On the weekend of the 14th to the 16th of September, 2018 was the Rabble Club Sandown 500.
The preliminaries to the race were almost as exciting as the main event.
In the co-drivers only session which was Practice 1, Paul Dumbrell clocked the fastest time.
Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 2.
Chaz Mostert had some really bad luck in Practice 2. He spun off track in his 55 Supercheap Auto Ford Falcon smashing the rear end into the fence.
James Courtney and Jack Perkins started at the back of the grid due to James Courtney having a huge crash on lap 3 of Race For the Grid 2 (Qualifying).
Erebus owner, Betty Klimenko wasn’t at Sandown on the weekend because she was sick with the flu. David Reynolds claiming pole position must have made her feel at least a little bit better as she watched the race from home.
During the 20 minute warm up, the teams were practicing brake rotor change which will be compulsory at Bathurst in 3 weeks’ time. This new requirement for the Bathurst race is being introduced to improve safety. Yes, I know brakes are important but could it introduce other risks to the race. I am still in two minds about it.
Finally at 1:20pm on Sunday The Sandown 500 started.
David Reynolds and Luke Youlden (Erebus) started on pole position. Alongside them were Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell (Triple 8).
As usual most of the co-drivers took the driver’s seat at the start of the race, except James Courtney because of their poor qualifying position. This is the norm in team strategies allowing the seasoned pros to later make up for any mishaps.
The co-drivers have to do a minimum of 54 laps before the main driver can get into the cars.
When the lights turned green to start the 161-lap race Luke Youlden bogged it down, which allowed Paul Dumbrell to take the race lead.
Chris Pither, co-driver with Garth Tander started in car 33 at 9th position on the grid but on lap 1 he was in the fence which put him at the back of the pack. (They eventually recovered finishing 9th which isn’t a bad effort at all)
Dean Canto Co-driver for Mark Winterbottom in the Tickford Racing team made contact with Luke Youlden. I thought there going steering damage as a result but remarkably somehow there wasn’t.
The first Vodafone Safety Car was deployed for Dean Fiore after he contacted the barrier on the exit of turn 4. Then with the right front wheel wobbling all over the place he limped the Nissan Altama back to the pits
The 3 Triple 8 cars were running 1st, 2nd and 3rd for most of the race, all bar pit stops.
In the middle of race Jason Bright caused the second incident for the Vodafone Safety Car to be deployed because he bogged his car in the sand trap at turn 9 in a really dangerous spot.
Towards the end of the race I thought Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards were going to finish 2nd behind Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell in car 1.
Regardless, no one could catch or upset the 1, 2, 3 of the 3 Triple 8 cars lead. ‘Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner’ as quoted by Jeromy Moore in a race a few years back.
The funniest parts of the weekend was when commentator Chad Neylon was betting on who was going to win the Sandown 500 by using a horse racing tote. My first thought was, Chad this is not Horse Racing. At that point Scott Mclaughlin with Alex Premat were the Favourites to win.
Then on Supercars Trackside, Mark Larkham was trying to explain what the teams will have to do at Bathurst for the brake rotor change. By mishap the burning hot rotor fell off the car onto his foot. Mark Larkham exclaimed on national TV ‘Oh Shit!’. Too funny but glad he wasn’t hurt.
Result for 2018 Rabble Club Sandown 500
1st car 1 Jamie Whincup & Paul Dumbrell – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd car 97 Shane Van Gisbergen & Earl Bamber – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd car 888 Craig Lowndes & Steven Richards- Autobarn Lowndes Racing.
Now that Sandown has been run there are only 4 events left in the 2018 Supercars Championship.
Up next is the biggest event of the year, The Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 on the 4th to the 7th of October 2018.
To keep us all up to date on the event the Bathurst Channel launches on Monday the 1st of October 2018 and finishes on 7th of October 2018. It should be a lot of fun.
Will Triple 8 Dominate at Bathurst like they did at Sandown with a 1, 2, 3 finish?
If you have any thoughts or opinion on how the weekend and the race panned out please feel free to let me know via my Facebook Fan page.
On the weekend of the 24th to the 26th of August 2018 was the OTR Supersprint at The Bend in South Australia.
Some interesting statistics from the weekend:
It was Jamie Whincup’s 209th Championship round start.
Garry Rogers Motorsport celebrated their 300th round.
Craig Lowndes started his 289th round.
Also there were 28 cars racing at Tailem Bend instead of just the normal 26.
As they worked through their way of the preliminary activities before the race, there were some unusual results:
Tim Slade was fastest in Practice 1.
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2.
Nick Percat was fastest in Practice 3.
James Courtney qualified 24th and Craig Lowndes qualified 25th due to getting held up by traffic in front of them. No doubt a disappointing result for them.
In race 22 Jamie Whincup started in pole position. Alongside him was his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen.
When the cars headed out on to the Tailem Bend Race track, Garth Tander had stopped on the Parade lap because he had electrical problems.
At the start of the 24-lap race there was contact between Jack Le Brocq and Anton de Pasquale. Jack Le Brocq was spun off track. The officials deducted 25 points from Anton de Pasquale’s Championship total and in a post-race investigation issued him a $3,000 fine with $2,000 suspended for ‘careless contact’. This sounds harsh but was backed by the fact this was Anton de Pasquale’s third offence of a similar nature in the last four rounds.
I couldn’t believe how many spots James Courtney made up on the opening lap and during the race. I thought, ‘Wow! That is remarkable’.
Craig Lowndes pitted early on to get clear track and to avoid double stacking. It worked in his favour because he re-joined the race with no one too close behind so that meant he could do it safely.
In the middle of the race Garth Tander found his problem had not been fixed and his car stopped just before the entry to the pit lane. The Vodafone Safety Car was deployed and the race went to ‘yellow’.
