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 12th to the 14th of April 2019 was the WD-40 Phillip Island Supersprint.
The Fox Sport coverage themed the race around Fox’s hit drama series Game of Thrones, which is about to air their new season on TV. They included a “winner’s throne”, character dress ups and other stuff. I guess it was a bit of fun BUT it had nothing to do with racing so they can take their cross promotion and stick it up their ( x ).
Commentator, Mark Larkham was not at Phillip Island on the weekend due to personal reasons. Andrew Jones filled in for him. I’m not interested in prying into personal affairs but just want to say if its due to some form of tragedy, ‘Larko, our thoughts are with you’.
Last year Scott McLaughlin won both races at this track. With his winning streak so far this season I am sure was geared up and ready to go.
This weekend Supercars trialled closure of the pit lane while a Safety Car is deployed. This is apparently due to safety concerns over the usual mad rush to the pits when the race is flagged yellow. Just think back to Mostert and Kelly’s T-Bone incident in the pit lane earlier this season to see why they are trying to remedy this safety issue. What this will means is that the teams will have to think more strategically about when to take their pit stops.
This doesn’t change what happens when a race is flagged red. All drivers still have to come in from the track. This happened multiple times this weekend, three of which was because the local geese decided to take a stroll out on the track. The first instance was in Practice 1 between turns 6 And 7. Once the geese flew off the practice session resumed. It was kind of funny but also put a horrific picture in my mind of what would happen if they weren’t spotted in the first place.
The results for the pre-race sessions were as follows:
·Anton De Pasquale was fastest in Practice 1
·Fabian Coulthard was fastest in Practice 2
·Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 3
·Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Qualifying for race 9
·Fabian Coulthard was fastest again in Practice 4
In race 9 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position with Fabian Coulthard alongside him.
At the start of the 120km, 27 lap race Scott McLaughlin got the jump on Fabian Coulthard who had to slot behind him in 2nd place.
He tried to go around the outside of his teammate but that didn’t work out, Scott McLaughlin was just too fast.
During the race James Courtney and Tim Slade both had front right tyres go flat when going down the main straight at 260kms/ph. In both incidents I thought they were going to have a massive accident but thankfully for them and their teams they got away with no damage.
Shane Van Gisbergen’s team gave him an incredible 4.7 second pit stop to change tyres. That really is incredible.
When teammate, Jamie Whincup pitted the Car Controller stepped away too early and gave Jamie Whincup the go-ahead. However something went wrong in the communications and the right front wheel man had not been able to finish tightening the nut. Jamie Whincup lost the wheel completely before completing the next lap.
By the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard had secured their lead on the race.
In the last part of the race Shane Van Gisbergen made contact with Cameron Waters who received damage to his right rear wheel. Cameron Waters was now out of the race. Shane Van Gisbergen however was able to continue without much damage.
Cameron Waters and Jamie Whincup were the only driver to not complete the race. Both of them must have been devastated.
Race 9 finished with Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard in 1st and 2nd. Andre Heingartner came in 3rd earning Nissan Motorsport (aka the Kelly brothers) their first podium finish for the season. Congratulations!
Results for race 9
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team. 2nd Fabian Coulthard -Shell V Power Racing Team. 3rd Andre Heimgartner – Nissan Motorsport.
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Armour All Qualifying for race 10, earning him pole position. Alongside him was his teammate, Fabian Coulthard.
Race 10 was a 200km 45 lap race.
Fabian Coulthard got good launch from the start line but Scott McLaughlin still led into turn 1. Once again it made Shell V Power Racing Team 1st and 2nd.
Most of the drivers pitted on lap 5 to make sure they didn’t caught if the Safety Car was deployed. It seemed best to get the stops done as early as possible just in case, because if the safety car did come out the pit lane would’ve have been closed anyway.
Richie Stanaway took to the pits and his teammate, James Golding had to double stack. I don’t quite understand why the team made the decision to call them in at the same time.
Rick Kelly was holding up a bunch of cars and blocking them from getting by. It appeared to be poor sportsmanship. Commentator, Mark Skaife said he was being the modern day John Bowe (a former who also hogged the track regardless of other drivers). I thought that was a good comment.
In the middle of race Tim Slade was on the charge because he had new set of ‘green’ tyres. Most other drivers had long ago fitted their last set of tyres.
Towards the end of race, nobody could catch Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin. Once again the two Shell V Power Racing Team cars won the race, this time with Fabian Coulthard coming in 1st.
So both Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard got to sit on the Iron Throne.
This also puts Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard 1st and 2nd on the championship ladder.
Results for Race 10
1st Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team. 2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team. 3rd Anton De Pasquale – Penrite Racing Erebus Motorsport.
The next event is the Pirtek Perth Supernight on the 2nd to the 4th of May, 2019.
Please feel free to comment on the event or my review via my Facebook Fanpage.
On the weekend of the 14th to the 17th of March 2019 was the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400 at Albert Park in Melbourne, Victoria.
The Larry Perkins Trophy is up for grabs with Jamie Whincup defending ownership after his great win last year. Incidentally, earlier in the previous week Larry Perkins went into hospital for surgery to remove a gallbladder.
In the past The Melbourne 400 was run as a support category to the Australian Grand Prix F1 series. It was only last year that the Melbourne 400 officially became the second round of the V8 Supercars championship. I think it makes for more exciting racing as it is no longer seen as a ‘test run’.
The Melbourne 400 is an interesting opportunity in the championship because there are actually four races (25, 13, 25 & 13 laps), giving drivers with different strengths an opportunity to take advantage.
It also means 4 qualifying rounds which give the rookies a better chance to get to know the track.
