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ITM Auckland Supersprint 2018 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the World!

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.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/ if you have any thoughts or Opinions on how the race weekend went please feel free to let me know via my Facebook Fanpage.

 

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Vodafone Gold Coast 600 2018 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans Around the world!

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.

 

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/ if you have any thoughts on the how the weekend went please feel free to let me know via my Facebook Fan page.

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OTR Supersprint the Bend 2018 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

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.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

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Coates Hire Ipswich Supersprint 2018 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 20th to the 22nd of July 2018 was the Coates Hire Ipswich Supersprint.

This was a weekend of some unusual events and some big fines for drivers and teams with Chaz Mostert losing a front position on the grid. Also, Jamie Whincup and the Erebus Team received fines for some strange behaviour.

This weekend Russell Ingall was out on track in Shane Van Gisbergen’s car for the additional co-driver session. He was sitting in for Earl Bamber who is still overseas racing on other events.

Russel Ingall is like the ‘go-to man’ when someone needs an extra driver. He is always happy to get there.

Jamie Whincup did a practice start in the wrong spot. It was a poor decision and received $1,000 fine with $500 suspended to the end of the year.

The Erebus team was also fined but much more severely, $10,000 with $5,000 suspended to the end of the 2019 season. This was for an infringement during Anton De Pasquale’s pit stop. The car was dropped while an Erebus crew member was still working on the front left wheel. The mechanic was knocked to the ground but apparently not injured. I guess it’s one of those things where the person at the wheel (on the right side of the car) has no way of knowing what is going on below at the front left. It is one hell of a fine. Fair or unfair? What do you think? If you have a point of view post it on https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

Will Davison revealed the new sponsor signage on his car from Milwaukee. The change also meant he was issued with a new car number, 120 (from his old number 230).

In race 19 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position.

Chaz Mostert was supposed to be alongside pole but was penalised for blocking Shane Van Gisbergen in Qualifying, so his start position was shuffled from 2nd to 5th. As a result Fabian Coulthard joined his teammate on the grid front row.

At the start of the 39-lap race Scott McLaughlin didn’t get the ideal start and I was sure Fabian Coulthard would take the lead. However, even with a bad start Scott McLaughlin still has the speed and skill that is hard to contend with and he managed to hold his number 1 position.

Fabian Coulthard was cheered on by his partner, Becky Lamb and their kids who attended the races over the weekend.

I couldn’t believe the amazing start that Shane Van Gisbergen got. After qualifying 8th on the grid, he was in the 3rd spot by turn 2. I thought it was an amazing piece of driving. Well done Shane Van Gisbergen.

David Reynolds was pulling out all stops to try and stay in championship contention. If he wants this to happen he will have to prove himself all the way to the end of the season. As commentator Mark Skaife said, that it is pretty questionable because he is too far behind in terms of points.

Garth Tander and Rick Kelly spent some quality time up close and personal as they battled for position 5 and 6.

In the middle of the race Craig Lowndes was on the charge to get to the front of the field from his qualifying position of 10th. It worked out well and he did finish 3rd. It seems Queensland Raceway is his cup of tea. This is his 23rd podium finish on this track.

During the telecast, commentator Mark Larkham talked about the introduction of Ford Mustang for the 2019 season. That ought to shake things up a bit. They will not come into the game without the intention of winning so the competition will be tough.

Scott McLaughlin once again showed his stuff and was the race winner earning 150 points to his season tally. As a result this extends his championship lead from what was 131 points to 143 points. Scott McLaughlin! You missed out on the championship last year by bad luck. Will 2018 be your year?

Results for race 19

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

In race 20 once again, Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

At the start of the 65 lap race James Courtney, Scott Pye and Mark Winterbottom all made contact which resulted in a lot of damage. All three were forced to return to the pits for repairs.

Shane Van Gisbergen led the entire way. I was happy to finally see a Triple 8 car up front instead of Scott McLaughlin.

Craig Lowndes came in to get his first pit stop out of the so he wouldn’t have double stack with Jack Le Brocq. I think was a good strategy that he must keep in mind because if the Vodafone safety car was deployed then Craig Lowndes would have to double stack behind Jack Le Brocq which can cause serious loss in track time.