Up to this point Shane Van Gisbergen had a good lead but this then went back to zero because the field was all bunched up. Once Gart Tander was towed off the track and the race went back to green, Shane Van Gisbergen wanted to regain his good lead. He just took off and said, ‘Catch me if you can!’
Towards the end of the race no one could catch the top 3 drivers which were Shane Van Gisbergen, who finished 6.2602 seconds ahead of Rick Kelly. Rick Kelly was followed by Michael Caruso 2.652 seconds later. Jamie Whincup leading the rest of the pack was nearly 4 seconds behind that with Scot McLaughlin in close pursuit. Quite a wide spread in the finish of such a short race.
With a win for Shane Van Gisbergen, the gap between him and Scott McLaughlin was now only 41 points.
Results for Race 22
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Rick Kelly – Nissan Motorsport.
3rd Michael Caruso – Nissan Motorsport.
In race 23 the two Red Bull teammates were again at the front of the grid as in the last race. Jamie Whincup was on pole position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.
At the start of the 41 lap race the best start was from Craig Lowndes, who was 6th on the grid and making excellent headway. He was going so well I thought Triple 8 were going to have a 1st, 2nd and 3rd early on in the race. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
Scott McLaughlin didn’t have the speed all weekend and as result the championship leader qualified 5th both days.
Fabian Coulthard was struggling like his teammate, Scott McLaughlin was all weekend.
The drivers in front made a choice to stay out, which was a good choice but cars further back in the pack came in to not get held up.
David Reynolds was on the charge which paid off for him. Once he gained position he didn’t let up and by the end of the race he had gained 9 spots from 12th on the grid and finished 3rd.
Anton de Pasquale was trying to stay out of trouble. During the Qualifying for the race he had got pinged again for making contact with Simona de Silvestro. Especially after his penalties in race 22 the day before, he had had enough.
It was in the race that Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske took the lead in the Pirtek Pit stop Challenge during Scott McLaughlin’s pit stop.
Craig Lowndes tried to take 7th place from Will Davison but he couldn’t manage the pass and had to stay where he was for the time being.
In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup and Shane were running 1st and 2nd. Roland Dane and his Red Bull Team must have been quite happy at this. Things were looking good.
The Red Bull pair managed to keep their momentum and as the race came to a finish it seemed they were just too quick for everybody else to keep up. Surprisingly this was including Scott McLaughlin.
Results for Race 23
1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd David Reynolds – Freightliner Racing.
Shane Van Gisbergen is now the new Supercars Championship leader but only by 19 points. Can the Red Bull Holden Racing team keep the lead or will Scott McLaughlin take it back? Things are getting very exciting.
The next event is the Rabble Club.com Sandown 500 on the 14th to the 16th of September 2018 which is in 3 weeks’ time.
If you have any thoughts on how the weekend panned feel free to give me your opinon via my Facebook Fanpage I would like hear your feedback.
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?
On the weekend of 4th to the 6th of May 2018 was the Perth Supersprint at Barbagallo Raceway, Western Australia.
It’s interestingto note Will Davison started his 400th race in Supercars which is an awesome milestone to reach. Also interesting to note, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup started 12th and 14th on the grid respectively due to not making it into Q3. That meant that Craig Lowndes was the only Triple 8 car to get in get into the top 10starting 8th on the grid. Rick Kelly had to start last at the back of the grid for Race 11 due to having an engine failure in Qualifying.
In practice 1 Andre Heimgartner was fastest for Nissan Motorsport in car 7.
In practice 2 Scott McLaughlin was fastest in car 17.
In practice 3 Will Davison was fastest in car 400.
In race 11 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Cameron Waters. At the start of the 50 lap race Scott McLaughlin got jump on Cameron Waters into turn 1 which I am sure he was happy with that.
Fabian Coulthard was not far behind his teammate early on but because Fabian Coulthard was battling Mark Winterbottom it allowed Scott McLaughlin to pull away by 3 seconds.
If Mark Winterbottom was able to get by Fabian Coulthard earlier than what he did, Scott McLaughlin wouldn’t have had a 3 second margin on everybody else.
Jack Le Brocq made the choice to come in so that Craig Lowndes wouldn’t have to double stack.
Anton De Pasquale in car 99 got a 10 second time penalty for a false start due to being outside of the start grid marking where he should have been positioned. His team Erebus Motorsports owner, Betty Klimenko was not in Perth due to her having the flu. I am sure he was happy she was not there to see it happen. It was an unfortunate mistake.
Commentator, Mark Skaife didn’t know whether James Courtney was coming into the pit lane or staying out for another lap but he was. Then as he was coming up to the pit lane entry James Courtney got spun by his former teammate, Garth Tander which would have made James Courtney not happy at all.
In the middle of the race as Chaz Mostert was coming in for his final pit stop he got turned around by Jamie Whincup. Chaz Mostert shook his head. He too wasn’t happy.
The Barbagallo raceway is full of sand which means if you get stuck and bogged you can’t get out without help.
Surprisingly there were no Vodafone Safety Car Periods because the drivers who went off track somehow managed to get back on with no problem.
Towards the end of race Scott McLaughlin was leading the race with a 5 second lead over Mark Winterbottom in 2nd place. The end of the race was really exciting! It Gave Scott McLaughlin his 3rd race win of the year so far and he is the still the championship leader by 158-point lead over Shane Van Gisbergen. Scott McLaughlin now has 1247 points over his closest competitor which is still Shane Van Gisbergen on 1089. Jamie Whincup who led the Championship by just 11 points going into Phillip Island, he is now 268 points adrift of Scott McLaughlin. Craig Lowndes is in 4th in the points and only 194 points from Scott McLaughlin.
