In the second half of last year Lee Holdsworth announced that the 2022 season would be his last as a full-time driver in V8 Supercars. To celebrate his contributions to motorsports I’m giving a quick rundown on his career to date. I say ‘to date’ because I believe he has not fully retired from the sport and will be adding more to his list of achievements.
Lee Holdsworth was born on the 2nd of February 1983 in Melbourne Victoria. (Happy Birthday for next month).
Lee Holdsworth started his motorsport career in go karts. He quickly progressed to racing cars in 2001 to compete in the Commodore National Series at only 17 years of age.
In 2002 he finished fifth in the Commodore Cup National Series and then in 2003 finished third.
In 2004 he moved up to compete in the Konica Series driving a Holden VX Commodore for Smith Trucks Racing. He earned some impressive results including finishing his first ever round in the top 10, winning the reverse grid race at Eastern Creek and taking third place in Queensland. It was this year that Lee Holdsworth also got his first taste of The Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000.
In 2005 Lee competed in the Australian Formula Ford Championship with Garry Rogers Motorsport. At the same time, he ran in a number of HPDC Development Series events.
The following year, 2006 was his big break earning a fulltime drive with Garry Rogers Motorsport (GRM) in the V8 Supercars Championship. In 2007 Lee Holdsworth won his first ever V8 Supercars round at Oran Park. His consistency and good strategies had paid off.
In 2008 Lee Holdsworth started working with the John Bowe Institute of Driving helping bring performance driving safety techniques to the public.
In 2009 Lee Holdsworth scored his first career pole position at the first ever Townsville round. He also scored pole position at the first running of the Sydney Telstra 500.
In 2010 Lee Holdsworth was still at GRM and earned 2 pole positions plus a race win.
His 4 year contract with GRM ended after the 2011 season and in 2012 he replaced Shane Van Gisbergen at Stone Brothers Racing.
In 2013 when Erebus Motorsport took over Stone Brothers Racing Lee Holdsworth had Tim Slade and Mario Engel as teammates. With co-driver Craig Baird they earned 3rd place in the endurance race of the Sandown 500.
In 2014 Lee Holdsworth hit a patch of bad luck and received 2 DNFs. One DNF was at Sandown and the other was Bathurst. He made amends by taking first place at Winton.
He spent the following year at Walkinshaw Racing.
In 2016 he moved on to join Team 18. After sustaining injuries at Hidden Valley Raceway, he had to sit out a number of events and didn’t return until the Bathurst 1000.
In 2017 Lee Holdsworth resigned with Team 18 to the end of 2018.
In 2019 Lee Holdsworth moved to Tickford Racing when the Ford Mustangs debuted in the Supercars Championship. It also meant it was his first time behind the wheel of a Ford since 2012.
In 2021 Lee Holdsworth lost his fulltime seat and became co-driver to Chaz Mostert. The relationship worked and they won the coveted Bathurst 1000.
With a Bathurst win under his belt, he returned to fulltime Supercars Racing in 2022 at Grove Racing.
So, after 16 years as a fulltime driver in V8 Supercars and 510 race starts (plus a few more in other categories) the Lethal Lee Holdsworth claims his retirement. Congratulations on what has been an amazing career! Best of luck for the future.
On the weekend of December 1 – 4, 2022 was the V8-Supercars season finale, The Valo Adelaide 500.
The event was held on the Adelaide Street Circuit, a 3.2km track with 14 turns and is made up of two 78 lap races (250kms each).
The circuit was first opened on the 31st October, 1985 for the F1 Australian Grand Prix. A few years later in 1999 the races became an official round of the Supercars Championship.
This year’s event marked a special milestone in the hearts of many Australians. It was the last race ever for the iconic Holden brand. In 2020 General Motors announced the retirement of the Holden brand name and 2022 was the last year of its manufacture. Supercars teams will now replace the Holdens with the Cheverolet Camaro. Australian motorsports will never be the same.
In the four day event the pre-race sessions results were:
Thomas Randle was fastest in Practice 1
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
Chaz Mostert was fastest Practice 3 and in Qualifying for Race 33
Cameron Waters was fastest in the Shootout for Race 33
For Race 33 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Scott Pye alongside him. The big surprise was the champion elect, Shane Van Gisbergen starting in 25th place after a bad wide turn in qualifying and running out of time to have another attempt.
At the start Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 while Scott Pye had to tuck in behind.
At turn 7 James Golding made a mistake which allowed Chaz Mostert to get up the inside of him at turn 9 to take 6th place.
As the field completed lap 1 Cameron Waters had the lead and was 0.9 second ahead of Scott Pye. Shane Van Gisbergen had gained 4 spots to be in 21st place.
Shane Van Gisbergen was soon on the charge. In the second lap he first passed Mark Winterbottom, then Broc Feeney and Bryce Fullwood.
Further ahead, Will Davison got up the inside of Will Brown to move into 13th.
Bryce Fullwood ran wide on the exit of turn 4 which allowed Broc Feeney and Mark Winterbottom to overtake.
Pretty soon Shane Van Gisbergen had gained 9 spots up to 16th position. He was still 11.6 seconds off the lead.
Will Davison passed Brodie Kostecki to move into 12th. The tightly packed group meant engine temperatures were rising and they would have to make attempts to get clean air as soon as possible.
The first car to pit was Nick Percat on lap 6 to get out of the traffic and help keep his engine temperature under control.
