On the weekend of the 8th to the 10th of November 2019 was the Penrite Oil Sandown 500.
Results for the pre – race sessions were as follows:
Garth Tander was fastest in practice 1 for co-drivers
David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 2
Craig Lowndes was fastest in Practice 3
Scott Pye & Warren Luff were fastest in the warm up for the Sandown 500.
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 4 & Armour All Qualifying for Race 28
Craig Lowndes won Race 28
Jamie Whincup won Race 29
Before the race on Sunday the Supercars community at Sandown paid tribute to the life of Mike Raymond, who passed away a few days earlier at the age of 76. Mike Raymond was most well known as a commentator in the late 80s, early 90s. He gave so much to the sport, our condolences to his family and all that knew him. If anyone has a good memory to share about Mike Raymond please post it on my Supercars Facebook Fan Page. I am sure others would love to hear it. https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/
At the start of the 500 kilometre 161 lap race Craig Lowndes started on pole position, alongside him was Bryce Fullwood from the Dunlop Super 2 Series.
All the co-drivers bar Scott Pye started behind the wheel for the race on Sunday. I guess this is part of the strategy as the co-drivers have to do a minimum of 54 laps and can only do a maximum 107 laps.
Jack Smith was behind the wheel co-driving with Todd Hazelwood in his debut at the Enduro’s.
Both Alex Premat (co-driver for Scott McLaughlin) and Garth Tander (co-driver for Shane Van Gisbergen) started in positions 24th and 25th. These two cars are normally at the front of the grid. Garth Tander’s positioning was caused by Shane Van Gisbergen unable to complete the ‘main driver’ race on Saturday due to to a spin off track from a poorly timed takeover with Anton de Pasquale.
Alex Premat was sentenced to the back of the grid due to officials finding Scott McLaughlin’s engine was over-specced dating back to Bathurst. Quite a drama. If you have a point of view on this please feel free to put it up for discussion on my Supercars Facebook Fan Page.
Without surprise the experienced Craig Lowndes got the jump on Bryce Fullwood off the start line. Further back in the grid 3 cars stalled on the green light causing a fair bit of havoc.
Alex Davison was in one of the cars that stalled and was extremely lucky not to be collected by the cars just behind him.
At the end of the opening lap Tony Dalberto got turned around by Richard Muscat and found himself at the very back of the pack.
Luke Youlden in car # 9 received damage and was missing the rear wing. When he got back to the pits he knew that the day was over. With only 30 laps completed it must have been a big blow for him and his main driver, David Reynolds.
I was actually surprised that Dale Wood and Luke Youlden managed to limp their cars back to the pits. They looked in very poor shape.
Later in the race there was contact between Michael Caruso and Jake Kostecki. This was a really messy situation. It was when Jake Kostecki was merging from the pit lane into the fast lane. It appeared he was unaware that Caruso was coming down the fast lane. Usually the car controller gives the driver warning to yield over the comms when merging back onto the track.
Kostecki was able to continue the race but Michael Caruso’s front left wheel was now at a strange looking angle. With this damage he had to complete a full lap at a slower in order to come back around to the pits.
It merge was deemed as unsafe and the Kostecki Brothers Racing team were issued a drive through penalty.
In the middle of the race the Red Bull Holden Racing Team were running 1st & 2nd. If they could maintain their lead to the end of the race it would also place them at the top of the Team’s Championship ladder. The pressure was on!
But as luck would have it, with only 10 laps to go and in the lead, Shane Van Gisbergen’s car lost a bolt and smoke was coming out of the right rear. He was forced to call into the pits which dropped him from 1st to 17th. Shane Van Gisbergen & co-driver Garth Tander must have been gutted. They had started from the back of the grid in position 24 and worked their way into the lead. That is pretty amazing but it wold have also been Shane Van Gisbergen’s first win at Sandown (and a second win at Sandown for Garth Tander)
It was lucky for the Red Bull Team that Jamie Whincup was just behind Shane Van Gisbergen and able to take the lead for the team. Once he was told that his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen had to pit he knew he had to hold the lead to the end.
This was not difficult for Jamie Whincup and he came across the line first.
It brings Jamie Whincup’s career win total to 117 and Craig Lowndes win total to 110.
However, Shane Van Gisbergen slipping back to 17th meant they only closed the Team Championship points trail from 132 to 116. I’m sure it will be their inspiration to ‘go hard’ in the coming last race of the season, The Newcastle 500.
Results for Race 30
1st Jamie Whincup & Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Chaz Mostert & James Moffatt – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
3rd Lee Holdsworth & Thomas Randle – Bottle O Racing Team.
Congratulations to Jack Smith who will be making his full time Virgin Australia Supercars Championship debut in 2020. Read about it in the link: https://www.speedcafe.com/2019/11/13/bjr-confirms-smith-in-expanded-four-car-2020-line-up/
Please feel free to comment on how Sandown went via my Facebook Fanpage.
