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Supercars

Valo Adelaide 500 2023

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 23 – 26 November 2023 was the Valo Adelaide 500.

The Adelaide street circuit was first opened in 1985 and hosted the F1 Australian Grand Prix until 1995. The street circuit came back into use in 1999 when Supercars moved their events from the Mallala Motorsport Park.

Jason Bright took the very first pole position at this venue. Craig Lowndes started the leg 1 from 3rd on the grid and won the opening race. The next day he was sent to the back of the field and still came through to win leg 2. It was the stuff that legends are made of.

This year’s Adelaide 500 was the 12th and final round of the 2023 Supercars Championship.

As one of the longer events on the calendar made up of 2 races of 250km each, it was always going to be a tough event. To add to the tension it was also the decider for the Driver’s Championship.

The defending champion Shane Van Gisbergen was trailing Brodie Kostecki in the number 1 spot by 131 points. A win in both races would total 300 points so the championship was still up for grabs. Shane Van Gisbergen is heading to the U.S. at the end of the season to try his hand at NASCAR so it could very well also be his final farewell to Supercars.

The points gap from 3rd place onwards was too great to contend for 1st or 2nd place. However, the points were close enough between 3rd, 4th and 5th for there to be a change on the final scoreboard for Will Brown, Broc Feeney and Chaz Mostert.

The Final Event and the Final Decider! A setting for nail biting stuff!

The event started on Thursday with a wet Practice 1.

The pre-race sessions results are as follows:

  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
  • Thomas Randle was Fastest in Practice 2
  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying
  • Brodie Kostecki was also fastest in the top 10 Shootout.

For Race 27 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position which was his 9th pole for the year. David Reynolds was alongside him on the front row of the starting grid.

At the start of the race Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for first of 78 laps.

As the pack rounded turn 4 Will Brown tried passing Anton de Pasquale. Shane Van Gisbergen also tried following Will Brown to jump up in position. However, Anton de Pasquale made contact with Will Brown and then from behind Shane Van Gisbergen made contact with Will Brown. Brown’s car came to stop almost immediately. Shane Van Gisbergen was able to get back to the pits but it was soon evident that he wouldn’t be returning to the track. Not only was it all over for this race but also his ability to contend for the championship title. Such bad luck.

The safety car was deployed. It was only the opening lap and things were very messed up for Will Brown and Shane Van Gisbergen.

Later, after reviewing the incident the officials took no further action and no penalty was issued to any of the three cars involved.

Matt Payne and Cameron Hill were in the pits because of damage they received after the start.

The restart was on lap 6 and Brodie Kostecki was still in control of the race, followed by David Reynolds and Thomas Randle in 3rd place.

Broc Feeney passed James Courtney for 8th place.

On lap 15 David Reynolds took the lead off Brodie Kostecki with some incredible manoeuvring through turns 8 and 9.

The first car to pit in this race was Anton de Pasquale on lap 16.

Broc Feeney was next to pit on lap 19. When he re-joined the race he was in 20th place with clear track ahead.

Up front it started getting busy. Thomas Randle moved up to 2nd place dropping Brodie Kostecki back to 3rd place.

Cameron Waters in 4th place was 3 + seconds behind. The front of the pack were beginning to spread out.

Soon after, Thomas Randle pitted from second place handing over the spot to Cameron Waters.

Thomas Randle came out of the pits and was like a rocket. Within a few laps he managed to move up through the pack and regain 2nd place.

Cameron Waters wasn’t happy to give back the second spot to Thomas Randle and found the opportunity to pass him. Once again, the order of the top 3 cars changed.

In the middle of the race Cameron Waters was still holding second place right on the rear bumper of David Reynolds in the lead. He found his opportunity and with precision driving made the pass to get the number one spot.

Further back in the pack, Todd Hazelwood received a 5 second time penalty for contact with another car.

David Reynolds never gave up the fight to regain 1st place. With 17 laps to go he did the fastest lap of the race, 119.957 seconds. Unfortunately, it didn’t give him what he wanted. He was also under pressure from Thomas Randle in 3rd place. The front 3 cars were once again tight and left no room for error.

Cameron Waters stayed strong and held the lead using his experience to fend off the two drivers right on his tail.

Soon Cameron Water and David Reynolds edged away from Thomas Randle still holding 3rd place.

They were both on fire screaming ahead of the pack.

They crossed the finish line 0.67 seconds apart and way ahead of the others. Thomas Randle came in 14.353 seconds later to earn 3rd place. It was an incredible finish for an intense race.

Results for Race 27

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.

2nd David Reynolds – Grove Racing.

3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing & Tradie Racing.

In Race 28 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position for the 10th time this season. This is an incredible feat and he was given the Armor All Pole Award for year along with $10,000. Next to him on the front row of the grid was Matt Payne.

As they took off Matt Payne got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 78 laps. As much as Brodie Kostecki tried he was not able to pass Matt Payne.

Further back Shane Van Gisbergen was trying to pass Anton de Pasquale but also wasn’t able to execute a pass. It wasn’t until a few laps later that he got into his stride.

On lap 2 Broc Feeney was able to get up the inside of Cameron Waters for 4th place.

David Reynolds made his move on lap 3 to pass Todd Hazelwood for 9th place.

Shane Van Gisbergen was now moving through the pack and had now passed Anton de Pasquale, Will Davison and Will Brown for 11th place.

On lap 6 Nick Percat made contact with Jack le Brocq who went off the track and into the tyre-wall at the final turn. Surprisingly, he managed to get himself out and the safety car did not have to be deployed.

After investigation the incident the officials took no further action against either driver.

By lap 10 Matt Payne had a 1.2 second lead over Brodie Kostecki.

Broc Feeney was putting pressure on Chaz Mostert for 3rd place. He managed to get by at turn 6.

Shane Van Gisbergen showed how eager he was to make up for the NC (Not Complete) he received in the first race at this event. He did the fastest lap of the race, 120.735 seconds.

On lap 11 Chaz Mostert was desperately trying to get 3rd place back from Broc Feeney. In his attempt Chaz Mostert made contact with him and did manage to pass. It was a messy attack and Chaz Mostert was later issued a 5 second time penalty.

Shane Van Gisbergen was the first of the Red Bull cars to take a pit-stop.

In the pit area Macauley Jones was spun around by Tim Slade who was coming out of his garage.

In the middle of the race Matt Payne was still in control with a 4.8 second lead over Broc Feeney flowed by David Reynolds in 3rd.

As the race continued Matt Payne kept edging ahead. Towards the end of the race, he had a 7.5 second lead over Broc Feeney and was on target to claim his maiden win with Penrite Racing.

Noone seemed able to make ground on the rookie Matt Payne. In fact he managed to edge further ahead of the competitors.

He crossed the line with a 8.548 second lead over Broc Feeney. David Reynolds come in 3rd a few seconds later.

It was a spectacular and solid win for Matt Payne. Congratulations!

Results for Race 28:

1st Matt Payne – Grove Racing.

2nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

3rd David Reynolds – Grove Racing.

A massive congratulations to Erebus Motorsport and Brodie Kostecki. Well done!

This was the final race for the 2023 season. The next event will be the Bathurst Superfest on the 16th to the 25th of February 2024.

It’s with a sense of sadness that we say farewell to Shane Van Gisbergen. Well done on everything you have achieved in Supercars and best of luck for your new adventures in Nascar. Go get em!

Supercars

Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 2023

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of 27 – 29 October 2023 was the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.

It was round 11 of the 12 rounds in the 2023 Supercars Championship.

The Gold Coast race at Surfers Paradise is a street circuit which was first opened in 1991. The challenging 4.47 km circuit alongside a strip of beaches has several fast sections and four chicanes.

From 1991 to 2008 the Gold Coast Indy 300 was an annual open-wheel motor race event. In the early days Supercars were there as a support category but from 2002 through to present it has been a round of the Supercars Championship. This year      was the 21st event at the venue that has held 44 V8 Supercars races to date.

As expected, it was perfect Queensland weather excepting a small shower on the first practice day. In the pre-race sessions:

  • Scott Pye was fastest in Practice 1
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Qualifying
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top 10 Shootout

In Race 25 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Matt Payne alongside him.

As they took off Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 85 laps that makes up the 250km race. Matt Payne was right on his tail.

After starting 3rd on the grid Shane Van Gisbergen dropped to 5th before the first turn.

As Thomas Randle got to the first turn he took a shortcut across the chicanes. The officials spotted it but took no further action.