Jamie Whincup had crossed the finish line 6th behind Craig Lowndes, but after getting a 5 second penalty for turning Chaz Mostert around at turn 7 he was dropped from 6th to 11th in the results after the end of the race.
Tim Blanchard had a DNF (Did Not Finish) otherwise known as NC (Not Complete). So he was the only car out of 26 to not finish the race.
Results for race 11
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team 2nd Mark Winterbottom – Tickford Racing 3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team 4th Tim Slade – Freightliner Racing 5th Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.
In Race 12 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position. Alongside him was Jamie Whincup.
Interesting to note in race 12 Fabian Coulthard started down in position number 17. Scott McLaughlin, Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander started in positions 19th, 25th and 26th. It was a surprise to see them in those positions as they all normally start within the top 10 spots.
Jamie Whincup got the jump on Shane Van Gisbergen due to him not getting the right amount of wheel spin. As a matter of fact, Shane Van Gisbergen nearly bogged down off the front row from Position 1.
In the early laps Todd Hazelwood and Garth Tander made contact with James Golding. The safety car was despatched and the race went to ‘yellow’.
James Golding and Garth Tander are teammates so I am sure this would’ve not made Garry Rogers, their team boss very happy at all.
Unlike the other drivers taking the opportunity to pit, Will Davison didn’t want to double stack. He chose to stay out on the track and got to lead race 12 in his 400th race. It must have been extra nice for him on this occasion.
Tim Blanchard looked like he was going to make contact with Will Davison but for the sake of Will Davison thankfully didn’t.
A short time later, Scott Pye got spun around by Richie Stanaway.
Mark Skaife was quite surprised that Scott McLaughlin didn’t end up in drama throughout the race because of where he started on the grid. The idea being that, to make his way to the front he was going to push hard and possibly take risks.
Scott McLaughlin didn’t think he had a chance to win race 12.
I was so proud of the effort Craig Lowndes made to start from 25th and finish 3rd. Well done! Great effort mate!
Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton couldn’t believe how many cars and how many positions he had gained, 21 in total.
I couldn’t believe Scott McLaughlin missed all the carnage on track and managed to keep his car straight without putting a scratch on it.
Fabian Coulthard got pit priority because Scott McLaughlin started in 19th.
Jack Le Brocq also got pit priority because Craig Lowndes started in position 25.
In the middle of the race Tim Slade went off the race track between turns 3 and 4. Shane Van Gisbergen was tight in behind him and had to take evasive action to not hit Tim Slade’s ZB Holden Commodore.
Towards the end of the race the finish things became very exciting. David Reynolds went off track on approach to turn 7 which could have given 2nd place to Craig Lowndes. It looked bad for David Reynolds but he surprisingly made it out of the sand trap. If he had decided to put his foot on the brake pedal at that moment he would surely have been bogged in the sand.
Scott McLaughlin proved his abilities. He moved up 18 spots from 19th to 1st.
Craig Lowndes started 25th moved up to 3rd which in total is 22 position gained. He received 129 points for that race and in is still 4th in terms of the championship, 194 points behind Scott McLaughlin.
Scott McLaughlin’s head to head wins in races 11 and 12 gives him a 158 point lead over Shane Van Gisbergen. Another amazing weekend for Scott McLaughlin.
In the next race at Winton Motor Raceway, Lee Holdsworth will start his 400th race in Supercars. Congratulation Lee Holdsworth, I’m looking forward to it almost as much as you!
Results for race 12
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team 2nd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport 3rd Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.
Welcome to the V8 Supercars Championship season for 2018.
The new season finds V8 Supercars with a new CEO, Sean Seamer. He takes over from James Warburton who left the position last year.
The Adelaide 500 is the first official race of the season and was run on the weekend of the 1st to the 4th of March 2018.
In Qualifying on the Friday both Cameron Waters and Jamie Whincup hit the wall at turn 8 which forced both the Monster Energy Racing Team and the Red Bull Holden Racing Team to do all-nighters on repairs. The Red Bull team didn’t finish Jamie Whincup’s car until 4:15AM.
Regardless of this incident Jamie Whincup was still the fastest in Practice 1 and made the top 10 shootout, starting the first race in 5th position.
In race 1 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position and alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.
At the start of the 78-lap race, Rick Kelly hit the wall coming out of turn 3 causing him to limp back to the pits for repairs.
After Rick Kelly got back to the pits he was interviewed by Greg Murphy about the damage his Nissan Altima received. He told Greg Murphy that it was due to a bent steering arm but it soon became clear that with the resulting damage he wouldn’t be going back out onto the track very soon. It was very unfortunate and cost him a lot of time. He had started from 7th position on the grid but finished 23rd only ahead of the NCs (not completes).
There are 5 full time Rookies in field this year:
Jack Le Brocq Holden car 19
James Golding Holden car 34
Richie Stanaway Ford car 56
Anton De Pasquale Holden car 99
Andre Heimgartner Nissan car 7
During the opening stages the rookies didn’t know what was to come given that it was their first race in the main game. All up I think they did a great job.
Chaz Mostert raced very well considering he didn’t make the top ten shootout in Qualifying due to a red flag. I am sure he wouldn’t have been happy with that but was making up for it during this race.
Richie Stanaway and James Golding made contact with the wall. Richie Stanaway was in a really awkward position and had to use reverse gear to try and get out of the tyre stack. As one of the rookies he proved his worth and persisted. Unfortunately a car issue caused a DNF only one lap short of completing the race. He must have been really disappointed.
In the middle of the race Craig Lowndes was running strong under his new team, Autobarn Lowndes Racing before he got a shoved up the rear by Garth Tander. He slid sideways but managed to keep on track. It was a tense moment for sure.