On the weekend of the 5th to the 8th October 2017 was the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
The Bathurst 1000 is the biggest and most well known race in Australia. Held in Bathurst NSW at the Mount Panorama Circuit, it is a 161 lap race totalling 1000kms and is known amongst fans as ‘The Great Race’. Mount Panorama is an unusual track. The word ‘Mount’ gives it all away. There are lots of ups and downs as it winds its way over the hill. There is approximately 174m between the highest and lowest part of the circuit. It is unusual and makes for a gruelling but spectacular race.
There are so many things that happened over the weekend I couldn’t possibly report on them all so I’m going to limit it to my observations and race highlights.
Greg Murphy who is a pit reporter got to drive Triple 8 Sandman V6 Turbo around Bathurst circuit as a demo for the fans.
A special ‘congratulations’ to Craig Lowndes who made his 24th Bathurst start on Sunday. His co-driver, Steven Richards started his 200th career race at Bathurst. I must say monumental occasions for both of them.
The rookies to have their first Bathurst races were Garry Jacobson, Alex Rullo and Todd Hazelwood.
The Bathurst race rules require teams to complete a minimum of 7 pit stops though out the day. All teams seemed to manage this.
The weather this Sunday was not looking good. Commentator Neil Crompton thought the rain would hit at midday but it hit a lot earlier than that, soaking the track even before the race begun. A setting for a messy Bathurst.
In race 20, Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was David Reynolds.
It was interesting to note all of the main drivers started the race. Usually it’s the less experienced co-drivers that take the wheel at the start. The heavy rain may have had something to do with this.
At the start of the 161 lap race Scott McLaughlin got to turn 1 first. Mark Winterbottom tried to move past David Reynolds for the 2nd spot but had to pull back realising he didn’t have enough space for the manoeuvre.
On lap 2 Scott McLaughlin went down the escape road coming into turn 23 too fast. Now Chaz Mostert had the race lead.
Shane Van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes driving close together both left the track on the same corner turn 1, which wasn’t good for either of them.
Later in the race when Shane Van Gisbergen’s co-driver, Matt Campbell jumped in the number 97 Red Bull Holden Commodore he got spun around by Michael Caruso. By the time he turned his car around and re-joined the race he ended up right at the back of the pack. This didn’t impress the Triple 8 team one bit.
When co-driver Alex Premat took over from Scott McLaughlin that’s when an engine issue started. Alex Premat brought the car in for the team to check it out. It was running off song. They couldn’t work out the problem and Alex Premat was told to push on. He went back out on track but stopped due to no oil pressure at turn 4 known as ‘the cutting’. Any corner is a high-risk spot to break down and the Vodafone Safety Car was deployed. The race was now under yellow. Car 17 had to be towed back to pits and to the team’s distress was out for the rest of the race. DNF at lap 74! Not even half way through the race.
It was a complete disaster for Scott McLaughlin as the 2017 Championship leader. There is only one other event to go for the year and he will now have to make up 30 points to close the gap on the new leader, Jamie Whincup.
Then 2 laps later, the Preston Hire Racing team of Lee Holdsworth and Karl Reindler left the track also due to engine problems. Another DNF!
Paul Dumbrell was running 3rd going down Conrod Straight and couldn’t see out of the front window because of the heavy rain. Due to some controversy earlier in the year the Triple 8 team made an official request to the V8 Supercars Technical Manager, David Stuart to be allowed to use a squeegee while driving. David Stuart weighed up the risk between visibility and ‘squeegeeing whilst driving’ and permitted its use for this occasion.
‘Squeegeeing Whilst Driving’ (SWD) a new technical phrase. You heard it here first at Williams Perfect Ride.
With permission now granted, both Paul Dumbrell and Matt Campbell also joined the SWD ranks.
A funny part was, while it was raining the crews had to carry the drivers on their backs out onto the pit lane so that the driver’s shoes didn’t get wet. No driver wants slippery feet going at those speeds.
I couldn’t believe how many cars went off the track throughout the race down at turn 23. It was just crazy.
It was funny to see one of fans up at the top of the hill in McPhillamy Park offering pit reporter Greg Rust a beer before he had to get back down to the pit lane.
As Lee Holdsworth was coming in, David Wall in nearly made contact with him in car 18.
In the middle of the race the Vodafone Safety car came out due to a Kangaroo being close to the track. In total there were 6 Safety cars.
On lap 141 James Moffat hit the wall at the top of the hill. Once again the Safety Car came out and car 34 was towed from the track. Co-driver Richard Muscat watching intently from the garage must have known what this meant for the race.
Towards the end of the race, at lap 152 Simona De Silvestro had DNF due to a wet track making her lose it at the last turn and hit the pit lane wall. It was so bad the car had to be towed off track. Except for possibly a bruised ego she came out of it fine. It was so close to the end of the race I am sure she and her co-driver David Russell felt terrible. They had done so well throughout the race.
