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Craig Lowndes – looking back on a fantastic motor racing career

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HI to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

Earlier this year Craig Lowndes announced his retirement from full time driving in V8 Supercars. Although he will participate in the Enduros next year, he will be sorely missed as a brilliant and exciting driver to watch and an all-round ‘hell of a nice guy’.

The 2018 V8 Supercars season has now ended and Craig Lowndes has run his last race as a full time driver so I thought I might take the opportunity to put together a brief retrospective on his fantastic career.

Craig Lowndes was born on the 21st of June 1974 in Melbourne, Australia.

At the tender age of 9 with his father’s encouragement, Craig Lowndes started racing go karts at a track in the town of Whittlesea.

He moved into race cars in 1991 driving a Van Diemen in the Motorcraft Formula Ford Championship. Think about it. That would make him roughly 17 years old. Quite an achievement don’t you think?

In 1993 Craig Lowndes won the Australian Formula Ford Championship which was a good way to start his motor racing career. It caught everyone’s attention and all eyes were on him to see what he could do next.

The following year, 1994 he accepted the offer to be co-driver to Brad Jones who was already a legend. It must have been quite an honour to be ‘the chosen’ but also it said quite a lot about the faith they had in him.

In 1995 he earned the pole position at Sandown and Bathurst. Unfortunately, both ended with a DNF but he soon returned to his usual form.

In 1996 he made his fulltime Australian Touring Car Championship debut and won the championship.

By 1997 his rapid rise through the ranks put him in a position to go overseas and try his hand as a Formula 1 driver. Things didn’t appear to go to plan so he ended up coming back to Australia for the Endurance races which were the Tickford 500 at Sandown and the Primus 1000 at Bathurst.

In 1998 he accepted an offer from the Holden Racing Team to be teammate to Mark Skaife (moving from Ford).  He replaced the massive gap left in the team by Peter Brock, who retired at the end of the 1997 season. They were big shoes to fill but Craig Lowndes (CL) proved his worth by winning The Shell Championship Series for a second time (the first being 1996).

Then the following year (1999) just to prove a point, he won the Shell Championship Series for the third time.

So let me just recap that because it is quite astounding:

·       1991 at 17 years old he starts his career in professional race cars

·       1993 in his 3rd season he wins the Australian Formula Ford Championship

·       1994 becomes co-driver to Brad Jones.

·       1996 becomes a fulltime driver and wins the Australian Touring Car Championship

·       1998 replaces the retired Peter Brock in the Holden Racing Team

o   Teamed up with another race legend, Mark Skaife

o   Wins the Shell Championship Series (for a second time).

·       1999 wins the championship again. That is his 3rd season as a full time driver and 3rd season win.

If not before, he now had really made a name for himself.

He was going for his 4th championship in 2000 but that went to his teammate Mark Skaife.

In 2001 he joined Gibson Motorsport but it didn’t seem to be a good fit.

The following year he moved to 00 Motorsport. This was also a short term relationship and for 2003 and 2004 joined Ford Performance Racing.

2003 he won round 2 at Phillip Island after the race got red flagged due pouring rain.

With his teammate Glenn Seton came runner up for the Bathurst 1000, 2nd to Greg Murphy and Rick Kelly in 2003 and 2004.

For the 2005 he moved under the wing of Triple 8 Race Engineering. He finally seemed to have found his perfect match and it started a 14 year relationship with Triple 8.

In that first year with Triple 8 he won the Betta Electrical Sandown 500 and finished runner up to ‘The Enforcer’, Russell Ingall for the season Championship.

With co-driver Yvan Muller he should have won the supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 in 2005. If it wasn’t for Craig Lowndes hitting the wall and collecting a wheel from the Larry Perkins’ Castrol Commodore I reckon they would’ve won Bathurst in 2005.

In 2006 Craig Lowndes won the Clipsal 500 Race 1

While in race 2 he had a DNF (Did Not Finish) due to an accident with Cameron McConville, James Courtney and Jason Richards.

He also won Oran Park Race 3 and the coveted the 2006 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

From 2007 to 2012 Team Vodafone was the new sponsor for Craig Lowndes and also Jamie Whincup. They were a great match as team mates and soon became a force to be reckoned with.

2008 Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup made a 3-peat, winning the Bathurst 1000 for a third time in a row. 2006, 2007 and 2008.

2009 both Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes won 6 from 6 races to start the 2009 V8 Supercars Championship.  The year for Triple 8 was looking great.

Over the next 9 seasons he continued in the same form with far too many accomplishments to list.

In 2013 Red Bull took over as the naming rights sponsor.

Caltex Vortex came in as the sponsor for Craig in 2016 and 2017. Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen stayed sponsored by Red Bull.

In his final year, 2018 Craig Lowndes was again under new sponsorship Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

With the completion of the 2018 season it ends Craig Lowndes’ 22 year career as a fulltime driver in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship and his 14 year relationship with Triple Eight Race Engineering.

His stats clearly define him as one of the all-time greats.

Craig Lowndes – stats of a legend:

Races:   667

Crashes (obviously survived):     1996 Phillip Island, Race 2

1999 Calder Park, Race 2

2001 Clipsal 500 Adelaide,  Race 2

2003 Barbagallo Raceway, Race 2

2005 Clipsal 500, Race 2

2006 Phillip Island, Race 3

2008 Clipsal 500, Race 2

2011 Abu Dhabi, Race 2 (I don’t see a pattern here. Do you?)

Race wins:          107. The first in the history of racing to reach 100 race wins.

Pole positions:   42

Bathurst 1000 Wins:      7

The Bathurst tally includes a trifecta having won 3 years running 2006,2007 & 2008.

Winner of the opening race 3 years in a row 1999, 2000 and 2001.