Towards the end of race 1 no one else could catch the top 3 drivers which were Shane Van Gisbergen, James Courtney and Scott McLaughlin.
Shane Van Gisbergen made it look too easy as he confidently held his position 1 right to the end.
Results for race 1
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd James Courtney – Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing
3rd Scott Mclaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
In race 2 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position again and alongside him was his teammate Jamie Whincup.
At the start of the 78 lap 250 kilometre race Jamie Whincup got the jump off the front row on the grid. Shane Van Gisbergen was happy to see his teammate lead the race into the first chicane.
On lap 2 the drivers settled into their race pace and the pack started chasing the two Red Bull leaders trying to close the 2.6 second lead they had.
After the first round of stops the race lead went back to car 1, Jamie Whincup.
As the opening laps were complete it appeared Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t have the pace he normally delivered. When interviewed later he stated there were car setup dramas affecting speed and in good sportsmanship said it was teammate, Jamie Whincup’s race.
Jamie Whincup was flying which was good to see. I thought he had it in the bag and was surely going to win.
Later David Reynolds was in a good spot and racing hard, then nearly hit the wall at turn 8. Luckily he didn’t.
No one else could catch the race leaders at this point of the race.
With 30 laps to go Jamie Whincup was still out front and cruising but then his gearbox failed and he started to slow and had to pull in to the pits. When Jamie got out of car he was gutted when David Cauchi took his head set off. He knew what it meant. The last time Jamie had a DNF was in the 2013 Gold Coast 600. His 136 race finishing streak was broken on Sunday.
Towards the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen still had the lead. David Reynolds tried to pressure him into an error but it didn’t work.
So once again for the second time on the weekend, Shane Van Gisbergen took 1st place. What an amazing result for him and the Red Bull team.
Results for race 2
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport
3rd Garth Tander – Garry Rogers Motorsport
The next event is the Coates Hire Supercars Melbourne 400.
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.
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?”.
On the weekend to the 7th to the 9th of July 2017 was the Watpac Townsville 400. Races 13 and 14 were both 200 Kilometres and 70 laps.
Its interesting to note:
Craig Lowndes had a worrying start to the weekend. In both practice sessions on Friday he lost control and spun his car.
Later in qualifying Jamie Whincup baulked Craig Lowndes costing him a solid top ten starting spot. Craig Lowndes was now placed 19th in the start.
Tim Edwards who is the Managing Director at Prodrive Racing Australia was not present for the weekend because he was with his boys watching them play Soccer. Rod Nash was delegated to the role over the weekend.
It was Simona De Silvestro first V8 Supercars event in North Queensland. Mark Skaife commented during this race he believed she was improving with every race that she does. I believe without a doubt as she returns next season to the different tracks for a second time she will be a force to be reckoned with.
For this season there have been only 2 Aussie drivers to win a race, Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert. It has been predominantly NZ drivers so it will be interesting to see if this becomes a matter of contention.
In race 13 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position, alongside him was Jamie Whincup.
On lap 1 of 70 Jamie Whincup got the jump on Scott McLaughlin off the start line after starting from 2nd spot which was on the clean side of the race track (meaning it has got more grip).
Towards the end of Lap 1 Jamie Whincup let Scott McLaughlin take over the race lead. Commentator Mark Skaife thought that letting Scott McLaughlin pass him was too soft.
On lap 2 Jamie Whincup tried to stay close as possible but Scott McLaughlin just pulled away.
Fabian Coulthard had starting in the top ten. He held high hopes to maintain his position as championship leader to the end of the season. On lap 3 he was hit from behind and spun around. As a result he ended up at the back of the pack and probably felt his championship hopes fade. However, I am sure he knew it was still early in the race and had plenty of opportunity to do something about it.
His worries weren’t over yet. On lap 6 he had a close call. Fabian Coulthard’s rear wing clipped the driver’s side door of Lee Houldsworth’s car. The damage didn’t look too bad but the door on Lee Houldsworth’s car wouldn’t stay shut. Fabian Coulthard got off without damage but Lee Houldsworth had to make it the pits and have his door taped shut.
On lap 7 Scott McLaughlin was still the race leader but chose to pit now. I can only assume it was part of the strategy to give him as much opportunity to retake the lead later in the race.
On lap 11 Chaz Mostert was battling with Mark Winterbottom to get fresh air but it wasn’t going to be easy trying to take a position while in the top ten.
By lap 12 Fabian Coulthard was trying to fight back from the spin on the opening couple of laps.
On lap 13 Shane Van Gisbergen was battling with Jamie Whincup for 3rd and 4th and also pit priority.
On lap 14 Jason Bright caught up with his teammates but had to wait till after the hairpin turn to make a pass safely.
On lap 19 Simona De Silvestro was following Rick and Todd Kelly for experience at the new track.
By lap 23 Macauley Jones was getting noticed carving his way through the field after starting near the back.
On lap 24 some drivers hit the pits to get out from the battle going on near the back of the pack.
On lap 26 Jason Bright caught up to his teammates mark Winterbottom and Cameron Waters. He couldn’t manage to pass them so decided to pit again.
On lap 29 Jamie Whincup was putting pressure on Scott McLaughlin hoping he would make an error but Scott McLaughlin was faultless and wasn’t going to give the lead away easily.
In the middle of the race no one could catch the top 3 drivers which were Scott McLaughlin, Jamie Whincup and Mark Winterbottom.
On lap 34 Todd Kelly ran into engine problems and could go on. He received a DNF.
Towards the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen had a sick car not running on all eight cylinders. Regardless, he managed to complete the race coming in at 7th position.
Scott McLaughlin finished with nearly a 4 second lead over Jamie Whincup. Mark Winterbottom came in third over 15 seconds after the winner. Quite a spread at the finish line.
