On the weekend of the 22nd to the 24th of November 2019 was the Coates Hire Newcastle 500.
The event at Newcastle has been running since 2017 so this is the third time they will be hosting the final event of the season.
The track at Newcastle is a street track and this year they tweaked it to provide better passing opportunities.
Newcastle really knows how to put on an event and had 155,000 people attend over the 3 days.
Before the weekend started Scott McLaughlin was declared ‘Driver Champion Elect’ based on a points lead that could not be caught up to with only this race remaining for the season. With that in mind, it must have been quite a fun weekend for him.
The Team Championship point spread was a little bit closer with a gap of just 116 and the Red Bull team were in a position take the lead away from the Scott McLaughlin’s Shell V Power Racing Team which made things a little more exciting.
The weekend got off to a great start. In summary the pre-race sessions took place with the following results:
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 1
Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 2
Jamie Whincup was fastest in Armour All Qualifying
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in the Armour All Top Ten Shootout.
In race 31 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.
At the start of the 95-lap race Shane Van Gisbergen got the jump off the line.
Scott McLaughlin was held up high and wide at the first turn which allowed Jamie Whincup to go up to 2nd spot. I was surprised that Scott McLaughlin let Jamie Whincup pass him on the opening lap.
Shane Van Gisbergen continued to hold his lead all the way except for pit stops.
Fabian Coulthard came in to pits first to not double stack with the champion elect Scott McLaughlin.
David Reynolds was battling with Anton De Pasquale for pit priority.
In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup were still running 1st and 2nd .
It was only in the last laps that Jamie Whincup came off track at turn 1. He wasnt able to get into the reverse gear and lost time slipping from 2nd to 8th place by the race finish. It was this mistake that cost the Red Bull Team the season championship. The team championship spread was now just 77 points.
I think, to the surprise of everyone there were no safety cars on Saturday.
Results for Race 31
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
3rd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
In preparation for the final race of the season:
Cameron Waters was fastest in Armour All Qualifying
Jamie Whincup was Fastest in the top ten shootout
In race 32 Jamie Whincup started on pole position. Alongside him was Cameron Waters.
At the start of the final race of the season Lee Holdsworth received damaged to his Ford Mustang requiring an immediate return to the pits after contact with another car.
As the rest of the pack prepped for the pits, the race leaders stayed out to avoid the dreaded double stacking.
Soon after James Courtney and Anton de Pasquale made contact in between turns 2 and 3 which required the first safety car of the weekend to be deployed to remove Anton de Pasquale’s car.
On the restart Shane Van Gisbergen was on the charge along with Will Davison after those drivers got pinged before the race and set further back on the start grid.
Regardless of efforts no could catch Jamie Whincup who dominated the race all bar pit stops. Jamie Whincup crossed the line first.
That now gives Jamie Whincup 118 career wins and 83 career poles.
Rick Kelly and Andre Heimgartner and Garry Jacobson had their final race with the Nissan Altama’s before they switch to the Ford Mustang, which will make 8 Mustangs on the Supercars grid for next year.
Results for Race 32
1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
3rd Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing
Please feel free to comment on how the Newcastle event went.
On the weekend of the 8th to the 10th of November 2019 was the Penrite Oil Sandown 500.
Results for the pre – race sessions were as follows:
Garth Tander was fastest in practice 1 for co-drivers
David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 2
Craig Lowndes was fastest in Practice 3
Scott Pye & Warren Luff were fastest in the warm up for the Sandown 500.
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 4 & Armour All Qualifying for Race 28
Craig Lowndes won Race 28
Jamie Whincup won Race 29
Before the race on Sunday the Supercars community at Sandown paid tribute to the life of Mike Raymond, who passed away a few days earlier at the age of 76. Mike Raymond was most well known as a commentator in the late 80s, early 90s. He gave so much to the sport, our condolences to his family and all that knew him. If anyone has a good memory to share about Mike Raymond please post it on my Supercars Facebook Fan Page. I am sure others would love to hear it. https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/
At the start of the 500 kilometre 161 lap race Craig Lowndes started on pole position, alongside him was Bryce Fullwood from the Dunlop Super 2 Series.
All the co-drivers bar Scott Pye started behind the wheel for the race on Sunday. I guess this is part of the strategy as the co-drivers have to do a minimum of 54 laps and can only do a maximum 107 laps.
Jack Smith was behind the wheel co-driving with Todd Hazelwood in his debut at the Enduro’s.
Both Alex Premat (co-driver for Scott McLaughlin) and Garth Tander (co-driver for Shane Van Gisbergen) started in positions 24th and 25th. These two cars are normally at the front of the grid. Garth Tander’s positioning was caused by Shane Van Gisbergen unable to complete the ‘main driver’ race on Saturday due to to a spin off track from a poorly timed takeover with Anton de Pasquale.
Alex Premat was sentenced to the back of the grid due to officials finding Scott McLaughlin’s engine was over-specced dating back to Bathurst. Quite a drama. If you have a point of view on this please feel free to put it up for discussion on my Supercars Facebook Fan Page.
Without surprise the experienced Craig Lowndes got the jump on Bryce Fullwood off the start line. Further back in the grid 3 cars stalled on the green light causing a fair bit of havoc.
Alex Davison was in one of the cars that stalled and was extremely lucky not to be collected by the cars just behind him.