Soon after, at lap 159 with Mark Winterbottom at the wheel, he and co-driver Dean Canto left the track with a DNF. Another casualty of the wet weather, dropping 19 spots from their start at position 3.
The gruelling race took another victim a lap later (160). Nick Percat and Macauley Jones had their car #8 taken from the track and also received a DNF.
As the race drew to a close no one else could catch the top 3 podium spots. The Erubus team with drivers David Reynolds and Luke Youlden finished an amazing 4 seconds ahead of the next team, Scott Pye and Warren Luff. They were followed less than a second later by Fabain Coulthard and Tony D’Alberto.
The reason why Craig Lowndes surprisingly finished 11th was because he had an issue with his car for the 2nd year in a row.
Also surprisingly, Jamie Whincup finished 20th completing only 124 laps when time was called. This was because his car dropped a cylinder. The team decided to get back out there was better than a DNF. Such bad luck for both of them.
Results for race 20
1st David Reynolds and Luke Youlden – Erebus Motorsport. 2nd Scott Pye and Warren Luff – Mobil 1 HSV Racing. 3rd Fabain Coulthard and Tony D’Alberto – Shell V Power Racing
Team.
4th Dale Wood and Chris Pither – Erebus Motorsport. 5th Shane Van Gisbergen and Matt Campbell – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
The next event is the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 on the 20th to the 22nd of October 2017.
Interesting to note, Fabian Coulthard has now taken back the championship over Jamie Whincup by 91 points and Scott McLaughlin has now dropped from 1st to 3rd, 97 points away.
This was David and Luke Youden’s first Bathurst win together.
Erebus Team owner Betty Klimenko couldn’t talk because she had happy tears coming out of her eyes.
On the Weekend of the 28th to the 30th of July, 2017 was the Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint.
In Qualifying for race 15 Scott McLaughlin got on his 2nd run to try and improve his time. He zoomed past 8 or 9 slower cars out on track, most moving out of the way for him. Later in the lap he had to pull back for safety as he came across Alex Davison right in his path. It was a close call and forced him to abort his qualifying lap. Post race there were many comments made about better race control to avoid such high risk situations.
For the main game it was a special day for Todd Hazelwood making his debut in the V8 Supercars Championship. He joins the ‘main game’ coming up from the Dunlop Super2s under sponsorship from Bigmate Racing.
Another interesting point is that during the Telecast on Friday, Saturday and Sunday on Fox sports 5 channel 506, there was a drone following the cars around the track. It is something that I had not seen before and should make for some interesting footage.
In race 15 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. Alongside him was Craig Lowndes.
On lap 1 of 39 C raig Lowndes got the jump on Scott McLaughlin and led into turn 1. This was a great start to the race for him considering he had qualified in 2nd spot on the front row of the grid.
Later at turn 3 all hell broke loose. Dale Wood made contact with James Moffat. As James Moffat spun around he made contact with his teammate James Golding. James Golding was able to just continue with bent steering, a brave thing to do. However, James Moffat wasn’t so luck and had to eventually pit with an overheating engine. All this mayhem cause Simona de Silvestro to make contact with Alex Rullo. He came out of turn 3 with a left front tyre pointing in the wrong direction and at the wrong angle. Alex Rullo limped his car back to the pits and unfortunate could not return the race. A DNF even before the first lap was over.
On lap 2 Scott McLaughlin was putting pressure on Craig Lowndes and down at turn 3 he passed him for lead of the race.
On lap 3 all the wildcards were following behind the main game drivers trying to learn as much as they could. It’s a good strategy to learn how the pros do ‘what and when’ as they navigate the track.
On lap 8 Shane Van Gisbergen was down in the position order after he pitted. However, he gained the advantage of rejoining the race with fresh air.
On lap 9 Simona de Silvestro had put the lap 1 incident behind her and was now enjoying her first race at Ipswich . She followed her team owners, Todd and Rick Kelly gaining valuable pointers from these experienced drivers.
Mark Winterbottom had to abort his attempt to pass Cameron Waters to avoid making contact.
As the race moved on, Shane Van Gisbergen easily made it back through the field after his one and only pit stop.
Fabian Coulthard tried to stay with his teammate Scott McLaughlin in the lead but soon found out just how fast Scott McLaughlin is.
Dick Johnson and Roger Penske would have been very happy with Scott McLaughlin’s race performance. He had held the lead for most of the race and made it look easy.
Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup were battling it out in attempt to gain a podium position.
On lap 33 Jason Bright left the race receiving a DNF.
As the race came to a close, Scott McLaughlin maintained his lead a past the checkered flag.
Chaz Mostert had a great run and moved up from his starting position of 3 to a finish of second.
Shane Van Gisbergen had come from a start further back in the track gaining 4 positions to come in 3rd.
Craig Lowndes who started the race next to pole position faced some great competition and came in 5th. Still a great performance.
