Tag Archives: Garth Tander

Supercars

Bathurst 2006

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

It is still the ‘off season’ for Supercars so there are no races to review.

COVID – 19 is re-emerging as a health risk in the Sydney community bringing most things to a boring standstill.

As I once said in a previous V8-Log on my YouTube channel ‘COVID, COVID, COVID…. I’m Bored!!’

So to keep myself occupied and maybe info-tain my readers, I am doing a post covering the 2006 Bathurst 1000.

The 2006 Bathurst 1000 was run on October 8. It was a sombre moment as they moved into position to start the race. They left the front row of the grid vacant as a mark of respect to the ‘King of the Mountain’, Peter Brock or as most Aussies would know him, “Brocky” . Brocky was a living legend of the track and died tragically in the Targa West ’06 Rally one month prior on September 8.  This was the man who had been out on the track since the late 60’s, was 9 times winner of the Bathurst 1000 (amongst many other titles that are too great in number to mention here) and pretty much the face of Holden for 40 years.

That’s not to say there were no great drivers out on the track that day. Mark Skaife and Garth Tander started on pole position. Alongside was Jason Bright and Mark ‘Frosty’ Winterbottom.

As the race got underway Mark Skaife had a slipping clutch off the start line. When he got close to  the end of Mountain Straight he left the track, hitting the wall and damaging front and back of the car.  They were already out of the race on lap 1.

The drivers did 3 laps under safety car while car 2 (Skaife’s) got removed from mountain straight area.

On the restart Jason Bright was the race leader and the dominant car. During those opening laps the Jason Bright and Mark Winterbottom car was flying, it was just so fast.

Craig Lowndes was battling with Jason Richards for 2nd place. Greg Murphy was battling with his former teammate, Steven Richards in the Jack Daniels Racing, car 7.

Heading into the 06 Bathurst 1000 Craig Lowndes was the championship leader over Rick Kelly by 27 points.

Rick Kelly was battling with Steven Johnson for position 8 and 9.

Dean Canto was following Russell Ingall but couldn’t get by him.

Jason bright was leading until he got a flat spot on the front right tyre, then Craig Lowndes took the race lead and just took off.

On lap 22 he had a handy 4.1 second lead lead over Jason Richards in car 3 for Tasman Motorsport.

Skaife’s Holden Racing Team (HRT) teammate, Jim Richards had no luck either. On lap 25 he hit the wall coming out of ‘The Dipper’.

On the 2nd restart, Steven Johnson was running 2nd  but lost control on lap 28 and also hit the wall.

When the safety car came out for the 3rd time Craig Lowndes pitted to hand over to Jamie Whincup. The handover put them back in 22nd position.

The the pits were very busy with cars coming in but so badly damaged not going back out.

When the race restarted Cameron McConville was leading followed by Todd Kelly.

Around the middle of the 161 lap race, the main drivers were back behind the wheel.

On lap 90 Craig Lowndes did the fastest lap of the race.

When the co drivers got back in the cars Todd Kelly was leading.

The cars back in the pack seemed to have no hope of catching the race leaders; Todd Kelly, Jamie Whincup and James Courtney.

Towards the end of the race it was green until Jason Richards went off the track causing the 10th and final safety car deployment.

Soon after Paul Radisich rolled the Team Kiwi Holden Commordore, car 021.

Rick Kelly was chasing Crag Lowndes in the last laps but he just couldn’t find the opportunity to overtake. Craig Lowndes driving was flawless and kept his lead to the finish line.

Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup were the fist to receive the newly titled trophy, ‘The Peter Brock Trophy’.

Results for Bathurst 2006

1st Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup – Team Betta Electrical
2nd Rick Kelly and Todd Kelly – Toll HSV Dealer Team
3rd James Courtney and Glen Seton – Stone Brothers Racing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drivers

Rick kelly retirement Article october 2020

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Rick Kelly Retires from Full Time Driving

October 2020.

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

Rick Kelly was born on the 17th of January 1983.

Rick Kelly started racing  in the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 2000 followed by the Australian Drivers Championship in 2001.