Soon after the start Nick Percat went off the race track at turn 1 due to a flat left front tyre.

Fabian Coulthard took the opportunity to come into the pits while teammate Scott McLaughlin was running 2nd and staying out to maintain track position.

Chaz Mostert also stayed out early on for the same reason because he was racing near the front.

After the incident at the start causing Mark Winterbottom to spend repair time in the pits, he was able to rejoice on return to the track even though a couple of laps behind race leader Shane Van Gisbergen. I personally was quite surprised that Mark Winterbottom was able to get back out there.

James Courtney on the other hand did not re-join the race because he had too much damage to continue.

Garth Tander and Rick Kelly were once again battling it out this weekend. In race 19 it was for 5th and 6th, this time it was for positions 9th and 10th.

In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin was trying to catch Shane Van Gisbergen. Scott McLaughlin might have the speed to earn him all his pole positions but out on the track Shane Van Gisbergen is a hard man to beat.

As the race came to its end Chaz Mostert was running 3rd under heavy pressure from Jamie Whincup who is never happy without a podium finish. Chaz Mostert kept him at bay and kept his position to the end.

Shane Van Gisbergen who led the entire race came across the line triumphantly more than 2 seconds ahead of Scott McLaughlin.

Results for Race 20

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
3rd Chaz Mostert – Tickford Racing.
4th Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

The next event is the Red Rooster Sydney SuperNight 300 on the 3rd and 4th of August 2018.

The funniest moment of weekend was after Neil Crompton had finished interviewing Craig Lowndes. Craig Lowndes (having grown up as a fan of Greg Murphy) went to the port-a-loo yelling ‘5 minutes’ whilst acting out a tantrum in jest of a Greg Murphy incident at Bathurst back in 2002. Crompton immediately got the joke and had a good laugh.

 

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crownbet Darwin Triple Crown 2018 Supercars

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Crownbet Darwin Triple Crown 2018

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

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

 

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Supercars Winton Supersprint 2018

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HI to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 18th to the 20th of May 2018 was the Winton Supersprint in Melbourne Victoria at the Winton Motor Raceway.

It was a weekend of milestones for a few drivers:

·        Lee Holdsworth celebrated his 400th race
·        Craig Lowndes his 650th race start
·        Michael Caruso celebrated his 150th round start

It is unfortunate to note, James Courtney missed the 2 practices sessions on Friday due to being taken to hospital on Friday night with a gastro bug.  Also, Roland Dane was not at Winton due to being on the other side of the world.  

LOL moment of the weekend was when Neil Crompton interviewed Fabian Coulthard. He tried to put a beanie on Neil Crompton’s head while he was on the grid and Neil Crompton’s response was, get it off you Lunatic!!.

In the co drivers session Earl Bamber who is a 2 times Le Man winner 2015 & 2017 was acting co-driver for the Triple 8 team. He went out because he had no experiences driving in a Supercar.  It is a hell of a way to enter the field with such little Supercar experience. Credit to him.

Saturday came and all was set for the 13th race of the season. Scott McLaughlin started on pole position for the 40 lap race and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard. Scott McLaughlin got the jump to lead into turn 1 while his teammate Fabian Coulthard seemed to have a really bad start and dropped all the way down to 5th.

On the opening lap there was contact between Simona De Silvestro, Todd Hazelwood and David Reynolds. As a result David Reynolds had to limp back to the pits for the Erebus team to repair his car. His frustration was clear, knowing he was losing plenty of lap time so early on.

The other drivers went into the pits for tyres but Craig Lowndes, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup chose to stay out because of where they qualified. I think it was a good call as it allowed them to gain track position. Fabian Coulthard was the first of the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske car to stop due to his poor start. Fabain Coulthard choose to pit Early to get caught in Traffic out on Track to also have clear and clear pit lane

In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin was still leading the race which would have made the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske crew happy. Rick Kelly was racing behind Scott McLaughlin for most of the race. Jamie Whincup wanted to get on the podium to get another trophy to add to the Triple 8 collection but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. So he ended the outside the top 10 in 17th which didn’t help him close the points to current Championship leader Scott Mclaughlin.