The surprise for me was Jamie Whincup finishing 20th, down 6 spots from his start position and about 30 seconds behind the winner.
Results for race 15
1st Scott McLaughlin – Dick Johnson racing Team Penske.
2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap auto racing Team.
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – red bull Holden racing team.
4th Tim Slade – Freightliner Racing.
5th Craig Lowndes – Team Vortex
In race 16 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Chaz Mostert
At the start of the 65-lap race Chaz Mostert got the right amount of throttle to get off the line with a fine start and take the lead into turn 1. Scott McLaughlin pulled in behind him.
At the start of the 2nd lap of the race Garth Tander wanted to pass James Moffat but wasn’t close enough to get the job done and losing his ongoing battle with James Moffat for pit priority.
Jamie Whincup was trying get by his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen but didn’t get close enough.
Craig Lowndes pitted early so that he wouldn’t have to double stack with Will Davison.
Scott McLaughlin was leading after the front runners went into the pits for the first round of pitstops.
Alex Rullo stayed out while his teammate Taz Douglas pitted and then re-joined with clear air which was handy.
There was contact between the 2 Nissan Motorsport cars of Michael Caruso and Shae Davies in between turns 1 and 2 which had ruled Michael out of race 16.
In the middle of the race Fabian Coulthard had made his way back into the top 3 for the final time, later dropping back a couple of positions to finish 5th.
By lap 41 Dale Wood left the race receiving a DNF. He was the fourth one out of the race receiving a DNF after Will Davison, Michael Caruso and Jack Le Brocq.
Towards the end of the race it was a certain for the top 3 drivers; Chaz Mostert, Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen. Jamie Whincup came in 4th about 1.5 seconds later.
Results for 16
1st Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team
2nd Scott Mclaughlin – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
4th Jamie Whincup Red bull Holden Racing Team
The next event is the Red Rooster Sydney Supersprint on the 18th to the 20th of August 2017.
On the weekend of the 21st to the 23rd of April 2017 was the WD-40 Phillip Island 500.
It was a fantastic weekend for many reasons, the main being that my Dad & I were actually there.
I am wheelchair bound with Cerebral Palsy and a long list of other issues, so getting to the races is not as simple as purchasing a ticket and booking a room. All sorts of things need to be considered and organised (it becomes damn expensive having to cater for a wheelchair!). In addition, I need someone to accompany me for support needs. So who better than my own dad to come with me? There is no one better to go to a sporting event with than your own father. He will never know how much I appreciate him not just for taking me, but also for spending the time with me and having a blast.
As you can see this was a special weekend for me and I’m really happy to share this experience, personal photos and videos with my readers.
Dad picked up the wheelchair accessible KIA rental from Freedom Motors Australia in St Marys (suburb of greater Sydney area) on the Tuesday. A big “Hello” to their fabulous sales manager, Carolyn Hurst. Thank you for such great, friendly service.
We left on the Wednesday to head down to Victoria ahead of the weekends racing. By mid-afternoon we crossed the border from New South Wales into Victoria and checked into The Comfort Inn Benalla (north east Victoria). There was a mix up with our bookings (due to on-line booking agency) but the operators Di and Brian Hogg, were so friendly and considerate they made sure we got a suitable room without any hassle. It is appreciated that they went out of their way but made it seem effortless and welcoming.
On Thursday morning we headed down to Phillip Island. We stayed at the Coachman Motel Phillip Island operated by a beautiful friendly couple Bill and Monica that also made us feel welcome. If you like a nice garden this is the place to stay. We rested up and got prepared for going out to the track the next day.
When we got to the track on Friday it was raining, so we had to go undercover until it stopped. We then went into “The Paddock” to see which drivers we could catch to get photos with. There was a Triple 8 autograph session but we didn’t know at what time, so we just stayed around the V8 pit paddock and tried to catch up with as many drivers as we could from both the V8 Supercars Championship series and the Dunlop Super 2 series.
I got photos with many of my favourites; Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes, Mark Dutton, Roland Dane, Jess Surrey Dane, Tim Schenken, Garry Rogers, Nick Percat, Brad Jones, Chaz Mostert, Cameron McConville, Paul Dumbrell, Dale Wood, David Reynolds, Â Betty Klimenko, Simona De Silvestro and Doctor Carl Le (the official Supersprint medical delegate).
Dad and I also got grid passes from the Red Bull Holden Racing team. Â It was great and we got more photos out on the grid. Then dad and I returned to the pits to watch the race at the back of the Team Vortex garage.
Interesting to note, on Friday at the end of Practice 1 Craig Lowndes had a tyre blowout spearing him into the wall. His car had so much damage he wasn’t able to go out on track for Practice 2. Team Vortex did an all-nighter repairing the car for Saturdays qualifying and race.
Race 5 was 57 laps covering some 250Kms.