Now hang on! Let me do my calculation: (Professional driver:2000. Born:1983) that would make him 17!!! Really? Ok so we got this kid behind the wheel. People are taking him seriously. He must be good.

In 2001 he made his debut in the Shell Championship Series at the VIP Petfoods Queensland 500 with co-driver Nathan Pretty with the Kmart Racing Team. Rick was behind the wheel on the grid, rearing to go. Unfortunately, due to mechanical problems the car had to be pushed off the track before they even started. It didn’t hold Rick back.

In 2002 he moved to the Holden Racing Team driving car 02. He performed admirably; at one stage leading the Bathurst 1000 and had the circumstances been slightly different he could have won his  first Bathurst at the age of 19!!!! Not a problem for a Kelly. It was only one year later, driving  for the K-Mart Racing Team in 2003 that he took the Bathurst 1000 trophy.

When Rick Kelly rejoined Kmart Racing Team in 2003 he was co-driver to (already legend) Greg Murphy for the Enduro’s.  It’s agiven that being co-driver to a legend like Murphy is a great honour but it also states clearly what they thought of Kelly.

In 2004 Rick Kelly stayed with Kmart racing and started on pole position for the 2004 Sandown 500.

In 2005 Rick Kelly drove for the HSV Dealer Team driving in car number 15. Again he started on pole position for the Sandown 500.

In 2006 and 2007 Rick Kelly drove for the Toll HSV Dealer Team.

He won the 2006 Supercars Championship and got to run the 2007series with the coveted 01 number on his car.

In 2009 the Kelly boys (brother Todd) started their own team, Kelly Racing which they both own to this day.

 

Rick Kelly is a 2 times Bathurst 1000 winner and a Supercars Champion.

I met Rick Kelly a in 2017 at Homebush. He was a great guy to meet. I also met him at some other race events and he was consistently nice.

So, from me (and Im sure a great many others) congrats on your outstanding 19 year Supercars career. Good luck for the future.

Whoever will replace Rick on the track for Kelly Racing in 2021 will be in good hands and should be honoured.

 

Results for Rick kelly’s career:

1st 2001 Sandown race 2.

1st 2003 Bathurst 1000.

1st 2004 Bathurst 1000.

1st 2004 round 2 Eastern Creek.

2nd 2006  Clipsal 500 Race 1 & 3rd in Race 2.

1st 2007 Clipsal 500 Race 2. (His brother Todd won the first race).

1st 2011 Hamilton Race 5.

Rick Kelly co-drivers over the years:

Nathan Pretty 2001 and 2002

Greg Murphy 2002, 2003 and 2004

Garth Tander 2005

Todd Kelly (Bother) 2006

Garth Tander 2007

Paul Radisch 2008 (who crashed car 15) so Rick drove with Paul Dumbrell in car 16.

Todd Kelly2009

Owen Kelly 2010

Owen Kelly 2011

David Russell 2012

Karl Reindler 2013

David Russell 2014

David Russell 2015

Russell Ingall 2016

David Wall 2017

Dale Wood 2018

Dale Wood 2019

Dale Wood 2020

Karl Relindler 2013

Supercars

Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 2020 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

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.

 

 

 

Supercars

2007 Supercars Grand Finale

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

I am back after a long absence and although I am still in hospital (this is week 10 – which increases my strong hate for hospitals) I am getting well enough to think about the races again.

Due to the COVID 19 affect on us all and more importantly the cancellation of V8 Supercars races, I thought I would revisit the Grand Finale for 2007. It was only the other day that I found the recording of this race on YouTube. It certainly helped keep my mind occupied from utter frustration of being ‘locked down’ in a damned hospital.

The event took place at Phillip Island (Victoria) on the weekend of November 30 to December 2, 2007.

As it turned out, it was John Bowe’s final race in Supercars. John Bowe is a multi-winning champion in several different race categories (Aussie Drivers Championship in the Formula Mondial, Aussie Sports Car Championship, two time winner of The Bathurst 1000 and much more). He was teamed with many other great champions such as Dick Johnson and Brad Jones. He is still racing in the Touring Car Masters.