At the end of the opening lap Tony Dalberto got turned around by Richard Muscat and found himself at the very back of the pack.
Luke Youlden in car # 9 received damage and was missing the rear wing. When he got back to the pits he knew that the day was over. With only 30 laps completed it must have been a big blow for him and his main driver, David Reynolds.
I was actually surprised that Dale Wood and Luke Youlden managed to limp their cars back to the pits. They looked in very poor shape.
Later in the race there was contact between Michael Caruso and Jake Kostecki. This was a really messy situation. It was when Jake Kostecki was merging from the pit lane into the fast lane. It appeared he was unaware that Caruso was coming down the fast lane. Usually the car controller gives the driver warning to yield over the comms when merging back onto the track.
Kostecki was able to continue the race but Michael Caruso’s front left wheel was now at a strange looking angle. With this damage he had to complete a full lap at a slower in order to come back around to the pits.
It merge was deemed as unsafe and the Kostecki Brothers Racing team were issued a drive through penalty.
In the middle of the race the Red Bull Holden Racing Team were running 1st & 2nd. If they could maintain their lead to the end of the race it would also place them at the top of the Team’s Championship ladder. The pressure was on!
But as luck would have it, with only 10 laps to go and in the lead, Shane Van Gisbergen’s car lost a bolt and smoke was coming out of the right rear. He was forced to call into the pits which dropped him from 1st to 17th. Shane Van Gisbergen & co-driver Garth Tander must have been gutted. They had started from the back of the grid in position 24 and worked their way into the lead. That is pretty amazing but it wold have also been Shane Van Gisbergen’s first win at Sandown (and a second win at Sandown for Garth Tander)
It was lucky for the Red Bull Team that Jamie Whincup was just behind Shane Van Gisbergen and able to take the lead for the team. Once he was told that his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen had to pit he knew he had to hold the lead to the end.
This was not difficult for Jamie Whincup and he came across the line first.
It brings Jamie Whincup’s career win total to 117 and Craig Lowndes win total to 110.
However, Shane Van Gisbergen slipping back to 17th meant they only closed the Team Championship points trail from 132 to 116. I’m sure it will be their inspiration to ‘go hard’ in the coming last race of the season, The Newcastle 500.
Results for Race 30
1st Jamie Whincup & Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Chaz Mostert & James Moffatt – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
3rd Lee Holdsworth & Thomas Randle – Bottle O Racing Team.
Congratulations to Jack Smith who will be making his full time Virgin Australia Supercars Championship debut in 2020. Read about it in the link: https://www.speedcafe.com/2019/11/13/bjr-confirms-smith-in-expanded-four-car-2020-line-up/
Please feel free to comment on how Sandown went via my Facebook Fanpage.
On the weekend of the 25th to the 27th of October was the Vodafone Gold Coast 600.
Pre-race sessions:
Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 1.
Garth Tander was fastest in Practice 2 for co-drivers.
Cameron Waters was fastest in practice 3 the season was red flagged due to a lot of water on the track.
Chaz Mostert was fastest in Armour All Qualifying.
Scott McLaughlin was the fastest in the Armour All top ten shootout.
In Race 26 Alex Premat started on pole position alongside him was Craig Lowndes.
At the start of the 102 lap race Craig Lowndes got the jump off the start line. Alex Premat stalled his car losing his number 1 position on the grid which put the championship leading car back into 2nd off the start.
All of the co-driver’s started the race behind the wheel except main game driver. Jack Le Brocq.
During the opening stages it got overcrowded in the S-bends. In order to avoid making contact with other cars eight drivers were forced to short cut the circuit and drove straight over the chicanes. Race Control issued warnings to them about having all four wheels out of track bounds and short cutting the circuit but they didn’t penalise anyone at that stage.
Thomas Randle who was making his debut in the V8-Supercars Championship as co-driver for Lee Holdsworth showed his inexperience and held up Michael Caruso. Eventually the pass was made and he was lucky not to be penalised. Even commentator Mark Skaife said that Thomas Randle should have let Michael Caruso by a lot earlier than he did.
Mark Winterbottom had a problem with his car which made him have to re visit the pit lane to have the problem sorted out.
Fabian Coulthard was watching the opening stages race from the garage while Tony Dalberto was behind the wheel doing his minimum 34 laps required by all co-drivers. I’m sure Fabian Coulthard’s heart must have skipped a beat when Dalberto made contact Jack Perkins. Luckily it wasn’t major and both continued without stopping.
By the middle of the race Jamie Whincup was effectively leading. The cars ahead of him only lead because they had not perform their second pit stop.
Jamie Whincup was not going to blow this opportunity. He maintained his lead all the way to the finish line. Shane Van Gisbergen was on his tail pushing him along. This was a great result for the Triple Eight team and the only time this year to get a 1st & 2nd in a race.
As co-driver to Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes statistics breach 1000 laps of lead for all combined races. A momentous occasion for such a legend.
Results for Race 26
1st Jamie Whincup & Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
|2nd Shane Van Gisbergen & Garth Tander – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Scott McLaughlin & Alex Premat – Shell V Power Racing Team.
In Qualifying for race 27 Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest and then again in the Armour All top ten shootout.
Scott McLaughlin did not take part in this race at all because he crashed in Qualifying.