Albert Park is an interesting venue as it is one of the longer tracks being 5.303Kms.
Race 4 also had the honour of being the 1000th race since the championship started in 1960. So the weekend was quite a milestone for the sport.
As we entered the weekend, the Red Bull Holden Racing Team held the Team’s Championship lead by 5 points, while Scott McLaughlin defends his lead in the Driver’s Championship.
In the pre-race sessions it was Chaz Mostert driving his new superfast Ford Mustang who had his best weekend in a while:
Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2
Scott McLaughlin was also fastest in Qualifying for Race 3, 4 & 5
Chaz Mostert was fastest in Qualifying for Race 6
All 4 Qualifying sessions were only 10 minutes each.
Race 3 was run on Friday as sunset approached at 5:55pm
Scott McLaughlin started on pole position and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.
At the start of 130 Kilometre, 25 lap race Scott McLaughlin got the jump on his teammate Fabian Coulthard.
Scott McLaughlin now didn’t have to worry about clean air or about being stuck behind his teammate.
It was all Mustangs at the front, Scott McLaughlin, Fabian Coulthard and Cameron Waters followed by Red Bull’s Shane Van Gisbergen in his Commodore.
However, it was the compulsory tyre change pit stop that would be the decider for many.
The only time Scott McLaughlin wasn’t leading the race was during the pitstop shuffle.
Scott McLaughlin hit the pits on lap 12 with a 4 second lead and once again came out on track to dominate.
Jamie Whincup pitted first because he didn’t want Shane Van Gisbergen who was running with a chance for a podium position to be waiting in the pits for too long behind him.
However, Shane Van Gisbergen waited to pit on lap 15 and it just mucked up his flow. There were now 4 Mustangs ahead of him.
Will Davison was happy with the way his ford Mustang was performing with only 10 laps to go he was now in 4th position.
Macauley Jones was travelling well and enjoying his first Albert Park event as a rookie.
With 6 laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen picked up and returned to his lead over Will Davison.
Towards the end of the race, with only 4 laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen’s engine let go which meant he was the only car to have no points. He came into Albert Park 2nd in championship, but after a disastrous weekend he is now 11th in the championship on minus 175 points.
Scott McLaughlin comfortably took in first place. This made it his 3rd win from the first 3 races in the season.
However, it was Chaz Mostert who had everyone’s eyebrows raised. He started in 22nd on the grid and was 13th by the middle of the race. Once out of the pits he showed everyone just what his car could do and came across the finish line 5th just behind Will Davison. That is a gain of 17 in 25 laps!!!! (I am sure I could hear Chaz singing ‘Day-o, day-o. Come, mister tally man, tally me banana’).
Results for race 3
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
3rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing Team
4th Will Davison – 23 Red Racing Team car 23
5th Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team
In race 4 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Chaz Mostert.
But again Scott McLaughlin dominated race 4, which wasn’t surprising because the Mustang’s were quick all weekend.
Jamie Whincup was battling with Chaz Mostert for 3rd place. When Chaz Mostert passed him and then Cameron Waters, Jamie Whincup had dropped back to 4th place.
Garry Jacobson and James Golding made contact on the main straight which I thought would end in a massive shunt but thankfully there wasn’t.
Scott McLaughlin was still the driver no one could beat because he was flying and dominated the race from start to finish. He crossed the finish with 2.5 seconds plus lead. This made it his 4th win out 4 starts in the championship.
It also seems the Mustangs, the newest entry to the track this year are making quite a splash. It was Chaz Mostert (Mustang) and Cameron Waters (Mustang) that pushed Red Bull’s Jamie Whincup in his ZB Commodore out of the top 3 positions.
Results for Race 4
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing
3rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing
Before race 5 started on the warm up lap, both Scott McLaughlin and Cameron Waters came together which resulted in both drives not starting and being classified as a NC (Not Complete) as a result Nick Percat and Tim Slade were affectively on the front row of the grid.
Tim Slade kept the lead as Jamie Whincup who started from 6th position came in behind him.
Fabain Coulthard was trying to stay out of trouble because he didn’t want to help the Dick Johnson Racing Team by leaving the track to repair his car.
At lap 13 Jamie Whincup finally took the lead. Tim Slade and Nick Percat then battled for the trailing positions. Nick Percat came into turn 15 in a poor position on the outside driving wide and lost several places that he just couldn’t recover from in the remaining time.
After the pitstops it was Mostert who was right behind Whincup at the lead. The pressure was on.
With only 6 laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen lost his right back wheel! The Vodafone Safety Car was called out.
With four laps to go Chaz Mostert once again wanted to prove what his Mustang could do and took the lead off Jamie Whincup who was now closely followed by Tim Slade. David Reynolds in his ZB Commodore was not far behind. I get the feeling it was more important to him to stay ahead of Fabian Coulthard’s Mustang than to try take 3rd position from Time Slade (also Commodore).
Chaz Mostert was incredibly fast and opened the gap on his lead to over a second. It was incredible to watch. This was his first race win for 2019. Congratulations Chaz! ‘Day-o, day-o
Daylight come and me wan’ go home’.
Aside from Scott McLaughlin and Cameron Waters who never made it past the warm up lap, it was only Richie Stanaway who was disqualified from the results due to making contact with another car. He later received a $10,000 fine for the incident. Ouch!
Results for Race 5
1st Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing team.
3rd Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing.
In race 6 Chaz Mostert started on pole position and alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.
At the start of the race Scott McLaughlin got the jump and led the way early on. Given that it was only a 13-lap race with no pit stops, Scott McLaughlin dominated the race once again.
Chaz Mostert got off to a bad start from pole and was immediately behind Jamie Whincup.