Results for race 13
1st Scott McLaughlin – Dick Johnson racing Team Penske.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Mark Winterbottom – Prodrive racing Australia.
In race 14 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.
Craig Lowndes started in 21st on the grid due to not making the top 10 shootout. To add to the pressure he also had to get passed Will Davison to get pit priority.
On the start of the 70 lap race Shane Van Gisbergen tried to go around the outside of the pole sitter but couldn’t get the job done.
On lap 2 Scott McLaughlin was still the race leader but he was under pressure from Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup which was good to see such a challenge.
On lap 3 John Mcgregor who is Craig Lowndes race engineer told him to pit because even though it wasn’t ideal timing he could see he was getting held in traffic.
On lap 5 Jamie Whincup was still chasing Scott McLaughlin for the race lead.
On lap 7 Fabian Coulthard was trying to regain the Championship lead but it wasn’t his day. He must have been gutted over losing his championship lead.
On lap 9 Jamie Whincup running second to Scott McLaughlin him in their first round of pit stops.
On lap 10 Simona De Silvrestro was battling with Michael Caruso for positions 12 and 13. Both knew they were just outside the top 10 so these were critical spots.
On lap 11 Alex Rullo was doing a great job for his first V8 Supercars race at Townsville.
On lap 13 Jason Bright pitted to re-enter the race track with no cars in front or behind him.
On lap 15 Craig Lowndes was doing a fantastic job moving up through the field. He was picking cars off with every lap which I thought was very impressive.
On lap 16, Grant McPherson, race engineer for Shane Van Gisbergen called a change in strategy; Shane Van Gisbergen was behind Jamie Whincup so was called into pits early. The strategy was so that Jamie Whincup would not have to double stack behind him.
On lap 18 Scott Pye was forced into pits at an un-ideal time because he was getting held up by James Courtney.
By lap 22 Craig Lowndes had worked his way up to 11th position, which in my opinion was a mighty drive.
On lap 25 a lot of cars started pitting for the 2nd round of pit stops to prepare for the race to the chequered flag.
On lap 27 Jamie Whincup ended up getting the undercut which made him the effective race leader at that point of the race. He was not only on his way to his first race win for 2017 but also being on the same number of race wins as Craig Lowndes, in fact equalling the same of Career wins.
On lap 28 the top 3 at that stage were Jamie Whincup, Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen.
In the middle of the race no one else could catch the top drivers which were Jamie Whincup, Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen. Holden, Ford, Holden.
They kept the pattern and finished the race in that order.
The win by Jamie Whincup puts him only 6 points behind Scott McLaughlin.
Results for race 14
1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing team.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Dick Johnson racing Team Penske Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red bull Holden racing team.
The next event is the Coates hire Ipswich Supersprint 28th to the 30th of July 2017.
On the weekend of the 19th to the 21st of May 2017 was the Winton SuperSprint.
Some interesting background notes on this race: ·Craig Lowndes started 19th due to not getting a clear run in Qualifying. ·There were 3 wild cards (solo debuts) at Winton which were Macauley Jones, Shae Davies and James Golding. I have no doubt that this would change the dynamics out on track. ·Fabian Coulthard has a different colour number on his Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske car is because he is the current championship leader. This seems to be the ‘new thing’ since Shane Van Gisbergen turned down the traditional championship leader Number One sticker and kept his usual number. Was it superstition or other reasoning? I am not sure. ·Simona De Silvestro seemed to enjoy her first race at Winton, and did pretty well in this race finishing 2 spots up from her starting position on the grid. ·During Friday’s practice there were a lot of drivers and cars that went off the wet track and onto the grass. It made the drivers weary of conditions but fortunately the weather cleared for the weekend. ·LOL… During Friday’s 2nd practice session, presenter and commentator Neil Crompton got Mark Skaife’s name wrong during an interview and called him Mike Skaife.
In the 120km race 9, Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. Alongside him was Chaz Mostert.
On lap 1 of 40 Scott McLaughlin beat Chaz Mostert off the start line and led into turns 1 and 2. Between turns 6 and 7 James Moffatt spun James Courtney and put him right to the back of the pack. As a result, he had to start making his way back up through the pack.
Mark Winterbottom ran well during the opening stages of the race.
Craig Lowndes’ race engineer, John McGregor (aka “Irish”) called him into the pits. As mentioned Craig Lowndes had a poor starting position of 19, so this was a strategy to get him out of the traffic and get a clear track and make headway later on.
On lap 4 cars further back in the pack were crowded up so started pitting to get clear air. Scott McLaughlin was still leading the race so stayed out longer while the going was good.
On lap 5 Scott Pye and James Courtney were contending for positions 8 and 9 and desperate to stay in the top 10.
On lap 7 David Reynolds was close in behind his Erebus Motorsport teammate Dale Wood.
On lap 10 Craig Lowndes was making his presence felt and was in battle with Will Davison trying to gain another position.
On lap 11 Garth Tander was trying hard to get passed James Moffatt to get fresh air so that engine does overheat
On lap 13 Chaz Mostert could feel something wrong with his engine. Adam De Borre, his race engineer told him to come in to the pits. At first he stayed in the car then Adam De Borre told him to get out. It was all over for the race and Chaz Mostert received a DNF.
Rick Kelly was trying to pass Tim Slade at turns 1 and 2, both trying to stay in the top 10.
On lap 13 Todd Kelly also just made it into the top 10. He was desperate for this after his start position of 11th.
On lap 14 Will Davison was staying cautious after his experience in a12 car pile-up at Tasmania. He ended up in hospital and his car was close to demolished. The Tekno team had to do an all-nighter to get back out on track the next day.