Towards the end of the race the Vodafone Safety Car was deployed due to Tim Blanchard getting bogged in the sand trap between turns 3 and 4.

Then on the restart Scott McLaughlin had not got the right amount of temperature into his tyres which meant  he had  lost the race lead to Rick Kelly and dropped back to as far as 5th spot.

Todd Kelly was nervous because he wasn’t used to watching the race from the Nissan Motorsport garage. I bet he was happy to see his brother win the race.

Shane Van Gisbergen started 14th gained 11 spots to finish 3rd. Craig Lowndes started 24th, gained 11 spots to finish 13th.

Jamie Whincup started 11th finished 17th so he dropped 6 spot.

David Reynolds started 17th and finished 25th.

As a result Craig Lowndes is now 3rd in the championship.

The only driver to get a DNF (did not finish) complete was Cameron Waters.

Result for race 13

1st Rick Kelly – Castrol Racing Nissan Motorsport.
2nd Scott Pye – Mobil 1 Mobile Racing.
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
4th Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team.
5th Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.

 

In race 14 Scott McLaughlin started pole position alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.

At the start of the 67 lap, 200 kilometre race Scott McLaughlin went 1st to 8th with Fabian Coulthard leading the early stages of the race.

Scott McLaughlin came in to the pits on lap 5 to get out of the traffic. On return to the race his timing gave him clear track speed and clear air. I thought there was no way that Scott McLaughlin was going to re-join the race track safely.

David Reynolds wasn’t happy with qualifying 26th he thought he was going to qualify up near the front of the grid. Interesting to note on the Supercars coverage Russell Ingall, Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard were wearing beanies to keep their heads warm. Mark Skaife mocked them saying, ‘they looked very average’.  

Craig Lowndes was not happy with qualifying  23rd he would have been happier with qualifying inside the top 10 but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. He decided to stay out and make positions from his poor qualifying which paid off. Because he was out with a clear racetrack.

Michael Carso and Rick were battling for position which allowed the cars in front of them to gap the cars behind. When I saw how far Scott McLaughlin had dropped back I thought there was no way he was going to win Sunday’s race and the race for was going to be difficult for him to recover.

In the middle of the race Fabian Coulthard was leading until he had to come into pit lane for his 2nd pit stop. Which meant that all the cars that were behind him moved up 1 spot each. Craig Lowndes had gained 22 spots at one stage to take the race lead only because had not pitted at that point.

Towards the end of the of the race Fabian Coulthard had a 14 second gap over the 2nd placed car which was Shane Van Gisbergen. which is not heard of much these days. 

the end of the race was really exciting to watch and congratulations to Fabian Coulthard, Shane Van Gisbergen and Scott Mclaughlin.

The gap between 1st and 2nd in the Championship is just now 131. Jamie Whincup is now 326 points behind. Craig Lowndes is only 299 points behind.

Fabian Coulthard was heading for his first win for 2018 with Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.

The last that Fabian Coulthard had won at Winton Motor Raceway was 2014 With Brad Jones Racing.

The next is the Crown bet Darwin Triple Crown on the 15th to the 17th of June 2018.

Results for race 14

1st Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing team
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team

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Perth Supersprint 2018

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of 4th to the 6th of May 2018 was the Perth Supersprint at Barbagallo Raceway, Western Australia.

It’s interesting to note Will Davison started his 400th race in Supercars which is an awesome milestone to reach. Also interesting to note, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup started 12th and 14th on the grid respectively due to not making it into Q3. That meant that Craig Lowndes was the only Triple 8 car to get in get into the top 10 starting 8th on the grid. Rick Kelly had to start last at the back of the grid for Race 11 due to having an engine failure in Qualifying.

In practice 1 Andre Heimgartner was fastest for Nissan Motorsport in car 7.

In practice 2 Scott McLaughlin was fastest in car 17.

