Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!
On the weekend of July 30-31, 2022 was the OTR Supersprint.
Ford Mustang drivers have dominated in the recent past at The Bend Motorsport Park. They’ve taken the last seven race wins at the South Australian circuit, as well as the last eight pole positions.
The Bend marks the 100th Supercars Championship round start for Monster Mustang driver Cameron Waters. This weekend is also his 95th round with Tickford Racing. He made his first appearance for the team when it was known as Prodrive Racing Australia at the 2015 Sandown 500.
In the pre-race sessions:
- Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 1
- Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
- Zac Best was fastest in Qualifying for Race 21
- Cameron Waters was fastest in Qualifying for Race 22 and 23
In Race 21 Zac Best scored his maiden pole position in the Supercars championship. It must have been exciting for him and his team Tickford Racing, but it must have been a baptism of fire having series leader Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.
At the start of the race Zac Best got the jump and led into turn 1. Cameron Waters got up the inside of Shane Van Gisbergen and now had to challenge his teammate Zac Best in car 78 who was in front by a mere 0.213 seconds.
The cars further back in the pack were battling for positions inside the top 10. As the field made the approach down to turn 6 Chaz Mostert was putting the pressure on Shane Van Gisbergen for 3rd place. David Reynolds was putting the pressure on Anton de Pasquale for 6th place. Nick Percat was trying to pass his ex-race car from his days with Brad Jones Racing being driven Andre Heimgartner.
Zac Best was under investigation for jumping the race start. In the end the officials decided not to take any further action so there was no penalty.
Nick Percat passed Andre Heimgartner and now was trying to go around the outside of Broc Feeney. He made an attempt on the approach down to turn 10 but he couldn’t get the job done.
Andre Heimgartner got up the inside of Broc Feeney for 9th position right at the end of lap 1.
On lap 2 David Reynolds ran wide on the exit of turn 5 and made contact with Will Brown at 210kms p/h an hour. Will Brown had the racing line for turn 6 and kept in front. Just behind the pair was Andre Heimgartner. He had gained 5 spots up to 9th position.
Zac Best still had the lead and was 1.4 seconds ahead of his teammate Cameron Waters. Shane Van Gisberen followed just 0.683 seconds behind.
Once again David Reynolds was battling with Will Brown. Again he was trying to go around the outside of him but he was on the wrong side on the approach to turn 17 giving Will Brown the racing line for the final corner. Andre Heimgartner was also in the mix.
Broc Feeney was right behind Andre Heimgartner.
Thomas Randle was trying to get passed Brodie Kostecki for 11th place but he wasn’t able to get the job done.
The first cars to pit on lap 6 were Will Davison, Will Brown, Jake Kostecki and Tim Slade.
Soon after, Will Brown in car 9 was under investigation for an unsafe pit release. He was issued a 15 second penalty.
Car 56 driven by Jake Kostecki had to serve a drive thru penalty for breaching the pit lane speed.
At the start of lap 7 Shane Van Gisbergen passed Cameron Waters for 2nd place with Zak Best still ahead.
By lap 8 Zac Best was still the race leader but was under serious pressure from Shane Van Gisbergen.
On lap 9 Zac Best made a mistake by locking a brake and ran wide. Shane Van Gisbergen tried to take the opportunity but couldn’t make the pass.
On lap 10 Shane Van Gisbergen makes another attempt to pass but again wasn’t able to.
His third attempt was on lap 11 and he finally got the job done.
I was amazed that Zac Best lead the opening stages because he is a rookie and had not turned a lap of the Taliem Bend circuit. I thought it was very impressive.
Cameron Waters was the first of the front runners to pit and it put Chaz Mostert up to 3rd position.
As Cameron Waters re-joined the race Will Davison passed him going into turn 1. Anton de Pasquale wanted to follow but couldn’t make it and gave Cameron Waters a nudge from behind.
As the race reached the halfway mark (lap 12) Thomas Randle, Nick Percat and Mark Winterbottom took their pitstops. There were still 11 cars to pit. Shane Van Gisbergen also didn’t pit. He decided to stay out and make the most of the track position and the 1.9 second lead that he had.
Zac Best pitted on lap 13 while Shane Van Gisbergen kept going. I was thinking, will he ever pit?
The cars that hadn’t done so earlier started to peel off into the pits for their 1 and only mandatory stop.
As Cameron Waters was approaching turn 1 he locked up the left front. Shortly after he lost his 6th position to ex Tickford teammate, Chaz Mostert.
Shane Van Gisbergen now had a 16.5 second lead over Lee Holdsworth.
Lee Holdsworth and Macauley Jones pitted leaving Shane Van Gisbergen the last car that had not stopped.