At turn 11 Jack Smith went off the track through his own error but it didn’t cause any incident.
On lap 7 James Golding in car 31 had power steering dramas after hitting the wall, so had to immediately head to the pits.
Up the front Anton de Pasquale and James Courtney were in a battle for 3rd and 4th.
I was amazed at Shane Van Gisbergen who was now up 13 places from the start.
Broc Feeney was the first of the 2 Red Bull cars to pit on lap 11 so that Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t have to double stack.
Will Davison was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 13.
On return to the track he locked the right front wheels and race engineer Richard Harris asked him to return to the pits to check for flat spots on his tyres.
Shane Van Gisbergen put in an aggressive effort and was now battling with Lee Holdsworth for 7th position. Yes folks, I do not lie! Shane Van Gisbergen had started 25th on the grid and was now in 8th place going hard.
When Anton de Pasquale came in, he overshot the mark. The crew managed it well, but it was less than perfect especially when you are one of the front runners.
A few laps later Broc Feeney went off the road at turn 11 and hit the tyre wall. It could have spelled disaster, but he managed the recovery well and was able to continue.
Chaz Mostert pitted from 3rd place and came back out in 10th.
Cameron Waters pitted from the lead and came back out with clear air.
In the middle of the race the safety car was deployed because Jack le Brocq was in the wall. The rest of the field took the opportunity to come in and fuel up.
After the race went back to ‘green’, Chaz Mostert made wheel to wheel contact with Shane Van Gisbergen but it didn’t result in any significant damage.
With 32 laps to go Thomas Randle and Todd Hazelwood were the first two drivers to complete their second and final pit stop.
Will Davison pitted a few laps later, lap 49.
On the next lap Shane Van Gisbergen went off the track at turn 11 and buried the front end in the tyre wall. Race control deployed the safety car. He managed to get the car out but had reasonable damage requiring repair.
On the restart Chaz Mostert was the leader of the race followed by Andre Heimgartner and Nick Percat.
At turn 5 Cameron Waters tried to get up the inside of Todd Hazelwood. It didn’t work but it sent Hazelwood into the wall. Will Brown was so close he couldn’t avoid following him into the wall, so it was less than a lap after restart that another safety car came back out on the track. Shortly after Cameron Waters was issued a drive through penalty for being the cause of the mayhem.
On the restart with 22 laps to go Andre Heimgartner tried to go around the race leader Chaz Mostert but failed and lost ground. On the exit of turn 6 he made another mistake which allowed Nick Percat to take 2nd place off him. Walkinshaw Andretti United now had the 2 front places in the running.
With 17 laps to go Bryce Fullwood had to serve a pit lane penalty for making contact with Scott Pye earlier. It ultimately put him out of the running for a place on the podium.
With 16 laps to go Chaz Mostert’s lead was 2.5 seconds over Nick Percat in 2nd place.
With 8 laps to go James Courtney was given a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits and was out of lives. Race control issued him with previous warnings and now gave him a drive through penalty.
In the end, on the final lap Chaz Mostert finished 1.9 seconds ahead of his teammate Nick Percat. It was a spectacular finish for Chaz Mostert, earning him his 21st career win and his 5th race win of 2022. It was also a welcome finish for Walkinshaw Andretti United having a 1st and 2nd place.
Results for Race 33
1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
2nd Nick Percat – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd James Courtney – Tickford Racing
In Race 34 Anton de Pasquale started on pole position and alongside him was his teammate, Will Davison.
As they took off Anton de Pasquale led into turns 1 and 2.
Back in the pack there was contact between Mark Winterbottom and James Golding. They both went off the track. Golding had to wait for all the cars to pass before he could re-enter putting him at the back of the pack.
There was only 0.373 seconds between Anton de Pasquale in first place and Will Davison in second. They were closely followed by champion Shane Van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney.
Cameron Waters was able to pass his former teammate, Chaz Mostert for 5th place.
On lap 3 Scott Pye ran extremely wide at the final corner and Anton de Pasquale hit the tyre bundle at turns 1 and 2 of the next lap putting some damage on his car.
Jack Le Brocq’s car had smoke coming out of the back due to an oil leak. Officials issued him a mechanical black flag and he had to come into the pits right away.
Broc Feeney was the first of the Red Bull cars to pit on lap 11 so teammate Shane Van Gisbergen wouldn’t have to double stack.
On lap 14 Anton de Pasquale was still in control of the race. Will Davison pitted to avoid a challenge from Broc Feeney who had just done the fastest lap of the race so far.
Todd Hazelwood had a massive slide between turns 13 and 14, while Will Davison got a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.
On lap 18 Jake Kostecki hit the wall exiting turn 8 and the left rear wheel departed car 56. The safety car was deployed for the first time in the final race of the year.
On the restart with 58 laps to go Will Davison was leading the race with Broc Feeney and Anton de Pasquale close behind.
Yet again at turn 8, Brodie Kostecki hit the wall and put a bruise on car 99.
On the next lap David Reynolds got a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits at turn 2.
Meanwhile back up the front Will Davison was under pressure from Broc Feeney in 2nd place. Will Davison made a mistake at the turn 9 hairpin that allowed Broc Feeney to take the race lead.
In the middle of the race Broc Feeney was still the leader and looking confident. From that point he did a fantastic job of holding out against the winner of the previous race at this event, Chaz Mostert.