On lap 17 Macauley Jones was safely following James Golding, one of the wildcards on the day to not get caught up in an incident.
At this stage engineers usually start calling cars in to the pits but the going was good and most drivers stayed out on track not wanting to lose any advantage they could gain pitting later on.
On lap 19 Tim Slade managed a successful pass of his teammate, Nick Percat after his pit stop.
On lap 21 Craig Lowndes was moving up through the field due to his pit stop strategy.
On lap 23 there was a battle between Garth Tander, James Moffatt, James Courtney and Nick Percat.
On lap 24 Scott McLaughlin was still leading over his teammate and Championship Leader, Fabian Coulthard.
On lap 25 Shae Davies had a close call with Simona De Silvestro and only just avoided making contact.
On lap 26 Shane Van Gisbergen was trying to keep up with his teammate, Jamie Whincup. It was exactly Roland Dane wanted to see. The only thing that Roland Dane didn’t want to see was the 2 teammates making contact.
By this stage of the race Craig Lowndes was running in 6th after starting in the 19th spot. It is no easy feat to gain 13 positions in a 40 lap race and then maintain it to the finish. Proof of why he gets paid the big bucks.
On the second last lap James Courtney ended up in the sand and couldn’t get out. He received a DNF which was just plain bad luck for him.
As the race progressed into it final laps it was clear the top 3 drivers were untouchable; Scott McLaughlin (who managed to hold his lead from start to finish), Jamie Whincup and Fabian Coulthard.
David Reynolds was the closest in 4th position crossing the finish line nearly 8 seconds later, but it was a good race for him having gained 10 spots from his 14th position on the starting grid.
Things in the championship are now getting really interesting. With the win going to Scott McLaughlin, Fabain Coulthard only leads the Championship by only 4 points.
Results for race 9:
1st Scott Mclaughlin – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske Shell V Power racing team. 2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team. 3rd Fabain Coulthard – Dick Johnson Racing team Penske Shell V power racing team.
In race 10 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. Alongside him was Jamie Whincup.
On lap 1 of 67 Jamie Whincup got into turn 1 and 2 first over Scott McLaughlin.
On lap 2 Shane Van Gisbergen and Fabian Coulthard were battling for 2nd and 3rd. Shane Van Gisbergen got the better of him making a pass for clear track. Scott McLaughlin slipping to 4th.
On lap 3 888 race engineer, David Cauchi stategised for Jamie Whincup to stay out on track longer and not pit too early, especially while he maintained pit priority over Shane Van Gisbergen.
On lap 4 Chaz Mostert was trying to find a way passed Cameron Waters. But he couldn’t get the job done.
On lap 5 Chaz Mostert wasn’t making headway out on track so pitted early to avoid the pit lane congestion. This strategy paid off for him later on.
On lap 7 Craig Lowndes was on a charge, moving up from 26th up to 23rd.
On lap 9 Fabian Coulthard dropped to 4th giving Scott McLaughlan an easy pass. He knew it was a long race so was saving his energies for later.
On lap 10 Mark Winterbottom was following his teammates Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert. This was also OK by him so early on in the race.
On lap 11 Simona de Silvestro was keeping up with her team owners Rick and Todd Kelly. It was a great setup where she could get some first hand knowledge from them on her first visit to Winton Raceway.
On lap 13 Macauley Jones one of the other wild cards on the day was making his dad, Brad Jones proud of him in his solo V8 Supercars Championship debut.
On lap 14 Scott Mclaughlin was happy to be back in the lead after dominating the first race of the weekend. Roland Dane, 888 owner did not want to see their main rivals, Dick Johnson Racing make it 2 for 2.
On Lap 15 James Courtney was driving cautiously not wanting to have another bad race for the 2nd day in a row.
On Lap 17 Fabian Coulthard took advantage of Shane Van Gisbergen going wide at turn 3. He managed to slip through on the inside. It was a very cool move.
On lap 18 Mark Winterbottom also passed Shane Van Gisbergen and was now trying to find a way past Fabian Coulthard. Fabian Coulthard wasn’t going drop the ball and Mark Winterbottom couldn’t get far enough up to make the pass.
On lap 20 David Reynolds was on the charge after he disengaged the pit lane speed limiter. He just got in front of Rick Kelly which was planned by the team before the start of the race.
On lap 21 Craig Lowndes wanted to pit first but because he was behind teammate, Will Davison the pit priority was not his.
On lap 22 Alex Rullo stayed in close behind his more experienced teammate Taz Douglas, gaining valuable pointers.
Chaz Mostert was trying to catch up to the race leaders and capitalise on any mistakes made. Unfortunately for him, Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen weren’t giving him any opportunities.
On lap 25 Alex Rullo was blocking Mark Winterbottom, which is considered poor form so early in the race. In fact, later Mark Winterbottom told host of RPM Matthew White that he wasn’t impressed with the move that the Rookie made whatsoever
On lap 29 Todd Kelly passed his brother Rick Kelly but it was a short lived result. In usual sibling rivalry Rick Kelly took back the lead over his brother.
On lap 31 the 2 Red Bull Holden Racing team cars were holding the top two positions, Jamie Whincup 1st and Shane Van Gisbergen 2nd.
In the middle of the race Mark Winterbottom gave Alex Rullo a lesson in good driving manners and didn’t block him as he passed.
Towards the end of the race the Vodafone Safety Car was deployed due to Michael Caruso getting stuck in the tyre barrier after making contact with Shae Davies.
On the race restart Jamie Whincup was on target to match Craig Lowndes career wins of 104. It would have been a nice way for the 888 team to finish the weekend but things didn’t go quite to plan. At the final corner he ran wide, Shane Van Gisbergen slipped through on the inside to take the chequered flag. Jamie Whincup will just have to wait till net time.
