Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!
On the weekend of 29 – 30 July 2023 was the Beaurepairs Sydney Supernight, the 7th round of this year’s Supercars championship.
The event was held at Sydney Motorsport Park in New South Wales.
Originally named Eastern Creek Raceway, the New South Wales state government approved its development back in 1988 and opened on the 10th of November, 1990. The first Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) race was held in 1993. The ATCC was the previous title before being renamed V8 Supercars in 1997).
This event was a special occasion for me, aside from being in my home town of Sydney it was the first time I have been able to get to any track since 2017. It was a lot of fun and I was glad to finally have wheelchair accessible transport (thanks Dad) and the general threat of COVID gone. It was great to be back!
The event started on the Saturday but I managed to get there for only the Sunday.
In the pre-race sessions:
- Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 1
- Shane Van Gisbergen was also fastest in Practice 2
- Andre Heimgartner was fastest in Qualifying
In Race 18 Andre Heimgartner started on pole position with Brodie Kostecki alongside him.
At the start of the race Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown went into turn 1 in 1st and 2nd place. The pole sitter Andre Heimgartner had dropped from 1st to 5th place after a bad start off the line.
Cameron Hill made a blinder of a start. He had made up 4 spots after starting 8th on the grid.
The cars further back in the pack were dicing for positions outside the top 10 while the leading cars held their positions.
The 2 Erebus Camaros were out in front and controlling proceedings early on.
Brodie Kostecki had half a second lead over Will Brown by lap 2.
Shane Van Gisbergen was also making way and gained 2 spots after starting in 20th on the grid.
Jack le Brocq in 5th place was soon under assault from Andre Heimgartner after he lost his pole position. However, instead of gaining a spot he lost his own spot to James Golding who snuck by him.
The leaders were comfortable out front while the cars behind were chasing them. This was probably the cause of Jack Smith in car 4 receiving a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.
The first car to pit was Anton de Pasquale on lap 11.
James Golding was again on the move and got up the inside of Cameron Hill at turn 2 for 5th place.
Chaz Mostert also tried to go around the outside of Cameron Hill, but he couldn’t make the move stick.
Cameron Hill was being a cork in the bottle he was holding up the cars behind him.
After Anton de Pasquale completed his pitstop he came back out in 25th position.
A lap later Chaz Mostert finally got past Cameron Hill at turn 1 and Will Davison got up the inside of Andre Heimgartner for 8th place.
Shane Van Gisbergen then got up the inside of Scott Pye to move into 12th place. The defending champion Shane Van Gisbergen had gained 8 places since the start.
By lap 13 Scott Pye had dropped back to 22nd position and chose to make his first pit stop and rethink strategy.
Cameron Hill pitted on lap 14 along with James Courtney and Thomas Randle.
By lap 17 of 51 the top 13 cars were still yet to take their stops.
Will Brown was the first of the front runners to pit followed by Will Davison, Cameron Waters and Jack le Brocq.
Shane Van Gisbergen also pitted a lap later, lap 18.
Soon after Todd Hazelwood and James Courtney received bad sportsmanship flags for exceeding track limits.
It wasn’t over for Todd Hazelwood. He received a pit lane drive thru penalty for a refuelling breach on his first stop.
In the middle of the race Andre Heimgartner had assumed the race lead while frontrunners were pitting. Soon he went into the pits handing the lead over to Brodie Kostecki who was followed by Cameron Waters and Will Brown in 3rd place.
On lap 32 David Reynolds went off the track between turns 9 and 10. He hit the wall and the stricken Ford Mustang wouldn’t move. The Safety car was deployed while they removed car #26.
The race restarted on lap 39. Chaz Mostert soon made a pass of Jack le Brocq to move into 4th place and only 0.748 seconds behind Will Brown in 3rd.
Shane Van Gisbergen was up to 6th place and looking for further gains. As the race got closer to the finish he was on the charge and managed to pass Jack le Brocq. Shane Van Gisbergen was now only 1.144 seconds from the back of the podium.
On lap 42 Shane Van Gisbergen showed just how much he wanted that podium finish and did the fastest lap of the race, 130.064.