Chaz Mostert kept the pressure on but in the final laps Broc Feeney managed to create some space between the two. It was only about 1 second but enough to let Feeney concentrate on driving rather than defending.
Broc Feeney kept the more experienced Chaz Mostert at bay and crossed the finish line with 0.9644 of a second lead. It was just under another long 8.5 seconds before Anton de Pasquale followed in 3rd place.
Broc Feeney and the team were ecstatic to claim his first win in his rookie year. It also seemed a fitting climax as the Holden brand name’s final race ever in Supercars.
A special congratulations to Broc Feeney on a great finish to your rookie year and your teammate, Shane Van Gisbergen who is now officially a 3 time Supercars champion.
Also, I would like to send out congratulations to Lee Holdsworth on his retirement race. You have been an absolute stalwart of the sport for two decades. Thanks for the brilliant memories and best of luck for the future. You will be missed.
Results for Race 34
1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing Team
The next events are the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hour, February 3rd to 5th 2023. Then the Supercars season begins on March 10 with the Thrifty Newcastle 500. I can’t wait and hope you will join me then.
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.
On the weekend of the 13th to the 15th of May 2022 was the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.
The Bathurst 12 hour is a time race independent of laps.
It is also a GT not a Supercars race, so the results don’t affect the Supercars series.
There were plenty of drivers from the Supercars paddock that competed, like; Lee Holdsworth, Broc Feeney, David Reynolds, Cameron Waters, Shane Van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes, Alex Davison, Chaz Mostert, Will Brown and Jack Perkins.
Some of the more well-known internationals that competed included; Kenny Habul, Jules Gounon, Kelvin van der Linde, Marcus Winklehock and Prince Jefri Ibrahim.
I was keeping my eye on Chaz Mostert, Broc Feeney, Shane Van Gisbergen, Lee Holdsworth, Dean Fiore, Craig Lowndes, Cameron Waters and Grant Denyer.
Normally this event is run in February but due to Covid messing with things, it was re-scheduled for May.
Also, it usually starts between 6am and 6:15am (during daylight savings). Marketing determined it best to have the race finish during TV peak-time for better ratings. This meant an earlier start of 5:15am, so the first 90 minutes of the race were in the early morning dark.
The first 90 minutes were in the dark before sunrise.
Before the race started the fog had descended on Mount Panorama.
Chaz Mostert earned himself pole position. He was teamed with Liam Talbot and Fraser Ross in car 65, an Audi from Melbourne Performance Centre. I wasn’t surprised that Chaz Mostert started behind the wheel because of his experience at this venue in the Supercars Series.
South African, Kelvin van der Linde was alongside pole.
Broc Feeney, the Red Bull Ampol Racing rookie started the 888 Mercedes from 5th position. In his Bathurst 12 Hour debut this was a big assignment, but no doubt because the team have faith in him.
There were only 20 cars on the grid this year compared to the normal 30 or 40 cars. The reduction was of limited international competitors due to COVID.
A rolling start behind the safety car is the norm for the Bathurst 12 Hour, I guess to reduce the risks of a standing start in the dark. It was also a good choice considering this year’s foggy conditions.
When the safety car peeled off, the start of the race was absolutely spectacular. The drivers in the top 10 held their positions with Mostert and Linde being the pace setters.
The safety car came out more than once due to the foggy conditions. The visibility was so poor that even the drivers were making comments. Typical of Bathurst, the fog turned to rain, then fogged up again and then rained again.
Before the sun came up, Zane Morse in car 52 tagged the wall at the top of the hill forcing a safety car. The Wheels/FX Racing PNG Marc II V8 was the first car to leave the track.
Two hours into the race Dale Wood in car 50 was the next victim of The Mountain.
About halfway through car 95 was pulled from the race with engine problems.
Car 45 hit the wall exiting The Dipper and required immediate repairs. When it rejoined the race they suffered another hit taking it out of the race for good.
I am not superstitious but I note that the above cars mentioned all have the number 5 in their car numbers; 52, 50, 95 and 45. Coincidence?
Of all the things that happened to the cars in such a gruelling race, it was the pole sitter car 65 that had my eyes wide open in disbelief. The car had stopped on Mountain Straight. To rectify the issues, you wont believe this….. They literally pressed Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart and then … they were off and away! LOL!
The weather played havoc through the day. There were multiple occasions that the safety cars were deployed, and other cars were pulled from the track to sit out the rest of the race.
It was the team of Jules Gounon, Martin Konrad, Kenny Habul and Luca Stolz who crossed the line first with an 8.7 second lead. They were in car 75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG. (note another 5 in the car number).
The Craft Bamboo Mercedes, car 91 was the next across the line. Daniel Juncedella, Kevin Tse and Maro Engel put in an incredible challenge to the leader in the last 2 hours of the race. It really was an intense extended battle to the finish line.
The third car to come across the line was also a Mercedes AMG, giving Merc a 1,2 & 3 on the podium. This was the 888 car from my favoured team Triple Eight Race Engineering, driven by Supercars defending champ Shane Van Gisbergen, Broc Feeney and Prince Jefri Ibrahim.
It was an incredible race and im already looking forward to its return next year. Good thing is it is expected to run in its usual schedule of February, so I don’t have to wait a full year!!!!