The Phillip Island track is known to be a fast track. What I did notice is the number of drive-through penalties received by drivers mostly caused by higher speeds coming around the track and crossing the safety line at the pit entry. Drivers receive a penalty if they cross over the pit line on the track which is to be kept clear for safe entry.
Early on in the race the drivers that got drive-through penalties were Scott McLaughlin Chaz Mostert, Will Davison, Shane Van Gisbergen, Fabian Coulthard, Mark Winterbottom, Tim Slade, Tim Blanchard, Nick Percat, Scott Pye, James Courtney and Simona de Silvestro. There wasn’t consistency in upkeeping the rule so there were a lot of drivers that didn’t get pinged for crossing the pit entry line.
Also there were a high number of tyre blowouts. Thirteen (13) in total. This is unusually high and caused teams concerns about the new regulation Dunlop supersoft tyres being used this season.
Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. Alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.
On lap 1 Scott McLaughlin got the jump on his teammate Fabian Coulthard. Mark Winterbottom was up to 2nd spot by turn 1. Then Fabian Coulthard got that spot back on the exit of turn 4. Shane Van Gisbergen was keeping up with the leaders. He wanted his presence felt even though it was early on in the race. Fabian Coulthard pushed hard to get his 2nd spot back off Mark Winterbottom down at MG corner.
On lap 2 there were a couple of drivers that came into the pits early to avoid the double stacking. For some drivers this paid off.
In the early stages of lap 3 Chaz Mostert was holding 3rd position.
Taz Douglas’ car ran over something on the track and got a puncture causing him to make a spectacular exit off the track, leaving rubber and debris everywhere along the main straight.
On lap 5 Michael Caruso moved up within the top 10 positions.
On lap 7 Scott McLaughlin was still the race leader and he would have got pit priority if the safety car came out onto the track, but it didn’t until later on in the race.
On lap 8 Cameron Waters stayed out on the track to avoid a double stack with Mark Winterbottom. Even though they are not on the same team they share the same pit bay.
On lap 9 Jason Bright was getting held up on the track by his teammates, Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert, so he decided to pit and get a clear race track to re-join on.
On lap 10 Garth Tander was running up front with the leaders so he stayed out on track longer while the going was good. His teammate, James Moffatt was back in the pack so he chose to take the opportunity to pit.
On lap 11 internal footage of Shane Van Gisbergen’s car showed him changing down with just a flick of the wrist. It was done with such proficiency as if it was nothing. It was a very cool thing to see.
On lap 13 Scott McLaughlin was still leading the race until he pitted for tyres and fuel then when he went to re-join the track he saw the red light on due to the Vodafone safety car going passed the pit exit. Scott McLaughlin got a pit lane penalty was because he wasn’t far enough over before he turned in to his pit bay.
On lap 14 Cameron Waters nearly got a punctured tyre due to the fast nature of the Phillip Island circuit. But he eased off and just got away with it.
On lap 15 when the Vodafone safety car came out nearly everyone up the front decided to stay out longer to keep their track position. This seems the right thing to do if there were more than 2 cars up at the pointy end of the field otherwise known as sharp end.
On lap 16 Rick Kelly pitted before the other 3 cars in his team. This was a good strategy call to avoid the ugly double stacking that the teams and drivers hate doing.
On lap 19 Jason Bright was pushing hard to get up into the top 5.
On lap 20 David Reynolds was on the charge trying to stay up with the leaders.
On lap 21 Shane Van Gisbergen was running well trying to get in front of Jamie Whincup but he wasn’t able to.
On lap 22 Fabian Coulthard was pushing hard after having to serve a pit lane penalty for not stopping when the red light was on at the pit lane exit. He admitted to his mistake but that didn’t make him any happier.
On lap 23 Simona De Silvestro was putting pressure on Todd Kelly to pass him at turn 4. Mark Winterbottom was putting pressure on Cameron Waters to get pit priority.
On lap 26 James Courtney was trying to pass Scott Pye to get inside the top 10 to get pit priority for the 2nd round of pit stops.
On lap 27 the drivers were adjusting their anti-roll bars. I assume this was to reduce the chance of tyre blowouts as there had been so many by this stage.
On lap 29 all the drivers were getting their cars ready for the race to the checkered flag.
From that point on it seemed that one could catch the front 3 cars (Craig Lowndes, Fabian Coulthardt, Jamie Whincup) and there seemed that the number of tyre blowouts also changed driver tactics so the chance of a great catch up didn’t look to be on the cards.
In the last 5 laps Craig Lowndes was leading the race. Even though he crossed the finish line first, the 15 second pit lane penalty he received meant he ultimately finished 12th. It must have been a hard pill to swallow considering if he kept the race win it would be his first race win for 2017 with team Vortex and his career tally would have gone up to 106 wins.
Nevertheless, Fabian Coulthard took race win followed by Jamie Whincup, then Garth Tander.
Results for race 5.