As Tim Slade got to the first turn another car made contact and spun him around. The safety car was deployed to slow drivers while he extracted himself from the dangerous position at the turn.

Brodie Kostecki was on the charge. He started 10th on the grid because his shootout lap was disallowed for going out of bounds. Now he had jumped to 7th place.

Within a few laps Chaz Mostert passed Thomas Randle to get up to 3rd place and was only 0.672 seconds behind Matt Payne.

The first car to pit was Broc Feeney on lap 9, along with Anton de Pasquale. They returned to clear track in 24th and 25th place.

Thomas Randle got by Chaz Mostert for 3rd spot.

It then seemed like the drivers were struggling with the high speed track. First Matt Payne received a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

Soon after both Chaz Mostert and Will Brown received bad sportsmanship flags for exceeding track limits.

Then it was Todd Hazelwood’s turn to receive a bad sportsmanship flag for the same reason.

Shane Van Gisbergen overtook Chaz Mostert for 4th position and was only 2.3 seconds behind Thomas Randle in 3rd place and only 4 seconds off the race lead.

Jack le Brocq alerted the team he was leaking fuel and went into the garage.

Brodie Kostecki was now in 5th place right behind Shane Van Gisbergen in their personal title battle for this year’s championship.

Cameron Waters pitted early and came back out in 8th place. When the top 7 cars took their pit stops he would resume the lead.

On lap 28 Shane Van Gisbergen took the number 1 spot off Matt Payne.

A few laps later Shane Van Gisbergen pitted and Brodie Kostecki followed him in. They came back out in 5th and 7th place.

In the middle of the race Broc Feeney was the first of the Red Bull cars to take his final pitstop. Meanwhile his teammate, Shane Van Gisbergen did the fastest lap of the race and was 6.1 seconds away from the lead.

Further ahead, David Reynolds was battling with Thomas Randle for 2nd and 3rd place.

Towards the end of the race with only 11 laps to go Cameron Waters was 1.4 seconds ahead of David Reynolds. It was another 2 seconds back to Shane Van Gisbergen in 3rd place.

Chaz Mostert once again exceeded track limits. This time he received a 5 second time penalty.

With 10 laps to go Cameron Waters still had the lead over David Reynolds but Shane Van Gisbergen had closed the gap to only 0.315 seconds.

Soon Shane Van Gisbergen took over David Reynolds. The gap to Cameron Waters in 1st was just 0.362 seconds.

With only a few laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen was desperately looking for an opportunity to overtake for the lead and win. However, Cameron Waters is a seasoned driver. He kept his cool and defended the number 1 spot. Shane Van Gisbergen kept on his tail to the end of the race.

As they crossed the finish line there was only 0.194 seconds between them. It was a spectacular tight finish.

Results for Race 25:

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing

3rd David Reynolds – Grove Racing

In Race 26 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position for the 8th time this year. Alongside him was David Reynolds.

As they took off Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 85 laps.

At turn 4 Tim Slade, James Courtney, Jack Smith and Macfauley Jones made contact and cars were spinning out of control in every direction. The cars back in the pack had to drive over the top of the first chicanes to avoid adding to the pileup. All four cars had come to a stop in this dangerous part of the track. The first safety car was deployed while the stranded cars were rescued.

The track was cleared by lap 8. However, it is the lead driver who gets to make the call for when the race goes back to green. Brodie Kostecki was waiting for the right moment to give the green light signal but the other drivers became impatient and started racing too soon. Confusion followed but the race still continued. It took a while for the officials to review, and it was only later that the offending drivers were penalised.

The first two cars to pit were Jack le Brocq and Will Davison on lap 9.

David Reynolds was challenging Brodie Kostecki for the lead and putting him under pressure. He was right on his tail and constantly on the attack.

Further back Shane Van Gisbergen got by Anton de Pasquale for 9th place. His next target was Cameron Waters in 8th place.

Brodie Kostecki held the lead until he pitted on lap 28. This relinquished the number 1 spot to David Reynolds. When Brodie Kostecki returned to the race he was in 12th place.

As the other drivers began to take their pit stops Brodie Kostecki moved up and eventually had the lead again.

Once again David Reynolds was right on his tail.

Towards the end of the race David Reynolds finally took advantage of a weak spot in the leader, Brodie Kostecki’s defence and passed him. I believe Brodie Kostecki didn’t aggressively defend the move at the risk of being knocked out of the race. All he had to do was get a podium finish ahead of Shane Van Gisbergen to protect his position in the season championship.

Cameron Waters was in 3rd place but was a few seconds behind and didn’t pose an immediate challenge to Brodie Kostecki.

With 7 laps to go James Golding had a massive shunt from behind and spun around landing in the tyre barrier. He almost collected Scott Pye in the process. They did make contact but luckily it seemed pretty light.

Shortly after Scott Pye’s car readings showed a big problem. He had to pull over immediately and the safety car was once again deployed.

When the race went back to green there was only 5 laps remaining. David Reynolds still had the lead over Brodie Kostecki, followed by Cameron Waters.

Brodie Kostecki was always close behind and a constant threat. At times there was less than 0.3 of a second between them. David Reynolds is a tough and seasoned driver. He never showed signs of cracking and at no time gave any opportunities away to his challengers.

In the end David Reynolds crossed the line 0.189 seconds ahead of Brodie Kostecki.

It was Reynold’s first race win since 2018 in what was probably the most exciting race of the year.

Congratulations to David Reynolds and his team, Grove Racing.

Results for Race 26:

1st David Reynolds – Grove Racing

2nd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport

3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

With 1 event made up of 2 races remaining, Brodie Kostecki leads over Shane Van Gisbergen by 131 points. Will Brown is 3rd and trails by 495 points, Broc Feeney is 504 points behind and Chaz Mostert is 640 points.

The grand finale event for the year will be the Valo Adelaide 500, 23 – 26 November 2023.

Hope you can join me.

Supercars

Valo Adelaide 500 2022

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of December 1 – 4, 2022 was the V8-Supercars season finale, The Valo Adelaide 500.

The event was held on the Adelaide Street Circuit, a 3.2km track with 14 turns and is made up of two 78 lap races (250kms each).

The circuit was first opened on the 31st October, 1985 for the F1 Australian Grand Prix. A few years later in 1999 the races became an official round of the Supercars Championship.

This year’s event marked a special milestone in the hearts of many Australians. It was the last race ever for the iconic Holden brand. In 2020 General Motors announced the retirement of the Holden brand name and 2022 was the last year of its manufacture. Supercars teams will now replace the Holdens with the Cheverolet Camaro. Australian motorsports will never be the same.

In the four day event the pre-race sessions results were:

  • Thomas Randle was fastest in Practice 1
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
  • Chaz Mostert was fastest Practice 3 and in Qualifying for Race 33             
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Shootout for Race 33

For Race 33 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Scott Pye alongside him. The big surprise was the champion elect, Shane Van Gisbergen starting in 25th place after a bad wide turn in qualifying and running out of time to have another attempt.

At the start Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 while Scott Pye had to tuck in behind.

At turn 7 James Golding made a mistake which allowed Chaz Mostert to get up the inside of him at turn 9 to take 6th place.

As the field completed lap 1 Cameron Waters had the lead and was 0.9 second ahead of Scott Pye. Shane Van Gisbergen had gained 4 spots to be in 21st place.

Shane Van Gisbergen was soon on the charge. In the second lap he first passed Mark Winterbottom, then Broc Feeney and Bryce Fullwood.

Further ahead, Will Davison got up the inside of Will Brown to move into 13th.

Bryce Fullwood ran wide on the exit of turn 4 which allowed Broc Feeney and Mark Winterbottom to overtake.

Pretty soon Shane Van Gisbergen had gained 9 spots up to 16th position. He was still 11.6 seconds off the lead.

Will Davison passed Brodie Kostecki to move into 12th. The tightly packed group meant engine temperatures were rising and they would have to make attempts to get clean air as soon as possible.

The first car to pit was Nick Percat on lap 6 to get out of the traffic and help keep his engine temperature under control.

At turn 11 Jack Smith went off the track through his own error but it didn’t cause any incident.

On lap 7 James Golding in car 31 had power steering dramas after hitting the wall, so had to immediately head to the pits.

Up the front Anton de Pasquale and James Courtney were in a battle for 3rd and 4th.

I was amazed at Shane Van Gisbergen who was now up 13 places from the start.

Broc Feeney was the first of the 2 Red Bull cars to pit on lap 11 so that Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t have to double stack.