This race also notched up Mark Skaif ‘s 200th round start.

Garth Tander was having a fabulous weekend. He took first place in races 1 and 2 and closed the point score between Whincup and himself so it basically became a showdown for the year’s title.

As they moved out to the starting grid it was a young Garth Tander who started on pole position. Alongside him was Todd Kelly.

At the start of 120Km 27 lap race Tod Kelly (in those days driving for Holden) got the jump on Garth Tander.

Jamie Whincup moved up to 3rd and had cover from Craig Lowndes for Team Vodafone because Whincup was battling Garth Tander for the title.

Meanwhile Todd Kelly was helping Garth Tander.

During the opening laps Jamie Whincup knew he had to try and get around Garth Tander to win his first title.

When the pit window opened the contenders stayed out until they got called to pit. The compulsory pit window opened on lap 5 for 2 tyres.

Rick Kelly tried to get down the inside of Will Davison but wasn’t close enough.

In the middle of the race Garth Tander later stated he was put in a difficult situation ‘caught in the sandwich between Jamie [Whincup] and Craig [Lowndes]. It was high-speed chess from there on. It was about managing the situation.’

Although Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes got by Tander it was Todd Kelly who still had the lead.

Todd Kelly maintained his position and crossed the finish line first robbing Jamie Whincup of the points needed for him to take ‘The Title’.

Whincup took second place, Lowndes third and Garth Tander came in fourth.

Regardless of Tander coming fourth for race 3, Whincup was 2 points shy of a draw (625 vs 623). Tander had won the title for 2007.

Results for Race 3
1st Todd Kelly – Holden Racing Team.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Team Vodafone.
3rd Craig Lowndes – Team Vodafone.

Supercars

Beaurepairs Melbourne 400 Supercars

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HI to all you Supercars fans around the world!

Last weekend (starting on Thursday, March 12 through to March 15) was supposed to be the 2nd round of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship and the opening round of the World Formula 1 Championship.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 was the winner for the weekend in its mission to spoil our fun. COVID-19 is not a new race car to contend with the super fast Mustangs, it’s the Corona Virus causing the entire world a bunch of problems.

Some of the pre-race sessions were run (see further down for the results) but the spread of Corona Virus made itself known.

The McLaren F1 team are now in isolation because 14 of the team members tested positive to Corona virus.

In the end the officials decided on Friday to not let the event go ahead and cancel all the support categories and the Formula 1.

At the moment there is talk that Tasmania and the ITM Super400 could also get cancelled due to this god damn Coronavirus.

So for the sake of keeping check on the form of the teams, here are the results from the pre-race sessions that were run:

  • Practice 1 – Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen finished 1st and 2
  • Practice 2 – Anton de Pasquale was fastest. However, Maculey Jones had a 16G-force impact with the wall at the end of turn 1. Scared the hell out of everyone.
  • Qualifying both Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup claimed pole position for races 3 and 4.

The next 2 rounds of the Supercars are at Symmons plains and Hampton downs. Let’s hope these next 2 events go ahead. Fingers crossed.

If you have any comments about the event or the affect of Corona Virus we would love to hear from you. Head to my V8 Supercars fan page at https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/ and have your say.

So until the next race – Keep well and healthy and keep it idling.

Bathurst 12 hour

Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour 2020

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HI to all you Supercars fans around the World!

On the weekend of January 31 to February 2nd was the 2020 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12-hour, a pre supercars season race.

This is one of the years most gruelling endurance races for GT cars. It is so well known it draws many international teams and drivers.

In the preliminaries to the race there were a number of mishaps.

The 777 car didn’t take the start due to too much damage on Saturday. Team manager, Roland Dane was not happy. He said that Cameron McConville should have retired a long time ago. Joke or not, that is pretty harsh!

39 cars were entered but only 34 started the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hour before the sun came up, at the unholy time of 5:45am.

Most cars had experienced international drivers start behind the wheel.

The number 8 Bentley started near the back of the pack after not making Qualifying.

