I am back after a long absence and although I am still in hospital (this is week 10 – which increases my strong hate for hospitals) I am getting well enough to think about the races again.
Due to the COVID 19 affect on us all and more importantly the cancellation of V8 Supercars races, I thought I would revisit the Grand Finale for 2007. It was only the other day that I found the recording of this race on YouTube. It certainly helped keep my mind occupied from utter frustration of being ‘locked down’ in a damned hospital.
The event took place at Phillip Island (Victoria) on the weekend of November 30 to December 2, 2007.
As it turned out, it was John Bowe’s final race in Supercars. John Bowe is a multi-winning champion in several different race categories (Aussie Drivers Championship in the Formula Mondial, Aussie Sports Car Championship, two time winner of The Bathurst 1000 and much more). He was teamed with many other great champions such as Dick Johnson and Brad Jones. He is still racing in the Touring Car Masters.
This race also notched up Mark Skaif ‘s 200th round start.
Garth Tander was having a fabulous weekend. He took first place in races 1 and 2 and closed the point score between Whincup and himself so it basically became a showdown for the year’s title.
As they moved out to the starting grid it was a young Garth Tander who started on pole position. Alongside him was Todd Kelly.
At the start of 120Km 27 lap race Tod Kelly (in those days driving for Holden) got the jump on Garth Tander.
Jamie Whincup moved up to 3rd and had cover from Craig Lowndes for Team Vodafone because Whincup was battling Garth Tander for the title.
Meanwhile Todd Kelly was helping Garth Tander.
During the opening laps Jamie Whincup knew he had to try and get around Garth Tander to win his first title.
When the pit window opened the contenders stayed out until they got called to pit. The compulsory pit window opened on lap 5 for 2 tyres.
Rick Kelly tried to get down the inside of Will Davison but wasn’t close enough.
In the middle of the race Garth Tander later stated he was put in a difficult situation ‘caught in the sandwich between Jamie [Whincup] and Craig [Lowndes]. It was high-speed chess from there on. It was about managing the situation.’
Although Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes got by Tander it was Todd Kelly who still had the lead.
Todd Kelly maintained his position and crossed the finish line first robbing Jamie Whincup of the points needed for him to take ‘The Title’.
Whincup took second place, Lowndes third and Garth Tander came in fourth.
Regardless of Tander coming fourth for race 3, Whincup was 2 points shy of a draw (625 vs 623). Tander had won the title for 2007.
Results for Race 3
1st Todd Kelly – Holden Racing Team.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Team Vodafone.
3rd Craig Lowndes – Team Vodafone.
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 26th to the 28th of July 2019 was the Century Batteries Ipswich Supersprint.
This Queensland raceway is home territory to the legend Craig Lowndes where he has had 12 race wins through his career. Considering that this is the 23rd Supercars event at this venue, Craig Lowndes’ stats go prove why he is a legend.
This is not to say it is a ‘friendly’ track to everyone. In 2005 Jason Richards had a massive rollover after Paul Morris made contact with him. At the same event Cameron McLean also rolled in the same section of the track. In 2010 Mark Winterbottom had a huge crash that I am sure still sticks in his mind.
Heading into the weekend Scott McLaughlin leads the championship by 292 points over his teammate, Fabian Coulthard. If there is going to be any challenges for the championship, this weekend is the time to make a move.
As it turned out Scott McLaughlin ruled in the pre-race sessions; Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 1, 2 & 3 and then again for the Armour All Qualifying.
In race 19 he started on pole position, alongside him was Jamie Whincup.
At the start of the 39-lap race Scott McLaughlin didn’t want to have any contact with Jamie Whincup so he let him go at turn 2.
By the end of the opening lap Scott McLaughlin went from 1st to 4th
There was contact between Will Davison and Scott McLaughlin which was not good. I thought that Scott McLaughlin would have had damage but somehow he didn’t.
Scott McLaughlin’s troubles were not over. Later he had a 9.2 second pit stop due to a jammed left front wheel nut. It surely affected his result at the finish line slipping from pole position to 4th.
Lee Holdsworth had a massive slide but saved it, which was super impressive.
Scott Pye had contact with another car which resulted in problems in the pits later on when removing the left rear wheel. He dropped 7 positions and finished 21st.
Jamie Whincup had a 4.1 second stop. Excepting pit stops, Jamie Whincup held his lead throughout the race.
Fabian Coulthard didn’t have a great race at all. He started 9th on the grid and finished 10th.
As they crossed the finish line, no one else could catch the top 3 drivers; Jamie Whincup with a 2 + second lead over Will Davison, then Chaz Mostert following a further 3.87 seconds later.
Although no safety car was deployed during the race, Tim Slade and Macauley Jones were both NC’s.
It was a convincing win for Jamie Whincup whose last race win was the Sandown 500 in 2018. His tally now reaches 114 wins from 484 races.
Results for Race 19
1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team. 2nd Will Davison – 23 Red Racing. 3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.
The unusual result for Scott McLaughlin in race 19 didn’t seem to affect him the next morning. He was fastest in practice 4 and Qualifying, earning him pole position for race 20. That is his 13th pole start this year.
In race 20 Scott McLaughlin in pole position had Chaz Mostert alongside him.