Will Davison was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 13.

On return to the track he locked the right front wheels and race engineer Richard Harris asked him to return to the pits to check for flat spots on his tyres.

Shane Van Gisbergen put in an aggressive effort and was now battling with Lee Holdsworth for 7th position. Yes folks, I do not lie! Shane Van Gisbergen had started 25th on the grid and was now in 8th place going hard.

When Anton de Pasquale came in, he overshot the mark. The crew managed it well, but it was less than perfect especially when you are one of the front runners.

A few laps later Broc Feeney went off the road at turn 11 and hit the tyre wall. It could have spelled disaster, but he managed the recovery well and was able to continue.

Chaz Mostert pitted from 3rd place and came back out in 10th.

Cameron Waters pitted from the lead and came back out with clear air.

In the middle of the race the safety car was deployed because Jack le Brocq was in the wall. The rest of the field took the opportunity to come in and fuel up.

After the race went back to ‘green’, Chaz Mostert made wheel to wheel contact with Shane Van Gisbergen but it didn’t result in any significant damage.

With 32 laps to go Thomas Randle and Todd Hazelwood were the first two drivers to complete their second and final pit stop.

Will Davison pitted a few laps later, lap 49.

On the next lap Shane Van Gisbergen went off the track at turn 11 and buried the front end in the tyre wall. Race control deployed the safety car. He managed to get the car out but had reasonable damage requiring repair.

On the restart Chaz Mostert was the leader of the race followed by Andre Heimgartner and Nick Percat.

At turn 5 Cameron Waters tried to get up the inside of Todd Hazelwood. It didn’t work but it sent Hazelwood into the wall. Will Brown was so close he couldn’t avoid following him into the wall, so it was less than a lap after restart that another safety car came back out on the track. Shortly after Cameron Waters was issued a drive through penalty for being the cause of the mayhem.

On the restart with 22 laps to go Andre Heimgartner tried to go around the race leader Chaz Mostert but failed and lost ground. On the exit of turn 6 he made another mistake which allowed Nick Percat to take 2nd place off him. Walkinshaw Andretti United now had the 2 front places in the running.

With 17 laps to go Bryce Fullwood had to serve a pit lane penalty for making contact with Scott Pye earlier. It ultimately put him out of the running for a place on the podium.

With 16 laps to go Chaz Mostert’s lead was 2.5 seconds over Nick Percat in 2nd place.

With 8 laps to go James Courtney was given a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits and was out of lives. Race control issued him with previous warnings and now gave him a drive through penalty.

In the end, on the final lap Chaz Mostert finished 1.9 seconds ahead of his teammate Nick Percat. It was a spectacular finish for Chaz Mostert, earning him his 21st career win and his 5th race win of 2022. It was also a welcome finish for Walkinshaw Andretti United having a 1st and 2nd place.

Results for Race 33

1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

2nd Nick Percat – Walkinshaw Andretti United

3rd James Courtney – Tickford Racing

In Race 34 Anton de Pasquale started on pole position and alongside him was his teammate, Will Davison.

As they took off Anton de Pasquale led into turns 1 and 2.

Back in the pack there was contact between Mark Winterbottom and James Golding. They both went off the track. Golding had to wait for all the cars to pass before he could re-enter putting him at the back of the pack.

There was only 0.373 seconds between Anton de Pasquale in first place and Will Davison in second. They were closely followed by champion Shane Van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney.

Cameron Waters was able to pass his former teammate, Chaz Mostert for 5th place.

On lap 3 Scott Pye ran extremely wide at the final corner and Anton de Pasquale hit the tyre bundle at turns 1 and 2 of the next lap putting some damage on his car.

Jack Le Brocq’s car had smoke coming out of the back due to an oil leak. Officials issued him a mechanical black flag and he had to come into the pits right away.

Broc Feeney was the first of the Red Bull cars to pit on lap 11 so teammate Shane Van Gisbergen wouldn’t have to double stack.

On lap 14 Anton de Pasquale was still in control of the race. Will Davison pitted to avoid a challenge from Broc Feeney who had just done the fastest lap of the race so far.

Todd Hazelwood had a massive slide between turns 13 and 14, while Will Davison got a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

On lap 18 Jake Kostecki hit the wall exiting turn 8 and the left rear wheel departed car 56. The safety car was deployed for the first time in the final race of the year.

On the restart with 58 laps to go Will Davison was leading the race with Broc Feeney and Anton de Pasquale close behind.

Yet again at turn 8, Brodie Kostecki hit the wall and put a bruise on car 99.

On the next lap David Reynolds got a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits at turn 2.

Meanwhile back up the front Will Davison was under pressure from Broc Feeney in 2nd place.  Will Davison made a mistake at the turn 9 hairpin that allowed Broc Feeney to take the race lead.

In the middle of the race Broc Feeney was still the leader and looking confident. From that point he did a fantastic job of holding out against the winner of the previous race at this event, Chaz Mostert.

Chaz Mostert kept the pressure on but in the final laps Broc Feeney managed to create some space between the two. It was only about 1 second but enough to let Feeney concentrate on driving rather than defending.

Broc Feeney kept the more experienced Chaz Mostert at bay and crossed the finish line with 0.9644 of a second lead. It was just under another long 8.5 seconds before Anton de Pasquale followed in 3rd place.

Broc Feeney and the team were ecstatic to claim his first win in his rookie year. It also seemed a fitting climax as the Holden brand name’s final race ever in Supercars.

A special congratulations to Broc Feeney on a great finish to your rookie year and your teammate, Shane Van Gisbergen who is now officially a 3 time Supercars champion.

Also, I would like to send out congratulations to Lee Holdsworth on his retirement race. You have been an absolute stalwart of the sport for two decades. Thanks for the brilliant memories and best of luck for the future. You will be missed.

Results for Race 34

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

3rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing Team

The next events are the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hour, February 3rd to 5th 2023. Then the Supercars season begins on March 10 with the Thrifty Newcastle 500. I can’t wait and hope you will join me then.

Supercars

Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 2022

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 28 – 30 October 2022 was the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.

This year marks the 19th time that the Supercars Championship has raced for points on the Surfers Paradise Gold Coast circuit. The first paying round was in 2002.Prior to 2002 there were non-championship events held as part of the annual Gold Coast Indy.  In 1994, 1996 and 2001 they were run as single driver events in 2 races. In 2010 the event was run in a 2 race by 300km format with co-drivers. Since then, the format had been changed to become a single driver 2 race event of 250km each.

The weekend marked a milestone for Triple Eight Race Engineering with their 600th Supercars race. Their debut was back in 2003 at the Sandown 500. They are the 5th team in ATCC-Supercars history to surpass that milestone.

The weekend was also Mark Winterbottom’s 50th round start with Team 18. He made his first start for the team at the 2019 Adelaide 500. Winterbottom currently has a finishing record on the Gold Coast of 35 finishes from 35 starts.

This event was kicked off on the Friday. The results in the pre-race sessions had no big surprises with results as follows:

  • Will Davison was fastest in Practice 1
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 2
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in the Qualifying
  • David Reynolds was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

In Race 31 David Reynolds started on pole position. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

At the start of the race David Reynolds got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2. Shane Van Gisbergen was immediately on the attack, but he wasn’t far enough up to command track position and had to tuck in behind.

The cars behind the two leaders were Cameron Waters, Chaz Mostert and Anton de Pasquale. These front running drivers quickly began to pull away from the rest of the pack.

Further back Mark Winterbottom had gained 4 spots to move up to 9th position on the opening lap.

The gap between David Reynolds and Shane Van Gisbergen was 0.225 seconds. Shane Van Gisbergen was right on David Reynold’s bumper. At the final turn of the first lap Shane Van Gisbergen had a moment and lost ground, so for now Reynolds was able to retain the lead.

The first 2 cars to pit in this race were Will Davison and James Courtney on lap 9. When they came back out they were in 24th and 25th. Will Davison’s pit was not as smooth as it should have been. The right front rattle gun got jammed and those few seconds delay meant James Courtney was able to jump him on exit.

By lap 16 David Reynolds had reported his steering wheel was loose. Not something you want when travelling about 250kph. It slowed him down and Shane Van Gisbergen was able to take the lead at turn 4. Once in the lead, David Reynolds was no longer able to keep up with him.

Further back in the pack Lee Holdsworth was putting pressure on Broc Feeney in a battle for 10th and 11th position.