As co-driver for Shane Van Gisbergen, Garth Tander started on pole position. Alongside him was Craig Lowndes, co-driver for Jamie Whincup.
As they started the 102 lap race Craig Lowndes got the jump on Garth Tander but then Garth Tander took the lead and held position.
On the opening there was an accident between Ash Walsh, Will Brown, Todd Hazelwood and Dean Canto.
Garth Tander led his opening stint until it was time to pit and hand over to Shane Van Gisbergen.
James Courtney’s driver’s swung open. He tried to close it but at the next turn it swung open again. He faught with the door but it just wouldn’t close. He ended up getting a Mechanical Black Flag meaning he was forced into the pits for the team to tape it shut.
By the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was the effective race leader with cars in front of him yet to complete their 2nd pit stops.
It was looking good again for the Triple Eight Team.
In the closing stages Jamie Whincup had fresh rubber on and grip to his advantage but he just fell short on getting another race win for 2019. It was his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen who crossed the line first.
It was another 1st and 2nd for the Red Bull Holden Racing Team for the weekend.
Results for Race 27
1st Shane Van Gisbergen & Garth Tander – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Jamie Whincup & Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
|3rd David Reynolds & Luke Youlden – Erebus Motorsport.
The next event is the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 on the 8th to the 10th of November 2019.
Please feel free to comment on how the Gold Coast event was.
checkout my pre vlog below. Its also available on my youtube channel.
On the weekend of the 10th to the 13th of October, 2019 was the 59th running of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. This is locally known as “The Great Race” and is the most widely viewed motorsport race in Australia and internationally renowned. There is always a hyped up vibe when this endurance is on and it’s always exciting.
In the Pre-race sessions leading up to big event there we a few surprising results.
In Practice 1 Jamie Whincup was fastest. The session was temporarily stopped (red flagged) when Macauley Jones hit the wall at the cutting. After being towed off the track he was obliged to sit out the rest of the session. That is the penalty for causing a Red Flag in the practice sessions.
Practice 2 was a co-driver session. James Moffatt was fastest. Yet again the red flag was on display, this time for Luke Youlden who hit wall the between Reid Park and McPhillamy Park.
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 3.
Practice 4 was another co-driver session and Will Brown was fastest.
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 5 and then in the Armour All Qualifying.
Will Davison was fastest in Practice 6
Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 7
In the warm up session on the morning of the race, Fabian Coulthard & Tony Dalberto were fastest.
By 11:30am the race was ready to begin. The cars were all lined up on the starting grid and the tension was building. All of a sudden there was an emergency call out from one of the cars. Brodie Kostecki of Kostecki Brothers Racing was in trouble. The cockpit was filling with carbon monoxide fumes and his helmet’s circulation fan had come loose. He was immediately rushed to medical centre and checked out by the official Supercars doctor, Dr Carl Le. The car was then towed off the grid. They were given dispensation by officials and were able to rejoin the race later.
After this delay the race could finally begin.
Scott McLaughlin was sitting in Pole Position with Chaz Mostert alongside him. This was the second time Scott McLaughlin had earned pole position for the Bathurst 1000. The first time was in 2017.
I was quite surprised that most of the main drivers started and only a couple of co-drivers started the race.
As they took off for the 161 lap 1,000 km race, Scott McLaughlin got the jump into turn 1 and led up mountain straight.
Craig Lowndes did the opening stint for car 888 as part of their strategy. He tried to get up the inside of Will Davison at turn 1 but the pass wasn’t able to be done cleanly and he pulled back. This was OK because he, like all the other drivers knew there was a long way to go.
On that first lap as they got to ‘The Cutting’ Tim Slade was on the outside of Scott Pye. The Cutting is an impossible turn to pass on and Time Slade left the track and hit the wall. The Vodafone Safety Car was deployed to remove the car from the track. It was bad luck for the Brad Jones Racing team. One of their two cars was already out of the race on lap 1. It must have been a massive disappointment for co-driver Ash Walsh to not get a chance to drive in the most coveted event of the year.
After this incident there was no safety car deployed for the next 100 laps.
As the race continued the cars that started further back in the pack came in early to get their first of 7 pit stops out of the way. The leading cars stayed out to make use of the clear track and gain position.
I was surprised how quick Scott McLaughlin and Chaz Mostert was in the opening stages of the race.
In the middle of the race Alex Premat was leading the race in his co-drivers stint. He had a massive lockup on the front right wheel at ‘The Chase’ which caused him go off the track. This allowed Chaz Mostert and Jamie Whincup to move from 2nd and 3rd to 1st and 2nd positions. Although he lost position I couldn’t believe that Alex Premat managed to keep his #17 Mustang straight and not spin.
For the closing stage of the race it’s normal strategy to get main drivers back in the car. For Lowndes and Tander, who were for the first time in their careers acting as co-drivers, it must have been nerve wracking to watch from the sidelines and not be behind the wheel.
When the main drivers jumped back in they needed to conserve fuel to get to the end of the race. Once again the spotlight was on Brodie Kostecki. He hit the wall going up the hill out of The Cutting and the race went to ‘Yellow’ as the Safety Car was deployed and the car was recovered and returned to the pits.
Oil Soak had to be spread on the track to absorb the oil lost from Kostecki’s car. It meant other drivers couldn’t use the racing line coming out of The Cutting at the risk of taking a slide.