He has been team mates with some of the most well-known drivers in the history of the sport including;

·       Peter brock 1994 – 1996

·       Brad Jones 1994

·       Greg Murphy 1995 – 1997

·       Mark Skaife 1998 – 2000

·       Neil Crompton 2001 – 2002

·       Glenn Seton 2003 – 2004

·       Steven Ellery 2005

·       Jamie Whincup 2006 -2018

 

Co-drivers include many of the above plus:

·       Cameron McConville 1999

·       Glenn Seton 2003, 2004

·       Yvan Muller 2005

·       Warren Luff 2012, 2013

·       Steven Richards 2014, 2018

He has worked with some of the best race engineers in the industry including:

·       Matthew Crawford 1996 – 2000

·       Oscar Fearonoto 2001 2002

·       Campbell little 2005 – 2007

·       Jeromy Moore 2008 – 2014 Jeromy Moore’s nickname is JJ. In 2015 Jeromy Moore moved to Germany to work with the Porsche LMP1 Team for 2015, 2016 and 2017.

·       Grant Mcpherson – Nickname is Shippy 2015

·       Ludo Lacroix 2016

·       John McGregor – Irish 2017 – 2018

At his last race for the 2018 season he did his lap of honour to a cheering crowd. What amazed me was the response from not just his team, but all the other drivers. Some on hands and knees bowing in his presence, asking to have their driving suits signed and more. No-one has ever had a bad thing to say about Craig Lowndes (except that he beat them in a race). It really says a lot about the character of the man.

Congratulations Craig Lowndes! You truly are one of the greats in the sport. I am looking forward to the Enduros next year but am sure that I speak for everyone when I say ‘Gonna miss you’ from full time racing.

Good luck with everything you do in the future.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

Please feel free to let me know what your favourite Craig Lowndes moments are.

Post Race Report, Supercars

Coates Hire Newcastle 500 2018 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 23rd to the 25th of November 2018 was the Coates Hire Newcastle 500, the Supercars season grand finale.

The Newcastle race is held on local streets, part of which runs along its beautiful shore line and the city comes alive for the spectacle. Each year it gets better and better.

One of the funniest moment of the weekend was when Jessica Yates, Mark Skaife and Russell Ingall wore a t-shirt taking a dig at his fellow commentator (Russell Ingall) for a incident back in 2003. It was printed with ‘Dearest Mark, I am sorry for firing you into the fence at Sydney Motorsport Park Eastern Creek – Love Russ’. LOL.

In the sessions prior to the race:

  • Lee Holdsworth was fastest in Practice 1
  • Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in the ‘Armour All’ Qualifying for race 30
  • Scott McLaughlin was fastest in the ‘Armour All’ Qualifying for race 31

In race 30 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position and alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

At the start of the 95-lap race Jamie Whincup got the jump on his teammate, Shane Van Gisbergen but then let him pass him up Watt Street so that Shane Van Gisbergen could close the Driver’s Championship points gap with Scott McLaughlin.

Fabian Coulthard got spun around by Jamie Whincup stopping Fabian Coulthard helping out his teammate, Scott McLaughlin up the front.

Later Fabian Coulthard got himself in more trouble. He made a mistake approaching turn 1 which put him in the wall. He then was also joined by Tim Blanchard and Nick Percat. In fact it was such a mess Nick Percat had half of Fabian Coulthard’s car in his lap. Fabians car looked pretty smashed up and he was out of the race with an NC (not complete). I didn’t think the team would be able to repair the car for Sunday’s race but somehow they worked their magic.

Craig Lowndes followed Scott Pye into pit lane for his pit stop. James Courtney was already in the pits causing Scott Pye to double stack, blocking the pit lane for Craig Lowndes. I’m sure he was mighty pissed off losing that valuable time.

When John McGregor asked Craig Lowndes what happened he replied angrily with ”Bloody Pye blocked the fastlane”.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen had enough fuel and tyre grip to chase down the cars in front of him.

However, burning up all that fuel meant when he pitted for his 3rd and final stop there was an extended wait to fill up the race requirement of 140 litres.

Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin was in the lead, heading for victory until the most embarrassing thing of all happened. On the 2nd last corner before the finish line he ran out of fuel! Amazingly his car continued to roll without fuel across the finish line.

Shane Van Gisbergen was close behind taking full advantage and crossed the line ahead of Scott McLaughlin.

Now Shane Van Gisbergen was just 2 points behind Scott McLaughlin in the championship. It was a very unusual finish to the race.

However, after the dust settled at the finish line the Stewards gave Shane Van Gisbergen a 25 second penalty for his car being lowered to the ground while fuelling up at his last pit stop. Whoops!

Gisbergen had lost his win and had now been relegated to finishing 5th in the race. So officially McLaughlin was the winner. With only 1 race for the weekend and season he now had the points to secure this year’s championship.

Results for race 30

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

Before the start of race 31 Craig Lowndes did his final lap around the Newcastle streets circuit waving to all the fans. When he got back he took a walk up the pit lane thanking everybody for their support. All the teams took part in congratulating Craig Lowndes on his fantastic career. All the Triple 8 team members wore a shirt that said ‘Thanks CL’.

Chaz Mostert showed one of the greatest gestures of respect and asked Craig Lowndes to sign his suit.

It was now time for Race 31 and Craig Lowndes was bestowed the honour of leading the drivers out to the start line.

David Reynolds started on pole position and alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

All the Nissan drivers and cars were pink because they were supporting the McGrath Foundation. It was quite a sight.

As the 95 lap race started David Reynolds led with Scott McLaughlin following during the opening laps.