David Reynolds pitted on lap 25. The team looked at the steering wheel problem but weren’t able to immediately repair it. Jake Kostecki also followed him in.

On the next lap Shane Van Gisbergen pitted and so did Todd Hazelwood.

After hitting the wall earlier, Bryce Fullwood’s passenger door kept coming open. He was issued a mechanical black flag and was forced to pit immediately.

Will Brown was in the garage due to ripping the under body out of car 9 when he went through the beach chicane.

On lap 31 Andre Heimgartner was in pit lane with smoke coming out of the back of car.  It was not good news and car 8 never made it back out to the track.

Mark Winterbottom got a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

In the middle of the race David Reynolds was still complaining about the loose steering wheel in car 26. He came in for his second pit stop. The team were ready to do a full steering wheel change. As it turned out they just had to tighten the steering wheel bolt. Oops!

When David Reynolds got back out on the track he was in the mix of the main pack and had to try returning to his former lead. In desperation he requested a blue flag from race control because he felt that Will Davison was holding him up. Before officials could respond Reynolds found space to make the pass. He had no time to waste.

David Reynolds needed to close the 4.8 seconds lead that Shane Van Gisbergen had.

Cameron Waters was still in 3rd place. He made a mistake going into turn 2. He clobbered the tyre wall and spun around. His error lost him several places. It was an unfortunate mistake so late in the race.

Fatigue started to show. Nick Percat and Tim Slade received bad sportsmanship flags for exceeding track limits at turn 2.

Once past the critical lap, drivers and teams were able to pit for fuel and tyres to get to the end of the race.

On lap 56 Shane Van Gisbergen pitted for his last stop with a 54.705 second lead over Lee Holdsworth. With such an incredible lead he returned to the track still in first place.

From that point on Shane Van Gisbergen had complete dominance on the track with an 11.362 second lead over David Reynolds. It was then another 13.488 seconds back to Chaz Mostert.

While the drivers battled for position in the top 10 it seemed that it was impossible to close the gap on Gisbergen.

With 10 laps to go Broc Feeney managed to displace Lee Holdsworth for 15th position coming out of turn 4.

Cameron Waters also finally cleared Anton de Pasquale for 5th position.

With 7 laps to go the battle between David Reynolds and Chaz Mostert had allowed Shane Van Gisbergen to open the gap to 15.2 seconds.

Chaz Mostert’s plan to attack David Reynolds for 2nd place was interrupted and instead had to defend from Will Davison in 3rd.

With 2 laps to go Will Davison was less than a car length behind Chaz Mostert.

By the final lap Shane Van Gisbergen had gained another 2 seconds over the rest of the field.

Without fault Shane Van Gisbergen crossed the finish line 17.344 seconds clear of David Reynolds. Chaz Mostert managed to come 3rd with Will Davison pushing hard a mere .3184 seconds behind.

For Shane Van Gisbergen it was a spectacular way to earn his 20th win for the 2022 season. It also gave him enough points on the leader board to be declared champion elect for the 3rd time in his career. He now ties with other legends of the track such as Craig Lowndes.

Congratulations!

Results for Race 31

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd David Reynolds – Grove Racing

3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

For Race 32 Shane Van Gisbergen had earned pole position. It was his 45th career pole. Alongside him on the grid was Will Davison.

As they took off from the start line, the two front runners were neck in neck. At the first bend of turn 1 Shane Van Gisbergen forced Will Davison over the chicane. Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters who were right behind Davison were also forced to cut across the track perimeter.

Surprisingly Will Davison came out the other side of the closely knit turns 1,2 and 3 in the lead.  Shane Van Gisbergen was told by his team to redress for his error. He slowed up before turn 4 to give Davison the space needed and avoid a penalty.

The field was tightly packed and challenges for position were happening left right and centre.

As the pack commenced lap 2 Will Davison had a 1 second lead.

After his continual efforts Brodie Kostecki finally got by Scott Pye for 5th place. Behind them were David Reynolds had Thomas Randle battling for positions 7 and 8.

It took a while but the cars further back in the pack began to settle into their own pace. They knew there was a long way to go and no need to make desperate moves in the early stages.

On approach to turn 11 of lap 4 James Golding crashed through the tyre barrier. The cars right behind were not prepared and smashed straight into him. Eight cars were involved including Macauley Jones whose car caught on fire. In a show of good sportsmanship, other drivers immediately came to assist. It was mayhem and the first safety car was deployed with the red flag shown shortly after.

Broc Feeney was another driver who suffered significant damage. His car was taken to the garage and it wasn’t certain if he would re-join the race.

The race resumed after the clean-up. Will Davison and Shane Van Gisbergen had a pretty hefty gap over Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters.

Anton de Pasquale had damage on the rear bumper due to the contact on lap 1. The Dick Johnson Racing Team made him come in on lap 9.

Scott Pye and Jake Kostecki were the next to take pit stops on lap 10.

On lap 11 Shane Van Gisbergen took the lead off Will Davison down at turn 11. Chaz Mostert was only 0.257 seconds behind them and was immediately putting Will Davison under further pressure in 2nd place.

Behind Chaz Mostert was Cameron Waters followed by Brodie Kostecki in 5th being pressured by David Reynolds.

Mark Winterbottom had gained 5 positions into 7th place but was now struggling. No matter what he did he couldn’t get past David Reynolds in car 26.

By lap 17 Shane Van Gisbergen had a 2.5 second margin over Will Davison.

Mark Winterbottom was the first of the front runners to pit. No one else followed him in.

By this stage the Red Bull Ampol Racing team declared car 88 would not be returning to the track after its involvement in the lap 4 pile up. Broc Feeney had to watch the rest of the race from the garage.

Todd Hazelwood was another driver who had to watch the rest of the race from garage for the same reason.

James Courtney who was also involved in the lap 4 melee, was getting back in his car to re-join the race. The front of car was all fixed but the back was looking like a scene out of Mad Max.

Due the delays, race control announced a time certain finish of 16:38 + 1 lap and the CPS (compulsory pit stops) requirements would remain unchanged.

On lap 22 Jake Kostecki had to step aside for the race leader Shane Van Gisbergen who had worked up a 4.2 second lead over Will Davison.

On lap 26 Will Davison had to try a new tactic for attack on the leader and came in for his first pit stop to try get advantage that way. Brodie Kostecki also pitted.

On lap 29 Shane Van Gisbergen came in with a 10.520 second lead over 2nd place Cameron Waters.

When Shane Van Gisbergen returned to the track, he was in 6th place with drivers in front yet to pit.

Cameron Waters who was left with the lead pitted on lap 30. This handed over the lead to David Reynolds.

At this stage there were 3 cars yet to take their first pit stops.

In the middle of the race Mark Winterbottom gave Brodie Kostecki a hit coming out of turn 4. He decided to redress to avoid a penalty from race control.

On lap 42 Jake Kostecki was ready to re-join the race after being in the garage for major repair works after a lost argument with a barrier wall.

Chaz Mostert who inherited the lead when David Reynolds pitted, was called in for his first pit stop.  Shane Van Gisbergen was now back at the front of the pack.

By lap 57 all the drivers had done their 2nd stops so it was an even playing field to the end. Shane Van Gisbergen had a 4.3 second lead over Chaz Mostert. It was another 2.018 seconds back to Will Davison in 3rd.

By lap 64 Shane Van Gisbergen had increased his lead over Chaz Mostert to 5.7 seconds, while Chaz Mostert increased his lead over Will Davison to 3.5 seconds.

On lap 71 Thomas Randle broke down and parked on the left hand side near pit entry. The safety car was deployed under the yellow flag. The cars had to remain in formation behind the safety car. This meant any leading gaps were lost for the front runners.

On the restart Shane Van Gisbergen just pulled away. He really wanted to recreate his lead over the pack.

With 2 laps to go, Will Brown put Scott Pye in the wall at turn 13. It caused Scott Pye to drop 8 places to 13th and increased his worries of having a time penalty that would be added to his race time. Will Brown also received no advantage from the move. He received a 15 second time penalty to be added at the end.

Shane Van Gisbergen showed what he could do. Within those few remaining laps after the safety car he managed to cross the finish line 2.1 seconds over Chaz Mostert. It was then another 1.3 seconds back to Will Davison followed by David Reynolds.

To top off the race weekend for Shane Van Gisbergen’s 2 out of 2 wins and being announced as champion elect, the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team were declared winners of the Teams Championship for the year. Congratulations. Well done!