Matt Campbell put the Porsche on pole position but co-driver Patrick Pilet started the car.

During the opening stages the 999 Mercedes led the opening lap, then not long after that the McLaren took the lead and was hard to catch from there.

Craig Lowndes started the number 1 Porsche and he did a double stint early on.

When the sun came up the accidents started to happen.

The first safety car was dispatched just under 90 minutes into the race. Car 188, the Aston Martin driven by Côme Ledogar took a turn too wide, bounced over S-bend curbs and heavily hit a concrete wall. He then bounced off the wall and made contact with cars on the left and then the right. The the whole right hand side was torn clean off the car, passenger door and rear wheel included coming to a halt in the middle of the track

This wasn’t the last of the carnage. There was much more to come during the race.

Chaz Mostert’s 12-hour race got ruined in the third hour. After his co-driver Nicky Catsburg took the wheel, in his first few laps collided with a kangaroo. It must have been a big disappointment; Chaz Mostert is yet to win the 12 hour.

Also, Warren Luff was behind the wheel when the 95 MARC car caught fire in the pitlane. Twice!

Garth Tander crashed out in the # 22 Audi between Reid Park and McPhillamy Park after contact with the 222 Audi which completely decimated the 22 Audi. I thought there is no way that the team could repair the car in time for the rest of the race, which unfortunately they didnt.

Jamie Whincup spun Marc Cini around in number 9 Hallmarc Audi and didn’t get pinged for it.

In the middle of the race most of the teams changed brake pads and rotors. This improved performance and the drivers went nuts with grip.

The number 1 Porsche had brake dramas and finished the race 2 laps down.

Towards the end of the race the bad weather forecasted hit with a dust storm, thunder, lighting and buckets of rain.

I was surprised how many crashes there were in the Bathurst 12-hour last weekend.

Out of the 34 cars that were in the start line only 23 finished. Awesome but gruelling race!

 

Results for the 2020 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour:
1st Jules Gounon & Maxine Soulet – Bentley Team M Sport.
2nd Alvaro Parente & Ben Barnicoat – 59 Racing.
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen Jamie Whincup & Maximilan Gotez. – Mercades AMG Team Triple Eight.

Post Race Report, Supercars

Penrite Oil Sandown 500 2019 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

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.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

 

Post Race Report, Supercars

Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 2019 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the World!

checkout my pre vlog below. Its also available on my youtube channel.

On the weekend of the 10th to the 13th of October, 2019 was the 59th running of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. This is locally known as “The Great Race” and is the most widely viewed motorsport race in Australia and internationally renowned. There is always a hyped up vibe when this endurance   is on and it’s always exciting.

In the Pre-race sessions leading up to big event there we a few surprising results.

In Practice 1 Jamie Whincup was fastest. The session was temporarily stopped (red flagged) when Macauley Jones hit the wall at the cutting. After being towed off the track he was obliged to sit out the rest of the session. That is the penalty for causing a Red Flag in the practice sessions.

Practice 2 was a co-driver session. James Moffatt was fastest. Yet again the red flag was on display, this time for Luke Youlden who hit wall the between Reid Park and McPhillamy Park.

Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 3.

Practice 4 was another co-driver session and Will Brown was fastest.

Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 5 and then in the Armour All Qualifying.

Will Davison was fastest in Practice 6

Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 7

In the warm up session on the morning of the race, Fabian Coulthard & Tony Dalberto were fastest.

By 11:30am the race was ready to begin. The cars were all lined up on the starting grid and the tension was building. All of a sudden there was an emergency call out from one of the cars. Brodie Kostecki of Kostecki Brothers Racing was in trouble. The cockpit was filling with carbon monoxide fumes and his helmet’s circulation fan had come loose. He was immediately rushed to medical centre and checked out by the official Supercars doctor, Dr Carl Le. The car was then towed off the grid. They were given dispensation by officials and were able to rejoin the race later.

After this delay the race could finally begin.

Scott McLaughlin was sitting in Pole Position with Chaz Mostert alongside him. This was the second time Scott McLaughlin had earned pole position for the Bathurst 1000. The first time was in 2017.