It took until lap 3 for Mostert to take Whincup and get into 2nd position but by now Scott McLaughlin had a 2+ second lead.
Rick Kelly didn’t want to get to close to the drivers in front of him otherwise he would get caught up in an accident.
In the middle of the race Macauley Jones had another massive shunt which meant the safety car was deployed to clear Macauley Jones car. He was the only car to leave the race with a Not Complete.
As the race resumed Chaz Mostert made a go for Scott McLaughlin’s lead spot but couldn’t come close. It was still exciting to watch and Im sure it did have Scott McLaughlin on edge.
As they came across the line no one could catch those top 3; Scott McLaughlin, Chaz Mostert and Jamie Whincup.
Results for race 6
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing team
2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
Chaz Mostert won the Larry Perkins Trophy and Jamie Whincup claimed his 200th podium in his Supercars Career.
Supercars has dropped the time certain race finishes unless there are major Safety Car delays.
Triple 8 are going to debut a new Supercars wheel retention system which is to stop the wheel from coming off the car out on the race track.
The next event is the Tyrepower Tasmania Supersprint on the 5th to the 7th of April 2019.
On the weekend of the 23rd to the 25th of November 2018 was the Coates Hire Newcastle 500, the Supercars season grand finale.
The Newcastle race is held on local streets, part of which runs along its beautiful shore line and the city comes alive for the spectacle. Each year it gets better and better.
One of the funniest moment of the weekend was when Jessica Yates, Mark Skaife and Russell Ingall wore a t-shirt taking a dig at his fellow commentator (Russell Ingall) for a incident back in 2003. It was printed with ‘Dearest Mark, I am sorry for firing you into the fence at Sydney Motorsport Park Eastern Creek – Love Russ’. LOL.
In the sessions prior to the race:
Lee Holdsworth was fastest in Practice 1
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in the ‘Armour All’ Qualifying for race 30
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in the ‘Armour All’ Qualifying for race 31
In race 30 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position and alongside him was Jamie Whincup.
At the start of the 95-lap race Jamie Whincup got the jump on his teammate, Shane Van Gisbergen but then let him pass him up Watt Street so that Shane Van Gisbergen could close the Driver’s Championship points gap with Scott McLaughlin.
Fabian Coulthard got spun around by Jamie Whincup stopping Fabian Coulthard helping out his teammate, Scott McLaughlin up the front.
Later Fabian Coulthard got himself in more trouble. He made a mistake approaching turn 1 which put him in the wall. He then was also joined by Tim Blanchard and Nick Percat. In fact it was such a mess Nick Percat had half of Fabian Coulthard’s car in his lap. Fabians car looked pretty smashed up and he was out of the race with an NC (not complete). I didn’t think the team would be able to repair the car for Sunday’s race but somehow they worked their magic.
Craig Lowndes followed Scott Pye into pit lane for his pit stop. James Courtney was already in the pits causing Scott Pye to double stack, blocking the pit lane for Craig Lowndes. I’m sure he was mighty pissed off losing that valuable time.
When John McGregor asked Craig Lowndes what happened he replied angrily with ”Bloody Pye blocked the fastlane”.
In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen had enough fuel and tyre grip to chase down the cars in front of him.
However, burning up all that fuel meant when he pitted for his 3rd and final stop there was an extended wait to fill up the race requirement of 140 litres.
Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin was in the lead, heading for victory until the most embarrassing thing of all happened. On the 2nd last corner before the finish line he ran out of fuel! Amazingly his car continued to roll without fuel across the finish line.
Shane Van Gisbergen was close behind taking full advantage and crossed the line ahead of Scott McLaughlin.
Now Shane Van Gisbergen was just 2 points behind Scott McLaughlin in the championship. It was a very unusual finish to the race.
However, after the dust settled at the finish line the Stewards gave Shane Van Gisbergen a 25 second penalty for his car being lowered to the ground while fuelling up at his last pit stop. Whoops!
Gisbergen had lost his win and had now been relegated to finishing 5th in the race. So officially McLaughlin was the winner. With only 1 race for the weekend and season he now had the points to secure this year’s championship.
Results for race 30
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
Before the start of race 31 Craig Lowndes did his final lap around the Newcastle streets circuit waving to all the fans. When he got back he took a walk up the pit lane thanking everybody for their support. All the teams took part in congratulating Craig Lowndes on his fantastic career. All the Triple 8 team members wore a shirt that said ‘Thanks CL’.
Chaz Mostert showed one of the greatest gestures of respect and asked Craig Lowndes to sign his suit.
It was now time for Race 31 and Craig Lowndes was bestowed the honour of leading the drivers out to the start line.
David Reynolds started on pole position and alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.
All the Nissan drivers and cars were pink because they were supporting the McGrath Foundation. It was quite a sight.
As the 95 lap race started David Reynolds led with Scott McLaughlin following during the opening laps.
Scott McLaughlin seemed to be playing it safe which I thought was a good call; If Scott McLaughlin damaged his car and got a DNF he would lose the championship again (last year he lost the championship by only one race). All he had to do was hang in there.
Jamie Whincup helped out teammate Shane Van Gisbergen and pitted early to avoid a double stack.
Tim Blanchard got a pit lane drive through penalty for contact with Simona de Silvestro.
David Reynolds was still leading before his first pit stop.
Meanwhile Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen where battling it out in 2nd and 3rd position for the championship.
For a time they didn’t have the support of their team mates, Jamie Whincup in 7th place and Fabian Coulthard back in 9th.
Michael Caruso was trying to finish on a high with Nissan Motorsport with his contract still up for renewal. He finished the race 19th, gaining 5 places from a starting position 24.