Results for Race 32

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

3rd Will Davison – Dick Johnson Racing Team

The next event is the final one for the 2022 Supercars season, the Valo Adelaide 500 on the 1st – 4th December 2022.

Supercars

Beaurepairs Melbourne 400 2022

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 7th to the 10th of April 2022 was the Beaurepairs Melbourne 400.

This year marks the 25th time that the Supercars have competed at Albert Park. This is including an appearance at the 2020 event which was abandoned due to Covid 19. The event was cancelled at the 11th hour.

Albert Park is one of the longer circuits in Australia at 5.3km with 14 corners. This event was made up of 4 races, 20 laps each.

The first race of the event marked James Courtney’s 500th start. Wow! Congratulations, what an incredible achievement.

The Formula 1 cars were the main attraction for the weekend so, as support category the Supercars used the secondary pit lane.

Before the racing got underway, F1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez had a spin in Thomas Randle and Broc Feeney’s Supercars around the track. I’m sure it was quite an experience for them.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Anton de Pasquale was fastest in Practice 1.
  • Rookie, Broc Feeney crashed at turn 5 causing a red flag.
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2.
  • Garry Jacobson hit the wall at turn 5 in Practice 2. The impact was so much that another red flag was used so they could move wall back into place.
  • David Reynolds was fastest in Qualifying for Race 6.
  • Will Davison was fastest in Qualifying for Race 7.
  • Anton de Pasquale was fastest in Qualifying for Race 8.
  • Will Davison was fastest in Qualifying for Race 9.

In Race 6 David Reynolds started on pole position for the 18th time in his Supercars career. Alongside him was Anton de Pasquale.

Championship leader, Shane Van Gisbergen started in 23rd position at the back of the pack. This was because during Qualifying he got a curb infringement. His lap was disallowed. He came back in to put another set of tyres on. Meanwhile the session was red flagged and he didn’t get back on track to record a lap time.

David Reynolds had a perfect start off the grid and led into the first corner.

Shane Van Gisbergen immediately started charging through the field. Before the first lap was complete, he had gone from 23rd to 19th.

Coming onto the main straight to commence lap 2 the cars were 3 wide but Shane Van Gisbergen was still able to move up three places to 16th by the time they hit turn 1.

The cars up ahead were warned by their engineers that Shane Van Gisbergen was on THE CHARGE!

David Reynolds still had the lead and was holding off Chaz Mostert and Anton de Pasquale.

Garry Jacobson got up the inside of Will Brown and his next car to pass was Will’s teammate Brodie Kostecki.

By lap 3 David Reynolds’ soft tyres began to wear down and his car started sliding. He lost the lead to Chaz Mostert.

Nick Percat also passed David Reynolds dropping him from 2nd to 3rd. It put Walkinshaw Andretti United 1 and 2 on the track.

Lee Holdsworth was in the middle of the field. The team called him into the pits on lap 6 so they didn’t risk his teammate David Reynolds double stacking behind him.

Jack le Brocq (#34) also came in on lap 6 to have the power steering arm looked at.

On lap7 David Reynolds pitted due to blistering tyres. As he peeled off into the pits he was dropping down the order. Race leader, Chaz Mostert also followed him in.

Meanwhile the 2 times Supercars champion Shane Van Gisbergen had gained 17 positions and was now placed 6th. I was amazed! This is no easy feat in a mere 7 laps of a 20 lap race.

When Chaz Mostert and David Reynolds rejoined the race, they were in positions 9th and 10th. At this point the leaders were Nick Percat and Macauley Jones.

On lap 8 at the exit of turn 3 Andre Heimgartner ran straight off the track taking James Courtney with him. Andre Heimgartner was warned with a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

Shane Van Gisbergen had made it all the way up to 4th position before coming in on lap 9 for his one and only pitstop. When he rejoined he was behind Nick Percat and in position 17 with only 4 cars yet to make their stops.

A few laps later all the pitstops were completed and Chaz Mostert was back in the lead followed by David Reynolds and Will Davison. Shane Van Gisbergen made his way up to 5th place.

With clean air Chaz Mostert kept edging further ahead. He was incredibly fast and drove faultlessly. It was soon apparent that he was uncatchable. All he had to do was just hang in there.

With four laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen passed Nick Percat and Will Davison almost at the same time to put him in 3rd place. It was just incredible. He yelled over the radio comms ‘This is f-ing awesome!’. That really cracked me up.

To play it safe Chaz pulled back on the aggressive driving knowing he had a good lead. In the last few hundred meters he zig zagged to the finish line out of pure joy (That’s why I call him Cheeky Chaz). His next rival was David Reynolds 7.6839 second later followed by Shane Van Gisbergen who had started in 23rd place and finished 3rd. Now that is incredible racing!

Result for Race 6

1st Chaz Mostert – Mobil 1 Optus Racing.

2nd David Reynolds – Penrite Racing.

3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

In Race 7 Will Davison started on pole position. Alongside him was David Reynolds. Shane Van Gisbergen started 3rd.

At the start of the race Will Davison got the jump off the line and led into turn 1.

David Reynolds had a bad start and Shane Van Gisbergen immediately took the opportunity and moved into 2nd place.

Broc Feeney hit the wall on the exit of turn 1 after help from Brodie Kostecki.

At this stage Will Davison was looking strong. I was thinking that he may win might win his first race for Dick Johnson Racing and his first race win since Bathurst in 2016.

A few laps later the cars back in the pack pitted early for clear track.        

On lap 5 Andre Heimgartner got turned around by Will Brown. Heimgarter’s car was wedged in the wall. The safety car was deployed to tow it back to the pits. He wasn’t able to rejoin the race and received an NC (Not complete).

Shane Van Gisbergen now had the lead.

When Anton de Pasquale came into the pits he was in 3rd place. He couldn’t get car 11 re-fired and was sitting there for what seemed an eternity. As a result, he came back onto the track in 20th position.

By the middle of the race all pitstops were completed. Shane Van Gisbergen was back in the lead.

Broc Feeney (#88) was called into the pits with a front left tyre losing pressure. The Red Bull Ampol Racing team only changed the one tyre and he was back out on the track.

Also, on lap 10 Cameron Waters tagged Will Davison at turn 3 spinning him off into the gravel trap. For the second time, the safety car was deployed. Waters was issued a drive through penalty for his actions.

At this stage Shane Van Gisbergen was looking good for another win. David Reynolds was in 2nd, James Courtney in 3rd and Chaz Mostert 4th.

Cameron Waters served his drive through penalty with 7 laps to go. It dropped him all the way down to 22nd position.

On lap 14 Tim Slade got down the inside of Garry Jacobson for position number 8. He then passed Todd Hazelwood for 7th position.

Garry Jacobson got up the inside of Nick Percat in battle for 9th and 10th place.

With 5 laps to go Shane Van Gisbergen had a 1.6 second lead over David Reynolds, with James Courtney 1.1 seconds behind that. Chaz Mostert was in 4th position.

The races were ‘time certain’. Due to the 2 safety car deployments the race was looking to go overtime. On lap 18 the officials called time + 1 lap (cutting out the 20th lap).

On the last lap Shane Van Gisbergen did his best lap time of the race and increased his lead to 2 seconds.

Mostert was desperate to get on the podium. It was the last lap and he was pushing hard on James Courtney. As they reached the last corner before the home straight they locked horns and James Courtney spun around. Mostert kept going but Lee Holdsworth had taken him over so Mostert was back in 4th where he started.

There was no time for Mostert to make up the lost time.

Shane Van Gisbergen crossed the line 2+ seconds ahead of David Reynolds. They followed by a lucky Lee Holdsworth and then Chaz Mostert in fourth place. It was a dramatic last-minute finish.

James Courtney was so unfortunate and finished in 22nd place.

Results for Race 7

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

2nd David Reynolds – Grove Racing.

3rd Lee Holdsworth – Grove Racing.

In Race 8 Anton de Pasquale started on pole position alongside him was his teammate, Will Davison.

Shane Van Gisbergen and David Reynolds were 3rd and 4th on the grid.

At the start of the race Anton de Pasquale led into turn 1 for the first of 20 laps.  Will Davison was right behind him. David Reynolds hanging onto 3rd position followed by Shane Van Gisbergen.

Scott Pye went off the track at turn 1 on lap 1

The cars further back in the pack were going off the track left, right and centre. At turn 2 Percat, Hazelwood, Brodie Kostecki, Holdsworth, Jones, Heimgartner and Randle all came off the track but managed to recover.

Scott Pye left the track skiing across the sand trap but he also managed to recover.