At this point of the race, Jamie Whincup was the leading car cruising behind the safety car and saving fuel.
Soon after the race went back to green, at lap 135 the car of Indy drivers Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe left the track and got stuck in the sand. Once again the safety car was deployed and the car was towed out but still able to re-join the race track.
It was during this incident that the biggest controversy in history of the Bathurst 1000 occurred. Jamie Whincup in the lead and Scott McLaughlin in 2nd place were told to press on. 888 instructed Jamie Whincup to head into the pits to take the opportunity to top up on fuel. Fabian Coulthard in third place was instructed to slow down. This held the rest of the cars on the track as they were unable to pass while the race was still under yellow. It was deemed by officials as a purposeful tactic to let his teammate, Scott McLaughlin continue in the lead without any contenders. The unsporting manoeuvre earned Fabian Coulthard a drive through penalty. In the following week this incident blew up into a massive controversy of how the team and Scott McLaughlin as the race winner should be penalised. Many, including Erebus Team Manager, Barry Ryan, have called for Scott McLaughlin to be stripped of his title.
Just one lap short of the race finish, at lap 160 the Safety Car was again deployed. This time it was Andre Heimgartner of Nissan Motorsport. The officials didn’t want to delay the race or have it finish safety car, yellow so they tucked his car in behind barriers till the end of the race.
This gave the leaders a 1 lap dash to the finish line. There just wasn’t opportunity in that last lap for anyone to take the lead of Scott McLaughlin.
The last time the pole sitter won the Bathurst 1000 was Garth Tander and Will Davison back in 2009.
Results for race 25
1st Scott McLaughlin & Alex Premat – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen & Garth Tander – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd James Courtney & Jack Perkins – Walkinshaw Andretti United (started 18th gaining 15 places to finished 3rd).
4th Jamie Whincup & Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
The next event is the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 25th to the 27th of October 2019.
Feel free to give me your opinion on how the Bathurst event went via my facebook Fanpage.
On the weekend of the 13th to the 15th of September 2019 was the ITM Auckland Supersprint.
Results for the Pre – Race sessions:
•Will Davison was fastest in Practice 1. •Lee Holdsworth was fastest in Practice 2. •Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 3.
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Qualifying so started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.
At the start of the 70 lap race Shane Van Gisbergen had a perfect start and led the opening stages.
Cameron Waters tried to go around the outside of Shane Van Gisbergen at turn 1 but he couldn’t get the pace so had to tuck back in behind the leader.
Back in the pack Jamie Whincup started in position 12 behind Scott Pye in 11th and Nick Percat in 10th. Jamie Whicup wanted to immediately gain ground and took Scott Pye on the inside. It seemed he was going too fast and bumped Nick Percat out of the way, taking his position. I was surprised that Jamie Whincup didn’t redress (return race positioning) with Nick Percat. It didnt look good like good form on Whincup’s behalf but the officials made no mention of it. It was something that would later haunt Jamie Whincup.
Most of the field pitted early to get clear track and avoid double stacking with teammates.
Scott McLaughlin who surprisingly started the race from the 6th position wanted to keep with the race leaders. By the middle the race it seemed it wasn’t going to be a great weekend for him and he couldn’t find himself within the top 3 spots.
As the race drew to a close Shane Van Gisbergen crossed the finish line with confident 3 second lead over his Red Bull teammate, Jamie Whincup. They were followed by Cameron Waters and David Reynolds.
It must have been a proud moment for the Red Bull Team to take 1st and 2nd places after such a tough year of Scott McLaughlin’s domination.
The real race drama took place after the podium presentations. The officials who made no comment about the incident between Nick Percat and Jamie Whincup on lap 1, retrospectively issued Jamie Whincup a 15 second penalty. It must have been devastating for Jamie Whincup to go from 2nd place to 6th. I’m sure he was wondering why the officials waited until after the race to take up on the issue. If it was during the race, at least then he would have an opportunity to make up for it. A big blow for the Red Bull team.
Results for Race 23
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team. 2nd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing. 3rd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
In Qualifying for Race 24 Scott McLaughlin continued his bad weekend and nearly wrote off his Ford Mustang after he spun off track. As he hit the signage on track side it made a loud thud and I thought there was no way he would race. Even though he had kept his foot planted on the throttle and didnt back off while the car was in a spin (total mad man), somehow he kept the car straight and the damage didn’t appear that bad at all.
Also in the same session David Reynolds mismanaged a corner and ran off track into the tyre barriers. He didn’t get off as lightly as Scott McLaughlin and was Red flagged, which meant he had to sit out the rest of the session and positioned 22nd at the back of the starting grid for race 24.
In Race 24 Jamie Whincup finally broke his pole drought and started in the number 1 position with Lee Holdsworth 2nd alongside him.
Jamie Whincup took full advantage of his prime position and led into turn 1 with Lee Holdsworth close behind in 2nd.
Jamie Whincup kept his lead through the opening laps until he pitted.
On lap 14 David Reynolds continued his bad lack from the Qualifying and his car stopped in a terrifyingly bad spot on the hairpin turn. The Vodafone safety car was deployed to remove him from the track.
On the restart Jamie Whincup was still leading the race and looking good to claim his 2nd race win for 2019.