Lee Holdsworth is also another driver without a contract for next season. Mark Winterbottom will be replacing him at Team 18.
Nick Percat didn’t want a repeat of Saturday’s dramas which he thankfully avoided by qualifying further up the grid and running a clean race.
In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen had the front guards on the left and right hanging out. It wasn’t that bad so he wasn’t about to lose time with a pit stop. His race engineer, Grant McPherson said him, ‘If the Safety Car comes out in the next few laps we will pit to fix it’ (but just keep racing).
Towards the end of the race no one else could catch Scott McLaughlin or David Reynolds in 1st and 2nd place.
At that point Ryan Story who is the team manager at Shell V Power Racing was being interviewed by Greg Murphy and said to Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton ‘We are good on fuel today. OK boys!’. LOL.
Right at the end of the race David Reynolds had great pace. Scott McLaughlin knew he had the championship all wrapped up and it seemed he moved over and let David Reynolds take the race win.
Results for Race 31
1st David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
Congratulations to Craig Lowndes on everything you have achieved during your remarkable Supercars career. What you have done for the sport of Supercars racing has been documented. It will be weird not seeing you in the car full time next year. So, well done Craig Lowndes!
Thanks CL!
The next event is the 2019 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour on the 1st to the 3rd of February 2019.
But the Supercars Championship doesn’t start until 28th of February to the 3rd of March 2019.
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.
On the weekend of the 19th to the 21st of October 2018 Was the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 in Queensland, this race track is a Concrete Canyon.
Rick Kelly was fastest in Practice 1, James Golding caused a red flag in the final 30 seconds of practice number 1, meaning that if a car or driver brings out the Red Flag they are not allowed to continue in that session.
Aaren Russell was fastest in practice 2 for the co drivers, while Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in practice 3 for main drivers and Will Davison caused a red flag, when the front left suspension broke and as a result of that Will Davison went into the wall in-between turns 2 and 3.
In Qualifying Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest but in the Top Ten shootout, both Shane Van Gisbergen and James Courtney had their laps deleted by race control for putting all 4 wheels over the curbs at the Virgin Australia back chicane.
In race 26 Scott Mclaughlin and Alex Premat started on pole position alongside them was Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell. Most of the co-drivers started the race accept for 1 main driver which was Craig Lowndes.
The minimum laps the co-drivers had to do were 34 before handing back to the main drivers and the maximum was 68 laps.
At the start of the race Alex Premat was leading the opening lap until Paul Dumbrell tried to make a move on car 17 which didn’t end well for Alex Premat. Because he ended up dropping from 1st to 11th. Which wasn’t ideal for Scott Mclaughlin’s championship hopes. But my first thought was I wouldn’t be surprised if Alex Premat had any damage as a result of the whack with the wall in-between turns 11 and 12.
The incident between Alex Premat and Paul happened on lap 2 which race control said no further action meaning there was no penalty to be issued.
Brad Jones Racing got pinged for losing a wheel, and that wasn’t all they also got fined $5,000 and also got docked 30 team’s championship points, which would not make Brad Jones a very happy team boss.
After Will Brown hit the wall heavily and broke the rear wing the Vodafone safety car was deployed, I thought there was no way that Steve Owen could get passed Will in that spot, but he tried it anyway.
While the Safety car was out, everybody took the opportunity to pit, that was when pit lane got busy.
Both Paul Dumbrell and Earl Bamber copped a drive thru penalty for unsafe pit releases after making contact with James Moffatt.
In the middle of the race most of the co drivers had done their 34 laps. Which was a good the only 1 that hadn’t done the 34 laps was Steven Richards because he didn’t start the race, James Courtney was battling with Craig Lowndes for 2nd spot. He finally got by after James Courtney made a mistake and ran wide.
What happened between the middle and the end? Will Davison tried to get passed Scott Pye while James Courtney was trying to hold back the people’s champion in Craig Lowndes from getting on the podium but wasn’t able to hold him back towards the end of the Race Shane Van Gisbergen had to fighting back because he was down in 15th spot.
Towards the end of the Chaz Mostert was battling Craig Lowndes for the race win, but unfortunately Craig didn’t have enough laps or time to catch up to him. I thought Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards were going to win.
Results for race 26
1st Chaz Mostert & James Moffatt – Supercheap Auto Racing.
2nd Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.
3rd James Courtney & Jack Perkins – Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing.
The only 2 drivers to get a Do Not Finish – DNF or NC – Not Complete were Will Brown and Steve Owen.
In total 24 cars finished race 26.
In Qualifying for race 27, Shane Van Gisbergen was the fastest driver meaning he got the last go in the top 10 Shootout.
The drivers who didn’t set a time were, Jamie Whincup, Scott Mclaughlin and Tim Slade who started 8th 9th and 10th respectively. This means that 3 drivers that started 8th 9th and 10th didn’t complete their laps.
In race 27
David Reynolds and Luke Youlden on pole, alongside them was Chaz Mostert and James Moffatt. What started out as a 102 lap, 300 kilometres race, ended short due to the weather.
Luke Youlden got the jump on and led though the turns 1, 2 and 3. While the start of the race was dry and for the opening, basically all of the co-drivers started accept for Erebus motorsport car 99 which was started with Anton De Pasquale.
After the race got underway the dark clouds started rolling in, I thought oh my god here comes the rain, when the conditions started to get worse everybody was out on the track with dry tyres on.
I thought if the drivers who started the race were out with dry tyres, they could end up hitting the wall if they are not careful.
Steven Richards turned Scott Pye around at turn 4 which normally would mean that Steven Richards would have copped a drive thru penalty.