By the final 10 laps the top 5 places had not changed but quite spread out. Brodie Kostecki had a good lead and was on target for his first win since the Melbourne Grand Prix in March.
On lap 44 Declan Fraser received a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.
James Golding managed to go around the outside of James Courtney at turn 8 with 7 laps to go.
With 2 laps to go Chaz Mostert was up 7 places after starting 9th on the grid. Shane Van Gisbergen was behind in 3rd having moved up from a start of 20th on the grid.
However, the gaps between the top 3 couldn’t be closed. In the end Brodie Kostecki crossed the finish line with a 7 second margin over Chaz Mostert. Shane Van Gisbergen was a further 10.479 seconds behind.
A post race penalty was issued to Shane Van Gisbergen for contact with Will Brown so unfortunately Shane was recorded in 7th place on the final results. Will Brown inherited the podium finish in 3rd. Credit is still owed to Shane Van Gisbergen for a phenomenal drive.
Results for Race 18
1st Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Will Brown – Erebus Motorsport
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Qualifying for Race 19 and earned pole position bringing his career pole total to 48. I would love for him to get another 2 more and reach a half century before he leaves Supercars at the end of this season.
Andre Heimgartner sat alongside Shane Van Gisbergen on the starting grid.
As they took off Andre Heimgartner got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 36 laps. Shane Van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney were in 2nd and 3rd.
Will Brown and David Reynolds made contact and left the track. As they rejoined they were now in 24th and 25th place. Race control immediately put the incident under investigation. It took a while but they declared no penalties would be issued.
Shane Van Gisbergen was soon closing in on the back of the leader Andre Heimgartner. Broc Feeney in 3rd was followed by Brodie Kostecki.
Chaz Mostert had moved up 5 places into 11th after starting 16th on the grid.
On the second lap James Golding and Thomas Randle made contact. Although they kept going the officials were investigating the incident and later issued time penalties to both drivers.
On lap 4 Shane Van Gisbergen took the race lead off Andre Heimgartner at turn 6.
Just to make a statement, Shane Van Gisbergen then did the fastest lap of the race 131.993.
The first car to pit was Broc Feeney from 4th place on lap 16. When he came back out he was in 24th place.
The front runners were tightly packed. Shane Van Gisbergen was still the leader with a 1 second gap over Andre Heimgartner. Then it was only 0.968 of a second back to Brodie Kostecki.
Further back in the running Declan Fraser received a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.
Then Will Brown and Macauley Jones received a bad sportsmanship flag for the same reason.
By the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was in a commanding position with a 6.7 second lead over Andre Heimgartner. The front runners were yet to pit. Andre Heimgartner was the first to make his stop from 2nd place.
Shane Van Gisbergen took his stop towards the end of the race and returned to the track in 7th place. He must have known he was in great shape because the 6 cars in front still had to take their pit stops so he would naturally assume the lead when they did.
One by one they peeled off the track for the mandatory pit stop leaving Shane Van Gisbergen back in the number 1 spot with a 3 second lead over Andre Heimgartner. It was then 1.4 seconds back to Broc Feeney in 3rd place.
As the race was coming to its conclusion Shane Van Gisbergen was showing his authority and seemed uncatchable as he edged ahead.
After his incident on lap 2 Thomas Randle was in trouble again but this time only receiving a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.
James Courtney was next in line for a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.
In a surprise on the last lap Anton de Pasquale passed Broc Feeney for 3rd place. Broc Feeney had no time to make it up. Anton de Pasquale took the podium finish in 3rd. Andre Heimgartner had finished 10.4 seconds earlier in 2nd place with Shane Van Gisbergen taking the chequered flag 5.5 clear of him.
It was a spectacular finish for SVG and I’m so glad I was at the track on that day!
Results for Race 19
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Andre Heimgartner – Brad Jones Racing
3rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V Power Racing Team
Brodie Kostecki still leads the championship by 41 points over his teammate Will Brown. Shane Van Gisbergen is only 54 points off the championship lead and Broc Feeney is 4th with 57 points off the championship lead. With 5 events remaining the championship title could be any of these great drivers.
The next event is the OTR Supersprint at the Bend on 18 – 20 August 2023.