Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!
On the weekend of August 22nd and 23rd, 2020 was the Corestff Darwin Supersprint.
Three races of 38 laps each were run.
In Race 16 Jamie Whincup started on pole position. Alongside was Scott McLaughlin.
When the race got underway Scott McLaughlin led into turn 1 with Jamie Whincup in hot persuit trying to regain his number one position.
Scott McLaughlin’s teammate, Fabian Coulthard was back in the pack having a poor grid starting position of 14th. To avoid any double stacking Fabian pitted early.
Meanwhile, there was an intense battle between Todd Hazelwood and Rick Kelly for 9th and 10th.
Shane Van Gisbergen who started 11th on the grid, seemed to be struggling to keep up with cars in front of him. It was later revealed he just couldn’t get the straight line speed expected. After the race the team couldn’t resolve the issue and decided to change the engine overnight.
Mark Winterbottom and Scott Pye had a great weekend for team 18.
By the middle of the race it was evident that Scott McLaughlin was unbeatable.
He held strong to his lead and crossed the finish line approximately 2.5 seconds ahead of rival, Jamie Whincup. Cameron Waters came in third more than 12 seconds later. Nick Percat had a good run finishing 5th having started from 9th. The other big gain was from his teammate, Todd Hazelwood who started 23rd on the grid and finished 7 places up in 16th. A great result for Brad Jones Racing.
Results for Race 16
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
In race 17 Scott McLaghlin earned himself another pole position for the season. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.
Once again Scott McLaughlin got the jump and led into turn 1.
The cars further back in the pack couldn’t come into the pit lane until at least lap 5.
Fabian Coulthard came in early to ensure he didn’t double stack with teammate and race leader, Scott McLaughlin.
Nick Percat also came in early because he was getting held up by traffic.
Shane Van Gisbergen and Scott Pye were battling fiercely for 2nd and 3rd position.
Lee Holdsworth who had started from 11th position was on the charge. It was evident things were going right for him and he wanted a shot at a podium position if not, then at least be in the top 10. Regardless of his efforts (and they were good) he wasn’t able to get it done and finished in 8th position.
Once again by the middle of the race it appeared that Scott McLaughlin had secured himself in the lead.
Scott McLaughlin scored his second win for the weekend and crossed the finish line 9.6874 seconds ahead of his rival Shane Van Gisbergen.
Shane Van Gisbergen managed to win the battle against Scott Pye by the thinnest margin – .2449 seconds. So the race actually finished in the order that they started on the grid.
Results for Race 17
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd Scott Pye – Team 18
In Race 18 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.
Again Scott McLaughlin in car 17 led into turn 1. This was the third time out of three races for the weekend that car 17 took the lead off the start.
When I saw Scott McLaughlin lead off the line I knew he was going to win. He was having a great weekend.
Rick Kelly was trying to hold off Fabian Coulthard but it couldn’t be done.
Andre Heimgartner was further back in the pack then he wanted to be but didn’t seem to be able to make much headway.
By the time all the pit stops were complete Scott McLaughlin was once again the race leader.
He was just too fast and again kept increasing his leading gap. He crossed the finish line 13.8356 seconds ahead of closest rival, Nick Percat. Scott Pye followed in at 3rd just under a second later.
It was an increadible result for Scott McLaughlin earning 3 out of 3 wins.
Results for race 18
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing
3rd Scott Pye – Team 18