When Scott Pye and Steven Richards come together Paul Dumbrell was right behind them. And I thought oh no it looked like Paul Dumbrell was going to be involved in the Incident, but thankfully he missed it early on in that. I wondered why Luke Youden had moved over and it was because he knew there was a long way to go which is a good call because if the other doesn’t see you and turns in you can do a pit penalty, which wouldn’t be helpful, especially for the drivers who are in Championship contention,
Which is Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen, so if any of those drivers made a mistake they have either give the spot back or cop a pit lane penalty.
There were 5 cars in the wall at turn 12 when Neil Crompton first started counting them. Which allowed Paul Dumbrell to push on. The rain arrived and it came bucketing down with thunder and lighting at that point I was, oh no this is dangerous for not only drivers, but the fans and camera crew.
The drivers only did 29 laps under green flag racing, before the Vodafone Safety was deployed due to bad weather.
Both the Brad Jones Racing cars ended up in the wall at turn 12 they were driven by Macauley Jones and Ash Walsh. What does this mean? It mean that when the team got back to their Albury workshop they had to start repairing their damaged cars which Brad Jones wouldn’t have been happy with doing.
Also, David Russell ended hitting the wall at the same place due to having no grip.
Jamie Whincup was on standby waiting for Paul Dumbrell to come into the pit lane so that he could get in for his stint. But interesting to note because Paul Dumbrell was stuck in tyres at turn 12 he couldn’t drive car 1 back to the pitlane, so, car 1 went back on the back of a tow truck.
While the Red Flag was out, which meant the race was suspended until the track dried out. I don’t think they wanted another incident like Symonds Plains Tasmania.
But the rains didn’t let up.
The funniest part of race 27 was when Mark Skaife asked Neil Crompton “call him crazy” which was funny, but other people may not have seen it that way.
Even Barry Ryan from Erebus Motorsport said that the race should been stopped because the weather was so bad. And that would make it a non-Event. When tried to restart the race, I thought they were mad in doing so because that would’ve meant the teams would have wrecked race cars and knowing that the next race meeting is a fly away event the teams didn’t want to risk it. Which I thought was a good idea.
When the race was suspended again for the 2nd time Tim Schenken made a call to stop the completely.
Mark Skaife said it was the right call.
There were no results for race 27, their are still 14 points between Scott Mclaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen heading to the ITM Auckland Supersprint on the 2nd to the 4th of November 2018.
On the weekend of the 24th to the 26th of August 2018 was the OTR Supersprint at The Bend in South Australia.
Some interesting statistics from the weekend:
It was Jamie Whincup’s 209th Championship round start.
Garry Rogers Motorsport celebrated their 300th round.
Craig Lowndes started his 289th round.
Also there were 28 cars racing at Tailem Bend instead of just the normal 26.
As they worked through their way of the preliminary activities before the race, there were some unusual results:
Tim Slade was fastest in Practice 1.
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2.
Nick Percat was fastest in Practice 3.
James Courtney qualified 24th and Craig Lowndes qualified 25th due to getting held up by traffic in front of them. No doubt a disappointing result for them.
In race 22 Jamie Whincup started in pole position. Alongside him was his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen.
When the cars headed out on to the Tailem Bend Race track, Garth Tander had stopped on the Parade lap because he had electrical problems.
At the start of the 24-lap race there was contact between Jack Le Brocq and Anton de Pasquale. Jack Le Brocq was spun off track. The officials deducted 25 points from Anton de Pasquale’s Championship total and in a post-race investigation issued him a $3,000 fine with $2,000 suspended for ‘careless contact’. This sounds harsh but was backed by the fact this was Anton de Pasquale’s third offence of a similar nature in the last four rounds.
I couldn’t believe how many spots James Courtney made up on the opening lap and during the race. I thought, ‘Wow! That is remarkable’.
Craig Lowndes pitted early on to get clear track and to avoid double stacking. It worked in his favour because he re-joined the race with no one too close behind so that meant he could do it safely.
In the middle of the race Garth Tander found his problem had not been fixed and his car stopped just before the entry to the pit lane. The Vodafone Safety Car was deployed and the race went to ‘yellow’.
Up to this point Shane Van Gisbergen had a good lead but this then went back to zero because the field was all bunched up. Once Gart Tander was towed off the track and the race went back to green, Shane Van Gisbergen wanted to regain his good lead. He just took off and said, ‘Catch me if you can!’
Towards the end of the race no one could catch the top 3 drivers which were Shane Van Gisbergen, who finished 6.2602 seconds ahead of Rick Kelly. Rick Kelly was followed by Michael Caruso 2.652 seconds later. Jamie Whincup leading the rest of the pack was nearly 4 seconds behind that with Scot McLaughlin in close pursuit. Quite a wide spread in the finish of such a short race.
With a win for Shane Van Gisbergen, the gap between him and Scott McLaughlin was now only 41 points.
Results for Race 22
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Rick Kelly – Nissan Motorsport.
3rd Michael Caruso – Nissan Motorsport.
In race 23 the two Red Bull teammates were again at the front of the grid as in the last race. Jamie Whincup was on pole position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.
At the start of the 41 lap race the best start was from Craig Lowndes, who was 6th on the grid and making excellent headway. He was going so well I thought Triple 8 were going to have a 1st, 2nd and 3rd early on in the race. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
Scott McLaughlin didn’t have the speed all weekend and as result the championship leader qualified 5th both days.
Fabian Coulthard was struggling like his teammate, Scott McLaughlin was all weekend.
The drivers in front made a choice to stay out, which was a good choice but cars further back in the pack came in to not get held up.
David Reynolds was on the charge which paid off for him. Once he gained position he didn’t let up and by the end of the race he had gained 9 spots from 12th on the grid and finished 3rd.