Shane Van Gisbergen had an incredible 37.987 second lead over Will Davison. It was then another 45.192 seconds back to Chaz Mostert in 3rd.
Finally, Shane Van Gisbergen pitted on lap 20 for 2 rear tyres. When he re-joined the race he assumed the lead with only 4 laps to go.
For the last 2 laps Chaz Mostert was the fastest car. He closed the massive gap to Will Davison down to only 2.8 seconds. Will Davison was only 1.9 seconds behind the race leader Shane Van Gisbergen.
In a last-minute effort David Reynolds got up the inside of Anton de Pasquale.
With 1 lap to go Shane Van Gisbergen was still holding a 1.4 second lead over Will Davison and was cruising to the finish line.
In the end he crossed the line 2.2 seconds clear of Will Davison and Chaz Mostert.
It was Shane Van Gisbergen’s 12th win for 2022.
Results for Race 21
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.
2nd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.
In Race 22 Cameron Waters started on pole position and alongside him was Thomas Randle.
Thomas Randle stalled on the take-off from the grid. Apparently, a clutch failure. Andre Heimgartner was right behind him and had nowhere to move. He crashed full force into the back of Thomas Randle, the impact estimated at 8 Gs. Both cars were a mess. In the mayhem Nick Percat also ended up in the pit lane wall. The race was red flagged on the grid with all 24 laps to go.
The three cars had to be moved off the track to the pits for repairs, but none were able to return for the restart. The damage to the first 2 cars was so severe that after looking at them it appeared they would never race again. Heimgartner and Randle were both taken to the hospital as precaution. Both were complaining of chest pain and Randle of heel pain.
On the restart James Courtney and Chaz Mostert both got fantastic starts. After a brief challenge by James Courtney Chaz Mostert led into turns 1 and 2. He had gained 5 places to take that lead before the first turn. Chaz Mostert had a ¾ second lead over James Courtney.
James Courtney had gained 2 places to be in 2nd followed by Anton de Pasquale.
Shane Van Gisbergen was 1 back and 1 wide in 4th position.
Cameron Waters who was on pole for the restart had dropped to 5th.
Will Davison got spun around and ended up at the back of the pack.
Macauley Jones made contact with Scott Pye on the exit of the 2nd last corner causing Scott Pye to run wide.
Shane Van Gisbergen was complaining over the comms radio that his tyres’ pressures were very low.
The first car to pit in this race was James Golding in car 31 on lap 5. Will Brown, James Courtney, Anton de Pasquale, Bryce Fullwood, Scott Pye, Chris Pither and Lee Holdsworth also came in. So that’s eight cars in total in the pits area.
When Lee Holdsworth was exiting his pit bay, he made contact with Scott Pye’s left hand side door. Scott Pye said to his team, “what the hell were they thinking releasing him like that!”, they hit quite hard. Lee Holdsworth got a 15 second penalty for the unsafe pit release.
Later on in interview, David Cauchi said it was caused by a communication problem between the car controller and himself.
At this point in the race Chaz Mostert was still the leader by 1.1 seconds over the defending Supercars champion Shane Van Gisbergen. It was another 1.3 seconds back to Cameron Waters in 3rd place.
On lap 7 four more cars came into pit; Chaz Mostert, Broc Feeney, Mark Winterbottom and Macauley Jones.
When Chaz Mostert came into pit it left Shane Van Gisbergen in the lead, 1.4 seconds over Cameron Waters. It was another 4.6 seconds between 2nd and 3rd place. It was an indicator that the leaders were making a big break away from the rest of the pack.
With the lead and clean air Shane Van Gisbergen did the fastest first 2 sectors of the circuit. The gap from Shane Van Gisbergen back to Chaz Mostert was now 38.6 seconds. It takes about 38 seconds to get off the racetrack and come into the pits for 2 tyres and re – join the track. That means Gisbergen who hadn’t pitted yet was not really that far ahead.
Broc Feeney in 15th position was being challenged by Will Brown.
At this point in the race there were 9 cars yet to pit.
In the middle of the race Cameron Waters came in along with Jordan Boys.
When Brodie Kostecki was leaving the pit bay after coming in on lap 14, the pit gantry looked like it was going to topple over due to the hydraulic rattle gun still being attached to the rear wheel. The team was issued a penalty for the pit stop infringement.
Shane Van Gisbergen was still in the lead and now had a 8.1 second lead over David Reynolds.
Shortly after David Reynolds and Will Davison pitted.
On lap 16 only 2 laps after his pit stop, Brodie Kostecki went off the track onto the grass. When he drove back onto the track he was moving slowly and it could be seen his left front tyre had been shredded. He had to return to the pits. It was poor timing because up until then he had been one of the front runners.