On the 4th to 6th March was the Beaurepairs Sydney Supernight. It was the first event the 2022 Supercars Championship. It’s great to see the Supercars back. Lets hope we don’t get a repeat of last year and there are no Covid interruptions to the events calendar.
It was great to see Riana Crehan returning the Fox broadcast as pit lane reporter. She spent last year working in Super Bikes. Charli Robinson hands back the mic after filling in for her. It is a shame to see Charli leave. Both women are great reporters. I wish we could have them both at Fox.
Mark Winterbottom’s slipped past a personal milestone. This weekend was his 561st and 562nd race in Supercars.
Nathan Prendagast head of TV at Supercars is leaving in June to take skill set to an international level. He has been with Supercars for 18 years and has only missed 3 events in that time. A sure sign of his dedication.
Anton de Pasquale was fastest in Qualifying and the Top Ten Shootout.
In race 1 Anton de Pasquale started on pole position alongside him was defending champion, Shane Van Gisbergen.
Anton de Pasquale led into turn 1. Shane Van Gisbergen hot on his tail tried to get up the inside between turns 2 and 3 but couldn’t manage to find the space.
David Reynolds ran wide onto the grass between turns 4 and 5. The cars further back in the pack were trying to keep up with the leaders.
On lap 8 Scott Pye had another power steering drama like he had in the last race for 2021 at Bathurst. He was able to drive back to the pits but moments after pulling up the car caught FIRE! Scott Pye jumped out of the car so quick. If he had been that fast at the start line he would be in the lead. LOL. But truly, glad no one was hurt. Unfortunately, he was out of the race. The only one to receive an NC (Not Complete).
Meanwhile in the middle of the pack drivers were still battling for position. Thomas Randle found the space to get down the inside of car 56 driven by Jake Kostecki. Cameron Waters also found the opportunity to pass Nick Percat.
In the early stages Shane Van Gisbergen was running 2nd to Pasquale. He was on a 3 stop strategy compared to everybody else who did the 2 mandatory stops. By the middle of the race he picked the right time to pass Anton de Pasquale for the lead.
With every lap Shane Van Gisbergen seemed to be edging further ahead. He was looking strong and confident. It seemed if he could make it to the end of the race without error he was sure to win.
The defending champion held his place and continued to increase his lead. It was soon obvious he was out of reach from other drivers.
In spectacular form he continued to increase the gap from the others. By the time he crossed the finish line he nearly had a 20 second lead. It was an incredible win for him.
Next across the line was Anton de Pasquale followed by the other fast driver on the day, Chaz Mostert.
Results for Race 1
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing. 2nd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing Team. 3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.
For the second race of the weekend, Chaz Mostert was fastest in the Qualifying session which meant he was on provisional pole position. That is to say, he had the advantage to be the last driver for the Top 10 Shootout.
However, it was Brodie Kostecki who earned pole position for Race 2. His maiden pole in Supercars. Alongside him was Anton de Pasquale.
Shane Van Gisbergen was 21st on the grid due to getting held up by other cars in Qualifying.
At the start of the race Anton de Pasquale lead the opening laps with Brodie Kostecki right behind him.
The cars further back in the pack were jostling for position. Chaz Mostert had gained 2 places, 7th to 5th and Shane Van Gisbergen went from 21st to 15th.
While Shane Van Gisbergen was aggressively marching forward, he ran wide and left the track. He didn’t realise until later that he had a puncture. The tyre change cost him valuable time. On return from the pits he was 1.6 laps down. A big blow for the defending champ.
By the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was affectively the leader after moving up from 5th to 1st with 3 cars in front who were still yet to pit.
The speed that Chaz Mostert showed at end of last season to win the Bathurst 1000 was still there. From the moment he had the lead to the end of the race he held position to the finish line. He was over 3 seconds ahead of Brodie Kostecki, followed by Anton de Pasquale.
Defending champion, Shane Van Gisbergen who was 1.6 laps down in the early stages, made an amazing recovery to finish 6th! OMG!
Results for Race 2
1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United. 2nd Brodie Kostecki – Boost Mobile Racing. 3rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing Team.
Chaz Mostert is now the championship leader by 12 points. The first time in his career to earn the right to display the orange (leader) numbers on his car. Congratulations!
The next event is the Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint on March 25th to the 27th 2022.
if you enjoyed reading my article you might be interested in my vlogs on Youtube.
On the weekend of the 9th to the 11th of July was the NTI Townsville 500.
After the indefinite postponement of the Winton Supersprint due to COVID I have been itching for the event to take place.
The first V8 Supercars race in Townsville was 2009. Out of the previous 29 races held here Jamie Whincup has had 12 wins and 20 podium finishes. I am sure that he and everyone else had high expectations for this coming event.
In the pre–race sessions the results were as follows:
David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 1
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in the Armour All Qualifying and the Armour All top 10 Shootout.
In race 15 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position. Alongside him was teammate Jamie Whincup. It was meant to be an 88 lap 250Km race on Saturday but Fabian Coulthard was stranded on the grid at the start. Drivers had to do an extra formation lap which took a lap out of the race, so it became an 87 lap race. Fabian Coulthard was able to get his car off the grid and back to the pits with a new battery. He then had to prove to officials that his car could start under its own power. Only then was he able to start the race from the end of the pit lane.
After the formation lap the race got underway and Jamie Whincup led into turn 1 from the outside for. Further back in the field Brodie Kostecki (Erebus) was battling with Jake Kostecki (Unit Racing).