Anton de Pasquale was trying to stay out of trouble. During the Qualifying for the race he had got pinged again for making contact with Simona de Silvestro. Especially after his penalties in race 22 the day before, he had had enough.
It was in the race that Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske took the lead in the Pirtek Pit stop Challenge during Scott McLaughlin’s pit stop.
Craig Lowndes tried to take 7th place from Will Davison but he couldn’t manage the pass and had to stay where he was for the time being.
In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup and Shane were running 1st and 2nd. Roland Dane and his Red Bull Team must have been quite happy at this. Things were looking good.
The Red Bull pair managed to keep their momentum and as the race came to a finish it seemed they were just too quick for everybody else to keep up. Surprisingly this was including Scott McLaughlin.
Results for Race 23
1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd David Reynolds – Freightliner Racing.
Shane Van Gisbergen is now the new Supercars Championship leader but only by 19 points. Can the Red Bull Holden Racing team keep the lead or will Scott McLaughlin take it back? Things are getting very exciting.
The next event is the Rabble Club.com Sandown 500 on the 14th to the 16th of September 2018 which is in 3 weeks’ time.
If you have any thoughts on how the weekend panned feel free to give me your opinon via my Facebook Fanpage I would like hear your feedback.
On the weekend of the 15th to the 17th of June, 2018 was the Crownbet Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.
There was lots of unexpected excitement in the preliminary events leading up to the two races this weekend:
Fastest in Practice 1 was Rick Kelly.
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2 and 3.
David Reynolds was fastest in Qualifying for race 15.
Scott McLaughlin was the fastest in Qualifying for race 16.
Rick Kelly was the fastest in the race shootout.
Same as at last event, the owner of the Erebus Motorsports team Betty Klimenko wasn’t at Darwin because she was sick with the flu. It must be a bad flu for her to stay away. Get well soon Betty!
Also, Fox Sports commentator Russell Ingall wasn’t in attendance either.
Macauley Jones was the wildcard for the weekend.
The LOL moment for the weekend was James Courtney got fined 1,000 dollars for calling Richie Stanaway a ‘Buffoon’ on the last lap of Saturday’s Race.
In practice 3 before Qualifying, Macauley Jones caused a red flag which meant he couldn’t take any further part in the race. The roof of his car was kinked because of the sideways angle he went into the sand trap.
It was also another milestone for Jamie Whincup, starting his 450th race on the weekend.
In race 15 David Reynolds started on pole position. Alongside him was championship leader, Scott McLaughlin.
David Reynolds led early on with Scott McLaughlin in hot pursuit.
On lap 2 David Reynolds cracked under the pressure, locking the right front wheel and running wide. It gave Scott McLaughlin the opening he was looking for to take the race lead.
Andre Heimgartner ran out of room when he was getting towards making it within the top 10. Although he didn’t make it, the point was he gave it a go!
Craig Lowndes qualified in position 12 and moved up 5 spots straight off the grid, which I though was very impressive.
Jamie Whincup almost made contact with the rookie Anton De Pasquale, but in the end backed off the throttle to avoid contact with him. That wouldn’t have been cool. I am also sure Jamie Whincup’s team owner, Roland Dane was happy to see his own driver make a call to back off and not risk his car.
It didn’t stop Jamie Whincup’s aggressive driving style. At the end of the race, Rick Kelly was defending his racing line while Jamie Whincup tried get to around the outside which was a brave move but it didn’t pay off. He ended up getting swamped by Shane Van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes. Jamie Whincup dropped 2 spots from 8th to 6th.
Shane Van Gisbergen chose to stay out on track longer before pitting in order to maintain track position or double stack with Jamie Whicup.
In the middle of the race Fabian Coulthard was getting towards the top 5, desperately wanting a single digit finish position next to his name.
At the end of the race Garth Tander came in to put a fresh set of tyres on which helped him charge through and finished 5th after starting 13th. An impressive effort.
Towards the end of the race nobody could catch the top 3 drivers they were Scott McLaughlin, Shane Van Gisbergen and David Reynolds.
Greg Murphy was hoping that Shane Van Gisbergen got onto the podium on Saturday and wasn’t let down. He finished 2nd after starting 5th on the grid.
Craig Lowndes gained 5 spots, starting 12th and finishing 7th.
Everybody finished race 15. No DNFs.
No one else does the ‘shoey’ (drinking the winner’s Champaign from his driving boot) only David Reynolds. That is GROSS!
For Scott McLaughlin this makes his 6th race win for 2018.
It was very Entertaining race.
Results for race 15
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
In race 16 Rick Kelly started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.
Interesting to note, newcomer Anton De Pasquale made it into the top 10 shootout and started 3rd on the grid.
I’m sure Betty Klimenko would have been very happy and proud of Anton de Pasquale for being on Provisional Pole Position before the shootouts.
Garth Tander also made the top 10 shootout on Sunday.
The 3 Triple 8 cars Qualified 3rd 11th and 14th.
Jamie Whincup gained a better grid position on Sunday compared to Saturday.
I was surprised that David Reynolds starting at 4th position went right around the outside of everybody from turn 1 to take the lead.
Jamie Whincup tried to get into 2nd but it didn’t pay off.
Jamie Whincup and Anton De Pasquale nearly made contact at turn 1 in the opening laps.
Jamie Whincup then dropped a few places and was crowded so came in early to get a clear track.
Fabian Coulthard was inside the top 10 but after he had his first pitstop he was back in the pack a bit.
Pit reporter, Greg Murphy was talking to Barry Ryan, Erebus Team Manager about Anton de Pasquale’s race excellent performance and how moving David Reynolds to the other side of the garage was to help more to improve Anton de Pasquale’s consistency.
