Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around world!
Welcome to the V8 Supercars Championship season for 2018.
The new season finds V8 Supercars with a new CEO, Sean Seamer. He takes over from James Warburton who left the position last year.
The Adelaide 500 is the first official race of the season and was run on the weekend of the 1st to the 4th of March 2018.
In Qualifying on the Friday both Cameron Waters and Jamie Whincup hit the wall at turn 8 which forced both the Monster Energy Racing Team and the Red Bull Holden Racing Team to do all-nighters on repairs. The Red Bull team didn’t finish Jamie Whincup’s car until 4:15AM.
Regardless of this incident Jamie Whincup was still the fastest in Practice 1 and made the top 10 shootout, starting the first race in 5th position.
In race 1 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position and alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.
At the start of the 78-lap race, Rick Kelly hit the wall coming out of turn 3 causing him to limp back to the pits for repairs.
After Rick Kelly got back to the pits he was interviewed by Greg Murphy about the damage his Nissan Altima received. He told Greg Murphy that it was due to a bent steering arm but it soon became clear that with the resulting damage he wouldn’t be going back out onto the track very soon. It was very unfortunate and cost him a lot of time. He had started from 7th position on the grid but finished 23rd only ahead of the NCs (not completes).
There are 5 full time Rookies in field this year:
- Jack Le Brocq Holden car 19
- James Golding Holden car 34
- Richie Stanaway Ford car 56
- Anton De Pasquale Holden car 99
- Andre Heimgartner Nissan car 7
During the opening stages the rookies didn’t know what was to come given that it was their first race in the main game. All up I think they did a great job.
Chaz Mostert raced very well considering he didn’t make the top ten shootout in Qualifying due to a red flag. I am sure he wouldn’t have been happy with that but was making up for it during this race.
Richie Stanaway and James Golding made contact with the wall. Richie Stanaway was in a really awkward position and had to use reverse gear to try and get out of the tyre stack. As one of the rookies he proved his worth and persisted. Unfortunately a car issue caused a DNF only one lap short of completing the race. He must have been really disappointed.
In the middle of the race Craig Lowndes was running strong under his new team, Autobarn Lowndes Racing before he got a shoved up the rear by Garth Tander. He slid sideways but managed to keep on track. It was a tense moment for sure.
Towards the end of race 1 no one else could catch the top 3 drivers which were Shane Van Gisbergen, James Courtney and Scott McLaughlin.
Shane Van Gisbergen made it look too easy as he confidently held his position 1 right to the end.
Results for race 1
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd James Courtney – Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing
3rd Scott Mclaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
In race 2 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position again and alongside him was his teammate Jamie Whincup.
At the start of the 78 lap 250 kilometre race Jamie Whincup got the jump off the front row on the grid. Shane Van Gisbergen was happy to see his teammate lead the race into the first chicane.
On lap 2 the drivers settled into their race pace and the pack started chasing the two Red Bull leaders trying to close the 2.6 second lead they had.
After the first round of stops the race lead went back to car 1, Jamie Whincup.
As the opening laps were complete it appeared Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t have the pace he normally delivered. When interviewed later he stated there were car setup dramas affecting speed and in good sportsmanship said it was teammate, Jamie Whincup’s race.
Jamie Whincup was flying which was good to see. I thought he had it in the bag and was surely going to win.
Later David Reynolds was in a good spot and racing hard, then nearly hit the wall at turn 8. Luckily he didn’t.
No one else could catch the race leaders at this point of the race.
With 30 laps to go Jamie Whincup was still out front and cruising but then his gearbox failed and he started to slow and had to pull in to the pits. When Jamie got out of car he was gutted when David Cauchi took his head set off. He knew what it meant. The last time Jamie had a DNF was in the 2013 Gold Coast 600. His 136 race finishing streak was broken on Sunday.
Towards the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen still had the lead. David Reynolds tried to pressure him into an error but it didn’t work.
So once again for the second time on the weekend, Shane Van Gisbergen took 1st place. What an amazing result for him and the Red Bull team.
Results for race 2
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport
3rd Garth Tander – Garry Rogers Motorsport
The next event is the Coates Hire Supercars Melbourne 400.
There are 5 Rookies in field this year are
Jack Le Brocq Holden Car 19.
James Golding Holden car 34.
Richie Stanaway Ford car 56.
Anton De Pasquale Holden car 99.
Andre Heimgartner Nissan car 7