Unfortunately Jamie Whincup passed the Vodafone safety car with the amber lights flashing which caused quite a level of confusion. Officials didn’t recognise that Jamie Whincup was not in the lead and issued him a drive through penalty. If he was the leader he would have been obliged to to tuck in behind the safety car but that wasn’t the case. Team boss at Tickford Racing, Tim Edwards said that Jamie Whincup should’ve been waved by because he wasn’t the leader at that time, Scott McLaughlin was.
The safety car should not have had the amber lights flashing at this time. It was a mess up from the officials side. They then incorrectly penalised Jamie Whincup under the premise of the leader’s obligation to tuck in behind the safety car. It not only affected him but lots of teams were disadvantaged by the official’s stuff up.. not a happy moment for the sport at all.
It even caused Whincup to lose his cool after the race with officials not taking too kindly to his comments and threatened him with a fine and being banned from racing. It was the Officials fault and caused things to escalate but they used their power call Jamie Whincup’s comments into question as ‘unprofessional behaviour’. See the links below for more info on the drama.
Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin followed by Shane Van Gisbergen had a convincing lead. Chaz Mostert crossed the line 3rd over 6 seconds behind number 1 and over 4 seconds after the number 2 position. Nick Percat managed to come in soon after with a 25 second + lead on the rest of the pack. It was spectacular!
Results for Race 24.
1st Scott Mclaughlin – Shell V Power Racing. 2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team. 3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.
On the weekend of the 23rd to the August 2019 was The Bend Supersprint.
This is the second year that Tailem Bend, South Australia played host to a V8 Supercars event.
It was also a milestone for Will Davison making his 200th championship round start and Triple 8 marking their 500th Supercars race.
As part of the preparations for the biggest event of the year The Bathurst 1000, the co-drivers had their own practice session. Thomas Randle was the fastest co-driver in this practice.
Then Scott McLaughlin once again proved his invincibility by being fastest in Practice 1, 2 and 3.
Chaz Mostert earned himself the Pole position for Race 21 being fastest in the Armour All Qualifying.
In race 21 Scott McLaughlin lined up next to Chaz Mostert in the pole position.
At the start of 24 lap race, Chaz Mostert originally took the lead off the start line but then Scott McLaughlin took him and led into turn 1.
During the opening lap there was contact between Will Davison, Todd Hazelwood and Simona De Silvestro. All 3 cars suffered damage but managed to get back the pits under their own power but all received NC’s (Not Complete). It appeared they all felt there was no point returning to track due to the race being so short, only 24 laps.
By the middle of the race the three race leaders appeared uncatchable; Scott McLaughlin, Chaz Mostert and Anton de Pasquale.
From that moment Scott McLaughlin set out to prove just how fast he was and stretched his lead on the other two. He crossed the finish line nearly 8 seconds ahead of Chaz Mostert and just over 25 seconds ahead of Anton de Pasquale. It was an incredible finish.
Results for race 21
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team. 2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing. 3rd Anton de Pasquale – Erebus Motorsport.
In race 22 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position, alongside him was Will Davison.
At the start of 41 lap race Will Davison got the jump and led into turn 1.
Scott McLaughlin followed Will Davison for most of the opening stint and wasn’t able to to get by him.
I thought that Will Davison looked on track to claim his first race win for 2019.
In an effort to claim his second race for the year, Jamie Whincup also tried to pass Will Davison but couldn’t get the job done.
Will Davison made his first mistake, locking up his tyres he almost when off the track. I thought he was going to lose race positioning but somehow he held on to the lead. It honestly surprised me.
Jamie Whincup then dropped a couple of spots. It was still early on he knew there was a long way to go to the finish line.
Rick Kelly was trying to keep up with his teammates but it wasn’t his day and fell further back into the pack.
In the middle of the race Scott Mclaughlin was still the race leader and looking good for another race win.
Towards the end of the race no one could catch Scott Mclaughlin.
In the middle of the race Will Davison had an air box fire on pit entry. Although he managed to get back out on the track it had slowed him down. Now Scot McLaughlin had the lead with Chaz Mostert in hot pursuit.
Scott McLaughlin was unbeatable and held his lead to the finish line followed by Will Davison and then Chaz Mostert. Who can stop Scott McLaughlin’s winning run?
The teams’ cars and equipment will be going to New Zealand via a boat because the its too expensive to fly everything to New Zealand by plane. The drivers of course will be flying in.
Results for race 22
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team. 2nd Will Davison – 23 Red Racing. 3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.
The event is the ITM Auckland Supersprint on the 13th to the 15th of September 2019.
On the weekend of the 14th to the 16th of June, 2019 was the BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown.
In the preliminaries to the race:
·Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
·Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2
·Scott McLaughlin followed up with the fastest time in Practice 3
·And then again in Qualifying for race 15.
So in Race 15 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position and alongside him was David Reynolds.
At the start of the 42-lap race both David Reynolds and Will Davison from the third position on the grid tried to take the race lead. David Reynolds made contact with Scott McLaughlin trying to take the lead from the outside of turn 1 but wasn’t going to risk serious damage and pulled back.
As Scott McLaughlin held his line into the first corner there was a tangle as the rest of the pack came through. It was James Golding, Macauley Jones and Jack Le Brocq creating havoc. All three Holdens were damaged and Macauley Jones was the only one who managed to return to the race.
On lap two Rick Kelly made contact with Tim Slade and had to serve a drive-through penalty.