This year was Macauley Jones’ 2nd year as a wildcard in Darwin. Brad Jones was happy to see his progression. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up a full-time driver in the future.
A lot of cars that started in the top 10 stayed out longer while the going was good.
David Reynolds must have been really happy with his performance leading in the opening stint of the race after also finishing on the podium for race 15 the day before.
In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin had smoke pouring out the back. My first thought was to bring it in, check it over, then fix it.
He did come into the pits but after he turned off the pit lane speed limiter the smoke started pouring out again. Then I started to think there is no way he would make it to the finish with the amount laps that were left. Comentator, Neil Crompton said the same thing but somehow, he made it to the finish line.
Later the team revealed the reason why Scott McLaughlin had smoke coming out of the back of his car was because of an overheating problem. Fabian Coulthard also suffered the same overheating problem.
Will Davison got through both of the races which was a great effort considering he had a moon boot on due to hurting his left ankle during training for the Darwin event.
Towards the end of the race it was getting very exciting to watch because David Reynolds was heading for another win in 2018.
Craig Lowndes gained 4 spots by starting 14th and finishing 10th.
There were 3 DNFS; Cameron Waters, Lee Holdsworth and Jack Le Brocq.
Cameron Waters car stopped on the main straight due to overheating and when interviewed by Riana Crehan he wasn’t happy at all.
In the end no one could catch the top 3 drivers – which were David Reynolds, Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup.
What an amazing weekend for David Reynolds!
The next event is the Watpac Townsville 400 on the 6th to the 8th of July, 2018.
Results for race 16
1st David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
On the weekend of the 6th to the 8th of April 2018 was the Tyrepower Tasmainia Supersprint.
It is interesting to see Supercars trying a brand new Qualifying format based on the Formula 1 method. This was the first run and it went well. There was good feedback from all the drivers, teams, commentators and spectators.
In race 7 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position and alongside him was Jamie Whincup.
On the first of the 50-lap race Craig Lowndes who started in fourth position tried to go in between Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup but that didn’t work so he had to drop back to third.
Shane Van Gisbergen continued to lead the opening laps. Then the Red Bull Holden Racing Team pitted Shane Van Gisbergen on lap 5 for track position but Mark Dutton later admitted the strategy was wrong and too soon to be of benefit.
Commentator, Mark Skaife was also surprised that Shane Van Gisbergen came in as early as he did. I’m guessing there was some sort of plan but it didn’t work out for the best.
Shane Van Gisbergen’s early pit stop put Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes into 1st and 2nd spot.
Before their pit stops took place Jamie Whincup continued as the leader of the race with Craig Lowndes behind him.
During the first half of the race Rick Kelly didn’t leave enough racing room for Cameron Waters to sneak past him at turn 2 which he didn’t like.
Michael Caruso’s contact with another car left his Nissan Altama’s front left headlight and panel smashed in, needing to be patched up while in pit lane. The pit team finding yet another use for Gaffe Tape
On lap 23 Chaz Mostert pitted. When leaving the pit lane to re-join the racetrack the seal panel on his car 55 caught fire. The cabin filled with smoke and Chaz Mostert seemed to struggle when he climbed out and walked away from the car. The repairs needed to get back out on the track were too extensive and he ended the race with a DNF (Did Not Finish).
It seemed no one else could catch the top 3 drivers Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes and James Courtney. The finish was still a nail biter with Craig Lowndes doing his best to take the number one position from Jamie Whincup. The pressure brought out some amazing last minute driving from both of them. Ultimately Jamie Whincup prevailed.
Mark Skaife said that if Craig Lowndes was on pole position for Saturday’s Race he would have won and I agree. He was in his best form.
But Jamie Whincup doesn’t give over that easily and this gives him his 110th career race win! Congratulations Jamie!
Results for race 7
1st Jamie Whincup – Red Holden Racing Team. 2nd Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing. 3rd James Courtney – Walkinshaw Andretti United.
You will have to excuse the way this sounds but it is the honest truth (I love the play on words). In Qualifying for Race 8, Triple 8 qualified 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
So in Race 8 Craig Lowndes started on pole position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him. The last time Craig Lowndes started on pole position was back in 2016, Race 16 at Queensland Raceway.
At the start of the 84 lap Race Craig Lowndes got the right amount of wheelspin to get swamped off pole position. Michael Caruso got damage on the front left-hand corner of car 23 due to a concertina pile up. Richie Stanaway also didn’t have a good start to race 8. He had damage on the left rear of the Mega Bolts Fuel car 56 which didn’t make Richie Stanaway happy at all. He has just joined Supercars as a fulltime driver (rookie) and just needs to go through the learning curve. I think he is a great driver and in no time he will be one of the drivers to watch for.
Craig Lowndes was enjoying being in the lead of the race and out of trouble.
Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t have a good race at all due to a mechanical issue with the clutch.
I thought there was no way Shane Van Gisbergen would finish the race due his gearbox dramas and just wasn’t able to get the speed he wanted because of his lack of control over the clutch.
Grant Mcpherson who is Shane Van Gisbergen’s race engineer asked him if he wanted to come in and get it fixed or press on. To my surprise Shane Van Gisbergen made the choice to press on.
Intresting to note Chris O Toole who is the Car Controller at Tickford Racing was not in Tasmania last weekend due to being injured and coming off his bike. As a result Matty Robert filled in as car controller.
In the middle of the race Craig Lowndes was getting held up by Chaz Mostert before he pitted for his first stop.
Grant McPherson said to Shane Van Gisbergen I am ready to bring it in, are you? – meaning Grant Mcpherson felt the risks were too high and it was time to bring the car into the garage to fix the throttle issue. Neil Crompton and Mark Skaife both agreed also saying it was time to bring the car into the pits otherwise Shane Van Gisbergen would have lost the car.