Results for race 10:
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team. 3rd Fabain Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
The next event of the v8 Supercars Championship is the Crown bet Darwin Triple Crown on the 16th to the 18th of June 2017.
On the weekend of the 21st to the 23rd of April 2017 was the WD-40 Phillip Island 500.
It was a fantastic weekend for many reasons, the main being that my Dad & I were actually there.
I am wheelchair bound with Cerebral Palsy and a long list of other issues, so getting to the races is not as simple as purchasing a ticket and booking a room. All sorts of things need to be considered and organised (it becomes damn expensive having to cater for a wheelchair!). In addition, I need someone to accompany me for support needs. So who better than my own dad to come with me? There is no one better to go to a sporting event with than your own father. He will never know how much I appreciate him not just for taking me, but also for spending the time with me and having a blast.
As you can see this was a special weekend for me and I’m really happy to share this experience, personal photos and videos with my readers.
Dad picked up the wheelchair accessible KIA rental from Freedom Motors Australia in St Marys (suburb of greater Sydney area) on the Tuesday. A big “Hello” to their fabulous sales manager, Carolyn Hurst. Thank you for such great, friendly service.
We left on the Wednesday to head down to Victoria ahead of the weekends racing. By mid-afternoon we crossed the border from New South Wales into Victoria and checked into The Comfort Inn Benalla (north east Victoria). There was a mix up with our bookings (due to on-line booking agency) but the operators Di and Brian Hogg, were so friendly and considerate they made sure we got a suitable room without any hassle. It is appreciated that they went out of their way but made it seem effortless and welcoming.
On Thursday morning we headed down to Phillip Island. We stayed at the Coachman Motel Phillip Island operated by a beautiful friendly couple Bill and Monica that also made us feel welcome. If you like a nice garden this is the place to stay. We rested up and got prepared for going out to the track the next day.
When we got to the track on Friday it was raining, so we had to go undercover until it stopped. We then went into “The Paddock” to see which drivers we could catch to get photos with. There was a Triple 8 autograph session but we didn’t know at what time, so we just stayed around the V8 pit paddock and tried to catch up with as many drivers as we could from both the V8 Supercars Championship series and the Dunlop Super 2 series.
I got photos with many of my favourites; Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes, Mark Dutton, Roland Dane, Jess Surrey Dane, Tim Schenken, Garry Rogers, Nick Percat, Brad Jones, Chaz Mostert, Cameron McConville, Paul Dumbrell, Dale Wood, David Reynolds, Â Betty Klimenko, Simona De Silvestro and Doctor Carl Le (the official Supersprint medical delegate).
Dad and I also got grid passes from the Red Bull Holden Racing team. Â It was great and we got more photos out on the grid. Then dad and I returned to the pits to watch the race at the back of the Team Vortex garage.
Interesting to note, on Friday at the end of Practice 1 Craig Lowndes had a tyre blowout spearing him into the wall. His car had so much damage he wasn’t able to go out on track for Practice 2. Team Vortex did an all-nighter repairing the car for Saturdays qualifying and race.
Race 5 was 57 laps covering some 250Kms.
The Phillip Island track is known to be a fast track. What I did notice is the number of drive-through penalties received by drivers mostly caused by higher speeds coming around the track and crossing the safety line at the pit entry. Drivers receive a penalty if they cross over the pit line on the track which is to be kept clear for safe entry.
Early on in the race the drivers that got drive-through penalties were Scott McLaughlin Chaz Mostert, Will Davison, Shane Van Gisbergen, Fabian Coulthard, Mark Winterbottom, Tim Slade, Tim Blanchard, Nick Percat, Scott Pye, James Courtney and Simona de Silvestro. There wasn’t consistency in upkeeping the rule so there were a lot of drivers that didn’t get pinged for crossing the pit entry line.
Also there were a high number of tyre blowouts. Thirteen (13) in total. This is unusually high and caused teams concerns about the new regulation Dunlop supersoft tyres being used this season.
Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. Alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.
On lap 1 Scott McLaughlin got the jump on his teammate Fabian Coulthard. Mark Winterbottom was up to 2nd spot by turn 1. Then Fabian Coulthard got that spot back on the exit of turn 4. Shane Van Gisbergen was keeping up with the leaders. He wanted his presence felt even though it was early on in the race. Fabian Coulthard pushed hard to get his 2nd spot back off Mark Winterbottom down at MG corner.
On lap 2 there were a couple of drivers that came into the pits early to avoid the double stacking. For some drivers this paid off.
In the early stages of lap 3 Chaz Mostert was holding 3rd position.
Taz Douglas’ car ran over something on the track and got a puncture causing him to make a spectacular exit off the track, leaving rubber and debris everywhere along the main straight.
On lap 5 Michael Caruso moved up within the top 10 positions.
On lap 7 Scott McLaughlin was still the race leader and he would have got pit priority if the safety car came out onto the track, but it didn’t until later on in the race.
On lap 8 Cameron Waters stayed out on the track to avoid a double stack with Mark Winterbottom. Even though they are not on the same team they share the same pit bay.
On lap 9 Jason Bright was getting held up on the track by his teammates, Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert, so he decided to pit and get a clear race track to re-join on.
On lap 10 Garth Tander was running up front with the leaders so he stayed out on track longer while the going was good. His teammate, James Moffatt was back in the pack so he chose to take the opportunity to pit.
On lap 11 internal footage of Shane Van Gisbergen’s car showed him changing down with just a flick of the wrist. It was done with such proficiency as if it was nothing. It was a very cool thing to see.
On lap 13 Scott McLaughlin was still leading the race until he pitted for tyres and fuel then when he went to re-join the track he saw the red light on due to the Vodafone safety car going passed the pit exit. Scott McLaughlin got a pit lane penalty was because he wasn’t far enough over before he turned in to his pit bay.