The cars further back in the pack came in early to avoid double stacking while the leaders stayed out longer to make the most of their good positioning.
In those opening laps the two Red Bull Ampol Racing Team cars were running 1st and 2nd.
Matt Stone Racing’s Zane Goddard made contact with the wall in car 35 and had to limp back to the pits. The team managed to repair the car and Zane Goddard returned to the track. Although he finished the race he had lost so much time that he dropped from 18th on the grid to 24th by the end of the race.
Up to the last quarter of the race Jamie Whincup was looking good for another victory at Townsville. It looked to be turning out the way I had predicted but at lap 70 Shane Van Gisbergen was able to take the lead off his teammate. Shane Van Gisbergen has been achieving incredible results this season but this was unexpected. The two drivers egged each other on. No one could catch them as they pulled further and further ahead of the pack.
Not only did Shane Van Gisbergen hold the number one spot but in those remaining 18 laps managed to build more than a 7 second lead over Jamie Whincup by the finish line. It was bad luck for Jamie Wincup but still a great result for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team, 1st and 2nd place.
Just over 30 seconds behind Whincup, Anton de Pasquale came in third place.
Now that is what I call an incredible finish.
Results for Race 15
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Anton De Pasquale – Dick Johnson Racing
In race 16 it was again the Red Bull Ampol Racing duo starting at the front of the grid. This time it was Jamie Whincup who started on pole position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.
It was a milestone for the already record breaking Whincup as his 90th Supercars career pole start.
Yet again Jamie Whincup got the jump and led into turn 1 over his teammate and championship leader, Shane Van Gisbergen.
The drivers that started the race back in pack came in early to get clear air.
James Courtney was batting with Cameron Waters for positions 9th and 10th.
Brodie Kostecki was putting pressure on Will Brown to get passed him for 5th place.
By the middle of the race the 2 mandatory pit stops were done by almost all drivers and Jamie Whincup was back in the lead.
Shane Van Gisbergen was stuck in traffic further back which must have taken the pressure off Jamie Whincup.
Shane Van Gisbergen charged his was through the traffic and once again, with only 13 laps to go took the lead off his teammate Jamie Whincup.
The two drivers had more than a 20 second lead over Pesky Pasquale in the 3rd place.
For Shane Van Gisbergen this weekend puts his tally at 10 wins out of 15 races for the season. That is just incredible.
Results for race 16
1st Sane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Anton De Pasquale – Dick Johnson Racing
The next event is the WD 40 Townsville Supersprint on the 17th and 18th of July 2021.
On the weekend of the 17th and 18th of April, 2021 was the Beaurepaires Tasmania Supersprint.
Marcos Ambrose a Tasmanian native was apart of the broadcast team for Fox Sports.
Neil Crompton who normally chairs the commentary box was sitting in on the hosting panel to fill in for Jess Yates. She and husband, Luke Egan have welcomed another baby into the world. His name is Samuel Lewis Egan and will be little brother to Isabella (7). Congratulations Jess and Luke.
In the lead up to this event all eyes were on Shane Van Gisbergen who has been driving like a bat out of hell since his win in the final event (Bathurst) for last season.
Shane Van Gisbergen took out the trophy for both races at the opening event for this season, The Bathurst 500. He then followed up with a triple win for races 3, 4 and 5 at the Sandown Supersprint.
So everyone was keen to see what he could do at this event. That however may be wishful thinking because this year there is some stiff competition and some very fast cars.
The results for the pre-race sessions were as follows:
Cameron Waters was fastest in practice 1 and 2
Shane Van Gibergen was fastest in Armour All Qualifying for race 6
In race 6 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.
At the start of the race Cameron Waters got the jump on Shane Van Gisbergen and led into turn 1 for the first of 44 laps.
Jamie Whincup got up to 2nd on lap 1 but then Shane Van Gisbergen overtook his teammate.
Then after a few laps Shane Van Gisbergen had the lead which was very impressive.
The drivers who were up front stayed out because they had track position and clear air.
Jamie Whincup came in early because he was looking for track position and clear air. It also ensured Shane Van Gisbergen in the lead wouldn’t risk a double stack.
Chaz Mostert was again showing some great driving and up in 5th place.
There were 2 mandatory pit stops so strategy was going to be a big part of getting or maintaining track position.
By the middle of the race Anton de Pasquale was in 3rd position but he didn’t seem to have much hope of catching Shane Van Gisbergen in 1st and Jamie Whincup 2nd.
Shane Van Gisbergen held his lead with confidence to gain his 6th win out of 6 races for the season. Specatacular!
Results for Race 6
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team. 2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team. 3rd Anton de Pasquale – Dick Johnson Racing.
In race 7 Cameron Waters started on pole position, alongside him was Jamie Whincup.
Cameron Waters led into turn 1 for the first of 44 laps.
When they got to the hairpin turn Jack Le Broq made contact with Anton de Pasquale and was spun round ending up at the back of the pack. Andre Heimgartner and Fabian Coulthard were also caught in the mayhem as the pack round the turn.
Jamie Whincup tried to get by Cameron Waters early on but couldn’t so he had to pit early to get clear air which paid off.
James Courtney had a massive slide on a left bend and ended up shooting across the traffic to the right hand side. He was lucky not to collect the cars following him. He managed to save it all by getting back on track and continue driving.