1st Fabain Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team. Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Garth Tander – Garry Rogers Motorsport.
In race 6 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Fabian Coulthard
On lap 1 of 57 Fabian Coulthard got the jump on Scott McLaughlin. The cars further back in the pack were trying to find clear space.
On lap 2 most of the cars came in to the pit lane, all bar the race leaders.
On lap 3 Will Davison hit the wall coming out of turn 2. The car was damaged but he managed to get it back to the garage. When he emerged from the garage later, he did not look happy at all.
On lap 4 Chaz Mostert was running in 4th which the Supercheap Auto racing team would have been happy with.
Rick Kelly pitted before the rest of the Nissan team.
On lap 5 Jamie Whincup was running in the top 5. Cameron Waters wanted to get passed his teammate Mark Winterbottom to get to the pit box first.
On lap 6 Simona De Silvestro just outside the top 10 was keeping the Nissan Motorsport team happy.
Lap 7 was when the tyre blowouts started happening again. Overall there weren’t as many as in race 5 the previous day. It must have helped that most teams reduced tyre pressure on cars, even though it does affect handling.
On lap 8 Fabian Coulthard came in to the pits before Scott McLaughlin.
On lap 10 Garth Tander made his first pit stop which helped get him out of the traffic and get fresh air for the engine so it didnt get too hot. On the next lap, James Moffatt was in the same situation.
On lap 12 Tim Slade tried to pass his teammate Nick Percat but wasn’t able to get far enough up to make the move stick.
On lap 13 James Courtney came in to pits so that Scott Pye didn’t have to wait later on.
On lap 16 Scott Pye followed James Courtney into the pits and double stacked when the safety car came out. Im sure there was strategy from the team on this choice.
On lap 17 Jamie Whincup was up near the front which he and the team were happy with.
On lap 18 Mark Winterbottom was back on the track after his first pit.
On lap 19 Cameron Waters wanted to be strong during the race which he was.
On lap 20 Chaz Mostert was near the race leaders. His parents, Anne and Eddy Mostert looked proud as the watched the race from the side lines.
On lap 25 the safety car returned to the track to clear up spent rubber. Not moments later, on the next lap Nick Percat had a tyre blowout on the front right hand side of the car. He had to limp straight into the pits.
On lap 27 Todd Kelly and Rick Kelly were battling for positions 11 and 12 in their usual display of sibling rivalry.
The triple 8 Team’s luck had run out. Where in the previous day’s race they didn’t have a single tyre blowout, in this race all 3 cars had blowouts.
I’m sure that the Teams’ big question is ,why? Kevin Fitzsimmons is the Motorsport Manager for Dunlop. He had a lot of to do to find out what would have caused the tyres to blow.
It was lap 41 when Chaz Mostert took the lead. From that point on no one could catch him. Mark Winterbottom tried but Chaz Mostert was in great form and crossed the finish line so forcefully it was as though he had a higher purpose.
Andrew Roberts was down at Phillip Island which was good because Dad and I hadn’t seen him in a while.
My personal experience at Phillip Island for the weekend of racing was memorable. I had a ball with dad.
Results for race 6.
1st Chaz Mostert – Prodrive Racing Australia. Supercheap Auto Racing.
2nd Mark Winterbottom – Bottle O Racing Team Prodrive Racing Australia.
3rd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
The next event is the Perth Supersprint on the 5th to the 7th of May 2017.
On the weekend of the 2nd – 5th of March 2017 was the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide South Australia.
As the first race of the season it was interesting to note:
New season equals new cars. Many teams invest in new cars allowing their engineers to really show what they are made of. It’s always interesting to see how they tweak cars to get the best performance.
Alex Rullo was the youngest driver to make his debut in the V8 Supercars Championship at just 16 years and 8 months.
It was Jason Bright’s first race in the Prodrive Racing Australia team.
Scott McLaughlin did pretty well for his debut with the Shell V Power Racing Team and with Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
The space he left in Garry Rogers Motorsport Team has been taken up by Garth Tander.
This was Simona De Silvestro’s 3rd race in V8 Supercars. It was good to see her do well in her first event and first race as a full time V8 Supercars driver.
At the start of the 78 laps in race 1, Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position with Fabian Coulthard alongside him.
Fabian Coulthard got the jump off the start line and led the opening laps.
On Lap 2 Todd Kelly tried to go through turn 8 with three cars wide. As a result, Will Davison hit the wall and copped some bad damage. The red lights came on and he drove his car back to the pit lane. He was out of the race.
The safety came out to put the wall back in place. On restart Scott McLaughlin was weaving side to side, which is not allowed after the safety car lights have gone out and the race has gone back to green. Not sure what he was thinking but officials served him a pit lane penalty, sending him to the 24th spot at the back of the pack.
Meanwhile, Shane Van Gisbergen was putting as much pressure as possible on his fellow Kiwi, but Fabian Coulthard kept his position and the champion wasn’t able to pass.