I was quite surprised that most of the main drivers started and only a couple of co-drivers started the race.

As they took off for the 161 lap 1,000 km race, Scott McLaughlin got the jump into turn 1 and led up mountain straight.

Craig Lowndes did the opening stint for car 888 as part of their strategy. He tried to get up the inside of Will Davison at turn 1 but the pass wasn’t able to be done cleanly and he pulled back. This was OK because he, like all the other drivers knew there was a long way to go.

On that first lap as they got to ‘The Cutting’ Tim Slade was on the outside of Scott Pye. The Cutting is an impossible turn to pass on and Time Slade left the track and hit the wall. The Vodafone Safety Car was deployed to remove the car from the track. It was bad luck for the Brad Jones Racing team. One of their two cars was already out of the race on lap 1. It must have been a massive disappointment for co-driver Ash Walsh to not get a chance to drive in the most coveted event of the year.

After this incident there was no safety car deployed for the next 100 laps.

As the race continued the cars that started further back in the pack came in early to get their first of 7 pit stops out of the way. The leading cars stayed out to make use of the clear track and gain position.

I was surprised how quick Scott McLaughlin and Chaz Mostert was in the opening stages of the race.

In the middle of the race Alex Premat was leading the race in his co-drivers stint. He had a massive lockup on the front right wheel at ‘The Chase’ which caused him go off the track. This allowed Chaz Mostert and Jamie Whincup to move from 2nd and 3rd to 1st and 2nd positions. Although he lost position I couldn’t believe that Alex Premat managed to keep his #17 Mustang straight and not spin.

For the closing stage of the race it’s normal strategy to get main drivers back in the car. For Lowndes and Tander, who were for the first time in their careers acting as co-drivers, it must have been nerve wracking to watch from the sidelines and not be behind the wheel.

When the main drivers jumped back in they needed to conserve fuel to get to the end of the race. Once again the spotlight was on Brodie Kostecki. He hit the wall going up the hill out of The Cutting and the race went to ‘Yellow’ as the Safety Car was deployed and the car was recovered and returned to the pits.

Oil Soak had to be spread on the track to absorb the oil lost from Kostecki’s car. It meant other drivers couldn’t use the racing line coming out of The Cutting at the risk of taking a slide.

At this point of the race, Jamie Whincup was the leading car cruising behind the safety car and saving fuel.

Soon after the race went back to green, at lap 135 the car of Indy drivers Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe left the track and got stuck in the sand. Once again the safety car was deployed and the car was towed out but still able to re-join the race track.

It was during this incident that the biggest controversy in history of the Bathurst 1000 occurred. Jamie Whincup in the lead and Scott McLaughlin in 2nd place were told to press on. 888 instructed Jamie Whincup to head into the pits to take the opportunity to top up on fuel. Fabian Coulthard in third place was instructed to slow down. This held the rest of the cars on the track as they were unable to pass while the race was still under yellow. It was deemed by officials as a purposeful tactic to let his teammate, Scott McLaughlin continue in the lead without any contenders. The unsporting manoeuvre earned Fabian Coulthard a drive through penalty. In the following week this incident blew up into a massive controversy of how the team and Scott McLaughlin as the race winner should be penalised. Many, including Erebus Team Manager, Barry Ryan, have called for Scott McLaughlin to be stripped of his title.

Just one lap short of the race finish, at lap 160 the Safety Car was again deployed. This time it was Andre Heimgartner of Nissan Motorsport. The officials didn’t want to delay the race or have it finish safety car, yellow so they tucked his car in behind barriers till the end of the race.

This gave the leaders a 1 lap dash to the finish line. There just wasn’t opportunity in that last lap for anyone to take the lead of Scott McLaughlin.

The last time the pole sitter won the Bathurst 1000 was Garth Tander and Will Davison back in 2009.