Scott McLaughlin seemed to be playing it safe which I thought was a good call; If Scott McLaughlin damaged his car and got a DNF he would lose the championship again (last year he lost the championship by only one race). All he had to do was hang in there.

Jamie Whincup helped out teammate Shane Van Gisbergen and pitted early to avoid a double stack.

Tim Blanchard got a pit lane drive through penalty for contact with Simona de Silvestro.

David Reynolds was still leading before his first pit stop.

Meanwhile Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen where battling it out in 2nd and 3rd position for the championship.

For a time they didn’t have the support of their team mates, Jamie Whincup in 7th place and Fabian Coulthard back in 9th.

Michael Caruso was trying to finish on a high with Nissan Motorsport with his contract still up for renewal. He finished the race 19th, gaining 5 places from a starting position 24.

Lee Holdsworth is  also another driver without a contract for next season. Mark Winterbottom will be replacing him at Team 18.

Nick Percat didn’t want a repeat of Saturday’s dramas which he thankfully avoided by qualifying further up the grid and running a clean race.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen had the front guards on the left and right hanging out.  It wasn’t that bad so he wasn’t about to lose time with a pit stop. His race engineer, Grant McPherson said him, ‘If the Safety Car comes out in the next few laps we will pit to fix it’ (but just keep racing).

Towards the end of the race no one else could catch Scott McLaughlin or David Reynolds in 1st and 2nd place.

At that point Ryan Story who is the team manager at Shell V Power Racing was being interviewed by Greg Murphy and said to Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton ‘We are good on fuel today. OK boys!’. LOL.

Right at the end of the race David Reynolds had great pace. Scott McLaughlin knew he had the championship all wrapped up and it seemed he moved over and let David Reynolds take the race win.

Results for Race 31

1st David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

Congratulations to Craig Lowndes on everything you have achieved during your remarkable Supercars career. What you have done for the sport of Supercars racing has been documented. It will be weird not seeing you in the car full time next year. So, well done Craig Lowndes!

Thanks CL!

The next event is the 2019 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour on the 1st to the 3rd of February 2019.

But the Supercars Championship doesn’t start until 28th of February to the 3rd of March 2019.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/?ref=bookmarks please feel free to let me know how you think the grand finale went.

Post Race Report, Supercars

Red Rooster Sydney Supernight 300 2018 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 3rd to the 4th of August 2018 was the Red Rooster Sydney SuperNight 300.

This year will be first time in a long time that the Supercars have raced at night. The last time the Supercars raced under lights was 1997 at Calder Park Melbourne, Victoria.  

It was an exceptional setup with a new lighting system that seemed to work really well. Check out the video links below to see just how much light they threw onto the track.

The other change to the weekend is that there will be only one V8 Supercars race. In previous years the Red Rooster SuperSprint has had two.

As well as only being one night race, it will also be longer – 300 kilometres over 77 laps.

In the race preliminaries before even taking off for the warm up lap, Jamie Whincup had a flat battery while stationary out on the grid. How this happened between driving out onto the grid and taking off is a mystery to me.

On Friday night in Practice 1, Chaz Mostert was fastest.

Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2 on Saturday.

Before the race started the drivers were introduced to the crowd in the dark. It was a fantastic spectacle which everyone seemed to enjoy (drivers, teams and crowd).

As they come out to the grid for race 21, it was no surprise to see Scott McLaughlin started on pole position for the 11th time in 2018. Alongside was his teammate, Fabian Coulthard.

As they took off Shane Van Gisbergen tried to split the two Shell V Power Fords up but unfortunately he had tuck back into 3rd place during the opening laps.

Fabian Coulthard and Jamie Whincup made contact at turn 1. The angle of connection had me thinking that Jamie Whincup would be off the track and spun around. Commentators, Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton also thought it would be an incident at 270kmp/h and in the dark.  I reckon it was Jamie Whincup’s experience that saved Fabian Coulthard from a penalty.

Andre Heimgartner lost control out on track and then made contact with Garth Tander. The Nissan Motorsport Team had to push his car number 7 into the garage for some serious repairs before re-joining the race.

Garth Tander didn’t have a very good race at all. He got hit left right and centre from the start of the race all the way through. In fact, Garth Tander started 22nd and finished 20th. A result I am sure he won’t be happy with.

Craig Lowndes was made to come in on lap 7 to get clear track. Pit reporter, Mark Larkham calls it the undercut, meaning if a driver thinks he is getting held up by the car in front of him the Engineers will call the drivers in to get them out of the traffic.

Richie Stanaway having started in position 24 chose to stay a bit longer to see how far he could move up before pitting. It worked well for the first year rookie, by the end of the race he did gain 3 spots.

When the 2 Shell V Power cars took turns to pit they had go around the Red Bull garage. Whereas Tickford Racing let Craig Lowndes drive underneath there pit bay for a straight entry to his. Shell V Power and Red Bull just don’t share that kind of relationship.

In the middle of the race Lee Holdsworth was battling it out with Todd Hazelwood. As the came down the main straight the rear wing separated from Todd Hazelwood’s Ford Falcon causing him to leave the track at top speed of 270 killermeters an hour.  SCARY!!!

My first thought was, ‘Oh no! He is about to hit the wall. Somehow, he managed to re-join safely but the Supercars Officials wouldn’t let him continue until the team put the wing back in place. 

If you have an opinion on How Todd Hazelwood’s rear wing come off and how you thought the race went you can let me via my Facebook Fan page. Here is the link for you to make an express expression of your thoughts and opinions. https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

On Lap 52 of 77 James Courtney had to slow down after getting a flat tyre and then hitting a curb which mangled his wheel and suspension. The damage was extensive enough to result in him retiring from race 21. He was the only one out of 26 cars that started Saturday night’s to not finish the race.