At the start of lap 3 Jamie Whincup took an early pit stop. Once he re-joined the race he was clear of surrounding traffic and able to press on to gain valuable time.
On lap 4 Simona De Silvestro (what a honey-I want to take her home, cook her dinner & eat swiss chocolate from her clavicle) seemed to be enjoying her 3rd race in a V8 Supercar and also her first race in Adelaide.
On lap 5 Fabian Coulthard made a mistake running wide at a turn. It was just what Shane Van Gisbergen was waiting for. He passed on the inside and took the lead.
On lap 6 Mark Winterbottom was waiting for a clear pit lane to make the first of his 2 pit stops. When Mark Winterbottom came out of the pits he had to look for space to re-join the race and managed to pull in behind his teammate.
On lap 7 Chaz Mostert had taken his pit stop and really found his rhythm (playing the bongos and singing the banana boat song, ‘Daaay-0h, Da-a-a-ay oh, come Mr tally mon, tally me banana’!?) and was moving up through the pack with ease.
On lap 8 Craig Lowndes was able to pit at his own choosing. He didn’t have to worry about a double stack with Will Davison as he was out of the race after crashing on lap 1.
On lap 11 David Reynolds was feeling the need to take his pit, but was forced to stay out longer so he wouldn’t double stack with teammate, Dale Wood.
On lap 13 the cars back in the pack came in to pits to get out of the traffic.
On lap 14 Mark Winterbottom was caught up in a tight pack of cars. Due to the aggressive competition, he nearly ended up making contact with a wall but managed to stay out of trouble. The incident scared the hell out of the Prodrive Racing Australia team. (Only their dry cleaners’ will know just how much it scared them.)
On lap 16 Shane Van Gisbergen pitted after Jamie Whincup. Meanwhile Garth Tander had a good pace going in his new Holden Commodore, number 33.
On lap 17 Craig Lowndes also put his new Team Vortex Holden Commodore to the test and pushed it to its limits.
In the middle of the race at turn 5, Jamie Whincup spun Mark Winterbottom’s car around. With the new season’s rules in place, Jamie Whincup didn’t receive a drive through penalty.
Towards the end of the race Craig Lowndes was struggling. He was running out of fuel and he had to compensate by altering his driving technique.
Shane Van Gisbergen had such a good lead he was virtually unstoppable. The other drivers were not put off and competition for placings was still heated.
It all made for exciting racing with Shane Van Gisbergen comfortably crossing the finish line first.
Results for race 1
1st – Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd – Fabain Coulthard – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
3rd – James Courtney – Mobil 1 HSV Racing.
At the start of the 78 laps in race No. 2, Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.
Jamie Whincup started 10th due to putting all 4 wheels over the curb at turn 2 in the qualifying race, which meant his lap was taken away from him.
On lap 1, Fabian Coulthard took the lead. Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t get a good start from pole position so Scott McLaughlin overtook into second place. Nick Percat hit the wall at turn 8 and as a result limped the car back to the pits for repairs.
On lap 2 the leaders were pulling away from the rest of the pack; Scott McLaughlin, James Courtney and Shane Van Gisbergen.
On lap 3 Jamie Whincup again came into the pits early. This appeared to be a good call because of where Jamie Whincup had qualified. Once again, he would be able to re-join the race and concentrate on gaining valuable ground. Scott McLaughlin was doing a great job for his new team, Shell V Power Racing Team. As the newbie to V8 Supercars, Alex Rullo was getting used to being around everybody else. Shane Van Gisbergen was battling with Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin to maintain the lead. Mark Winterbottom was doing his best to keep out of trouble.
On lap 4 Simona De Silvestro was doing very well in her first weekend as a fulltime female driver in the V8 Supercars Championship.
On lap 5 James Courtney had a close call with the wall. A hit into the wall like that would have been an all-night repair job for the Mobil 1 HSV Racing team.
On lap 6 Scott Pye was trying to find a way to get passed his teammate, James Courtney to gain pit priority.
On lap 7 Tim Slade was having a ‘friendly’ battle with his teammate, Nick Percat.
On lap 8 Shane Van Gisbergen wanted to keep track position so stayed out on track a bit longer.
On lap 9 Mark Winterbottom was chasing Cameron Waters for pit priority. Garth Tander and James Moffatt were praying for smooth sailing; if the Safety Car came out their cars 33 and 34 would have had to double stack one behind the other.
On lap 10 Shane Van Gisbergen seemed happy with his car set up for the two races.
On lap 11 Simona De Silvestro got spun around by James Courtney on her way into the pit lane.
On lap 12 Michael Caruso nearly hit the tyres at the first turn. If this did happen it would have an adverse effect on the aerodynamics his Nissan Altama.
Jason Bright’s Cool Suit failed. In emergency response, The Mega Racing Crew, a part of the Prodrive Racing Australia Team had to take out the two windows on the driver’s and passenger’s side.
