Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!
The final event of the 2016 V8 Supercars Championship is coming up this weekend at the Sydney Olympic Park Street Circuit in Homebush.
Let’s take a look back at what happened in 2015 Coates Hire Sydney 500 at Homebush.
In race 34 Mark Winterbottom started in pole position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him. It’s also noted:
- Craig Lowndes had to start right at the back of the pack due to not completing his shootout lap after crashing.
- Jack Perkins was driving car 222 for Nick Percat while he recovered from the injury sustained at the Gold Coast.
On lap 1 of 34 lap race, Mark Winterbottom immediately took the lead and stayed there with Shane Van Gisbergen glued behind up to lap 3. On lap 3 Mark Winterbottom was playing the championship game, letting drivers pass him because he was leading the championship ladder at the time. His race result was not critical to him.
On lap 4 Craig Lowndes was making his way through the pack to try and stay in contact with Mark Winterbottom. It took until lap 6 for Shane Van Gisbergen to take the race lead and start pulling ahead from the pack. On the next lap James Courtney was following Garth Tander until he found a spot on the track where he could pass safely.
On lap 7 Jamie Whincup was trying to stay up front of the pack so that when the cars that haven’t pitted did, he would be the race leader. On lap 8 the cars back in the pack pitted. On lap 9 Mark Winterbottom had pitted too, to avoid traffic of cars returning to the race from the pits.
On lap 11 teams were putting fresh new tyres on for the run to the finish. From there, Jamie Whincup took position 1 and through to the finish line was never headed. Now the cars with track position stayed out longer.
From the middle of the race the leaders up front just cruised to the chequered flag with Jamie Whincup crossing first.
Who Will Win this weekend’s Coates Hire Sydney 500?
Results for 34
1st – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd – David Reynolds – Rod Nash racing.
3rd – Mark Winterbottom – Pepsi Max Crew.
Race 35 is a 37-lap race, Jamie Whincup started in pole position with David Reynolds alongside him.
On lap 1, Jamie Whincup got the jump on David Reynolds pulling ahead straight away and looked to be never headed. Early on lap 2 David Reynold tried to take the lead, but Jamie Whincup had the line going into turn 1 and couldn’t be passed. On the next lap Mark Winterbottom was doing his best to stay in touch with the cars ahead of him.
On lap 4 Garth Tander wanted to get by his teammate James Courtney, so that the engine, brake and water temperature didn’t rise. On lap 5 the teams with 2 cars out on the track brought in one of the two cars to pit, a strategy used so the second cars would not have to double stack.
On lap 6 Craig Lowndes was moving up through the pack a lot faster than in his first race of the day. On lap 7 Steve Owen (driving for Chaz Mostert after his injuries sustained at Bathurst) was trying to stay out trouble in car 6.
On lap 8 Jack Perkins came for his pit stop in car 222 then headed back out into clear track. On lap 9 Jamie Whincup was starting to put the race out of reach for everyone else. Behind him was Rick Kelly putting in good effort for his 2nd last race with the Jack Daniel Racing.
From the middle of the race onwards Jamie Whincup was just cruising to his second win for the weekend. In the last laps he appeared comfortable and confident no one could catch him.
Results for race 35
1st – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd – David Reynolds – Rod Nash Racing.
3rd – Mark Winterbottom – Pepsi Max Crew.
In race 36 James Courtney started on pole position, alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.
At the start of the 74-lap race, James Courtney got the jump at the first turn and held lead for the first couple of laps. During lap 3 he got turned around by Shane Van Gisbergen. As a result, James Courtney had smoke coming out of the left hand.
On lap 4 Mark Winterbottom was being very cautious because he knew a bad race result of DNF would mean Craig Lowndes could close his gap on the championship ladder.
On lap 5 Shane Van Gisbergen was the new leader of the race. James Courtney was complaining that his car was not very well balanced after the hit. On lap 6 Jamie Whincup could see the smoke coming from car 22 and had to slow up to avoid further mishaps. On lap 7 Shane Van Gisbergen was just cruising out in front of the pack, while the cars further back in the pack were battling it out with each other. On lap 8 the pit stops started. The first cars that pitted were the cars back in the field to get track position.
On lap 9 Garth Tander had no car damage which meant he could push on and keep moving up towards the front of the race. For the next couple of laps after lap 10, Steve Owen kept car 6 straight. However, towards the middle of the race his car stalled on the exit of turn 1. He wasn’t able to get the engine started again and had to be towed off the track.
Towards the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup were battling for first place. In the end went to Shane Van Gisbergen in car 97.
Results for race 36
1st – Shane Van Gisbergen – Tekno Autosports.
2nd – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.
3rd – Rick Kelly – Jack Daniels Racing Nissan Motorsport.
This weekend’s races are 74 laps, each and 250 kilometres.
Good luck to everybody for this weekend.