In practice 3 Will Davison was fastest in car 400.

In race 11 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Cameron Waters. At the start of the 50 lap race Scott McLaughlin got jump on Cameron Waters into turn 1 which I am sure he was happy with that.

Fabian Coulthard was not far behind his teammate early on but because Fabian Coulthard was battling Mark Winterbottom it allowed Scott McLaughlin to pull away by 3 seconds.

If Mark Winterbottom was able to get by Fabian Coulthard earlier than what he did, Scott McLaughlin wouldn’t have had a 3 second margin on everybody else.

Jack Le Brocq made the choice to come in so that Craig Lowndes wouldn’t have to double stack.

Anton De Pasquale in car 99 got a 10 second time penalty for a false start due to being outside of the start grid marking where he should have been positioned.  His team Erebus Motorsports owner, Betty Klimenko was not in Perth due to her having the flu. I am sure he was happy she was not there to see it happen. It was an unfortunate mistake.     

Commentator, Mark Skaife didn’t know whether James Courtney was coming into the pit lane or staying out for another lap but he was. Then as he was coming up to the pit lane entry James Courtney got spun by his former teammate, Garth Tander which would have made James Courtney not happy at all.

In the middle of the race as Chaz Mostert was coming in for his final pit stop he got turned around by Jamie Whincup. Chaz Mostert shook his head. He too wasn’t happy.

The Barbagallo raceway is full of sand which means if you get stuck and bogged you can’t get out without help.

Surprisingly there were no Vodafone Safety Car Periods because the drivers who went off track somehow managed to get back on with no problem.

Towards the end of race Scott McLaughlin was leading the race with a 5 second lead over Mark Winterbottom in 2nd place. The end of the race was really exciting! It Gave Scott McLaughlin his 3rd race win of the year so far and he is the still the championship leader by 158-point lead over Shane Van Gisbergen. Scott McLaughlin now has 1247 points over his closest competitor which is still Shane Van Gisbergen on 1089. Jamie Whincup who led the Championship by just 11 points going into Phillip Island, he is now 268 points adrift of Scott McLaughlin. Craig Lowndes is in 4th in the points and only 194 points from Scott McLaughlin.

Jamie Whincup had crossed the finish line 6th behind Craig Lowndes, but after getting a 5 second penalty for turning Chaz Mostert around at turn 7 he was dropped from 6th to 11th in the results after the end of the race.

Tim Blanchard had a DNF (Did Not Finish) otherwise known as NC (Not Complete). So he was the only car out of 26 to not finish the race.

 

Results for race 11

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Mark Winterbottom – Tickford Racing
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
4th Tim Slade – Freightliner Racing
5th Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

 

In Race 12 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position. Alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

Interesting to note in race 12 Fabian Coulthard started down in position number 17. Scott McLaughlin, Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander started in positions 19th, 25th and 26th. It was a surprise to see them in those positions as they all normally start within the top 10 spots.

Jamie Whincup got the jump on Shane Van Gisbergen due to him not getting the right amount of wheel spin. As a matter of fact, Shane Van Gisbergen nearly bogged down off the front row from Position 1.

In the early laps Todd Hazelwood and Garth Tander made contact with James Golding. The safety car was despatched and the race went to ‘yellow’.

James Golding and Garth Tander are teammates so I am sure this would’ve not made Garry Rogers, their team boss very happy at all.

Unlike the other drivers taking the opportunity to pit, Will Davison didn’t want to double stack. He chose to stay out on the track and got to lead race 12 in his 400th race. It must have been extra nice for him on this occasion.

Tim Blanchard looked like he was going to make contact with Will Davison but for the sake of Will Davison thankfully didn’t.

A short time later, Scott Pye got spun around by Richie Stanaway.

Mark Skaife was quite surprised that Scott McLaughlin didn’t end up in drama throughout the race because of where he started on the grid. The idea being that, to make his way to the front he was going to push hard and possibly take risks.

Scott McLaughlin didn’t think he had a chance to win race 12.

I was so proud of the effort Craig Lowndes made to start from 25th and finish 3rd. Well done! Great effort mate!

Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton couldn’t believe how many cars and how many positions he had gained, 21 in total.

I couldn’t believe Scott McLaughlin missed all the carnage on track and managed to keep his car straight without putting a scratch on it. 

Fabian Coulthard got pit priority because Scott McLaughlin started in 19th.

Jack Le Brocq also got pit priority because Craig Lowndes started in position 25.

In the middle of the race Tim Slade went off the race track between turns 3 and 4. Shane Van Gisbergen was tight in behind him and had to take evasive action to not hit Tim Slade’s ZB Holden Commodore.

Towards the end of the race the finish things became very exciting. David Reynolds went off track on approach to turn 7 which could have given 2nd place to Craig Lowndes. It looked bad for David Reynolds but he surprisingly made it out of the sand trap. If he had decided to put his foot on the brake pedal at that moment he would surely have been bogged in the sand.

Scott McLaughlin proved his abilities. He moved up 18 spots from 19th to 1st.  

Craig Lowndes started 25th moved up to 3rd which in total is 22 position gained. He received 129 points for that race and in is still 4th in terms of the championship, 194 points behind Scott McLaughlin.

Scott McLaughlin’s head to head wins in races 11 and 12 gives him a 158 point lead over Shane Van Gisbergen. Another amazing weekend for Scott McLaughlin.

In the next race at Winton Motor Raceway, Lee Holdsworth will start his 400th race in Supercars. Congratulation Lee Holdsworth, I’m looking forward to it almost as much as you!

Results for race 12

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport
3rd Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

Post Race Report, Supercars

WD40 Phillip Island 500 2018

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 20th to the 22nd of April 2018 was the WD 40 Phillip Island 500.

It was an exciting weekend of racing and also marked several milestones; Mark Winterbottom started his 200th round, Rick Kelly started his 500th race and Brad Jones Racing Team competed in their 250th round. So congratulations to all of you.

In the lead up to the race there were a few surprises. In practice 1 both Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert went off at the Southern Loop at turn 2.

During the Qualifying round Fabian Coulthard received a technical infringement due to a rear wing drama so, regardless of earning 2nd position to start race 9 he ended up at the back of the grid in the 26th position. It must have been a disappointing result for him and the team but keep reading and you will see he wasn’t the only one caught out by penalties.

As they lined up for race 9, Scott McLaughlin started on pole position with Jamie Whincup alongside him. As a 24 year old (and regardless of what a great driver he is) Scott McLaughlin surely must have felt the pressure of having a seasoned pro like Jamie Whincup alongside him.

With Fabian Coulthard’s relegation to from second to 26th, Shane Van Gisbergen started 3rd and Craig Lowndes started in 4th spot.

At the start of the 57-lap race Jamie Whincup got the jump into turn 1 first and led early on with Scott McLaughlin close behind him. Mark Winterbottom nearly went off the racetrack approaching the ‘Hayshed’ and nearly made contact with Richie Stanaway, a scenario that would not have made for a good debrief afterwards at Tickford Racing.

I thought Fabain Coulthard would pit early because of where he started but he didn’t.

Shane Van Gisbergen had a steering wheel issue. The Red Bull Holden Racing Team had a new steering wheel all ready to go but it was too big and Shane Van Gisbergen’s knees couldn’t fit under it. The team reversed the decision and somehow they made it through the race without the change. A strange situation if there ever was one.

Craig Lowndes stayed out on track longer than desired because Jack Le Brocq had priority and pitted first.

Jamie Whincup and Scott McLaughlin pitted at the same time. Scott McLaughlin followed Jamie Whincup into the pit lane and whether it was on purpose or not, gave him a nudge from behind.

Then on exiting the pit lane Jamie Whincup turned off his pit lane speed limiter too early. He realised immediately and turned it back on. Unfortunately the mistake would come back to bite him later on.

In the middle of the race I couldn’t stop laughing at Mark Skaife when he said to Neil Crompton, ‘you are Nostradamus’, because he was already predicting the race winner.

Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin was being chased down by Jamie Whincup for the race win. Scott McLaughlin prevailed and was just too quick so Jamie Whincup finished 2nd.

Unfortunately for Jamie Whincup his podium finish was a short lived ideal. The officials gave him a 38 second time penalty for his earlier error in turning off his pit lane speed limiter. The time penalty was supposed to be the equivalent to a drive through penalty had it been issued during the race. This was a real downer for Jamie Whincup who now officially finished 14th. Not a great situation for his scoreboard totals. The second and third positions subsequently went to Rick Kelly and Shane Van Gisbergen.

Result for Race 9

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Rick Kelly – Nissan Motorsport
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
4th Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

In race 10 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was David Reynolds.

At the start of 57 lap race Scott McLaughlin led into turn 1.

On lap 8 James Courtney who drives for Walkinshaw Andretti United in car number 25  stopped and couldn’t get back into the pit lane due to a broken transaxle. As a result the Vodafone Safety Car was deployed. Then the car had to be pushed up to the pit garage. Regardless of whether the team could fix it or not, he was ‘benched’ due to not being able to get the car back to the pit garage under his own steam.

When Scott McLaughlin was re-joining the race after his first pit stop the timing was just a few seconds late and he had to merge into traffic instead of being ahead of them. This was a costly few seconds and he lost track position.

Craig Lowndes Qualified 13th for race 10 finished 7th and moved up 6 spots from Qualifying spot,

Shane Van Gisbergen performed a lot better on the Sunday after he was Struggling a lot due to a steering drama.

In the middle of the race David Reynolds tried to hold off Scott McLaughlin but it was in vain. Scott McLaughlin had better pace and more grip so he managed to get passed David Reynolds quickly and easily.

Towards the end of the race no one else could catch the top 3 drivers; Scott McLaughlin, David Reynolds and Rick Kelly.

Results for race 10

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport
3rd Rick Kelly – Nissan Motorsport.

The next event is the Perth Supersprint on the 4th to the 6th of May 2018.

Also, the Formula 1 qualifying system used at Symmons Plains, Tasmania will again be used at Barbagallo Western Australia. I can’t wait for it. It should be fantastic!

 

 

 

Post Race Report, Supercars

Tyrepower Tasmainia Supersprint 2018

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

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.

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Coates Hire Supercars Melbourne 400

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 22nd to the 25th of March 2018 was the Coates Hire Supercars Melbourne 400 at Albert Park.  This year there has been a change to the Melbourne 400. It is now officially a part of the Championship and the teams and drivers were racing for points for the first time.

This now became round 2 of the championship and included races 3, 4, 5 and 6.

It was also a milestone for Jamie Whincup with this being his 200th championship event.

In race 3 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position, alongside him was his teammate Fabian Coulthard. Craig Lowndes started 17th which wasn’t ideal, but it was because James Golding held him up on his ‘hot lap’ during Qualifying.

At the start of the 25 lap race, Scott McLaughlin led into turn 1 in front of Fabian Coulthard while everybody else was settling down into their race pace.

During the opening laps Simona De Silvestro was trying to pass Jack Le Brocq, but in the end it resulted in Simona De Silvestro having damage on the left front corner of her car # 78. She managed to get back to the pits but things didn’t look good and she was out of the race getting a DNF or NC (Not Complete).

When the pit stops started to happen Scott McLaughlin and the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske had an issue with their pit gear. It resulted in them losing the lead track position to Jamie Whincup.

Interesting to note this wasn’t the only incident for the team on the weekend. During practice, Mark Skaife saw one of Dick Johnson Racing (DJR) Team Penske’s wheel nearly go onto Jamie Whincup car, so the guy from DJR tapped the mechanic on the shoulder to say that’s the wrong wheel for the wrong car! LOL!

In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup was still the leader until Scott McLaughlin found a way around him at turn 3. It was a great pass, nice and clean. It allowed him to later take off and put some space between him and Jamie Whincup.

Towards the end of the race nobody else could catch the three leaders. Scott McLaughlin crossed the finish line first about 1.3 seconds ahead of Jamie Whincup. Fabian Coulthard followed him about 1 second later.