On lap 13 Alex Rullo was following teammate, Taz Douglas.
In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin was leading and Shane Van Gisbergen was working hard to keep up the chase for the lead.
Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin looked sure to be the winner. However, a mistake on Scott McLaughlin’s part gave Shane Van Gisbergen his second great opportunity for the day. He took the lead in the last minutes and went on to win his second race of the day.
Results for race 2.
1st – Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd – Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
3rd – Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.
The next event is the non-Championship round at Albert Park in Melbourne Victoria, 23rd – 26th of March 2017. The next Championship race is Symmons Plains raceway in Tasmania, on the 7th – 9th of April 2017.
Let take a look back at what happened on the weekend of 19th – 21st June 2015, in Darwin.
Race 13
In race 13 James Courtney started on pole position alongside him was Chaz Mostert. On lap 1 James Courtney made a good start. But Chaz Mostert got the jump and led the field around turn 1 for the first of 21 laps. Both Jamie Whincup and Fabain Coulthard went off the track at turn 1. Then Craig Lowndes and Tim Blanchard, also Craig Lowndes along with Tim Blanchard, spun at turn 5.
On lap 2 James was having an issue with the Holden Racing Team Commodore. Also on that same lap Rick Kelly got passed Shane Van Gisbergen. Fabain Coulthard had a bent steering arm. Both the Red Bull cars were at the back of the field.
On lap 3 Dale Wood tried to go around the outside of James Moffat from Nissan Motorsport. James got down the inside of David Reynolds.
The Safety car was deployed due to a grass fire. On the exit of the 5th corner, Greg Murphy was chatting Mark Dutton about the incident that sent both Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes to the back.
The restart was on lap 6.
In the middle of the race Andre Heimgartner couldn’t pull up the Super Black Falcon, the criss-cross was on for Jason Bright, Michael Caruso had a bit of speed way action on the exit of turn 1.
Towards the end of race 13 Scott Pye and Shane Van Gisbergen were following James Courtney.
Results for race 13.
1st – Chaz Mostert – Pepsi Max Crew
2nd – Mark Winterbottom – Pepsi Max Crew
3rd – Rick Kelly – Jack Daniel’s Racing
Race 14
In race 14 Rick Kelly started on position alongside him was Fabain Coulthard of the 21 lap race.
On lap 1 Craig Lowndes led the whole way through race 2. After the front 2 cars came together at turn 1, Craig Lowndes started 5th but was leading the race by the time they got to the first turn. Andre Heimgartner ran wide towards the end of first lap taking out Nick Percat, Will Davison and Jamie Whincup. Fabain Coulthard had contact with the Jack Daniel’s racing Nissan.
On lap 2 Andre Heimgartner had damage to the Super Black Racing Ford Falcon, also on lap 2 a safety car was deployed to clean up the mess left behind by the damaged race cars.
Meanwhile Greg Murphy was interviewing Brad Jones about the start of race 2 and Riana Crehan was interviewing Mark Dutton about opening race tangles.
The restart was on lap 7. In this race it was the 888th race in V8 Supercars. Craig Lowndes was only 15 laps away from claiming his 100th win in this sport. Scott Pye got down the inside of Michael Caruso.
In the middle of the race David Reynolds tried to get down the inside of Michael Caruso at turn 5, Dale Wood and David Wall went off the track at turn 5.
Towards the end of the race Chaz Mostert tried to get up the inside of Tim Slade but in the end Craig Lowndes was the first of the current V8 drivers to reach that incredible milestone of 100 career wins.
Results for race 14
1st – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia
2nd – Tim Slade – Supercheap Auto Racing
3rd – Chaz Mosert – Pepsi Max Crew
Race 15
In race 15 David Reynolds started on pole position alongside him was Fabain Coulthard of the 70 lap race.
On lap 1 Fabain Coulthard got the jump on David Reynolds and led the field into turn 1. Fabain Coulthard was still out in front while the car to make a compulsory pit stop was Jamie Whincup.
On lap 2 then Todd Kelly was first to make a pit stop, so that the 2 Kelly boys didn’t have to double stack behind.
On lap 3 the 2 Red Bull Racing Australia had to split their strategy to stop them from doing the awful double stacking. This is Craig Lownde’s 19th season in V8 Supercars.
On lap 4 Scott McLaughlin ran wide on the exit of turn 1, then he went onto grass out of the first corner. The Red Bull Racing Australia team thought that they could do the whole race on the soft compound tyres, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
In the middle of the race both the Red Bull cars came back due to flat spots on both tyres on the front left.
Towards the end of the race, David Reynolds was the leader of the race all the way to the end.
The commentators were Greg Rust and Neil Crompton the pit reporters were Greg Murphy and Riana Crehan.
Results for 15
1st – David Reynolds – Bottle ‘O’ Racing
2nd – Chaz Mostert – Pepsi Max Crew
3rd – Fabain Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing
