Hi to all V8 Supercar fans around the world.
On the weekend of the 20th – 22nd May was Woodstock Winton Supersprint.
Dad and I left on Thursday the 19th and headed for Beechworth were we would be staying for the weekend. We hired a wheelchair accessible car from Freedom Motors as usual and we stayed at Armour Motor Inn. It was our first time to Beechworth and I have to say it’s the most beautiful spot.
On the Friday we headed out to the track early to catch up with the action. We had box seats to watch all the practice matches. Say hello to all our V8 Supercar friends that arrived early. Eddie Mostert was there to stir me up and put ‘Mossie ’55’ bumper sticker on the back of my wheelchair and now I can’t reach it to take it off… Thanks a lot Eddie.
Greg Murphy’s hot lap
In race 10 Tim Slade started on pole position alongside him was Mark Winterbottom for the 40 lap race.
On lap 1 Tim Slade got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2. Scott McLaughlin passed Mark Winterbottom to move into second place on the opening lap and James Courtney was in no man’s land (meaning he was out where there was not much grip). Lee Holdsworth got bumped out of position by James Courtney behind, but Tim Slade was still in control of the race.
On lap 2 Tim Slade had 0.8 of a second as a margin. The Holden Racing Team were laying up to bring in Garth Tander. James Moffat had a drama and went straight in the garage. Rick Kelly got up the inside of the Rookie Cameron Waters.
On lap 3 Neil Crompton and Mark Skaife showed different angles of the race start.
On lap 4 the cars were settling down into a race pace. Scott McLaughlin was putting the pressure on the race leader and Mark Winterbottom was putting the pressure on him. Chaz Mostert was following Lee Holdsworth. Shane Van Gisbergen got passed Chaz Mostert at turn 10. Cameron Waters, Shane Van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes all came in.
On lap 5 the leader was still Tim Slade. On departure back on the race track Shane Van Gisbergen was on cold trying to hold off his affective teammate Craig Lowndes.
On lap 6 Jason Bright was holding up the next group of cars. Scott Pye tried to get down the inside of Fabain Coulthard at turn 12.
On lap 7 Dale Wood had damage on the front and the front left hand corner.
On lap 8 Jamie Whincup was still behind James Courtney battling for position 6 and 7.
On lap 9 Greg Rust reported that James Moffat had a broken right front steering arm but the GRM team didn’t know what caused the steering arm to break.
On lap 10 Jamie Whincup, Rick Kelly and Michael Caruso all made there pit stop on lap, also on that lap Rick Kelly rejoined behind Cameron Waters. Then while cars 15 and 6 were getting up to speed, Tim Slade entered the pits for his top. Tim Slade rejoined with cold fresh rubber for the race leader.
In the middle of the race Chris Pither was battling with James Courtney.
Towards the end of the race the top 3 cars were just pulling away, in the end Tim Slade managed to hold on for his first ever V8 Supercars victory.
Results for race 10
1st – Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing
2nd – Scott McLaughlin – Volvo Polstar Racing
3rd – Mark Winterbottom – Rod Nash Racing
In race 11 Chaz Mostert started on pole position alongside him was Fabain Coulthard for the 67 lap race.
On lap 1 Chaz Mostert made a weird start which allowed Fabain Coulthard to take the race lead at turn 1 and 2. Shane Van Gisbergen gave Cameron Waters a hit in between turns 3 and 4. Chris Pither had 2 wheels in the sand meaning Dale Wood could not see where he was going due to the dust and the dirt getting brought up onto the racing line, then Dale Wood went straight across the track and in the sand on the left hand side by Andre Heimgartner.
On lap 2 Craig Lowndes was putting pressure on Chaz Mostert for 2nd place. Mark Winterbottom, Shane Van Gisbergen and James Courtney all came in early. Will Davison got up the inside of Jamie Whincup at turn 3 which resulted in him going off the racetrack and into the dust. (that was testing their mateship.) On the same lap Chaz Mostert came into the pits for the first of his 2 stops.
On lap 3 Jamie Whincup was behind Cameron Waters
On lap 4 Jamie Whincup finally got up the inside of Cameron Waters along with Scott Pye and Garth Tander. Craig Lowndes did a 21.2 second lap, that was the fastest lap of the race.
On lap 5 Dale Wood made contact with the back of Andre Heimgartners. Craig Lowndes pitted on the 5th lap as well as Rick Kelly and Cam Waters.
On lap 6 Shane Van Gisbergen got up the back of James Courtney at turn 3. His next target was Will Davison.
On lap 7 David Reynolds came in to the pits for his first stop. Michael Caruso was putting the pressure on Scott McLaughlin.
On lap 8 the on board telemetry of Michael Caruso shows the gears the and the throttle and the speed of how fast he was going.
On lap 9 Lee Holdsworth was catching Rick Kelly. Mark Skaife said he just wanted to get a shot of Ricks steering wheel just to make sure it was still straight and it was.
On lap 10 Lee Holdsworth made his first stop, then rejoined with clear track.
In the middle of the race the cars started to settle into a rhythm for the run to the Checkered flag.
Towards the end of the race the cars were getting ready for run to the end of the race no could catch Tim Slade who had dominated the whole weekend at Winton.
I got photos taken with Jamie Whincup, Shane Van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes, Will Davison, Lee Holdsworth, Scott McLaughlin, James Courtney, Garth Tander, Fabain Coulthard, Jason Bright, Tim Slade, Jim Richards and also John Bowe. Also John’s Touring Car Masters race car, car 18. The only 2 we didn’t get were Glenn Seton and Steven Johnson.
Results for race 11.
1st – Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing
2nd – Mark Winterbottom – Rod Nash Racing
3rd – Fabain Coulthard – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske
The next event is the Crown bet Darwin Supersprint on the 17th – 19th June 2016.