At the start of the 200 Km, 65 lap race Chaz Mostert tried to go around the outside of the Championship leader but he wasn’t able to and had to pull back in behind.
Scott McLaughlin led the whole way excepting in his 2 pit stops.
Fabian Coulthard had a shocking weekend because he didn’t qualify in the top ten on Sunday.
After such a positive result in Saturday’s race Will Davison drove with inspiration and seemed to really want to get back to back podiums. However, he just wasn’t able to move up from his starting position of 5.
By the middle of race Shane Van Gisbergen had taken over Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert. Now in second place he was putting pressure on Scott McLaughlin for the race lead.
In the last laps Shane Van Gisbergen stayed right on Scott McLaughlin’s tail but he wasn’t given any opportunity to take advantage of. They crossed the finish line just 0.7 seconds apart and nearly 10 seconds ahead of their closest rival, Chaz Mostert.
Results for Race 20
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team. 2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team. 3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.
Scott McLaughlin got pinged for doing his post race burnouts in the wrong spots.
He also got fined $1000 for taking a poster on to the podium.
On the weekend of the 5th to the 7th of July, 2019 was the Watpac Townsville 400.
While Scott McLaughlin has dominated the season, his teammate Fabian Coulthard has also had a great season. On this weekend he will be hitting a milestone, his 400th race. He is 2nd in the championship with career stats including 12 race wins, 54 podiums, 9 pole positions and held the lead for 689 laps over all races. It is no wonder that even this early in the year the Shell V Power Racing Team have announced re-signing Fabian Coulthard (and Scott McLaughlin) for next season.
This news ends the speculation about Scott McLaughlin racing for Roger Penske in the US. The following link is an article by ‘FoxSprts’ and gives some insight to some of the big name drivers and their prospects for 2020.
As the weekend wound up to the big event, the results in the pre-race sessions were as follows:
·Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 1
·Lee Holdsworth was fastest in Practice 2
·Fabian Coulthard was fastest Practice 3
·David Reynolds was fastest in Qualifying for race 17
In race 17 David Reynolds started on pole position. Alongside him was Chaz Mostert.
Rick Kelly ran with a new car number, 100 in honour of one of his big supporters, Castrol to celebrate 100 years in Australia and New Zealand.
At the start of the 70 lap race David Reynolds got the jump on Chaz Mostert and kept his lead for most of the opening laps.
Andre Heimgartner, Cameron Waters and Jamie Whincup nearly came together and almost hit the wall but somehow they missed.The drivers who started back in the pack came in early to try and get track position.
Jamie Whincup also came in early to get out of the traffic and also get track position. It worked out well for him and he found the clear air he was looking for. It was a big help in keeping him up front with a chance of taking his first race win of 2019.
In the middle of the race David Reynolds had bad luck in his pit stop. It was unfortunate that cross threaded wheel nut cost him his chance at victory.
David Reynolds’ bad luck was just the opportunity Scott McLaughlin was looking for and he was soon in the lead.
As the race came to a close he and Jamie Whincup had a good lead on the rest of the pack without a chance of being caught.
Shane Van Gisbergen who wanted to get on the podium also had some bad luck (that went by the name of Chaz Mostert ) and finished 4th with Chaz Mostert in front of him.
Results for Race 17:
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team 2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team 3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing
In race 18 on the Sunday, Cameron Waters started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.
As they started the 70 lap race the rain started. A wet and slippery track usually spells disaster.
David Reynolds and Scott McLaughlin made contact between turns 1 and 2. The damage was significant enough for them to both head back to the pits.
David Reynolds’ car went back into the garage with broken steering.
I was quite surprised that the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske crew let Scott McLaughlin re-join the race. I thought for sure that the DJR Team would have put car 17 in the garage but didn’t.
The rain was getting heavier. After Jamie Whincup had re-joined from his pit stop he was still on slick tyres and the wet weather caused him to hit the wall.
As Jamie Whincup got his car back to the pits race engineer David Cauchi said, ‘Turn it off. No oil pressure!’. It was the second time this weekend that Jamie Whincup missed out on what could have been his first race win for the season.
In the middle of the race the rain started to pour down. This meant the cars and drivers needed to be on ‘Wets’.
Simona de Silvestro got called to come in to the pits but when she went back onto the track she crossed the yellow line to re-join which is not allowed. The drive through penalty she received cost her a few positions at the finish line.
Towards the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen took the lead after Scott McLaughlin received car damage. He and Fabian Coulthard had comfortable space ahead of the pack and were uncatchable.
But the race was interrupted. Both Nick Percat and Garry Jacobson’s cars caught fire in two separate incidents. Nick Percat’s fire was in the pits causing a huge amount of smoke and flames looked to almost reach the fuel stands (That would have been a massive disaster).
Garry Jacobson’s car caught fire out on track which meant the race finished under safety car.
As they called the end of the race there were 3 DNF’s. They were Jamie Whincup, Mark Winterbottom and Garry Jacobson.
Results for Race 18:
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team 2nd Fabian Coulthard – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske 3rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing
The next is the Century Batteries Ipswich Supersprint on the 26th to the 28th of July 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