On lap 14 Cameron Waters nearly got a punctured tyre due to the fast nature of the Phillip Island circuit. But he eased off and just got away with it.
On lap 15 when the Vodafone safety car came out nearly everyone up the front decided to stay out longer to keep their track position. This seems the right thing to do if there were more than 2 cars up at the pointy end of the field otherwise known as sharp end.
On lap 16 Rick Kelly pitted before the other 3 cars in his team. This was a good strategy call to avoid the ugly double stacking that the teams and drivers hate doing.
On lap 19 Jason Bright was pushing hard to get up into the top 5.
On lap 20 David Reynolds was on the charge trying to stay up with the leaders.
On lap 21 Shane Van Gisbergen was running well trying to get in front of Jamie Whincup but he wasn’t able to.
On lap 22 Fabian Coulthard was pushing hard after having to serve a pit lane penalty for not stopping when the red light was on at the pit lane exit. He admitted to his mistake but that didn’t make him any happier.
On lap 23 Simona De Silvestro was putting pressure on Todd Kelly to pass him at turn 4. Mark Winterbottom was putting pressure on Cameron Waters to get pit priority.
On lap 26 James Courtney was trying to pass Scott Pye to get inside the top 10 to get pit priority for the 2nd round of pit stops.
On lap 27 the drivers were adjusting their anti-roll bars. I assume this was to reduce the chance of tyre blowouts as there had been so many by this stage.
On lap 29 all the drivers were getting their cars ready for the race to the checkered flag.
From that point on it seemed that one could catch the front 3 cars (Craig Lowndes, Fabian Coulthardt, Jamie Whincup) and there seemed that the number of tyre blowouts also changed driver tactics so the chance of a great catch up didn’t look to be on the cards.
In the last 5 laps Craig Lowndes was leading the race. Even though he crossed the finish line first, the 15 second pit lane penalty he received meant he ultimately finished 12th. It must have been a hard pill to swallow considering if he kept the race win it would be his first race win for 2017 with team Vortex and his career tally would have gone up to 106 wins.
Nevertheless, Fabian Coulthard took race win followed by Jamie Whincup, then Garth Tander.
Results for race 5.
1st Fabain Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team. Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Garth Tander – Garry Rogers Motorsport.
In race 6 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Fabian Coulthard
On lap 1 of 57 Fabian Coulthard got the jump on Scott McLaughlin. The cars further back in the pack were trying to find clear space.
On lap 2 most of the cars came in to the pit lane, all bar the race leaders.
On lap 3 Will Davison hit the wall coming out of turn 2. The car was damaged but he managed to get it back to the garage. When he emerged from the garage later, he did not look happy at all.
On lap 4 Chaz Mostert was running in 4th which the Supercheap Auto racing team would have been happy with.
Rick Kelly pitted before the rest of the Nissan team.
On lap 5 Jamie Whincup was running in the top 5. Cameron Waters wanted to get passed his teammate Mark Winterbottom to get to the pit box first.
On lap 6 Simona De Silvestro just outside the top 10 was keeping the Nissan Motorsport team happy.
Lap 7 was when the tyre blowouts started happening again. Overall there weren’t as many as in race 5 the previous day. It must have helped that most teams reduced tyre pressure on cars, even though it does affect handling.
On lap 8 Fabian Coulthard came in to the pits before Scott McLaughlin.
On lap 10 Garth Tander made his first pit stop which helped get him out of the traffic and get fresh air for the engine so it didnt get too hot. On the next lap, James Moffatt was in the same situation.
On lap 12 Tim Slade tried to pass his teammate Nick Percat but wasn’t able to get far enough up to make the move stick.
On lap 13 James Courtney came in to pits so that Scott Pye didn’t have to wait later on.
On lap 16 Scott Pye followed James Courtney into the pits and double stacked when the safety car came out. Im sure there was strategy from the team on this choice.
On lap 17 Jamie Whincup was up near the front which he and the team were happy with.
On lap 18 Mark Winterbottom was back on the track after his first pit.
On lap 19 Cameron Waters wanted to be strong during the race which he was.
On lap 20 Chaz Mostert was near the race leaders. His parents, Anne and Eddy Mostert looked proud as the watched the race from the side lines.
On lap 25 the safety car returned to the track to clear up spent rubber. Not moments later, on the next lap Nick Percat had a tyre blowout on the front right hand side of the car. He had to limp straight into the pits.
On lap 27 Todd Kelly and Rick Kelly were battling for positions 11 and 12 in their usual display of sibling rivalry.
The triple 8 Team’s luck had run out. Where in the previous day’s race they didn’t have a single tyre blowout, in this race all 3 cars had blowouts.
I’m sure that the Teams’ big question is ,why? Kevin Fitzsimmons is the Motorsport Manager for Dunlop. He had a lot of to do to find out what would have caused the tyres to blow.
It was lap 41 when Chaz Mostert took the lead. From that point on no one could catch him. Mark Winterbottom tried but Chaz Mostert was in great form and crossed the finish line so forcefully it was as though he had a higher purpose.
Andrew Roberts was down at Phillip Island which was good because Dad and I hadn’t seen him in a while.
My personal experience at Phillip Island for the weekend of racing was memorable. I had a ball with dad.
Results for race 6.
1st Chaz Mostert – Prodrive Racing Australia. Supercheap Auto Racing.
2nd Mark Winterbottom – Bottle O Racing Team Prodrive Racing Australia.
3rd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
The next event is the Perth Supersprint on the 5th to the 7th of May 2017.
In race 23 the two Red Bull teammates were again at the front of the grid as in the last race. Jamie Whincup was on pole position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.
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.