Anton De Pasquale was docked 35 points for contact with Michael Caruso.

As the final stint began Craig Lowndes had a margin of 5. 9 Seconds over Scott McLaughlin, so I thought, ‘Ok, time to look after tyres and save fuel’.

When Garth Tander got spun by Simona De Silvestro at turn 4 she wasn’t given a drive thru penalty.

As it came to the close of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was battling with Scott McLaughlin for the lead. How Craig Lowndes lost his 5.9 second lead is another mystery to me.

Shane Van Gisbergen seemed to get the better of ‘Speedie Scott’ McLaughlin to take the lead. It was later revealed the Scott McLaughlin felt like some debris was lodged in his tyre and it was going down.

With Scott McLaughlin slowing down it now looked like Triple 8 were to finish 1, 2 and 3 with Jamie Whincup also overtaking him and Craig Lowndes close behind.  However, Scott McLaughlin did manage to hold off Craig Lowndes and avoid the Triple 8 trifecta.

Fabian Coulthard finished 11th after he started 2nd due a buckled wheel on the left rear.

The gap between the championship leader, Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen is now just 89 points.

Triple 8 now lead the Teams Championship by 262 points.

The next is the OTR Bend Supersprint on the 24 to the 26th of August 2018.

results for race 21

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing team
3rd Scott Mclaughlin – Shell V Power Racing  team
4th Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

Here is a video for the lead up to the Red Rooster Sydney Supernight 300

Who will lead the Championship after the next Supercars Races?

 

Post Race Report, Supercars

Supercars Winton Supersprint 2018

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HI to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 18th to the 20th of May 2018 was the Winton Supersprint in Melbourne Victoria at the Winton Motor Raceway.

It was a weekend of milestones for a few drivers:

·        Lee Holdsworth celebrated his 400th race
·        Craig Lowndes his 650th race start
·        Michael Caruso celebrated his 150th round start

It is unfortunate to note, James Courtney missed the 2 practices sessions on Friday due to being taken to hospital on Friday night with a gastro bug.  Also, Roland Dane was not at Winton due to being on the other side of the world.  

LOL moment of the weekend was when Neil Crompton interviewed Fabian Coulthard. He tried to put a beanie on Neil Crompton’s head while he was on the grid and Neil Crompton’s response was, get it off you Lunatic!!.

In the co drivers session Earl Bamber who is a 2 times Le Man winner 2015 & 2017 was acting co-driver for the Triple 8 team. He went out because he had no experiences driving in a Supercar.  It is a hell of a way to enter the field with such little Supercar experience. Credit to him.

Saturday came and all was set for the 13th race of the season. Scott McLaughlin started on pole position for the 40 lap race and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard. Scott McLaughlin got the jump to lead into turn 1 while his teammate Fabian Coulthard seemed to have a really bad start and dropped all the way down to 5th.

On the opening lap there was contact between Simona De Silvestro, Todd Hazelwood and David Reynolds. As a result David Reynolds had to limp back to the pits for the Erebus team to repair his car. His frustration was clear, knowing he was losing plenty of lap time so early on.

The other drivers went into the pits for tyres but Craig Lowndes, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup chose to stay out because of where they qualified. I think it was a good call as it allowed them to gain track position. Fabian Coulthard was the first of the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske car to stop due to his poor start. Fabain Coulthard choose to pit Early to get caught in Traffic out on Track to also have clear and clear pit lane

In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin was still leading the race which would have made the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske crew happy. Rick Kelly was racing behind Scott McLaughlin for most of the race. Jamie Whincup wanted to get on the podium to get another trophy to add to the Triple 8 collection but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. So he ended the outside the top 10 in 17th which didn’t help him close the points to current Championship leader Scott Mclaughlin.

Towards the end of the race the Vodafone Safety Car was deployed due to Tim Blanchard getting bogged in the sand trap between turns 3 and 4.

Then on the restart Scott McLaughlin had not got the right amount of temperature into his tyres which meant  he had  lost the race lead to Rick Kelly and dropped back to as far as 5th spot.

Todd Kelly was nervous because he wasn’t used to watching the race from the Nissan Motorsport garage. I bet he was happy to see his brother win the race.

Shane Van Gisbergen started 14th gained 11 spots to finish 3rd. Craig Lowndes started 24th, gained 11 spots to finish 13th.

Jamie Whincup started 11th finished 17th so he dropped 6 spot.

David Reynolds started 17th and finished 25th.

As a result Craig Lowndes is now 3rd in the championship.

The only driver to get a DNF (did not finish) complete was Cameron Waters.

Result for race 13

1st Rick Kelly – Castrol Racing Nissan Motorsport.
2nd Scott Pye – Mobil 1 Mobile Racing.
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
4th Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team.
5th Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.

 

In race 14 Scott McLaughlin started pole position alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.

At the start of the 67 lap, 200 kilometre race Scott McLaughlin went 1st to 8th with Fabian Coulthard leading the early stages of the race.

Scott McLaughlin came in to the pits on lap 5 to get out of the traffic. On return to the race his timing gave him clear track speed and clear air. I thought there was no way that Scott McLaughlin was going to re-join the race track safely.

David Reynolds wasn’t happy with qualifying 26th he thought he was going to qualify up near the front of the grid. Interesting to note on the Supercars coverage Russell Ingall, Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard were wearing beanies to keep their heads warm. Mark Skaife mocked them saying, ‘they looked very average’.  

Craig Lowndes was not happy with qualifying  23rd he would have been happier with qualifying inside the top 10 but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. He decided to stay out and make positions from his poor qualifying which paid off. Because he was out with a clear racetrack.