Chaz Mostert was trying to move up through the field to get near the race leaders but that didn’t happen.
In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup was the race lace leader and looking good for his first win of his final season.
Regardless of Shane Van Gisbergen’s efforts, Jamie held the lead to the finish line with his teammate in tow. I wander if it was any consolation to Shane Van Gisbergen that it was his teammate that broke his winning streak.
Results for Race 7
1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.
3rd Will Davison – Dick Johnson Racing.
In race 8 Cameron Waters started on pole position and alongside was Chaz Mostert.
Zane Goddard qualified on the 2nd row of the grid. Not bad for a rookie when you consider the stiff competition out there.
As the final race for the weekend got underway Chaz Mosert got the jump off the line and pretty much led the entire race accept for pit stops. Early on there cars behind him were chasing him down but Chaz Mostert didn’t want to give up the race lead.
Jack Le Broq came in early to get track position and clear air.
After the mayhem on lap 1 of in the previous race Will Davison cleverly chose to pull back from the battle he was having with Anton de Pasquale.
Jamie Whincup pitted first then Shane Van Gisbergen pitted the lap after.
Chaz Mostert stayed out longer because he was leading the race.
Bryce Fullwood was moving up the order while his teammate Chaz Mostert was up front.
By the middle of the race Shane Van Gibergen seemed relegated to being back in the pack. He and teammate, Jamie Whincup couldnt find the room to move up through the field. As it turned out they each gained only one position by the end of the race.
On the other hand Chaz Mostert seemed to be increasing his lead crossing the finish line more than 10 seconds ahead of Anton de Pasquale in 2nd place. It was an incredible finish.
Results for race 8
1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
2nd Anton de Pasquale – Dick Johnson Racing
3rd Wil Davison – Dick Johnson Racing.
The next event is the OTR Supersprint at the Bend on the 8th and 9th of May 2021.
Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!On the weekend of the 20th and 21st of March was the Penrite Oil Sandown Supersprint.
The event was held at the Sandown International Raceway. It is a famous track of 3.1 kilometres owned by Melbourne Racing Club with a rich history stretching beyond its opening as a raceway in 1962 and the first Sandown 500 in 1964. Prior to this it was a horse racing facilty built in the 19th century.
In motor racing it seems to be a tough and challenging track. History shows that both Ash Walsh and Lee Holdsworth crashed in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Both at the end of the back straight.
As for the event this year, it looked like it was going to be a tough one for the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team. Three weeks ago after the opening round of the Supercars Championship at the Bathurst 500, Shane Van Gisbergen broke his collar bone in a mountain bike accident. He was admitted to hospital for surgery.
With such an injury it was doubtful Shane Van Gisbergen would be racing at Sandown . The team had Garth Tander on stand by to fill in. Even commentator Mark Skaife said that he didn’t think that Shane Van Gisbergen would race but… HE DID!!!.
I am sure Triple Eight had their concerns for Shane Van Gisbergen, as well as the impact on the team and the championship after his double win at the opening event, Bathurst 500.
Results for the Pre-Race sessions:
Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 1
Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 2
Chaz Mostert was fastest in the Armour All Qualifying
Shane Van Gibergen qualified 17th
In race 3 Chaz Mostert started on pole position with Cameron Water alongside him.
At the start of the race Chaz Mostert led into turn 1 but Cameron Waters took the lead between turns 2 and 3.. During the opening stages Mark Winterbottom and Jamie Whincup were flying up to turn 1.
When the pit window opened the front runners stayed out while cars further back pitted.
In the middle of the race the drivers were going nuts because they knew that every pass they made was critical.
As it turned outShane Van Gisbergen started 17th with his broken collar bone and finished 1st ! Wow!. After his double win at Bathurst a few weeks back this was an exciting finish.
What a incredible race. Well done SVG.
Results for Race 3
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team. 2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing. 3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.
Regardless of weather reports, races 4 and 5 were wet and created tension out on the track.
Shane Van Gisbergen astounded everyone by being fastest in the Qualifying for Race 4 earning him pole position. Alongside him was teammate Jamie Whincup.
At the start of the race Jamie Whincup took the lead into turn 1 but Shane Van Gisbergern was soon passed him.
Early on in the race Will Davison spun in between turns 2 and 3 and nearly collected Anton de Pasqaule on the re-join. Thankfully that didn’t happen.
The front runners stayed out while the cars back in the pack pitted.
Will Brown was charging through the pack in Race 4 just like Shane Van Gisbergen did in Race 3.
Brodie Kosecki was back in the pack so the Erebus team brought him in to give him clear air.
Once Shane Van Gisbergen took his final pit stop and re-joined he was the clear leader and seemed impossible to catch. Yes, Shane Van Gisbergen won this race too. That was 2 of 2 races for the weekend and 4 out of 4 for the season. Just incredible!
Results for Race 4
1st Shane Van Gisergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team. 2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing. 3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.
In race 5 Shane Van Gisbergen again started on pole position with teammate Jamie Whincup alongside him.
During the opening laps Brodie Kostecki was up from 7th to 4th spot which Erebus Motorsport must have been happy with. I bet team owner Betty Klimenco regretted not being there and staying home with her sick dog. Boo hoo! Bow wow!
Will Brown, also from Erebus Motorsport came in early because he wasn’t moving forward.