Then again at Turn 1, on the third lap Simona De Silvestro collided with Todd Hazelwood and hocky pucked his car off the track. In a post-race investigation she was handed a 15 second penalty pushing her good result finishing 16th to 19th.
With the mayhem early in the race drivers back in the pack pitted early to find clear track. Meanwhile Jamie Whincup stayed out on track in the lead trying to make up some valuable time while the track was clear.
Other than Jamie Whincup’s short time up front, Scott McLaughlin was leading the race the whole way.
I was quite surprised that no one could manage to offer Scott McLaughlin any reasonable competition. He once again came across the finish line first.
His closest rivals almost 7 seconds behind in second place were Chaz Mostert followed by David Reynolds just under one second later in third place.
Jack Smith was the wildcard for Brad Jones Racing and started 25th on the grid. At the end of the race he finished 20th making up 5 places.
Results for Race 15
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing
3rd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport
In race 16, Yet again Scott McLaughlin started on pole position with Fabian Coulthard alongside him.
Scott McLaughlin got the jump off the line but Fabian Coulthard tried to make a stand and stayed on the outside of turn 1. It looked like he would make it and would end up spinning off onto the grass. Somehow he managed to make the turn but it didn’t help his position and tucked in behind the leader.
Rick Kelly was putting pressure on Simona De Silvestro and Andre Heimgartner for position.
Soon after on Turn 5, Andre Heimgartner got spun around and other drivers had to avoid the spinning Nissan Altama. The mistake put him to the back of the pack.
The front runners stayed out to keep track position and the rest of the pack came in for the first round of pit stops.
David Reynolds lost his Window Rubber which wasn’t ideal.
Through the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin maintained his lead of over teammate Fabian Coulthard.
Once again Scott McLaughlin comfortably came in first. David Reynolds was over 13 seconds behind with Fabian Coulthard close on his tail. Cameron Waters held his own position and came in 4th.
Winning the two races over the weekend made Scott McLaughlin the first to earn Darwin’s Triple Crown (on it’s 13th anniversary) since it started back in 2006
So far this year Scott McLaughlin stats show out of 15 races he has been on the podium 14 times, 12 of which were 1st place. That is a phenomenal 80% win rate and 93.3% on the podium.
He has been the dominant driver so far in 2019. can anybody stop him?
Results for race 16
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport Penrite Racing
3rd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
On the weekend of the 24th to the 26th of May was the Truck Assist Winton Supersprint
The hot news as this goes to press is that Chaz Mostert has a big decision to make about his future because at the end of this season he will be off contract with Tickford Racing. There is talk about opportunities for him at Team Penske as well as going overseas. It’s a; happening for him right now. What will Chaz Mostert choose to do? (AutoAction published a really interesting article on Chaz https://autoaction.com.au/2019/05/30/chazs-big-decision).
In the co–drivers’ session which was Practice 0, Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander finished 1st and 2nd.
Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1.
Chaz Mostert was also fastest in Armour All Qualifying which gave him pole position for Race 13.
This weekend was also a milestone for some out on track:
·It was Shane Van Gisbergen’s 100th race as a member of Triple Eight Race Engineering. ·It was also Jamie Whincup’s 220th round start, equalling him with Mark Skaife for 8th on the all-time list of starts.
I just had a flashback to Winton 2013. Jamie Whincup, Russell Ingall and Dean Fiore had an accident which took them out of the race. I hoped nothing like that would happen on this weekend.
In Race 13 Chaz Mostert started on pole position and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.
At the start of the 40-lap race Both Chaz Mostert and Fabian Coulthard made contact in between turns 1 and 2 which allowed James Courtney to take the race lead!
Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard came together on lap 1 at turn 5 and re-joined at turn 9.
I thought Scott McLaughlin was going to get a drive thru penalty or a 15 second stop and hold for re-joining between turns 8 and 9 but apparently they were within the rules for the Winton weekend.
Fabian Coulthard received a 15 second penalty for making that contact with Scott McLaughlin.
Throughout the race a number of drivers got pinged for a range of driving infringements.
When David Reynolds gave James Courtney a bump and took the race lead he copped a 15 second penalty.
Fabian Coulthard was trying keep up with his teammate, Scott McLaughlin but he couldn’t quite get close enough.
Scott Pye was struggling to stay in the top 10.
By the middle of the race the two Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske drivers, Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard were running 1st and 2nd.
Towards the end of the race no one could catch Scott McLaughlin in first and Fabian Coulthard, second.
Unfortunately Fabian Coulthard’s 15 second penalty early on in the race pushed him down to 15th place, dropping 13 spots. Must have been a hard pill to swallow but the weekend was not over yet.
Results for Race 13
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V power Racing Team. 2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team. 3rd David Reynolds – Penrite Racing. 4th James Courtney – Mobil 1 Mega Racing. 5th Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team. 6th Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
In the lead up to Sunday’s race Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2 and then also fastest in the Armour All Qualifying.
For the 67 lap Race 14, once again Scott McLaughlin started on pole position with Fabian Coulthard alongside him.
Scott McLaughlin got the jump on his teammate Fabian Coulthard and pretty much dominated the race accept for pit stops.
Will Davison was hoping for a solid result so I was quite surprised that Will Davison broke down and Rick Kelly’s engine blew. They both ended up with DNF’S .