Michael Carso and Rick were battling for position which allowed the cars in front of them to gap the cars behind. When I saw how far Scott McLaughlin had dropped back I thought there was no way he was going to win Sunday’s race and the race for was going to be difficult for him to recover.

In the middle of the race Fabian Coulthard was leading until he had to come into pit lane for his 2nd pit stop. Which meant that all the cars that were behind him moved up 1 spot each. Craig Lowndes had gained 22 spots at one stage to take the race lead only because had not pitted at that point.

Towards the end of the of the race Fabian Coulthard had a 14 second gap over the 2nd placed car which was Shane Van Gisbergen. which is not heard of much these days. 

the end of the race was really exciting to watch and congratulations to Fabian Coulthard, Shane Van Gisbergen and Scott Mclaughlin.

The gap between 1st and 2nd in the Championship is just now 131. Jamie Whincup is now 326 points behind. Craig Lowndes is only 299 points behind.

Fabian Coulthard was heading for his first win for 2018 with Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.

The last that Fabian Coulthard had won at Winton Motor Raceway was 2014 With Brad Jones Racing.

The next is the Crown bet Darwin Triple Crown on the 15th to the 17th of June 2018.

Results for race 14

1st Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing team
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team

Post Race Report, Supercars

Tyrepower Tasmainia Supersprint 2018

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 6th to the 8th of April 2018 was the Tyrepower Tasmainia Supersprint.

It is interesting to see Supercars trying a brand new Qualifying format based on the Formula 1 method. This was the first run and it went well. There was good feedback from all the drivers, teams, commentators and spectators.

In race 7 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position and alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

On the first of the 50-lap race Craig Lowndes who started in fourth position tried to go in between Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup but that didn’t work so he had to drop back to third. 

Shane Van Gisbergen continued to lead the opening laps. Then the Red Bull Holden Racing Team pitted Shane Van Gisbergen on lap 5 for track position but Mark Dutton later admitted the strategy was wrong and too soon to be of benefit.

Commentator, Mark Skaife was also surprised that Shane Van Gisbergen came in as early as he did. I’m guessing there was some sort of plan but it didn’t work out for the best.

Shane Van Gisbergen’s early pit stop put Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes into 1st and 2nd spot.

Before their pit stops took place Jamie Whincup continued as the leader of the race with Craig Lowndes behind him.

During the first half of the race Rick Kelly didn’t leave enough racing room for Cameron Waters to sneak past him at turn 2 which he didn’t like.

Michael Caruso’s contact with another car left his Nissan Altama’s front left headlight and panel smashed in, needing to be patched up while in pit lane. The pit team finding yet another use for Gaffe Tape

On lap 23 Chaz Mostert pitted. When leaving the pit lane to re-join the racetrack the seal panel on his car 55 caught fire. The cabin filled with smoke and Chaz Mostert seemed to struggle when he climbed out and walked away from the car.  The repairs needed to get back out on the track were too extensive and he ended the race with a DNF (Did Not Finish).

It seemed no one else could catch the top 3 drivers Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes and James Courtney. The finish was still a nail biter with Craig Lowndes doing his best to take the number one position from Jamie Whincup. The pressure brought out some amazing last minute driving from both of them. Ultimately Jamie Whincup prevailed.

Mark Skaife said that if Craig Lowndes was on pole position for Saturday’s Race he would have won and I agree. He was in his best form.

But Jamie Whincup doesn’t give over that easily and this gives him his 110th career race win! Congratulations Jamie!

Results for race 7

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Holden Racing Team.
2nd Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.
3rd James Courtney – Walkinshaw Andretti United.

 

You will have to excuse the way this sounds but it is the honest truth (I love the play on words). In Qualifying for Race 8, Triple 8 qualified 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

So in Race 8 Craig Lowndes started on pole position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him. The last time Craig Lowndes started on pole position was back in 2016, Race 16 at Queensland Raceway.

At the start of the 84 lap Race Craig Lowndes got the right amount of wheelspin to get swamped off pole position. Michael Caruso got damage on the front left-hand corner of car 23 due to a concertina pile up. Richie Stanaway also didn’t have a good start to race 8. He had damage on the left rear of the Mega Bolts Fuel car 56 which didn’t make Richie Stanaway happy at all. He has just joined Supercars as a fulltime driver (rookie) and just needs to go through the learning curve. I think he is a great driver and in no time he will be one of the drivers to watch for.

Craig Lowndes was enjoying being in the lead of the race and out of trouble.

Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t have a good race at all due to a mechanical issue with the clutch.

I thought there was no way Shane Van Gisbergen would finish the race due his gearbox dramas and just wasn’t able to get the speed he wanted because of his lack of control over the clutch.

Grant Mcpherson who is Shane Van Gisbergen’s race engineer asked him if he wanted to come in and get it fixed or press on. To my surprise Shane Van Gisbergen made the choice to press on.

Intresting to note Chris O Toole who is the Car Controller at Tickford Racing was not in Tasmania last weekend due to being injured and coming off his bike. As a result Matty Robert filled in as car controller.

In the middle of the race Craig Lowndes was getting held up by Chaz Mostert before he pitted for his first stop.

Grant McPherson said to Shane Van Gisbergen I am ready to bring it in, are you? – meaning Grant Mcpherson felt the risks were too high and it was time to bring the car into the garage to fix the throttle issue. Neil Crompton and Mark Skaife both agreed also saying it was time to bring the car into the pits otherwise Shane Van Gisbergen would have lost the car.

According to what Mark Dutton said, he could see  When Shane Van Gisbergen came into the pits for 2nd and final stop the Red Bull Holden Racing Team dived in to the foot well of Shane Van Gisbergen’s car to try and resolve the Issue. Pretty soon though, the Red Bull Mechanic was shaking his head. That said everything and I knew straight away that he couldn’t fix it.

