Hi to all you v8 Supercars fans around the world.
On the weekend of the 6th – 8th May 2016 was the Perth Supersprint.
In qualifying both Michael Caruso and David Reynolds both caused a red flag which meant those 2 cars started from the back of the pack.
In race 8 Cameron Waters started on pole position alongside him was Chaz Mostert for the 50 lap race.
On lap 1, Cameron Waters got the jump and led the field into turn 1 for the first lap. Shane Van Gisbergen looked for the long way around the outside at turn 1 but it didn’t work because Craig Lowndes held onto 2nd place, also on the opening lap Shane Van Gisbergen got passed Craig Lowndes. Cameron Waters had checked out – meaning he had pulled away.
On lap 2 Mark Winterbottom was in front of Aaren Russell. Shane Van Gisbergen was right behind the monster falcon car 6 with Cameron Waters driving. Shane Van Gisbergen took the race lead and then pulled away.
On lap 3 Shane Van Gisbergen was the new race leader. Craig Lowndes was struggling, Jamie Whincup tried to get up the inside at turn 1 but that wasn’t able to be executed because Craig Lowndes was looking for grip on a wet racetrack. Craig Lowndes got too much wheel spin on the exit of turn 7 on the very, very slippery painted curb.
On lap 4 Mark Winterbottom had dropped 3 places. Jason Bright got passed Scott McLaughlin the replay of the start showed that Mark Winterbottom got massive amount of wheel spin off the start line.
On lap 5 Michael Caruso was near the back of the pack along with David Reynolds, Scott McLaughlin had bent steering as a result of contact with Dale Wood.
On lap 6 the teams could start doing their pit stops. Scott McLaughlin had a bunch cars behind him forming a Queue. Scott Pye got passed him at turn 1. Craig Lowndes did the fastest lap of the race, Shane Van Gisbergen moved over to the right hand side of the track to keep his tyres cool on a wet road. The Red Bull Racing Australia team were re-pressuring the dry tyres – slick tyres just in case, to have them on standby.
On lap 7 Jamie Whincup was following Chaz Mostert. The teams were doing their best to get rid out some the water that was still in the pit boxers where the cars have to stop.
On lap 8 James Moffatt got up the inside of Nick Percat.
In the middle of the race Craig Lowndes came in twice the first stop was for tyres, no fuel and the 2nd one was for tyres only.
Towards the end of the Craig Lowndes passed 16 cars in the final 21 laps, it was enough for him to get into the lead of the race.
That now Craig Lowndes’s race win tally go up to 16 and his career tally 104.
Results for race 8
1st – Craig Lowndes – Team Vortex
2nd – Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Racing Australia
3rd – Jamie Whincup. – Red Bull Racing Australia
Before race 9 started Scott McLaughlin and James Moffatt did 2 hot laps. After they had completed them Neil Crompton said good news the Logies are coming up pretty soon so those 2 blokes will be up for an Overacting award.
In race 9 Chaz Mostert started on pole position alongside him was Craig Lowndes for the 83 lap race. Craig Lowndes got jump and led the through the first 5 turns, Fabain Coulthard was putting pressure on Mark Winterbottom. Shane Van Gisbergen got down the inside of Chris Pither at turn 7.
On lap 2 Jamie Whincup got passed Chris Pither at turn 1. Chris Pither dropped 2 spots to the Red Bull cars, Chaz was trying to put pressure on the race leader.
On lap 3 both Cameron Waters and James Courtney passed Lee Holdsworth on the downhill into turn 7.
On lap 4 James Moffatt was up the inside of Dale Wood. Dylan Talabarni who is Chris Pither’s race engineer was reminding him about his throttle use.
On lap 5 the replay of the start showed that Fabain Coulthard had all 4 wheels out in the Boones – out in the grass that is a racing term that Mark Skaife often uses.
On lap 6 Chris Pither was back on Jamie Whipcup’s rear bumper.
On lap 7 James Courtney putting pressure on Will Davison. Back to the front of the field, the cars stayed in there spot early on.
On lap 8 Mark Winterbottom was trying to catch Chris Pither and put some pressure on him.
On lap 9 Chaz Mostert was right on the back of Craig Lowndes watching his car slide.
On lap 10 the order for the front group of cars remained the same. Craig Lowndes looked a lot tidier the next time around. Jamie Whincup was the first of the 2 Red Bull cars to stop.
In the middle of the race both Chaz Mostert and Shane Van Gisbergen got passed Jamie Whincup.
Towards the end of the race Mark Winterbottom said that lapped car of Aaren Russell, he thought that he had ruined Mark Winterbottoms race as a result of Craig Lowndes finishing on the podium on Sunday in Perth Western Australia. He now leads the V8 Supercars championship by 42 points over his teammate Jamie Whincup.
The commentators were Neil Crompton, Mark Skaife, Greg Murphy, Greg Rust and Riana Crehan.
The next event is the Woodstock Winton Supersprint on the 20th – 22nd of May 2016.
Results for race 9
1st – Mark Winterbottom – Rod Nash Racing
2nd – Scott McLaughlin – Volvo Garry Rogers Motorsport
3rd – Craig Lowndes – Team Vortex