Chaz Mostert was dogfighting up front for the lead. He just would’nt give in and some spectacular driving was on show. The manoeuvres were just incredible as he traded the lead with Shane Van Gisbergen multiple times. Im sure Shane Van Gisbergen was thinking Mostert was like a fly at a picnic. Just buzzing around and being a pest.
Once again towards the end of the race no one could catch Shane Van Gisbergen.
Incredible! 5 out of 5 races for the season.
Results for race 5
1st Shane van Gisbrgen – Red Bull Ampol Racing team. 2nd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport. 3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.
The next event is the Beaurepairs Tasmania Supersprint has been delayed 1 week due to COVID19 lock downs. It will now be run on the 17th and 18th of April 2021.
On the weekend of February 26th to 28th was the official start the 2021 V8 Supercars season kicking off with the Repco Mount Panorama 500.
In order to celebrate and watch the race I went to the Royal Hotel Ryde on both Saturday (with my mate Sam) and Sunday (with Dad).
We were also celebrating two other things. The first, is the easing of COVID restrictions in the Sydney area allowing us to actually go to a pub.
The second was the successful training I have been doing since the start of the year. What training I hear you ask. Well, I always drink liquids from a bottle with a spout because I have Cerebral Palsy and have never drunk from an open top glass (read this as schooner glass). To add to this problem, last year I had a massive stroke that paralysed my dominant side. On the 1st of January I set a goal to ‘learn’ how to drink from an open top glass. With the help of too many people to mention I have achieved this. It might be seen like a small thing to most but for me IT IS AWESOME!!!! . It was a great feeling drinking from a schooner at the pub.
I also wanted slip in a very big Thank You to the manager at the Royal Hotel Ryde, Chris and his partner Bianca who reserved an easily accessible table for us right in front of the TVs which he kindly switched over the Supercars Race. Your consideration, hospitality and friendship is very much appreciated.
I had such an enjoyable time I had to mention all that. However, now I will give you a quick run down of the actual races.
In the pre-race sessions:
Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1 and 2.
Anton De Pasquale was the fastest in the Armour All Qualifying.
Cameron Waters was fastest in the Armour All Top 10 Shootout earning him Pole Position for the race.
In Race 1 alongside Cameron Waters on pole position was Tim Slade.
Cameron Waters got the jump off the line and led into turn 1.
On the first lap Scott Pye hit the wall at The Cutting which meant he had to limp back to the pits. The repairs took a while but he was lucky enough to rejoin the race later. Unfortunately it put him way back in the pack, having started from position 10 he finished 2 laps behind in 19th place.The drivers soon settled down into their race pace.
On lap 6 Anton De Pasquale also hit the wall at The Cutting and this time the safety car was deployed. Another victim of The Cutting, he was towed back to the pits and didn’t rejoin receiving a NC (Not Complete)
Cameron Waters was running up the front of the race but then a car problem forced an unscheduled pit stop.. He lost the lead and when he rejoined he was at least a lap down. After starting on Pole and holding the lead it was bad luck he didnt manage to at least stay up the front. He finished 20th and was short 6 laps short of the winner.
It was at this stage that Shane Van Gisbergen became the race leader with the cars behind him battling for 2nd , 3rd and 4th.
Shane Van Gisbergen held the number one position from that point on. It seemed no one was able to catch him. In the last minutes of the race Will Davison was battling with Tim Slade for 3rd spot. 5 laps from the finish Tim Slade had a bone shattering side-on with the wall at Forrest Elbow. He bounced off the wall with such force it took everyone’s breath away. He was lucky enough to be able to roll the car out of the way onto the grass area. The damage was severe and he wasn’t rejoining the race and the team couldnt even get the repairs done for the next day’s race. It must have been a tough race as his was the 4th NC for the day.
Results for Race 1
1st Shane Van Gisberen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.
3rd Will Davison – Dick Johnson Racing.
In Race 2 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position, alongside him was Cameron Waters. Cameron Waters led into turn 1 for the first of 40 laps.
Shane Van Gisbergen stayed in 2nd place. Behind them Will Davison was battling with Chaz Mostert for positions 3 and 4.
Cameron Waters kept his lead in the opening stages while Shane Van Gisbergern stayed close copping a lot of hot air.
Further back Jamie Whincup was trying to catch up with his teammate, Shane Van Gisbergen.
but the cars in front of him didn’t make it easy to get by .
By the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen had the lead and was charging his way to victory. He held fast to the number 1 spot and it appeared he just couldn’t be caught. He crossed the line 6.1277 seconds ahead of his nearest rival, Cameron Waters and earned himself 2 out 2 victories for the weekend.
Shane Van Gisbergen now leads the championship with 300 points.
His team, Red Bull Ampol Racing Team leads the teams championship by 54 points.
Results for Race 2
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.
The next race is the Penrite Oil Sandown Superspint on the 20th and 21st of March, 2021.
On the weekend of the 15th to the 18th of October, 2020 was the Grand Finale of the V8 Supercars season, the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
In the previous event Repco Supersprint The Bend, Scott McLaughlin was named ‘Champion Elect’ having enough championship points to be unreachable with only one event remaining for the season.
However, it was the Red Bull Holden Racing Team leading Teams Championship ladder but were still within reach by the Shell V-Power Racing Team. So for Jamie Whincup, Shane Van Gisbergen and their co-drivers, Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander this event was make-or-break for the Teams Championship.