It was amazing that the entire field got through turns 1 and 2.

However, on lap 2 Scott Pye came into the pits with a puncture on the front right. 

The race leader soon settled into his race pace with a ¾ second lead. There was active battling for positions 2, 3 and 4.

Between turns 9 and 10 on lap 2 Bryce Fulwood went very wide but surprisingly managed a quick return to the track.

By lap 3 Cameron Waters was in the pits changing tyres and dropped all the way down to 22nd position.

The top 4 places were unchanged; Anton de Pasquale, Will Davison, David Reynolds and Shane Van Gisbergen.

On lap 4 Anton de Pasquale locked up leaving the track at turn 1. It knocked him back from 1st to 3rd. Will Davison was the new race leader, with David Reynolds in 2nd place. For Anton de Pasquale who is second on the championship ladder it was a serious blunder.

When Tim Slade and Chaz Mostert came in for their stops he gave the back of Tim Slade’s car a wallop. It was a surprise but not serious and didn’t escalate.

On lap 5 Will Davison was the next to pit, handing over the lead to David Reynolds. Anton de Pasquale was still 2nd, Shane Van Gisbergen was 3rd and his teammate, Broc Feeney was in 4th (only + 2.601 seconds behind). Soon Anton de Pasquale pitted but the top 14 cars were still yet to pit.

By lap 6 Shane Van Gisbergen had taken the race lead off David Reynolds which then gave Shane Van Gisbergen clear track.

Broc Feeney had dropped to 8th place. Then Mark Winterbottom got down the inside of him to take another spot from him.

By the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was back in the lead after pitting.

Shane Van Gisbergen never looked back. He held his lead and increased the gap to 5.6473 seconds by the time he crossed the finish line. Next was Will Davison, David Reynolds and Anton de Pasquale all spread a few seconds apart.

This win for Shane Van Gisbergen also means he has outdone Russell Ingall’s record of 8 race wins at Albert Park. Ingall set this record back in 2003 (19years ago). Im sure it’s quite an honour for Gisbergen.

Results for Race 8

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

2nd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team.

3rd David Reynolds – Penrite Racing.

In race 9 Will Davison started on pole position. Alongside him was teammate Anton de Pasquale. Chaz Mostert started 3rd. The hero of the weekend, Shane Van Gisbergen 6th on the grid.

Generated by pixel @ 2022-04-10T23:50:02.030284

At the start of the race Will Davison got the jump on his teammate going into turn 1. I was amazed, it was such a perfect start.

However, Jack Smith didn’t have the same launch. He stalled car 4 on the start line and was unable to get it started. The safety car was deployed for it to be removed from the track. Jack Smith Received an NC (Not Complete) without even starting the race!  

Shane Van Gisbergen tried to go around the outside of Cameron Waters at turn 3 but it didn’t work.

The cars back in the pack were battling for positions early on. There was quite a lot of movement. About 12 cars shuffled positions with some moving as much as 10 places.

Some others moved up but then moved back, like Tim Slade who got down the inside of Brodie Kostecki at turn 4. Brodie Kostecki then got him back at turn 5.

While the race leaders were staying out because they had track position the others soon started pitting.

I was surprised that leader Will Davison pitted on lap 5. Mostert was in 2nd place and now had the lead. It was only brief. Shane Van Gisbergen took him over moment later.

David Reynolds was keeping out of trouble early on but he was in position 10. He then hit the wall on lap 6 and had to pit. The car couldn’t be repaired and he had to retire from the race.

In the middle of the race all driver pitstops were in the process of being completed. It was now even racing to the finish.

On lap 11 Thomas Randle also suffered the same fate as Reynolds and Smith. He was the 3rd driver forced to retire from the race.

Towards the end of the race Chaz Mostert had the lead again. He had Shane Van Gisbergen putting pressure on him and it looked to be a strong challenge. There were only a few laps remaining.

Shane Van Gisbergen was pushing hard. On lap 18 (2 lap to go) Shane Van Gisbergen’s car gave in under the strain. The front tyre blew out and he was forced into the pits. He must have been extremely disappointed as he is fast enough even to challenge the super-fast Chaz Mostert. It would have meant 3 out 4 wins for the weekend.

Chaz Mostert now had a clear run to the finish line. It earned his second win at the event.

In 2nd place Will Davison followed 5.2 seconds later, with Anton de Pasquale another 1.66 seconds behind. It was an incredible finish to the weekend.

Results for Race 9

1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.

2nd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team.

3rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing Team.

The Bathurst 6 Hour was the next event of interest on the calendar. It is always run on the Easter long weekend. It is not part of the Supercars series but is a production car event. Shane Van Gisbergen was meant to defend the title but was unable to due to COVID. Nick Percat sat in for him.

Let’s hope that SVG is on the mend and in good health for the next Supercars event; The Bunnings Trade Perth Supernight on the 30th of April to the 1st of May.

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Supercars

Beaurepairs Sydney Supernight 2022

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the 4th to 6th March was the Beaurepairs Sydney Supernight. It was the first event the 2022 Supercars Championship. It’s great to see the Supercars back. Lets hope we don’t get a repeat of last year and there are no Covid interruptions to the events calendar.

It was great to see Riana Crehan returning the Fox broadcast as pit lane reporter. She spent last year working in Super Bikes. Charli Robinson hands back the mic after filling in for her. It is a shame to see Charli  leave. Both women are great reporters. I wish we could have them both at Fox.

Mark Winterbottom’s slipped past a personal milestone. This weekend was his 561st and 562nd race in Supercars.

Nathan Prendagast head of TV at Supercars is leaving in June to take skill set to an international level. He has been with Supercars for 18 years and has only missed 3 events in that time. A sure sign of his dedication.  

TV BOSS TO LEAVE SUPERCARS – Auto Action

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Anton de Pasquale was fastest in Practice 1
  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 2
  • Anton de Pasquale was fastest in Qualifying and the Top Ten Shootout.

In race 1 Anton de Pasquale started on pole position alongside him was defending champion, Shane Van Gisbergen.

Anton de Pasquale led into turn 1. Shane Van Gisbergen hot on his tail tried to get up the inside between turns 2 and 3 but couldn’t manage to find the space.

David Reynolds ran wide onto the grass between turns 4 and 5. The cars further back in the pack were trying to keep up with the leaders.

On lap 8 Scott Pye had another power steering drama like he had in the last race for 2021 at Bathurst.  He was able to drive back to the pits but moments after pulling up the car caught FIRE! Scott Pye jumped out of the car so quick. If he had been that fast at the start line he would be in the lead. LOL. But truly, glad no one was hurt. Unfortunately, he was out of the race. The only one to receive an NC (Not Complete).

Meanwhile in the middle of the pack drivers were still battling for position. Thomas Randle found the space to get down the inside of car 56 driven by Jake Kostecki. Cameron Waters also found the opportunity to pass Nick Percat.

In the early stages Shane Van Gisbergen was running 2nd to Pasquale. He was on a 3 stop strategy compared to everybody else who did the 2 mandatory stops. By the middle of the race he picked the right time to pass Anton de Pasquale for the lead.

With every lap Shane Van Gisbergen seemed to be edging further ahead. He was looking strong and confident. It seemed if he could make it to the end of the race without error he was sure to win.

The defending champion held his place and continued to increase his lead. It was soon obvious he was out of reach from other drivers.

In spectacular form he continued to increase the gap from the others. By the time he crossed the finish line he nearly had a 20 second lead. It was an incredible win for him.

Next across the line was Anton de Pasquale followed by the other fast driver on the day, Chaz Mostert.

Results for Race 1

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.
2nd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing Team.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.

For the second race of the weekend, Chaz Mostert was fastest in the Qualifying session which meant he was on provisional pole position. That is to say, he had the advantage to be the last driver for the Top 10 Shootout.

However, it was Brodie Kostecki who earned pole position for Race 2. His maiden pole in Supercars. Alongside him was Anton de Pasquale.

Shane Van Gisbergen was 21st on the grid due to getting held up by other cars in Qualifying.

At the start of the race Anton de Pasquale lead the opening laps with Brodie Kostecki right behind him.

The cars further back in the pack were jostling for position. Chaz Mostert had gained 2 places, 7th to 5th and Shane Van Gisbergen went from 21st to 15th.

While Shane Van Gisbergen was aggressively marching forward, he ran wide and left the track. He didn’t realise until later that he had a puncture. The tyre change cost him valuable time. On return from the pits he was 1.6 laps down. A big blow for the defending champ.

