Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world.
On the weekend of the 23rd – 25th October 2015 was the Castrol Gold Coast 600.
It appears that Russell Ingall really doesn’t want to retire, first he stepped in to cover for James Courtney in a Holden, now he is covering Chaz Mostert who drives a Ford. Very versatile Russell…
Also a big welcome back to James Courtney after a 2 month recovery time from the incident at Eastern Creek.
In race 26 all the co-drivers started in the cars of the 102 lap race.
Jonathon Webb started on pole position alongside him was Alex Premat. On lap 1 Jonathon Webb got the jump and led the field down to the turns 1, 2 and 3. chicanes. Alex Premat was able to stay in behind through the chicanes, Steven Richards had to get out of the way so he didn’t end up making contact with anyone else. Steve Owen did not get a very good start, Taz Douglas had to straight line the first 3 turns. Russell Ingall tried to pass Jack Perkins at the back chicane. Towards the end of the opening lap there was contact between Alex Davison and Russell Ingall.
On lap 2 Alex Premat was putting the pressure on Jonathon Webb, driving for the race lead. David Russell was trying to catch the race leaders. Towards the end of lap 2 Paul Dumbrell was under pressure from Dean Canto.
On lap 3 Dean Canto was in the middle of the 2 Red Bull cars. Jack Perkins was trying to pass Andrew Jones but Andrew had to tuck back in behind the Holden Racing Team Car.
The main drivers could get back in to their cars after the co drivers had completed their minimum co-drivers laps which was 34.
In-between laps 4 and 5 Paul Dumbrell had damage on car 1 as a result of him turning in on Dean Canto. He completed 2 laps before Mark Dutton called him into the pits for repair as a result of that spin by the defending Pirtek Enduro cup Champs. At that moment. Steve Richards had to stop and then further down the track at turn 4 Taz Douglas turned in on Paul Dumbrell, as a result he pitted and went 13 laps down.
Riana Crehan made a mistake in saying it was Jamie Whincup and Dean Canto. In fact it was actually Paul Dumbrell and Dean Canto. When Steve Owen came into do a driver change with Mark Winterbottom, Chris O’Toole let him go out of the pit bay.
During the first pit stop, Mark Winterbottom did an unsafe pit release and ran into Garth Tander, this caused Mark Winterbottom to bounce into the path of the Red Bull Racing Australia mechanics. Mark Winterbottom was penalized by going out of pit lane and coming back in for repairs before he had to do a drive thru penalty.
Towards the end of the race Shane van Gisbergen was still up the front of the pack and in the end he just managed to drive away with the rest of the race.
Results for race 26
1st – Shane Van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb – Tekno Autosports.
2nd – David Reynolds and Dean Canto – Rod Nash Racing.
3rd – Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards – Red Bull Racing Australia.
In race 27 like in the previous race was 102 laps and the co-drivers were the first in the drivers’ seat.
Alex Premat started on pole position alongside him was Steven Richards. On lap 1, Steven got the jump off the start line and led the pack through turns 1, 2 and 3. The cars that were near the back of the pack when straight ahead at the first Chicane. There were cars battling for positon up the front of Alex Premat and which allowed Steven Richards to get a 1 point 1 second lead.
At the start of lap 2 Steve Richards had gap of 1 point 5 Second lead, Jonathon Webb had the inside line approaching the turns 1, 2 and 3. Paul Dumbrell tried to pass him on the outside but that wasn’t successful. Paul Dumbrell went straight ahead at the first chicane. But in the end Paul Dumbrell knew he had to redress the situation otherwise he would have been given a drive thru penalty. Paul Dumbrell lost a spot in the process to with Steve Owen driving. Steve Owen had to fall back in behind Paul Dumbrell. Towards the end of lap 2 Jack Le Brocq had an issue with the rear of car 4.
On lap 3 Steve Richards was dominating the opening stages of the 2nd race. Alex Premat shaved half a second off the lead that Steve Richards had enjoyed. The gap had gone from 1 point 5 seconds to just under a second. During the opening laps fox sports showed a replay of the race start. Luke Youlden hit the right hand side wall on the exit of turn 11. All the co drivers were trying not to get caught up in any accidents or incidents to bring their cars back for the main drivers in one piece.
Around lap 34 most of the main drivers take over in the race to the checkered flag. The Critical lap to get to the finish on fuel was lap 61.
But the safety car came out onto the track way too early to make to the finish line. So everybody had to make 1 extra stop for petrol, had everybody reached lap 61 they would have been okay till the end.
Chris Pither and David Wall were out of race 27 due to hitting the wall out of the back chicane.
Craig is now only 258 points behind frosty. The next event is the ITM 500 Auckland in New Zealand on the 6th – 8th of November 2015. Which is in 2 weeks’ time 9 races remaining and there are 900 points are up for grabs.
Results for race 27
1st – James Courtney and Jack Perkins – Holden Racing Team. Car 22.
2nd – Rick Kelly and David Russell – Jack Daniels Racing. Car 15.
3rd – Garth Tander and Warren Luff – Holden Racing Team. Car 2.
Drivers and teams for the Castrol Gold Coast 600
Car 1 – Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell – Red Bull Racing Australia
Car 888 – Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards – Red Bull Racing Australia
Car 5 – Mark Winterbottom and Steve Owen – Pepsi Max Crew
Car 55 – David Reynolds and Dean Canto – Rod Nash Racing
Car 6 – Cameron Waters and Russell Ingall- Pepsi Max Crew
Car 111 – Andre Heimgartner and Ant Pederson – Superblack Racing Team
Car 33 – Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat – Volvo Polstar Racing
Car 34 – David Wall and Chris Pither – Volvo Polstar Racing
Car 7 – Todd Kelly and Alex Buncombe – Nissan Motorsport
Car 15 – Rick Kelly and David Russell – Jack Daniels Racing
Car 23 – Michael Caruso and Dean Fiore – Nissan Motorsport
Car 99 – James Moffatt and Taz Douglas – Nissan Motorsport
Car 17 – Scott Pye and Marcos Ambrose – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske
Car 2 – Garth Tander and Warren Luff – Holden Racing Team
Car 18 – Lee Holdsworth and Sebastien Bourdais – Walkinshaw Racing
Car 22 – James Courtney and Jack Perkins – Holden Racing Team
Car 47 – Tim Slade and Tony D’Alberto – Supercheap Auto Racing
Car 14 – Fabain Coulthard and Luke Youlden – Freightliner Racing
Car 8 – Jason Bright and Andrew Jones – Team BOC
Car 21 – Dale Wood and Maculey Jones – Brad Jones Racing
Car 9 – Will Davison and Alex Davison – Erebus Motorsport V8
Car 4 – Ash Walsh and Jack Le Brocq – Erebus Motorsport v8. Car 4.