Results for race 25

1st Scott McLaughlin & Alex Premat – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen & Garth Tander – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd James Courtney & Jack Perkins – Walkinshaw Andretti United (started 18th gaining 15 places to finished 3rd).
4th Jamie Whincup & Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

The next event is the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 25th to the 27th of October 2019.

Feel free to give me your opinion on how the Bathurst event went via my facebook Fanpage.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

 

 

 

https://www.velocitynews.co.nz/news/confirmed-mclaughlin-keeps-bathurst-1000-win-coulthard-and-djrtp-penalized?fbclid=IwAR1ycPBzMsGabevwrSlNZIRDhVdiMwTnJozSqCi-8Qqsx8Q8iidhjZHZKu0

 

https://www.speedcafe.com/2019/10/18/grm-confirms-supercars-exit/

Supercars

The Bend Supersprint 2019 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 23rd to the August 2019 was The Bend Supersprint.

This is the second year that Tailem Bend, South Australia played host to a V8 Supercars event.

It was also a milestone for Will Davison making his 200th championship round start and Triple 8 marking their 500th Supercars race.

As part of the preparations for the biggest event of the year The Bathurst 1000, the co-drivers had their own practice session. Thomas Randle was the fastest co-driver in this practice.

Then Scott McLaughlin once again proved his invincibility by being fastest  in Practice 1, 2 and 3.

Chaz Mostert earned himself the Pole position for Race 21 being fastest in the Armour All Qualifying.

In race 21 Scott McLaughlin lined up next to Chaz Mostert in the pole position.

At the start of 24 lap race, Chaz Mostert originally took the lead off the start line but then Scott McLaughlin took him and led into turn 1.

During the opening lap there was contact between Will Davison, Todd Hazelwood and Simona De Silvestro. All 3 cars suffered damage but managed to get back the pits under their own power but all received NC’s (Not Complete). It appeared they all felt there was no point returning to track  due to the race being so short, only 24 laps.

By the middle of the race the three race leaders appeared uncatchable;  Scott McLaughlin, Chaz Mostert and Anton de Pasquale.

From that moment Scott McLaughlin set out to prove just how fast he was and stretched his lead on the other two. He crossed the finish line nearly 8 seconds ahead of Chaz Mostert and just over 25 seconds ahead of Anton de Pasquale. It was an incredible finish.

Results for race 21

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.
3rd Anton de Pasquale – Erebus Motorsport.

 In race 22 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position, alongside him was Will Davison.

At the start of 41 lap race Will Davison got the jump and led into turn 1.

Scott McLaughlin followed Will Davison for most of the opening stint and wasn’t able to to get by him.

I thought that Will Davison looked on track to claim his first race win for 2019.

In an effort to claim his second race for the year, Jamie Whincup also tried to pass Will Davison but couldn’t get the job done.

Will Davison made his first mistake, locking up his tyres he almost when off the track. I thought he was going to lose race positioning but somehow he held on to the lead. It honestly surprised me.

Jamie Whincup then dropped a couple of spots. It was still early on he knew there was a long way to go to the finish line.

Rick Kelly was trying to keep up with his teammates but it wasn’t his day and fell further back into the pack.

In the middle of the race Scott Mclaughlin was still the race leader and looking good for another race win.

Towards the end of the race no one could catch Scott Mclaughlin.

In the middle of the race Will Davison had an air box fire on pit entry. Although he managed to get back out on the track it had slowed him down. Now Scot McLaughlin had the lead with Chaz Mostert in hot pursuit.

Scott McLaughlin was unbeatable and held his lead to the finish line followed by Will Davison and then Chaz Mostert.  Who can stop Scott McLaughlin’s winning run?

The teams’ cars and equipment will be going to New Zealand via a boat because the its too expensive to fly everything to New Zealand by plane. The drivers of course will be flying in.

Results for race 22

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Will Davison – 23 Red Racing.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.

The event is the ITM Auckland Supersprint on the 13th to the 15th of September 2019.

 

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/ please feel free to comment on how the Bend was.

 

Supercars

Century Batteries Ipswich Supersprint 2019 Supercars

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HI to all you Supercars fans around the World!