Shane Van Gisbergen had a 41+ second lead over Chaz Mostert before he came in to pit on lap 16. This big lead allowed him to re–join the race in position 1 with a 1.498 second lead.
Due to the delays at the start of the race and being ‘time certain’ the total laps were reduced from 24 to 18.
It was now truly a race to the finish. Shane Van Gisbergen with cold rear tyres had to hold off Chaz Mostert’s Commodore.
Once again, the series leader and defending champion drove like a demon.
It was the last lap and Shane Van Gisbergen managed to not only increase his lead over Chaz Mostert to 2.5736 seconds but he clocked the fasted lap time of the race.
Not that he needed it but the drive who does the fastest lap is awarded 5 bonus points. This year Gisbergen has earned 105 bonus points for the fastest lap. Incredible!
Chaz Mostert was followed across the line by James Courtney, Cameron Waters, Anton de Pasquale and Broc Feeney.
Results for Race 22
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.
3rd James Courtney – Tickford Racing.
In Race 23 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Anton de Pasquale alongside him.
Before the race started the rain that threatened through the weekend finally came and it came in buckets. The teams had to change to ‘wet’ tyres .
The field did 2 laps under safety car and the race started on lap 3.
At the start of the race Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turn 1 while cars behind were virtually hidden by the tyre spray mist coming off the cars up front. Drivers in the pack were struggling to see where they were going.
With the poor visibility I thought that cars would have gone off the track at turn 1 but somehow, they didn’t.
The tightly packed leaders were Cameron Waters, Anton de Pasquale, Shane Van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney. Each car was nose to tail.
James Courtney was keeping up with the leaders and back in the pack Brodie Kostecki gained 1 spot up to 12th passing Lee Holdsworth.
Cameron Waters made a mistake due to the wet track and lost the race lead to Anton de Pasquale. Shane Van Gisbergen went on the attack trying to get passed Cameron Waters and close down the gap to the new race leader Anton de Pasquale.
While Anton de Pasquale was under attack from both Shane Van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney, Cameron Waters re-gained the race lead.
As the pack came down to the final corner there was yet again a change in the lead and the 2 times Supercars Champion Shane Van Gisbergen was up front. It was only moments before Cameron Waters took the race lead back. Shane Van Gisbergen dropped 5 spots from 2nd to 8th but soon enough was back up to 2nd with 0.343 second gap to leader Cameron Waters.
Over the radio comms Shane Van Gisbergen said to his engineer Andrew Edwards he couldn’t see anything in the rear view mirror and didn’t know where Broc Feeney was but would let him go if need be.
As the leaders were pulling away from the pack, James Courtney and Chaz Mostert were battling for 6th and 7th.
Bryce Fullwood had a lot of damage on the left side of car 14 which wouldn’t have been helping the Aerodynamics on the Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore.
On lap 6 Broc Feeney went off the track at turn 6. Chaz Mostert gave Will Davison a tap causing him to spin around into the dirt.
Both the Matt Stone Racing cars of Jack le Brocq and Todd Hazelwood made contact with each other at turn 6 and both had a lot of damage. Todd Hazelwood apologised over the radio for taking out his own teammate.
The first car to pit was rookie Zac Best on lap 7. When he came in he was down in 25th position.
The wet weather was causing mayhem. Jordan Boys went off the track between turns 14 and 15 and Jack le Brocq went off the track again.
Chaz Mostert in car 25 got a 15 second penalty for a driving infringement that had to be served after his pit stop.
On lap 8 Chaz Mostert was the first car from the leading group to take his pit stop.
Finally Shane Van Gisbergen took the race lead off the pole sitter Cameron Waters and then didn’t look back.
In the middle of the race Jake Kostecki was in the garage because of a problem with his car.
Nick Percat went off the track and David Reynolds had lots of damage as a result of contact with James Golding.
Shane Van Gisbergen kept edging away in the lead. In the last few laps he actually passed Todd Hazelwood at the back of the pack.
Although it seems late in the race, Shane Van Gisbergen pitted on lap 23 of the 24 laps.
On return to the track he was still in the lead and keeping ahead between 6 and 9+ seconds.
The front of the field was spread out giving the drivers plenty of space to move on the track but Shane Van Gisbergen was uncatchable.
Without fault he crossed the finish line 8.7109 seconds ahead of Cameron Waters. Brodie Kostecki in third place was a further 8.5198 seconds behind.
It was a wet but spectacular finish for the champion Shane Van Gisbergen taking 3 wins of 3 races at this event.
This brings the total Drivers Championship points to 2196 for Shane Van Gisbergen. That is 393 points clear of Cameron Waters.
Results for Race 23
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.
3rd Brodie Kostecki – Boost Mobile Racing.
The next event is the Penrite Oil Sandown Supersprint August 19th to the 21st 2022.