Regardless, for all teams the Bathurst 1000 is an incredibly gruelling race and is Australia’s biggest motor race of the year.
With that in mind the pre-race sessions were full of intense competition with some great performances. The results were:
Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 1.
James Moffat was fastest in Practice 2.
Cameron Waters was fastest again in Practice 3.
Will Davison was fastest in Practice 4.
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 5.
Lee Holdsworth was fastest in the Armour All Qualifying.
Warren Luff was fastest in Practice 6.
Cameron Waters and Will Davison were fastest in Practice 7.
Cameron Waters was fastest again in the Armour all Top 10 Shootout earning pole position
Andre Heimgartner was fastest in the Warm U
So in Race 31, The Big Race and grand finale of the season Cameron Waters and Will Davison started on pole position with the formidable Champion Elect Scott McLaughlin alongside them.
Most of the co-drivers started the race except for Scott McLaughlin, Rick Kelly and Macauley Jones.
I was surprised the The Shell V-Power Racing Team started the race with Scott McLaughlin in the driver’s seat of car 17 but it may have been a last minute strategy when they earned P2 alongside pole position.
Craig Lowndes started the race in car 888 and was battling with Michael Caruso for position 7.
As they kicked off the 161 lap race Will Davison got the jump at first but then Scott McLaughlin soon overtook and led up mountain straight for the first time.
Unlike previous years there were no major incidents in the first lap, but it wasn’t long before the pressure started to show.
During lap 2 Macauley Jones had a problem with his drivers side door, the Brad Jones Racing team couldn’t get the door to stay closed on car 3. As he rounded corners the door was flying open! Of all the issues to have in this race! Race control issued a mechanical black flag requiring he return to the pits immediately. For whatever reason Macauley Jones went another lap before coming in which earned him a Drive Thru Penalty.
The Brad Jones Racing Team had to put a new drivers door on car 3 because the one they had on the car wouldn’t close.
Rick Kelly had a clutch problem with car 15 but put up with it during the opening stages.When Car 15 finaly came in for repairsthey put Dale Wood in the driver’s seat.
When the safety car was deployed Car 15 was able to be waved passed to get his lap back under the new safety car rules.
When Jamie Whincup took the wheel of car 888 from Craig Lowndes he was battling with Bodie Kostecki and Chaz Mostert in front and behind in cars 99 and 25. On lap 33 Jamie Whincup was racing through ‘The Cutting’, a particularly dangerous part of the track and lost control smashing into the concrete barrier.
The impact was huge and car 888 was now out of the race! Not only that but with a DNF Red Bull Holden Racing Team could not earn enough points to stay at the top of the Team’s Championship ladder. Rubbing further salt into the wound was the fact that Team’s Championship would now go to driver champion elect Scott McLaughlin’s team, Shell V-Power Racing Team.
On restart the race leader was Will Davison in car 6, and that’s when it started to rain.
At lap 50 Todd Hazelwood and Jordan Boys in car 14 were the next to leave the track.
Not long after on lap 62 Garry Jacobson and David Russell also left the track to keep the guys in car 50 some company for the duration of the race.
The next 65 laps didn’t see any major incidents and let the race continue.
In the middle of the race Garth Tander, co-driver to Shane Van Gisbergen in car 97 took the lead. Garth Tander’s years of experience were on show with supreme driving skills and flying like he had some Red Bull wings.
This is the Bathurst 1000 and Garth Tander, a three time winner was not going to give up a chance to make it his fourth.
Car 97 was still leading when he handed over the wheel to Shane Van Gisbergen, yet to win his first Bathurst 1000.
As they drivers all completed their mandatory 7 pit stops Shane Van Gisbergen was still holding the lead. For all his efforts he could not shake Cameron Waters right behind him.
Every moment was tense as the race drew to a close. Any slip up and Cameron Waters would take advantage and Shane Van Gisbergen could kiss his 1st Bathurst win good-bye.
At lap 147 of 161 Bryce Fullwood and Kurt Kostecki in car 2 were stranded on the track with power steering dramas and the safety car was deployed. Shane Van Gisbergen must have been pleased to get a chance to breath from Cameron Waters incessant chase.
When the race resumed it was only 2 laps later at lap 149 that the safety car was deployed again as the two Jacks (Smith and Perkins) in car 4 left the track. I bet Shane Van Gisbergen was beginning to feel he would lose his form with these interruptions.
Soon enough they were back to full throttle. There were just a few laps remaining and Shane Van Gisbergen was no only holding his lead but squeezed a few seconds ahead of his pesky shadow Cameron Waters. At lap 155 the other Kostecki (Jake) and Zane Goddard were the cause of the safety car being deployed yet again.
You could feel the tension as the cars squeezed up in formation behind the safety car ready to finish those last few laps.
They resumed for the final time. Shane Van Gisbergen driving like a bat out of hell and Cameron Waters right on his tail. At every opportunity he would pull out from behind the leader and show himself – ready to pounce at any opportunity.
Shane Van Gisbergen kept his cool and didn’t choke at the threat from Waters. In an incredibly tense few laps Shane Van Gisbergen managed to cross that finish line first to get his first Bathurst 1000.
Results for race 31
1st Shane Van Gisbergen and Garth Tander – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Cameron Waters and Will Davison – Tickford Racing.
3rd Chaz Mostert and Warren Luff – Walkinshaw Andretti United.
The Supercars will be back at Bathurst in Feburary 2021.