On the weekend of the 26th to the 28th of July 2019 was the Century Batteries Ipswich Supersprint.

This Queensland raceway is home territory to the legend Craig Lowndes where he has had 12 race wins through his career. Considering that this is the 23rd Supercars event at this venue, Craig Lowndes’ stats go prove why he is a legend.

This is not to say it is a ‘friendly’ track to everyone. In 2005 Jason Richards had a massive rollover after Paul Morris made contact with him. At the same event Cameron McLean also rolled in the same section of the track. In 2010 Mark Winterbottom had a huge crash that I am sure still sticks in his mind.

Heading into the weekend Scott McLaughlin leads the championship by 292 points over his teammate, Fabian Coulthard. If there is going to be any challenges for the championship, this weekend is the time to make a move.

As it turned out Scott McLaughlin ruled in the pre-race sessions; Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 1, 2 & 3 and then again for the Armour All Qualifying.

In race 19 he started on pole position, alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

At the start of the 39-lap race Scott McLaughlin didn’t want to have any contact with Jamie Whincup so he let him go at turn 2.

By the end of the opening lap Scott McLaughlin went from 1st to 4th

There was contact between Will Davison and Scott McLaughlin which was not good. I thought that Scott McLaughlin would have had damage but somehow he didn’t.

Scott McLaughlin’s troubles were not over. Later he had a 9.2 second pit stop due to a jammed left front wheel nut. It surely affected his result at the finish line slipping from pole position to 4th.

Lee Holdsworth had a massive slide but saved it, which was super impressive.

Scott Pye had contact with another car which resulted in problems in the pits later on when removing the left rear wheel. He dropped 7 positions and finished 21st.

Jamie Whincup had a 4.1 second stop. Excepting pit stops, Jamie Whincup held his lead throughout the race.

Fabian Coulthard didn’t have a great race at all. He started 9th on the grid and finished 10th.

As they crossed the finish line, no one else could catch the top 3 drivers; Jamie Whincup with a 2 + second lead over Will Davison, then Chaz Mostert  following a further 3.87 seconds later.

Although no safety car was deployed during the race, Tim Slade and Macauley Jones were both NC’s.

It was a convincing win for Jamie Whincup whose last race win was the Sandown 500 in 2018. His tally now reaches 114 wins from 484 races. 

Results for Race 19

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Will Davison – 23 Red Racing.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.

The unusual result for Scott McLaughlin in race 19 didn’t seem to affect him the next morning. He was fastest in practice 4 and Qualifying, earning him pole position for race 20. That is his 13th pole start this year.

In race 20 Scott McLaughlin in pole position had Chaz Mostert alongside him.

At the start of the 200 Km, 65 lap race Chaz Mostert tried to go around the outside of the Championship leader but he wasn’t able to and had to pull back in behind.

Scott McLaughlin led the whole way excepting in his 2 pit stops.

Fabian Coulthard had a shocking weekend because he didn’t qualify in the top ten on Sunday.

After such a positive result in Saturday’s race Will Davison drove with inspiration and seemed to really want to get back to back podiums. However, he just wasn’t able to move up from his starting position of 5.

By the middle of race Shane Van Gisbergen had taken over Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert. Now in second place he was putting pressure on Scott McLaughlin for the race lead.

In the last laps Shane Van Gisbergen stayed right on Scott McLaughlin’s tail but he wasn’t given any opportunity to take advantage of.  They crossed the finish line just 0.7 seconds apart and nearly 10 seconds ahead of their closest rival, Chaz Mostert.

Results for Race 20

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.

Scott McLaughlin got pinged for doing his post race burnouts in the wrong spots.

He also got fined $1000 for taking a poster on to the podium.

https://www.motorsport.com/v8supercars/news/mclaughlin-fine-poster-podium-burnout/4502597/

 

https://autoaction.com.au/2019/07/30/infamous-podium-poster-to-raise-funds-for-charity

The next event is the OTR Supersprint at the Bend in South Australia on the 23rd to the 25th of August 2019.

Please feel free on how the Ipswich event was via my Facebook Fanpage.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/