By the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was affectively the leader after moving up from 5th to 1st with 3 cars in front who were still yet to pit.

The speed that Chaz Mostert showed at end of last season to win the Bathurst 1000 was still there. From the moment he had the lead to the end of the race he held position to the finish line. He was over 3 seconds ahead of Brodie Kostecki, followed by Anton de Pasquale.

Defending champion, Shane Van Gisbergen who was 1.6 laps down in the early stages, made an amazing recovery to finish 6th! OMG!

Results for Race 2

1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.
2nd Brodie Kostecki – Boost Mobile Racing.
3rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing Team.

Chaz Mostert is now the championship leader by 12 points. The first time in his career to earn the right to display the orange (leader) numbers on his car. Congratulations!

The next event is the Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint on March 25th to the 27th 2022.

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Supercars

NTI Townsville 2021

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 9th to the 11th of July was the NTI Townsville 500.

After the indefinite postponement of the Winton Supersprint due to COVID I have been itching for the event to take place.

The first V8 Supercars race in Townsville was 2009. Out of the previous 29 races held here Jamie Whincup has had 12 wins and 20 podium finishes. I am sure that he and everyone else had high expectations for this coming event.          

In the pre–race sessions the results were as follows:

  • David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 1
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in the Armour All Qualifying and the Armour All top 10 Shootout.

In race 15 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position. Alongside him was teammate Jamie Whincup. It was meant to be an 88 lap 250Km race on Saturday but Fabian Coulthard  was stranded on the grid at the start. Drivers had to do an extra formation lap which took a lap out of the race, so it became an 87 lap race. Fabian Coulthard was able to get his car off the grid and back to the pits with a new battery. He then had to prove to officials that his car could start under its own power. Only then was he able to start the race from the end of the pit lane.

After the formation lap the race got underway and Jamie Whincup led into turn 1 from the outside for. Further back in the field Brodie Kostecki (Erebus) was battling with Jake Kostecki (Unit Racing).

The cars further back in the pack came in early to avoid double stacking while the leaders stayed out longer to make the most of their good positioning.

In those opening laps the two Red Bull Ampol Racing Team cars were running 1st and 2nd.

Matt Stone Racing’s Zane Goddard made contact with the wall in car 35 and had to limp back to the pits. The team managed to repair the car and Zane Goddard returned to the track. Although he finished the race he had lost so much time that he dropped from 18th on the grid to 24th by the end of the race.

Up to the last quarter of the race Jamie Whincup was looking good for another victory at Townsville. It looked to be turning out the way I had predicted but at lap 70 Shane Van Gisbergen was able to take the lead off his teammate. Shane Van Gisbergen has been achieving incredible results this season but this was unexpected. The two drivers egged each other on. No one could catch them as they pulled further and further ahead of the pack.

Not only did Shane Van Gisbergen hold the number one spot but in those remaining 18 laps managed to build more than a 7 second lead over Jamie Whincup by the finish line. It was bad luck for Jamie Wincup but still a great result for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team, 1st and 2nd place.

Just over 30 seconds behind Whincup, Anton de  Pasquale came in third place.

Now that is what I call an incredible finish.

Results for Race 15

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing

3rd Anton De Pasquale – Dick Johnson Racing

In race 16 it was again the Red Bull Ampol Racing duo starting at the front of the grid. This time it was Jamie Whincup who started on pole position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.

It was a milestone for the already record breaking Whincup as his 90th Supercars career pole start.

Yet again Jamie Whincup got the jump and led into turn 1 over his teammate and championship leader, Shane Van Gisbergen.

The drivers that started the race back in pack came in early to get clear air.

James Courtney was batting with Cameron Waters for positions 9th and 10th.

Brodie Kostecki was putting pressure on Will Brown to get passed him for 5th place.

By the middle of the race the 2 mandatory pit stops were done by almost all drivers and Jamie Whincup was back in the lead.

Shane Van Gisbergen was stuck in traffic further back which must have taken the pressure off  Jamie Whincup.

Shane Van Gisbergen charged his was through the traffic and once again, with only 13 laps to go took the lead off his teammate Jamie Whincup.

The two drivers had more than a 20 second lead over Pesky Pasquale in the 3rd place.

For Shane Van Gisbergen this weekend puts his tally at 10 wins out of 15 races for the season. That is just incredible.

Results for race 16

1st Sane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing

3rd Anton De Pasquale – Dick Johnson Racing

The next event is the WD 40 Townsville Supersprint on the 17th and 18th of July 2021.

Supercars

OTR Supersprint The Bend 2020 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of September 26th and 27th 2020 was the OTR Supersprint at Tailem Bend. It was the second of a double header. The previous race being run there the week before.

This event ran three races, each intended to be 32 laps.

It was a critical event for the season. For the two main contenders, Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup it would be the deciding factor for the Driver’s Championship. They were close enough in points for Jamie Whincup to catch the current championship leader and take the year’s trophy.

In Race 28 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position, alongside him was Cameron Waters.

Race 28 was meant to be 32 laps but it was 31 due to the drivers having to do an extra formation lap. It was an unusual occurrence.

Scott McLaughlin performed a perfect start and got the jump over Cameron Waters into turn 1.

Once Scott McLaughlin took the lead it was hard for anybody else to catch him. He was fast, precise and faultless.

The drivers back  in the pack came in early  because they were getting held up in traffic.

Rick Kelly got turned around by Todd Hazelwood at turn 1 which put him to the back of the pack.

Scott Pye was up near the front so he stayed out longer.

Fabian Coulthard wanted to finish behind his teammate. He had a poor starting position of 15th but was taking as many places as possible.

In the middle of race Scott McLaughlin was driving confidently and holding his lead. Towards the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was on the chase and was giving Scott McLaughlin a hard time. However, Shane Van Gisbergen just couldn’t find the opportunity to take the lead and he simply ran out of time. Without fault Scott McLaughlin crossed the line first. Shane Van Gisbergen was only .6473 seconds behind. Cam Waters came in over 5 seconds later in third place.

Results for Race 28

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V-Power Racing Team

2nd Shane Van Gisergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

In Race 29 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position again. Alongside him was teammate, Fabian Coulthard.

Fabian Coulthard got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first couple of laps before letting his teammate past and allowing him to control the race.

The Red Bull Holden Racing Team had a critical mishap during Jamie Whincup’s pit stop. It appeared that he hit the right hand wheel man’s rattle gun with the impact causing the car to drag the air line. The team was penalised 30 points and $1500 fine. However, Jamie Whincup was not fined or penalised himself.

The drivers knew that it was the 2nd last event of 2020 and everyone was out to crush the  leader.

In the middle of the race after such a great start, Fabian Coulthard had a DNF due to gear box dramas.

Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin held the lead and won his second race in the event. Now there was just one more chance for Jamie Whincup to keep in the running for the championship. Things were getting really tense.

Results for Race 29

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V-Power Racing Team
2nd Anton de Pasquale – Penrite Racing

3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

In Race 30 Scott McLaughlin earned himself his third pole position out of the three races at this event. The bastard looked unstoppable. Alongside him was Cameron Waters.

At the start of the race Cameron Waters amazingly got the jump on Scott McLaughlin and led into turn 1. Its not amazing that Cameron Waters got a great start because he is a great driver but when you are up against Scott McLaughlin, it’s pretty damned hard to take the lead from the start line.

The cars further back in the pack were trying to stay out of trouble. Nobody was interested in last minute contact and risk crucial points in the championship.

Fabian Coulthard who started in P5 was desperate to make up some places and finish 3rd on the posium. As it turned out everyone else wanted the same thing and the competition became fierce. As it turned out Fabian Coulthard dropped 3 places and finished 8th.

In the fierce competition James Courtney wildly lost control and left the track. It cost him dearly. He started in 4th position and finished 10th.

Cameron Waters was the race leader. Scott McLaughlin was on his tail and I am sure wanted make this 3 out of 3 wins for the weekend, but he just couldn’t find the opportunity. Cameron Waters was driving flawlessly. Scott McLaughlin knew even in 2nd place he would be the season’s ‘Champion elect’. He may have simply thought it may not be worth taking any risk with Jamie Whincup right behind him. He just needed to hold him off and get to the finish line safely.

Regardless of anything Cameron Water’s win was spectacular.

Results for Race 30

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V-Power Racing Team

3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

The next event is the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. In 3 weeks time.

The Bathurst channel launches Monday October 12. On Foxsports506 at 12am.