After Simona De Silvestro’s NC, the 24 of 25 remaining cars finished the race.

Results for race 3

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team.
4th Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

 

In race 4 Jamie Whincup started on pole position and alongside him was Scott McLaughlin. The race started behind the Mercedes Safety Car due to the rain, and wet weather, but Jamie still led for pretty much the entire race.

Once the race went under green after starting under yellow Jamie Whincup just took off. Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin couldn’t keep up the with Jamie Whincup’s car  #1. He made two mistakes due to wet conditions but managed to stay out front.

During the opening laps everyone else was settling down into a race pace. 

There were no pit stops because it was only a 13 lap race.

David Reynolds was already on ‘wets’ for the start because it was safer than being on dry weather slicks (tyres).

Craig Lowndes once again started at the back of the pack in 26th position due to getting held up and not getting a clear track in the Qualifying.

It wasn’t the end of his bad luck. In the opening laps he came together with another driver which caused a steering problem. He was forced to pull into the pits. When Greg Murphy interviewed Craig Lowndes later, he said the steering ‘was bent and Cactus’. It was his first Did Not Finish – Not Complete for 2018.

In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup was still leading the race and on target for his first win of the year.

Towards the end of the race Jamie Whincup took the chequered flag and he also took his 109th career win in Supercars!

Results for race 4

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Scott McLaughlin -Shell V Power Racing team.

3rd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
4th Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

 

In race 5 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Nick Percat.

At the start of the 25-lap race Scott McLaughlin got the jump into turn 1 for the 1st time which he was happy with.

Then after the opening lap Scott McLaughlin made a big mistake by running off the race track in between turns 1 and 2. This put Scott Pye and Jamie Whincup into 1st and 2nd which they knew would have been a great result for both drivers.

Scott Pye was out in front being chased  by Jamie Whincup when the rain came pelting down.  

A lot of the drivers nearly lost control of their cars on the slippery pit apron.  Garth Tander wasn’t warned about the wet pit box and he come in at a strange angle and looked like he was going to hit the wall. He only narrowly missed 2 of his own crew members! It looked like a disaster waiting to happen.  

Towards the end of the race no one could catch the top 3 drivers who managed to hold their positions from lap two to the end ; Scott Pye, Jamie Whincup, and Nick Percat.

Scott McLaughlin’s mistake cost him dearly finishing 15th. A drop of 14 spots from his pole starting position.

Results for race 5

1st Scott Pye – Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing.
3rd Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing.

 

In race 6 Jamie Whincup started on pole position and alongside him was David Reynolds.

At the start of what was supposed to be a 13 lap race David Reynolds took the race lead from turn 1 after Jamie Whincup got bogged down from his pole position on the start.

Jamie Whincup’s poor start lost him another spot with Nick Percat moving into 2nd place. Jamie went from 1st to 3rd straight off the start.

Anton De Pasquale nearly hit the fence going around the back of Albert Park during the opening lap.

On lap 2 James Courtney got spun around at turn 3 by James Golding. James Courtney’s car didn’t move after that and he was out of the race, DNF. There were no penalties given to James Golding but the officials are investigating the incident and will have a verdict by the running of the Symmons Plains event in two weeks.

In the middle of the race James Golding had plumes of smoke coming out from underneath his car. It was a suspected oil fire. He pulled in near the Fire Marshall’s area. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was caused due to the contact he made earlier with car 25 of James Courtney. The race went under Yellow while the Safety Car came to his rescue.

No one else could catch the top 3 drivers David Reynolds, Nick Percat and Jamie Whincup.

Shane Van Gisbergen started from 26th after a poor Qualifying time but proved himself and charged through to finish 13th.

David Reynolds had led from start to finish, an amazing effort.

Results for race 6

1st David Reynolds – Erebus Penrite Racing.
2nd Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

Jamie Whincup was awarded the Larry Perkins Trophy and is now 6th in the championship. Well done Jamie!

The next event is the Typerpower Tasmania Supersprint from the 6th to the 8th of April 2018 in 2 weeks.