motorsport and HHA Racing have only got one car in this year’s Championship. Mark Larkham has a new inferred camera which he uses for checking out the temperatures on both the front and rear brake routes and pads.

The last time that Tim drove for Supercheap Auto Racing before this year was 2009.