Hi to all Supercars Fans around the world!
On the weekend of the 6th and 7th of November, 2021 was the Armor all Sydney Supernight.
The weekend was made up of 3 races, 32 laps each at the Sydney Motorsport Park (Eastern Creek Raceway).
The Triple Eight team hit a massive milestone this weekend with their 250th round start. Congratulations!
In the Pre-race sessions:
- Anton de Pasquale was fastest in Practice 1.
- Anton de Pasquale was also fastest in Practice 2.
- Will Brown was fastest in Armour All Qualifying.
Anton de Pasquale didn’t compete in Qualifying because he was unable to change gears. That meant the Dick Johnson Racing Team had to change the transaxle for car 11 before he start of Race 23. It also meant car 11 had to start race from the 26th position (i.e. the back of the grid).
Will Brown started on pole position. Alongside him was 7 time Supercars champion, Jamie Whincup with series leader, Shane Van Gisbergen behind him.
As the race got underway Will Brown got the jump and led into turn 1, but he had Jamie Whincup all over him. Whincup threatened to pass several times but couldn’t find the way through so Will Brown kept the race lead for the opening laps. The cars further back struggled to put up any challenge.
Shane Van Gisbergern was racing well keeping up with the leaders.
Will Davison lost a few places off the start and on the run down to turn 3.
This week the opening laps were a lot calmer.
The cars further back in the pack were getting bogged down so they decided to come in early to get clear track. Anton de Pasquale chose to stay out longer to move further up the order. The leaders also stayed out to keep their places.
Later when Will Brown came in for what should have been a 3 to 4 second stop, but due to the fingers coming out of the wheel nut it was a 28 second stop! Athough Jamie Whincup was in 4th he was now the effective race leader.
As the rest of the leaders pitted, Whincup looked to have the race in the bag. With only 7 laps to go Shane Van Gisbergen passed Jamie Whincup and took the race lead.
From that point on Gisbergen was on fire and kept increasing the gap between him and his rivals. By the time he crossed the finish line he had 17+ second lead over Jamie Whincup in second place and 24+ seconds over Will Davison in third place.
It was an incredible performance from the season leader, Shane Van Gisbergen and it earned him his 13th win for the year.
Results for Race 23
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.
3rd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team.
In Race 24 Anton de Pasquale started on pole position. Alongside him was the series leader Shane Van Gisbergen.
As the race got underway Anton de Pasquale led into turn 1 leaving the cars behind him desperately trying keep up.
As the pit stops began with the cars further back in the pack looking to get clear track while Anton de Pasquale stayed out linger n the lead of the race .
Jamie Whincup was running in the top 10 early on but then, in the middle of the race he had to make a 2nd pit stop due to a puncture after running over the curb at turn 3. It cost valuable time and he dropped 16 places.
Anton de Pasquale kept edging ahead proving difficult to catch even by series leader, Shane Van Gisbergen in second place. He managed to cross the finish line 8.304 seconds ahead of his closest rival and 17.5043 seconds ahead of James Courtney in 3rd place.
Anton de Pasquale has been absolutely nailing it in these last few events. With these results I am sure he will be closely watched next season.
Results for Race24
1st Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.
3rd James Courtney – Boost Mobile Racing.
Before race 25 got underway there was lighting, thunder and rain. The track was drenched sending teams into panic with last second changes to car and tyre setup.
Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position with Anton de Pasquale alongside him.
Bryce Fullwood jumped the gun before the start and went from 8th on the grid to first. It didnt last long, at the second corner Jamie Whincup reclaimed the lead. Later the officials awarded Fullwood a pit lane penalty for the jumped start.
The two Boost Mobile cars of James Courtney and Brodie Kostecki made contact on the first lap and left the track. They were both buried in the tyre barrier. As a result the first safety car was deployed and even through the cars were damaged they were able to drive back to the pits but couldn’t rejoin the race.
On the restart the rain was bucketing down. Shane Van Gisbergen passed Anton de Pasquale before the control line (which you are not allowed to do). Shane Van Gisbergen got on the radio and told the team that ‘Anton slowed down’. A replay of the footage from Fox Sports showed Anton had not slowed. The officials awarded Shane Van Gisbergen a Drive Through Penalty but later rescinded after reviewing data from the cars.
Regardless of the illegal pass, Shane Van Gisbergen left the track on the next corner so he lost time and position.
The wet conditions worsened but Jamie Whincup kept his lead.
With 7 laps to go the red flag came out and the race didn’t get restarted. They called it as it was. The amazing thing about the race was Chaz Mostert in 3rd place. He started 26th on the grid.
Results for Race 25
1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.
2nd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing Team.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Mobil 1 TM Appliances Online.
There are 3 events to go!
Shane Van Gisbergen still leads the championship by 337 points over Jamie Whincup.
The next event is the BP Ultimate Sydney Supersprint 13th and 14th of November 2021.