Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!
On the weekend of the 18th to the 20th of August 2017 was the Red Rooster Sydney Supersprint.
This was a great weekend of racing at the Sydney Motorsport Raceway (Eastern Creek) because I’m a Sydneysider and was able to attend. Alongside me in Pole Position was my Dad (bless him for getting the wheelchair accessible van for the weekend, navigating and supporting me in my V8 Supercars passion).
We also had my Support Worker and friend, Sam join us for the Friday practice sessions. It was Sam’s first race event and he really got into it. He spent the day running around like a made chook filming and photographing the on and off track action. This was later edited along with my own footage and photos for my youtube channel and Facebook fan page.
Before the practice started on Friday we walked and talked our way through the pit viewing area. The ‘Dunlop Promo Girls’ past us going the other way. To our surprise Sam broke conversation and in split second reflex spun around, whipped out his ……er um ….phone and was filming as he followed them. Dad and I just burst into hysterical laughter. We knew we found the right man for the job of cam man and were going to have a great day.
Over the weekend I managed to get autographs, take photos and videos that you can see ……here.
Facebook Fan Page Eastern Creek album.
There are plenty of other stories to tell but that would take all day. Following is a quick summary of the on-track action for the weekend.
The qualifying session for race 17 was exciting. Yet again, Scott McLaughlin won the pole position. That’s the 7th time in a row!. Not only that but he broke the Supercar record for the fastest lap around the Eastern Creek track.
It was also a first for both Alex Rullo and Simona de Silvestro to race at this track.
So as I mentioned, Scott McLaughlin started on pole position for race 17. Alongside him was mark Winterbottom.
At the start of the 31 lap race Mark Winterbottom got the jump and led into turn 1.
Will Davison spun at turn 1 sending him to the back of the field. As a result of his incredible spin he had to pit early due to the massive flat spot on all 4 tyres. Meanwhile, Jamie Whincup moved up from 5th to 4th.
At the early stage of the race, Fabian Coulthard tried to stay on the rear bumpers of the leaders but couldn’t quite hang on. They were just too quick and pulled away.
Will Davison had to come into pits earlier than expected. It was later revealed he was having engine problems.
Craig Lowndes started in 10th position and went from 10th straight to 9th and was now moving up trying to catch the cars in front of him.
In the middle of the race the Vodafone safety car was deployed due to Todd Kelly’s tyre exploding.
On restart the leaders were bumping which wasn’t ideal.
Later towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin had the living nightmare of all drivers. He was in the lead but got spun by Shane Van Gisbergen. It was so late in the race that by the time they recovered Scott McLaughlin ended up finishing 21st. A far cry from his pole position. Shane Van Gisbergen also dropped 20 places from his start position and finished 23rd.
Due to this there was an unexpected change in the race leaders. They stayed in sequence to the chequered flag. Fabian Coulthard, Chaz Mostert (singing the ‘Banana Boat Song’ at the top of voice; Day-o, Da-ay-ay O…) and then Jamie Whincup .
Results for race 17
1st Fabian Coulthard – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske Shell V Power racing team.
2nd Chaz Mostert – Super Cheap Auto Racing.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
In race 18 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position yet again. This claimed his 13th pole position for 2017. Alongside him was Chaz Mostert.
At the start of the Scott McLaughlin got swamped and he went from pole back to 5th which was caused by him bogging down getting off the start line. It didn’t impress the Championship leader at all.
The mistake by Scott McLaughlin paid Chaz Mostert with the lead.
Craig Lowndes got called in by engineer, John McGregor (aka ‘Irish’) because the team suspected he had a tyre going down, which wasn’t the case at all. It wasn’t a bad mistake because on rejoining the race he was in the clear with no cars in front or behind him. Unfortunately, his troubles weren’t over and was soon back in the pits for an unscheduled stop. His car was off song and it turned out it dropped a cylinder from 8 to 7.
When Dad and I heard the team Vortex boys restart Craig’s car we knew that it was off song. Craig Lowndes said himself that he was very disappointed about being parked in the garage. But there is nothing he could do about it.
Todd Kelly was trying to get passed Simona De Silvestro.
In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen got told by his engineer, Grant Mcpherson to let Jamie Whincup go, which he did.
Towards the end of the race Fabian Coulthard said to Phil Keed, “Keep the information coming”.
He responded with, “There are 5 laps to go. You need to pass Gizzy to come 2nd “.
Fabian’s response was, “Well that’s OBVIOUS”.
Mark Skaife said that’s the best line of the weekend. And Neil Crompton said we will give that a run later in the week.
In the thrilling final moments of the race Fabian Coulthard passed Shane Van Gisbergen to break the hopes of 888 cleaning up with 1st and second position.
Close behind Scott McLaughlin and Chaz Mostert were in very close pursuit for the 3rd position. They were just split seconds apart.
Jamie Whincup made it look all too easy coming across the finish line first over 9 seconds ahead of Fabian Coulthard, followed by Shane Van Gisbergen another 3 seconds later.
This gives Jamie Whincup his 106th career win. He humbly talked it down but it beats the record currently held by Craig Lowndes. Whincup wil go down in V8Supercars history.
Results for race 18
1st Jamie Whincup – red bull Holden racing team.
2nd Fabian Coulthard – DJR Team Penske.
3rd Shane van Gisbergen – red bull Holden racing team.
As Jeromy Moore exclaimed at the 2015 Red Rooster Sydney Supersprint, “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner”.
The next event is the Wilson Security Sandown 500 on the 15th to the 17th of September 2017.