In the middle of the race, after the 2nd round of pit stops no one could catch the 2 Shell V Power Mustangs of Scott McLaughlin and teammate, Fabian Coulthard.
Once again the pair held position and crossed the finish line 1st and 2nd. This time Fabian Coulthard made it onto the podium.
Results for Race 14
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team. 2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team. 3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
The next event is the Bet Easy Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway starting on June 14.
On the Weekend of the 2nd to the 4th of May 2019 was the Pirtek Perth Supernight.
This was the first night race to take place at the Barbagallo Raceway and as showcase of the setup commentators Craig Lowndes and Greg Murphy took Jamie Whincup and Rick Kelly’s cars out onto the racetrack for a couple laps.
I thought the lights and light towers looked incredible.
As the pre-race sessions started I noted the return of Mark Larkham as pit-lane commentator. He missed the last event at Phillip Island (see my previous article for details) so it was good to see him back in his role.
Results for the pre-race sessions were as one would expect:
·Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 1
·Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2
·Scott McLaughlin was also fastest in Qualifying for race 11
In race 11 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.
At the start of the 50-lap race Fabian Coulthard got jump off the line and the championship leader, Scott McLaughlin had to pull in behind him.
David Reynolds and Anton de Pasquale were in battle for position and made contact with each other at turn 1 but David Reynolds held his spot.
Shane Van Gisbergen pitted early to get track position because he was getting held up by David Reynolds in his battle with Anton De Pasquale.
Scott McLaughlin tried to make a pass for the lead but Fabian Coulthard held firm to his lead.
Later Todd Hazelwood made a great pass on Jack Le Brocq. It was a nice clean piece of driving.
Before the pit stops had been completed Fabian Coulthard was the affective race leader and seemed in fine form as he held the position through the entire race. Scott McLaughlin was still close behind but everyone else was further back and no one could catch them.
Fabian Coulthard appeared full of confidence as he crossed the finish line to make it a back 2 back win after winning at race 10 at Phillip Island.
It was a great race and the night light setup was brilliant. Surprisingly no Safety Cars were deployed through the entire race.
Results for Race 11
1st Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
4th Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
In the Pre-Race Sessions for race 12:
·Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 3
·Scott McLaughlin was also fastest in Qualifying
In race 12 Scott McLaughlin once again started on pole position with Jamie Whincup alongside him.
At the start of the 83-lap race Scott McLaughlin nearly stalled giving Jamie Whincup the lead he wanted. This was bad luck again for Scott McLaughlin after his poor start from pole position in Race 11.
Jamie Whincup was in front of the field for the first couple of laps.
Most of the cars back in the pack pitted early to get into clear air.
Soon after Andre Heimgartner made contact with Scott Pye which caused the 1 and only Safety Car deployment during races 11 and 12.
On the restart Shane Van Gisbergen gave Rick Kelly a bump which put him off the race track and Rick Kelly’s front air dam was full of sponsorship signs. I thought there would’ve been no way he could have made it to the end of the race but somehow he did.
Scott McLaughlin was now leading the race but Jamie Whincup kept him honest the whole way, which was good to see.
I thought at one stage that Jamie Whincup was going to win his first race for 2019 but that wasn’t the case.
As the race came to a close Jamie Whincup kept the pressure on the defending Supercars Champion and series leader, Scott McLaughlin. Driving without fault there was no chance for Jamie Whincup to take that lead position from him.
So once again Scott McLaughlin won another race for 2019.
Jamie Whincup started the Perth Supernight Supercars event down in 9th in the driver’s championship and is now up to 6th in the championship.
The only way any of the other drivers can close the points gap on Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard is for them have 8 bad races with DNF’S and NC’S. It does seem none of the other drivers will have a chance.
Results for Race 12
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing Team.
I thought the night racing was an awesome spectacle.
The next event is the Truck Assist Winton Supersprint 24th to the 26th of May 2019.
Please feel free to comment on how the Perth Supernight went via my Facebook Fanpage.
On the weekend of the 2nd to the 4th of November 2018 was the ITM Auckland Supersprint.
The big bomb-shell of the weekend was from Mark Winterbottom announcing that he has chosen not to sign a new contract with his current team Tickford Racing. Having originally signed with them back in 2006, this ends 13 years as a Ford driver under the Tickford banner. What is surprising is that he has not announced who he will be signing with.
In the preliminaries to the races over the weekend:
·Scott McLaughlin was the fastest in Practice 1
·Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 2.
·Scott McLaughlin crashed in practice 2 taking him out of that session.
·Also Todd Hazelwood got so bogged in the sand he needed help to get his car out.
·Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 3.
·Scott McLaughlin was the fastest in armour all qualifying for race 28.
·Simona De Silvestro caused a red flag in qualifying which meant she started race 28 from position 26.
·David Reynolds was fastest in qualifying for race 29 which gave him the last go out on track to try and claim pole position. He did well but in the end the pole was claimed by the 7 times Supercars Champion, Jamie Whincup.
On Saturday’s race 28 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. This made it his 13th pole position for this season and 45th in his career. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.
Craig Lowndes didn’t start in the top ten, in fact he started 18th.
At the start of the 70-lap race Scott McLaughlin took the lead. Shane Van Gisbergen tried to get up the inside of him between turn 2 and 3. When he realised he couldn’t get by he tucked back in behind car 17.