According to what Mark Dutton said, he could see When Shane Van Gisbergen came into the pits for 2nd and final stop the Red Bull Holden Racing Team dived in to the foot well of Shane Van Gisbergen’s car to try and resolve the Issue. Pretty soon though, the Red Bull Mechanic was shaking his head. That said everything and I knew straight away that he couldn’t fix it.
The Drama was Shane Van Gisbergen’s throttle kept running on at the end od the back and turn 4 in first gear.
I felt they should have brought the car in earlier and they may have been able to make the repair and at least try to get a solid result. By leaving it so late there was not enough time to get back out on track.
Towards the end of the no one else could catch the top 3 drivers which were Craig Lowndes, Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup.
Once again Craig Lowndes showing great form along with Jamie Whincup. They both made a podium finish for both races over the weekend.
Results for race 8
1st Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing. 2nd Scott Mclaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team. 3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing.
Jamie Whincup is now the Championship leader but only by 11 points.
Craig Lowndes two podium finishes over the weekend places him in 6th spot on the Championship ladder, only 61 points away from the Championship lead.
His win in Race 8 also means Craig Lowndes has earned his 106th career win, only 5 away from Jamie Whincup’s total wins.
The next event is the WD40 Phillip Island 500, on the 20th to the 22nd of April 2018.
Welcome to the V8 Supercars Championship season for 2018.
The new season finds V8 Supercars with a new CEO, Sean Seamer. He takes over from James Warburton who left the position last year.
The Adelaide 500 is the first official race of the season and was run on the weekend of the 1st to the 4th of March 2018.
In Qualifying on the Friday both Cameron Waters and Jamie Whincup hit the wall at turn 8 which forced both the Monster Energy Racing Team and the Red Bull Holden Racing Team to do all-nighters on repairs. The Red Bull team didn’t finish Jamie Whincup’s car until 4:15AM.
Regardless of this incident Jamie Whincup was still the fastest in Practice 1 and made the top 10 shootout, starting the first race in 5th position.
In race 1 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position and alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.
At the start of the 78-lap race, Rick Kelly hit the wall coming out of turn 3 causing him to limp back to the pits for repairs.
After Rick Kelly got back to the pits he was interviewed by Greg Murphy about the damage his Nissan Altima received. He told Greg Murphy that it was due to a bent steering arm but it soon became clear that with the resulting damage he wouldn’t be going back out onto the track very soon. It was very unfortunate and cost him a lot of time. He had started from 7th position on the grid but finished 23rd only ahead of the NCs (not completes).
There are 5 full time Rookies in field this year:
Jack Le Brocq Holden car 19
James Golding Holden car 34
Richie Stanaway Ford car 56
Anton De Pasquale Holden car 99
Andre Heimgartner Nissan car 7
During the opening stages the rookies didn’t know what was to come given that it was their first race in the main game. All up I think they did a great job.
Chaz Mostert raced very well considering he didn’t make the top ten shootout in Qualifying due to a red flag. I am sure he wouldn’t have been happy with that but was making up for it during this race.
Richie Stanaway and James Golding made contact with the wall. Richie Stanaway was in a really awkward position and had to use reverse gear to try and get out of the tyre stack. As one of the rookies he proved his worth and persisted. Unfortunately a car issue caused a DNF only one lap short of completing the race. He must have been really disappointed.
In the middle of the race Craig Lowndes was running strong under his new team, Autobarn Lowndes Racing before he got a shoved up the rear by Garth Tander. He slid sideways but managed to keep on track. It was a tense moment for sure.
Towards the end of race 1 no one else could catch the top 3 drivers which were Shane Van Gisbergen, James Courtney and Scott McLaughlin.
Shane Van Gisbergen made it look too easy as he confidently held his position 1 right to the end.
Results for race 1
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd James Courtney – Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing
3rd Scott Mclaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
In race 2 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position again and alongside him was his teammate Jamie Whincup.
At the start of the 78 lap 250 kilometre race Jamie Whincup got the jump off the front row on the grid. Shane Van Gisbergen was happy to see his teammate lead the race into the first chicane.
On lap 2 the drivers settled into their race pace and the pack started chasing the two Red Bull leaders trying to close the 2.6 second lead they had.
After the first round of stops the race lead went back to car 1, Jamie Whincup.
As the opening laps were complete it appeared Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t have the pace he normally delivered. When interviewed later he stated there were car setup dramas affecting speed and in good sportsmanship said it was teammate, Jamie Whincup’s race.
Jamie Whincup was flying which was good to see. I thought he had it in the bag and was surely going to win.
Later David Reynolds was in a good spot and racing hard, then nearly hit the wall at turn 8. Luckily he didn’t.
No one else could catch the race leaders at this point of the race.
With 30 laps to go Jamie Whincup was still out front and cruising but then his gearbox failed and he started to slow and had to pull in to the pits. When Jamie got out of car he was gutted when David Cauchi took his head set off. He knew what it meant. The last time Jamie had a DNF was in the 2013 Gold Coast 600. His 136 race finishing streak was broken on Sunday.
Towards the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen still had the lead. David Reynolds tried to pressure him into an error but it didn’t work.
So once again for the second time on the weekend, Shane Van Gisbergen took 1st place. What an amazing result for him and the Red Bull team.
Results for race 2
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport
3rd Garth Tander – Garry Rogers Motorsport
The next event is the Coates Hire Supercars Melbourne 400.
In race 23 the two Red Bull teammates were again at the front of the grid as in the last race. Jamie Whincup was on pole position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.