The Drama was Shane Van Gisbergen’s throttle kept running on at the end od the  back and turn 4 in first gear.  

I felt they should have brought the car in earlier and they may have been able to make the repair and at least try to get a solid result. By leaving it so late there was not enough time to get back out on track.

Towards the end of the no one else could catch the top 3 drivers which were Craig Lowndes, Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup.

Once again Craig Lowndes showing great form along with Jamie Whincup. They both made a podium finish for both races over the weekend.

Results for race 8

 1st Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.
2nd Scott Mclaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing.

 

Jamie Whincup is now the Championship leader but only by 11 points.

Craig Lowndes two podium finishes over the weekend places him in 6th spot on the Championship ladder, only 61 points away from the Championship lead.

His win in Race 8 also means Craig Lowndes has earned his 106th career win, only 5 away from Jamie Whincup’s total wins.

The next event is the WD40 Phillip Island 500, on the 20th to the 22nd of April 2018.

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Coates Hire Supercars Melbourne 400

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 22nd to the 25th of March 2018 was the Coates Hire Supercars Melbourne 400 at Albert Park.  This year there has been a change to the Melbourne 400. It is now officially a part of the Championship and the teams and drivers were racing for points for the first time.

This now became round 2 of the championship and included races 3, 4, 5 and 6.

It was also a milestone for Jamie Whincup with this being his 200th championship event.

In race 3 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position, alongside him was his teammate Fabian Coulthard. Craig Lowndes started 17th which wasn’t ideal, but it was because James Golding held him up on his ‘hot lap’ during Qualifying.

At the start of the 25 lap race, Scott McLaughlin led into turn 1 in front of Fabian Coulthard while everybody else was settling down into their race pace.

During the opening laps Simona De Silvestro was trying to pass Jack Le Brocq, but in the end it resulted in Simona De Silvestro having damage on the left front corner of her car # 78. She managed to get back to the pits but things didn’t look good and she was out of the race getting a DNF or NC (Not Complete).

When the pit stops started to happen Scott McLaughlin and the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske had an issue with their pit gear. It resulted in them losing the lead track position to Jamie Whincup.

Interesting to note this wasn’t the only incident for the team on the weekend. During practice, Mark Skaife saw one of Dick Johnson Racing (DJR) Team Penske’s wheel nearly go onto Jamie Whincup car, so the guy from DJR tapped the mechanic on the shoulder to say that’s the wrong wheel for the wrong car! LOL!

In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup was still the leader until Scott McLaughlin found a way around him at turn 3. It was a great pass, nice and clean. It allowed him to later take off and put some space between him and Jamie Whincup.

Towards the end of the race nobody else could catch the three leaders. Scott McLaughlin crossed the finish line first about 1.3 seconds ahead of Jamie Whincup. Fabian Coulthard followed him about 1 second later.

After Simona De Silvestro’s NC, the 24 of 25 remaining cars finished the race.

Results for race 3

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team.
4th Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

 

In race 4 Jamie Whincup started on pole position and alongside him was Scott McLaughlin. The race started behind the Mercedes Safety Car due to the rain, and wet weather, but Jamie still led for pretty much the entire race.

Once the race went under green after starting under yellow Jamie Whincup just took off. Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin couldn’t keep up the with Jamie Whincup’s car  #1. He made two mistakes due to wet conditions but managed to stay out front.

During the opening laps everyone else was settling down into a race pace. 

There were no pit stops because it was only a 13 lap race.

David Reynolds was already on ‘wets’ for the start because it was safer than being on dry weather slicks (tyres).

Craig Lowndes once again started at the back of the pack in 26th position due to getting held up and not getting a clear track in the Qualifying.

It wasn’t the end of his bad luck. In the opening laps he came together with another driver which caused a steering problem. He was forced to pull into the pits. When Greg Murphy interviewed Craig Lowndes later, he said the steering ‘was bent and Cactus’. It was his first Did Not Finish – Not Complete for 2018.

In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup was still leading the race and on target for his first win of the year.

Towards the end of the race Jamie Whincup took the chequered flag and he also took his 109th career win in Supercars!

Results for race 4

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Scott McLaughlin -Shell V Power Racing team.

3rd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
4th Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

 

In race 5 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Nick Percat.

At the start of the 25-lap race Scott McLaughlin got the jump into turn 1 for the 1st time which he was happy with.

Then after the opening lap Scott McLaughlin made a big mistake by running off the race track in between turns 1 and 2. This put Scott Pye and Jamie Whincup into 1st and 2nd which they knew would have been a great result for both drivers.

Scott Pye was out in front being chased  by Jamie Whincup when the rain came pelting down.  

A lot of the drivers nearly lost control of their cars on the slippery pit apron.  Garth Tander wasn’t warned about the wet pit box and he come in at a strange angle and looked like he was going to hit the wall. He only narrowly missed 2 of his own crew members! It looked like a disaster waiting to happen.  

Towards the end of the race no one could catch the top 3 drivers who managed to hold their positions from lap two to the end ; Scott Pye, Jamie Whincup, and Nick Percat.

Scott McLaughlin’s mistake cost him dearly finishing 15th. A drop of 14 spots from his pole starting position.

Results for race 5

1st Scott Pye – Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing.
3rd Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing.

 

In race 6 Jamie Whincup started on pole position and alongside him was David Reynolds.

At the start of what was supposed to be a 13 lap race David Reynolds took the race lead from turn 1 after Jamie Whincup got bogged down from his pole position on the start.

Jamie Whincup’s poor start lost him another spot with Nick Percat moving into 2nd place. Jamie went from 1st to 3rd straight off the start.

Anton De Pasquale nearly hit the fence going around the back of Albert Park during the opening lap.

