Clipsal 500 Post Race Report 2015

Clipsal 2015 Craig

Hi to all you race fans, around the world.

For those of who missed the 2015 Clipsal 500 here is what happened in the first race of the year.

Red Bull Racing Australia’s Jamie Whincup started on pole postion alongside him was Fabain Coulthard, the start of the opening race was to be aborted due Scott Mclaughlin having an oil fire under the Volvo s60 during the sighting lap on lap 1. When the race finally re started Jamie led the pack through the centre Chicane, for the first time. Will Davison was trying to stop the Mercades Benz E63 AMG, Marcos Ambrose was coming through from the back of the field.

On lap 2 Garth Tander was Looking for an opportunity to pass David Reynolds, the margin was . 4   seconds between Whincup and Coulthard. Micheal Caruso hit the wall.

On lap 3 Micheal went straight ahead at turn 4.

On lap 4 James Courtney was holding off Craig Lowndes. Three cars came in Lowndes, Van Gisbergen and Reynolds, Jamie pitted on lap 7 Craig pitted on lap 6. Lee Holdsworth rejoined in front Shane Van Gisbergen. Jamie did 2 fastest laps on 9 and 10 respectively.

In the middle of the race Riana said Erebus Motorsport V8 had new technology, xo skin techs warn by the Erebus Team Manager Ben Crok. Towards the end of race 1 DJR Team Penske got a little wild; at turns 1, 2 and 3, Chaz Mostert was right behind Jamie for the last lap. Jamie has now got 90 wins in his V8 career, is now tied with Mark Skaife who was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame 12 months ago.

The next championship round is at Symmons plains Tasmania on the 27th to the 29th of March, 2015.

Results for race 1

1st – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd – Chaz Mostert – Pro Drive Racing Australia.
3rd – Fabain Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing.

In race 2

Jamie Whincup started on pole postion alongside him was Scott Mclaughlin the Volvo s60 jumped the start on lap 1, Scott led the field through turns 1, 2 and 3 for the first of 39 laps. Fabain Coulthard and James Courtney, tried to pass Jamie at turn 4, on the opening lap. On lap 2 Fabain was putting pressure on the 6 times Champion Jamie Whincup. Mark Winterbottom, was putting pressure on David Reynolds.

On lap 3 Craig was running in 5th spot, the defending champ had his hands full. Further back in the pack James Moffat and Garth Tander had 3 bites of the cherry.

On lap 4 Scott lost a, little bit of his lead that he had. James Courtney, Craig Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom and David Reynolds, all did there Compulsory Pit Stops. During the opening stages, Chaz Mostert lost his rear wing due to Chaz grabbing the wall at turn 8 and clipping the inside curb.

The safety car was deployed due to Micheal Caruso down at turn 9 was stopped because he made contact with another competitor David Reynolds. Scott Mc Laughlin came into the pits to complete his Compulsory Pit Stop, plus a 10 second penalty.

On the restart Fabain was following Jamie Whincup the restart was on lap 23.

Towards the end of race 2 Lee Holdsworth hit the wall exiting turn 8. Fabian Couthard took over the race lead from Jamie as a result of him making a mistake down at turn 9, James and Shane got a run on the Craig Lowndes. James Courtney and Tim Slade got passed Craig and Jamie respectively. Shane got spun at turn 9. In the end nobody could catch Fabian Coulthard. The left rear tyre of car 1 went flat at the turn in point of turn 8. Fabain Coulthard won for his new naming rights sponsor in Frieghtliner. The last time Brad Jones Racing came close to winning a race at Clipsal was 2008.The driver back then was Cameron McConville.

Results for race 2

1st – Fabain Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing.
2nd – James Courtney – Holden Racing team.
3rd – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia.

Race 3

In race 3 James Courtney started on pole postion alongside him was Fabain Coulthard. On lap 1, Fabain lost postion going through turns 1, 2 and 3 Chicane , on the first lap. Shane Van Gisbergen tried to get up the inside of Fabian Coulthard at turn 4. On lap 2 Mark Winterbottom was the first car to stop for fuel. Shane Van Gisbergen passed James Moffat at turn 9.

On lap 3 Marcos Ambrose got into the top 10, Lee Holdsworth is driving car number 18 this year for Walkinshaw Racing.

On lap 4 Lee Holdsworth was under pressure by Craig Lowndes. On lap 5 Craig was following Scott Pye, also tried to pass him at the last corner turn 14.

On lap 6 Channel 10 went to a ad break. Garth Tander made his first pitstop on lap 9. Garth Tander made a mistake coming out of turn 7, which allowed Shane Van Gisbergen to get a run on him.

In the middle of the race there was a Safety car due to Ash Walsh having stopped on the approach to turn 8, Neil Crompton called himself an idiot because he made a silly comment.

On the restart James Courtney pulled away straight away. Towards the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was running in 2nd, the car tried a lot of moves to pass the James Courtney.

Marcos brought Roger Penske and Tim Cindric with him to Australia from Nascar, to race in the V8 Supercars championship. Rodger and Tim came from the United States of America. Mr Penske said he wanted to try this Category, for the first time. The hosts were Matty White and Mark Webber and the commentators were Greg Rust Neil Crompton pit reporters were Greg Murphy along with Riana Crehan. Fox sports and channel 10 have introduced for this year, hamburger cam – roof cam. Russell Ingall has joined the Fox sports 5 team along with the 6 times Bathurst winner and 5 timesV8 Supercars champion Mark Skaife. The last time Rusty did in pit reporting was back in 2006, for Channel 10. Hamburger cam is designed to give the fans better sound quality, and also views from the top of the roof on the V8 Supercars, which before this year, had not been tried, the 2nd innovation is that the Skins of the V8 Supercars can now be taken off with a hook to take a look at the Chassis.

Results for race 3

1st – James Courtney – HRT.
2nd – Shane Van Gisbergen – Tekno Autosports Darrel Lee Stix.
3rd – Garth Tander – HRT.

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