Later Todd Hazelwood got pinged for passing the Safety Car so copped a PLP – Pit Lane Penalty. Naughty boy Todd Hazelwood! Jamie Whincup knows this shame all too well because he got pinged for the same thing at Bathurst in 2015. It’s a mistake that you don’t repeat too soon.
Shane Van Gisbergen was going really quick during the opening laps and I thought he might take the lead off Scott McLaughlin but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
The Vodafone Safety Car was deployed due to Fabian Coulthard being in the wall after Richie Stanaway and Lee Holdsworth made contact. Fabian Coulthard was close behind and tried to avoid them but oversteered, first hitting the wall on one side of the track and then careening to the other side of the track hitting the wall again. My first thought when I saw Fabian Coulthard’s car in the wall was there will be no way the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske crew can repair the car in time to get back out on the track, especially with the limited spares all the teams had with the race being ‘off-shore’.
When car 12 returned to the back of the pits the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske crew put the cover over the car. Commentator, Mark Skaife said it wasn’t repairable and was right. Fabian Coulthard was out of the race with an NC (Not Complete).
Jamie Whincup qualified 5th so when the Vodafone Porsche Safety Car was deployed for Fabian Coulthard, Jamie had to double stack behind Shane Van Gisbergen.
There were a lot of cars going off the track between turns 2 and 3. I can only assume this was due to the wet weather.
Mark Winterbottom was holding up the race leader Scott McLaughlin. Scott McLaughlin asked for Mark Winterbottom to get the blue flag (informs a driver that a faster car is approaching and that the driver should move aside to allow one or more faster cars to pass) which was fair enough. Unfortunately the flag didn’t come out soon enough.
In the end Scott McLaughlin’s race engineer, Ludo Lacroix brought him in to the pits to try give him a clear track when he re-joined the race and not get held up any further. If Scott McLaughlin had stayed out on the race track for one more laps with traffic in front of him he would have lost a massive amount of time and ruin his existing chance of a race win.
In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was battling with Scott McLaughlin for the lead and the Championship. The stakes were high and they both knew it.
Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin still had the race lead. Shane Van Gisbergen was in hot pursuit and tried to overtake on turn 8 but Scott McLaughlin blocked him. Shane Van Gisbergen had nowhere to go and made contact. It wasn’t really his fault but Shane Van Gisbergen was given a 5 second penalty.
Finally in the last few lapse Shane Van Gisbergen got his way and took the lead, holding it to the finish line by just .5118 seconds.
Results for race 28
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team. 2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team. 3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
At the end of race 28, the gap for the Driver Championship between Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen was now just 2 points.
In race 29 Jamie Whincup started on pole position. Alongside him was championship leader Scott McLaughlin.
I was amazed that the Dick Johnson Team Penske crew managed to repair Fabian Coulthard’s car overnight in time for the race, given the amount of limited spare parts all the teams had.
At the start of 70 lap race Scott McLaughlin tried to get up the inside of Jamie Whincup between turns 2 and 3 but wasn’t successful.
Scott McLaughlin wasn’t fazed as he knew there was a long way to go, which was a good call I thought as there was no point taking serious risks at this stage of the game.
Jamie Whincup pitted first so that Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t have to double stack.
Craig Lowndes was trying to get passed David Reynolds’ for third position but unfortunately didn’t manage to do that. It would’ve been a great result to see Craig Lowndes on the Podium in his second last event as a full time driver.
When Shane Van Gisbergen pitted for his 2nd stop the team put the car up on the incompressible jacks to reverse the setup change they did at the his first pit stop.
Anton De Pasquale followed his teammate, David Reynolds as he has done for most of this year as a rookie.
At one stage I thought there was going to be contact between Mark Winterbottom and Scott McLaughlin but luckily there wasn’t. In fact there weren’t any other major accidents with any of teams the whole weekend.
In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup was behind Scott McLaughlin trying to get the lead and give his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen a better chance to close the Championship points gap between him and Scott McLaughlin.
I thought Jamie Whincup was going was to either win or finish 2nd but he is a team player and moved over when asked by his race engineer, David Cauchi to try and help Shane Van Gisbergen earn extra points and win the 2018 Supercars championship.
Unfortunately for Triple 8 Scott McLaughlin was just too fast and came across the line first.
Results for race 29
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team. 2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team. 3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team. 4th Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.
The gap between Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen is 14 points.
The next event is the Coates Hire Newcastle 500 on the 23rd to the 25th of November 2018.
This event will be Craig Lowndes final fulltime Supercars drive and it will also Tim Blanchard’s final race.
The funniest part of the weekend was when Mark Skaife made a bet with Russell Ingall. Ingall saying that Jamie Whincup still stood a chance to win the 2018 Championship and Skaife stating it was not likely at all.
If Mark Skaife lost the bet he would’ve had to wear a t shirt printed with ‘I Love the Enforcer’ (the Enforce being Russel Ingall’s nickname).
Now Russell Ingall has to wear a t shirt that Mark Skaife creates with content still to be announced. LOL.
As the season draws to a close, the drivers that don’t have a contract for 2019 at the moment are:
·Mark Winterbottom
·Lee Holdsworth.
·Michael Caruso.
·Richie Stanaway
·Tim Blanchard
Also at this stage Tickford looks like it will only have 2 cars in 2019, Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert.
It will be interesting to see how things will turn out for next season.