On lap 2 James Courtney got spun around at turn 3 by James Golding. James Courtney’s car didn’t move after that and he was out of the race, DNF. There were no penalties given to James Golding but the officials are investigating the incident and will have a verdict by the running of the Symmons Plains event in two weeks.

In the middle of the race James Golding had plumes of smoke coming out from underneath his car. It was a suspected oil fire. He pulled in near the Fire Marshall’s area. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was caused due to the contact he made earlier with car 25 of James Courtney. The race went under Yellow while the Safety Car came to his rescue.

No one else could catch the top 3 drivers David Reynolds, Nick Percat and Jamie Whincup.

Shane Van Gisbergen started from 26th after a poor Qualifying time but proved himself and charged through to finish 13th.

David Reynolds had led from start to finish, an amazing effort.

Results for race 6

1st David Reynolds – Erebus Penrite Racing.
2nd Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

Jamie Whincup was awarded the Larry Perkins Trophy and is now 6th in the championship. Well done Jamie!

The next event is the Typerpower Tasmania Supersprint from the 6th to the 8th of April 2018 in 2 weeks.

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

V8 Supercars 2017 Coates Hire Newcastle 500

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Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 24th to the 26th of November 2017 was the Coates Hire Newcastle 500.

This was the final race for the season. It was very exciting because the season champion was still to be determined and this race weekend was going to be the decider. The main championship contenders were Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup. They were only separated by 30 points in favour of Jamie Whincup. I didn’t get the feeling either would hold back and there would be some incredible racing.

It was also the first race event at Newcastle, a seaside city about 2 hrs north of Sydney. This was a street circuit that no one had driven at before so it made the practice sessions all critical in order to determine their car setup for the race.

Due to the circuit being local streets, some parts are quite narrow and there are plenty of ups and downs for the drivers to navigate. This would mean a reduced opportunity for passing and possibly slower speeds.

Jamie Whincup went there a couple weeks in advance in a reconnaissance mission to get a feel for the area.

The weekend finally arrived and Newcastle put on a beautiful show. The weather was beautiful and sunny with the main straight running along the shore of the sparkling beach and great crowds had turned out for the spectacle.

On the Saturday Race 25 was for 95 laps. Due to the tight schedule for other race events it was also time certain so when the time was up the winner would be called regardless of laps.

It was a special occasion for Todd Kelly as this was his 540th V8 Supercars race, which is a long time to be in this sport.

Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was David Reynolds.

Scott McLaughlin got the jump on David Reynolds and got to turn 1 first.

Later in the first lap, Jamie Whincup made contact with Michael Caruso which as a result put Jamie Whincup into the wall and broke his right front steering arm.  This was not ideal considering he went into the Newcastle event 30 points ahead of Scott McLaughlin.

Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton couldn’t believe that Jamie Whincup managed to steer his car back to the pits.

During the opening stages Scott McLaughlin was the race leader until the first round of pit stops.

Up until that first round of pit stops Craig Lowndes was on track for his first podium finish in 2017. The last time he got a podium finish (1st, 2nd or 3rd) was the Sydney SuperSprint 2016.

There was contact between Jason Bright and Alex Davison. Jamie Whincup just missed being involved which would have been disastrous as he was already 13 laps behind the race leader as a result of having a broken steering arm.

Soon after, Simona de Silvestro pulled off some amazing driving passing a bunch of cars at turn 7. My first thoughts were after looking at the racetrack that the drivers wouldn’t be able to pass at turn 7 safely but she somehow managed to do it.

In the middle of the race the two DJR cars held the lead strongly.

As the race went on the schedule time was running out and the race was going to be called short.

The 2 DJR cars driven by Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard were too quick, their pace was really fast and reached the flag in a 1, 2 finish at lap 91 (4 laps short of the set laps).

It was such bad luck for Jamie Whincup. He had been making incredible gains, after being 13 laps behind he finished in 21st position only 2 laps behind the leader. If he just had a bit more time it would have been really interesting.

Results for race 25

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing team.
3rd Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing Team. 

In Qualifying for race 26 James Courtney caused a red flag meaning his fastest time to that point was deleted and also meant he couldn’t take any further part in the session.

Scott McLaughlin started on pole position once again for the 16th time in 2017.  Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

Jamie Whincup started 5th on the grid.

At the start of the 95-lap race, Scott McLaughlin took the race lead, which was good for the DJR Team.

As the first round of pit stops started the Championship leader Scott McLaughlin got a pit lane penalty for exceeding the speed limit of 40kms p/h.  Then Fabian Coulthard pitted and had to try and fix his gearbox issue. After that Fabain Coulthard also received a pit lane penalty for the same infringement. That was a blow for the DJR Team Penske Crew.

Later Scott Mclaughlin turned Simona de Silvrestro around at turn 2. Scott McLaughlin received another penalty of 15 seconds. Things for Scott McLaughlin as one of the main championship contenders were not looking good.  Commentators Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton said it will be the longest 15 seconds of his life.

In the middle of the race the teams started to get organized for the 2nd round of stops to take place and prepare for the run to the finish.

When the Vodafone Safety Car was deployed it was to get Aaren Russell out of the tyre bundle. As a result that helped Scott McLaughlin big time.

At this stage of the race Scott McLaughlin was down the order in 16th position. He needed to finish in 11th to claim the title for 2017.

Scott McLaughlin’s car was bruised and battered and he was trying to do the best he could on the day.

Towards the end of the race with 2 laps to go, Craig Lowndes tried to get up inside of Scott McLaughlin at turn 1 but Scott McLaughlin blocked his pass and they made contact. This resulted in 2 things. First Craig Lowndes dropped from 6th to 10th. Second Scott McLaughlin got a post-race penalty dropping him all the way down to 18th in the results. Even though Scott McLaughlin would have finished 12th and not won the championship it must have been a real kick in the guts to be pushed down to 18th after the race had finished.