 

 

 

Supercars

Repco Supersprint The Bend 2020 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of September 19th and 20th, 2020 was the Repco Supersprint The Bend.

Before I get into the event details, the hot news at the time of completing this article is Channel 7 made their formal announcement about their multi-year agreement to broadcast Supercars events (alongside fox sport) starting 2021.

This article on SpeedCafe.com has all the details.

Here is the video of the formal announcement on Channel 7. I really like the promo clip with lots of old footage that starts at 3m35s in.

So now, on with the race….

The results for the pre-race sessions were as follows:

  • Practice – Rookie Drivers Only – Macauley Jones (Team CoolDrive)
  • Practice 1 – Shane Van Gisbergen (Red Bull Holden Racing Team)
  • Practice 2 – Fabian Coulthard (Shell V-Power Racing Team)
  • Armor All Qualifying & Top 15 Shootout – Chaz Mostert (Mobil 1 TM Appliances Online)

In Race 25 Chaz Mostert claimed his first pole position under his new team, Walkinshaw Andretti United. Alongside him on the grid was Scott McLaughlin.

Scott McLaughlin got the jump over Chaz Mostert while Jamie Whincup moved up to 2nd at turn 1. Chaz Mostert had a bad start and dropped from 1st to 4th.

Jamie Whincup wanted to get down the inside of Scott McLaughlin at turn 18 but things didn’t go to plan and both championship contenders left the track. Jamie Whincup copped a 15 second time penalty after his pit stop which put him way down in position order.

The weather was hot and as the cars came in to pit a lot had heat blisters and flat spots on their tyres. No good at all. Driving strategies needed to be implemented to avoid tyres disintegrating out on the track.

In the middle of the race as Scott McLaughlin was coming back up through the field before making contact with Car 5 of Lee Holdsworth. The incident earned Scott McLaughlin a 15 second time penalty which was applied to his time at the end of the race. So even though he physically crossed the finish 3rd he ended up receiving 14th place. Now the two main contenders (McLauglin and Whincup) battling for the championship title were way back in the field.

Shane Van Gisbergen had the lead well in hand by the middle of the race.

However, his early pit stop in the race meant towards the end he was on some pretty well worn tyres. He couldn’t get the grip or speed needed and dropped from 1st to 9th.

Towards the end of the race drivers were changing positions like hot tyres. With the heavy weight drivers pushed back in the results order due to penalties it was Fabian Coulthard (up 4 spots), Jack le Brocq (up 5 spots) and Bryce Fullwood (up 10 spots) who took the podium. It was most unexpected.

Results for Race 25

1st Fabian Coulthard – Shell V-Power Racing Team
2nd Jack Le Brocq – Tickford Racing
3rd Bryce Fullwood – Walkinshaw Andretti United

In Race 26 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position, alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

Scott McLaughlin got the jump but then Shane Van Gisbergen took the race lead.

Once Scott McLaughlin lost the lead he knew not to make contact with car 97.

During the opening laps Shane Van Gisbergen held his race lead while the cars further back in the pack were trying to move up the field. The only time Shane Van Gisbergen lost the lead was when he took the compulsory pit stop.

When Jamie Whincup took to the pits the car didn’t go up on the jacks due to problems with the air spike. This killed his pit stop time and his ability to close in on the Championship title.

When Shane Van Gisbergen rejoined the track after his stop, he made contact with the back of Scott McLaughlin’s car. It created a very tense moment because there appeared to be a lot of damage to Scott McLaughlin’s car. Thanksfully (for Red Bull fans) Shane Van Gisbergen wasn’t penalised.

The drivers back in the pack were 3 wide and that opened the door for Chaz Mostert who got down the inside of Andre Heimgartner.

Shane Van Gisbergen held fast to his lead and was not going to make any mistakes for the other drivers to take advantage of. He crossed the finish line with Andre Heimgartner and Scott McLaughlin hot on his tail.

Results for Race 26

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Andre Heimgartner – Kelly Racing
3rd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V-Power Racing Team

In race 27 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position for the second time this weekend. Alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

At the start of the race Fabian Coulthard took Chaz Moster’s place in 2nd. Shell V-Power Racing were running 1st and 2nd.

Meanwhile there was a major incident further back in the pack. Shane Van Gisbergen turned Andre Heimgartner and caused a dominos effect with a bunch of other cars. What a mess! There were multiple cars damaged. James Courtney was lucky not to roll car 44. Mark Winterbottom was out of the race due to too much damage.

Shane Van Gisbergen copped a 15 second time penalty for hiss mistake.

In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin and teammate, Fabian Coulthard were running 1st and 2nd.

They held their positions all the way to the finish line with Jamie Whincup trying his best to keep up in 3rd position.

Results for Race 27

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V-Power Racing Team
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V-Power Racing Team
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

Things are really hotting up in the championship. Th gap between Shell V-Power Racing and Red Bull Holden Racing Teams is reduced to a mere 104 points. However, Scott McLaughlin has slightly increased his points to 215 over Jamie Whincup.

Next up is the the second of the double header at ‘The Bend’ , The OTR Supersprint. It will also be the 2nd last event of 2020. The final event will be The Bathurst 1000.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supercars

Corestaff Darwin Supersprint

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of August 22nd and 23rd, 2020 was the Corestff Darwin Supersprint.

Three races of 38 laps each were run.

In Race 16 Jamie Whincup started on pole position. Alongside was Scott McLaughlin.

When the race got underway Scott McLaughlin led into turn 1 with Jamie Whincup in hot persuit trying to regain his number one position.

Scott McLaughlin’s teammate, Fabian Coulthard was back in the pack having a poor grid starting position of 14th. To avoid any double stacking Fabian pitted early.

Meanwhile, there was an intense battle between Todd Hazelwood and Rick Kelly for 9th and 10th.

Shane Van Gisbergen who started 11th on the grid, seemed to be struggling to keep up with cars in front of him. It was later revealed he just couldn’t get the straight line speed expected. After the race the team couldn’t resolve the issue and decided to change the engine overnight.

Mark Winterbottom and Scott Pye had a great weekend for team 18.

By the middle of the race it was evident that Scott McLaughlin was unbeatable.

He held strong to his lead and crossed the finish line approximately 2.5 seconds ahead of rival, Jamie Whincup. Cameron Waters came in third more than 12 seconds later. Nick Percat had a good run finishing 5th having started from 9th. The other big gain was from his teammate, Todd Hazelwood who started 23rd on the grid and finished 7 places up in 16th. A great result for Brad Jones Racing.

Results for Race 16

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

In race 17 Scott McLaghlin earned himself another pole position for the season. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

Once again Scott McLaughlin got the jump and led into turn 1.

The cars further back in the pack couldn’t come into the pit lane until at least lap 5.

Fabian Coulthard came in early to ensure he didn’t double stack with teammate and race leader, Scott McLaughlin.

Nick Percat also came in early because he was getting held up by traffic.

Shane Van Gisbergen and Scott Pye were battling fiercely for 2nd and 3rd position.

Lee Holdsworth who had started from 11th position was on the charge. It was evident things were going right for him and he wanted a shot at a podium position if not, then at least be in the top 10. Regardless of his efforts (and they were good) he wasn’t able to get it done and finished in 8th position.

Once again by the middle of the race it appeared that Scott McLaughlin had secured himself in the lead.

Scott McLaughlin scored his second win for the weekend and crossed the finish line 9.6874 seconds ahead of his rival Shane Van Gisbergen.

Shane Van Gisbergen managed to win the battle against Scott Pye by the thinnest margin – .2449 seconds. So the race actually finished in the order that they started on the grid.

Results for Race 17

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd Scott Pye – Team 18

In Race 18 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

Again Scott McLaughlin in car 17 led into turn 1. This was the third time out of three races for the weekend that car 17 took the lead off the start.

When I saw Scott McLaughlin lead off the line I knew he was going to win. He was having a great weekend.

Rick Kelly was trying to hold off Fabian Coulthard but it couldn’t be done.

Andre Heimgartner was further back in the pack then he wanted to be but didn’t seem to be able to make much headway.

By the time all the pit stops were complete Scott McLaughlin was once again the race leader.

He was just too fast and again kept increasing his leading gap. He crossed the finish line 13.8356 seconds ahead of closest rival, Nick Percat. Scott Pye followed in at 3rd just under a second later.

It was an increadible result for Scott McLaughlin earning 3 out of 3 wins.

Results for race 18

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing
3rd Scott Pye – Team 18