Jamie Whincup won the race and the season championship for 2017. A great result for the Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

Results for race 26

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen -Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.

 

Well done to all the drivers and teams in 2017.

Looking forward to seeing you in 2018.

The next event will be the Adelaide 500 on the 1st to the 4th of March 2018.

 

 

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

ITM Auckland Supersprint 2017

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Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 3rd to the 5th of November 2017 was the ITM Auckland SuperSprint.

This is held at the Pukekohe Park Raceway just south of Auckland in New Zealand.

The V8 Supercars have been racing here since 2013. The track has changed a little from last year with more turns added for the drivers to navigate so I’m sure that the teams would use a different setup for this race weekend.

Other factors that will affect team strategies are:

–          With only one race to go for the season after this one, the drivers who are in the championship fight will probably hold back from any risks as they do not want to damage their cars.

–          The cars had to be flown over to NZ for the race and their trucks stay in Australia, meaning they have limited spares on hand for repairs.

–          There are only 3 safety cars being used for the race.

I think the Red Bull team will be extra careful to ensure they don’t have a repeat of last year when Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen came together in the race.

Race 23 on Saturday and Race 24 on Sunday are both 70 laps and 200Kms each.

In the preliminaries to the race, the Qualifying session was abandoned part way through due to the wet weather. As a result, the grid was set from the Friday Practice times.

Things got better and conditions had improved by the time Race 23 started. Rain had stopped and the track had dried out somewhat.

Cameron Waters started on pole position alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

Jamie Whincup beat Cameron Waters to turn 1 and held lead for the first couple of laps. It wasn’t long before Scott McLaughlin got into 2nd place and was pressuring Jamie Whincup’s number 1 position.

Scott McLaughlin took a risk as he tried to go around the outside of Jamie Whincup but didn’t succeed. Jamie Whincup was defensive and didn’t leave him enough room which earned him a bad sportsmanship flag.

On lap 56 David Reynolds and Fabian Coulthard made contact sending David Reynolds into a tyre barrier and Fabian Coulthard had a massive roll over. He was the only DNF for the race.  The car was a mess and the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske didn’t finish the repair until 4:30a.m. Fabian Coulthard was adamant to race on Sunday.

Shane Van Gisbergen was now the race leader followed by Mark Winterbottom and Scott McLaughlin.

Chaz Mostert was trying to re dress so that he wouldn’t get pinged after making contact with David Reynolds exiting turn 8.

In the last laps Shane Van Gisbergen held his lead confidently. No one seemed to be able to catch him.

It was a tight finish. Shane Van Gisbergen reached the chequered flag first having moved up 5 places from his starting position. Mark Winterbottom had taken advantage of his grid starting position 3 and came in 2nd just over 0.8 seconds later. Closely followed by Scott McLaughlin, Jamie Whincup and Jason Bright, with finishing times 01:24:00.2363, 01:24:00.6912 and 01:24:01.3644.

Results for race 23

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Mark Winterbottom – Prodrive Racing Australia.
3rd Scott Mclaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
4th Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

In race 24 Jamie Whincup started on pole position alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

During Qualifying for race 24 Craig Lowndes nearly caused a red flag due to running wide in between turns 3 and 4. He recovered well and managed to be placed 12th on the starting grid.

I couldn’t believe that DJR managed to repair Fabian Coulthard’s car after he rolled it the day before, especially due to the limited spares that all the teams have at an ‘away’ race. Fabian Coulthard is a determined man and scored himself the 8th position on the starting grid. It was great to see.

At the start of the 70 lap race Jamie Whincup got the led into the first corner. Scott Mclaughlin had to pull in behind him and stay put because there isn’t room to pass between turns 2 and 3.

Garth Tander was running well early on. He started 11th on the grid but soon moved inside the top 5.

Shane Van Gisbergen was another driver doing well early on and had drama free pit stops.

After the first round of stops and the drivers re-joined the race, Jamie Whincup took his lead back.

Simona de Silvestro was following Rick and Todd Kelly because it was her first race at Pukekohe raceway in New Zealand.

When the 2nd round of pit stops started, Tim Slade making entry to the pits had his pit lane speed limiter on and Shane Van Gisbergen came into the pit lane entry behind him way too fast, and I mean way too fast! He rear-ended Tim Slade who must have gotten the shock of his life. It was a bizarre mistake on Shane Van Gisbergen’s part and he ended up with a bent up bonnet resembling a tent that blocked his view and required him to be guided into his bay.  The result was devastating; By the end of the race he had dropped from 7th place on the starting grid to 24th. Such a poor result now put an end to him being a possible contender for the championship.

In the middle of the race the weather was getting worse with clouds starting to come over the race track. It was really dark so fast. I laughed at Neil Crompton comment to fellow commentator Mark Scaife, “It’s gotten so dark, it is like night”.

Towards the end of the race no one else could catch the top 3 drivers which were Jamie Whincup, Scott McLaughlin and Cameron Waters.

Jamie Whincup said he wasn’t feeling very well before the race but he managed to start from pole and basically lead the whole way all bar pit stops.

 

Results for race 24

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Team.
2nd Scott Mclaughlin –  Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing Team.
4th Craig Lowndes – Team Vortex.

Jamie Whincup now leads the championship by 30 points heading into the Coates Hire Newcastle 500 which will take place between the 24th and the 26th of November 2017.

With this win Jamie Whincup now has 75 career pole positions and 107 career race wins.

The big question at the moment is, “who will win the 2017 V8 Supercars Championship?”.

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 2017

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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

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 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.