On the weekend of the 23 – 25 Feb was the Thrifty Bathurst 500.
It was Round 1 of the V8-Supercars 2024 season.
The event consisted of 2 practice sessions, a qualifying session (1 for each of the 2 races) to determine the entries to the top 10 shootout for grid position and finally 2 races of 40 laps / 250km each.
Last season ended with Erebus taking the teams trophy and Erebus driver Brodie Kostecki taking the drivers’ trophy. Will Brown who was Brodie Kostecki’s teammate took 4th place.
It seems this year the drivers from Erebus have abandoned ship. Will Brown is now driving for Red Bull Ampol Racing alongside Broc Feeney after the exit of legend, Shane Van Gisbergen.
Will Brown has joined Red Bull Ampol Racing
On the 30 January 2024 Brodie Kostecki had a massive falling out with Erebus Motorsports’ boss Barry Ryan and left the team. It must have been serious because now the champion has been left without a seat in this years’ competition. Barry Ryan, team owner Betty Klimenko and Brodie Kostecki have all been very tight lipped about what happened to cause the rift.
This first event of the year started on the Friday with 2 practice sessions. The weather was cloudy with consistent rain. Not a surprise at Bathurst which is known for its extreme weather patterns.
Results from the pre-race sessions are as follows:
Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 1
Will Brown was fastest in Practice 2
Broc Feeney was fastest in Qualifying for both Race 1 & 2
Will Brown was fastest in Race 1 Top Ten Shootout
Broc Feeney was the fastest in Race 2 Top Ten Shootout
On the grid for Race 1 Will Brown started in pole position with teammate Broc Feeney alongside him.
Will Brown got the jump on his teammate off the starting line and led into turn 1 for the first of 40 laps. Chaz Mostert got a ripper of a start from 3rd on the grid and was close behind the two leaders.
Rookie, Ryan Wood went off the track at turn 1 with a helping hand from Tim Slade. The safety car was deployed and the car was towed off the track. I am sure it was not how Ryan Wood envisioned his first race as a rookie.
Race Control looked at the incident and decided to take no penalising action against Wood or Slade.
The restart was on lap 3. Will Brown still had the race lead followed by Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert and Cameron Hill.
The first 2 cars to pit were Anton de Pasquale and Matt Payne on lap 6. They re-joined one spot from the back of the pack, 22nd and 23rd.
Broc Feeney was tailing leader Will Brown by only 0.934 seconds. On lap 11 he then did the fastest time recorded in this race (208.332 seconds).
Will Brown was the first of the two Red Bull cars to pit to ensure there would be no double stacking at the garage with teammate Broc Feeney. This handed Broc Feeney the lead.
In the middle of the race Nick Percat had the lead. Once he pitted Broc Feeney took back lead control with Will Brown behind him.
Aaron Love hit the wall coming out of The Cutting and damaged the right rear corner of car 3. It was quite a significant hit and he had to limp back to the pits. There was no need to deploy the safety car and later he did manage to return to the race.
Towards the end of the race Broc Feeney and Will Brown were the effective leaders with the 2 cars of Nick Percat and Cameron Waters ahead of them but still yet to pit. Once they pitted the 2 Red Bull cars assumed 1st and 2nd place on the track.
With 9 laps remaining Broc Feeney was still in the lead by 0.871seconds over Will Brown.
On lap 33 Chaz Mostert clocked the fastest lap of the race at 208.113 seconds. This adds 5 point to Mostert’s scoreboard tally.
The competition began to get wild.
On lap 34 the front left wheel came off Cameron Waters Monster Energy Ford Mustang and it went rolling down the track to turn 2. The race went under FCY (Full Course Yellow) to remove the wheel.
With 5 laps to go James Golding went off at The Chase. When he came back on he was alongside his teammate, Tim Slade.
With 2 laps to go Aaron Love hit the wall at The Cutting again! This time the Safety Car had to be deployed to remove the car from the track. He and Ryan Wood were the only two DNFs in the race.
As a result of the deployed Safety Car the race finished under Safety Car conditions. The finish was therefor quite unexciting compared to the action leading up to it.
Broc Feeney came across the line first, followed by Will Brown and then Chaz Mostert.
Results for Race 1:
1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing 2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing 3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
In Race 2 Broc Feeney started on pole position, alongside him was Chaz Mostert.
As they took off Chaz Mostert got the jump and led into turn 1.
Meanwhile back in the pack Cameron Hill and Macauley Jones became entangled and spun both cars. They were able to continue but were now at the back of the pack.
Broc Feeney tried to get up the inside James Golding at The Chase. He made contact with Golding and was issued a 5 second time penalty for the driving infringement.
Will Brown had gone up to second place. He was only 0.385 seconds off Chaz Mostert in the lead. Pole sitter Broc Feeney had dropped back to 3rd place.
Matt Payne was the first driver to take his car into the pits on lap 6.
Ryan Wood also went into the garage to rectify a damaged right front steering sustained on the opening lap.
Aaron Love hit the wall approaching the Reid Park section of the track.
Up the front the top 3 cars were reasonably close to each other.
Broc Feeney was asking whether he can pass Will Brown in attempt to make up for the 5 second time penalty he received earlier. He was given the go ahead but just couldn’t find the space on track to execute the pass.
He then decided to take the first of his 2 mandatory pitstops and also get his 5 second penalty out of the way.
In the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was still the leader by 5.2 seconds over Will Brown, who was then followed by Broc Feeney. Thomas Randle and David Reynolds were battling for 4th and 5th place.
Towards the end of the race only Todd Hazelwood and Andre Heimgartner were still yet to take their second pit stop. Once they did, Will Brown who had overtaken Chaz Mostert would assume the race lead.
In the final 5 laps the top 3 positions were unchanged and stayed that way to the finish.
Will Brown crossed the line with a 1.6 second lead on Chaz Mostert. Then it was 1.4 seconds back to Broc Feeney.
It was a good race and a lot of fun watching it.
Results for Race 2:
1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
After the first of event of the season Will Brown is the series leader by 9 points over Broc Feeney.
The Red Bull Ampol Racing team are in the lead of the teams championship by 201 points over Grove Racing.
The next event in the Supercars series is as a support category at the Rolex Australian F1 Grand Prix at Albert Park on March 21 to 24 2024.
On the weekend of the 23 – 26 November 2023 was the Valo Adelaide 500.
The Adelaide street circuit was first opened in 1985 and hosted the F1 Australian Grand Prix until 1995. The street circuit came back into use in 1999 when Supercars moved their events from the Mallala Motorsport Park.
Jason Bright took the very first pole position at this venue. Craig Lowndes started the leg 1 from 3rd on the grid and won the opening race. The next day he was sent to the back of the field and still came through to win leg 2. It was the stuff that legends are made of.
This year’s Adelaide 500 was the 12th and final round of the 2023 Supercars Championship.
As one of the longer events on the calendar made up of 2 races of 250km each, it was always going to be a tough event. To add to the tension it was also the decider for the Driver’s Championship.
The defending champion Shane Van Gisbergen was trailing Brodie Kostecki in the number 1 spot by 131 points. A win in both races would total 300 points so the championship was still up for grabs. Shane Van Gisbergen is heading to the U.S. at the end of the season to try his hand at NASCAR so it could very well also be his final farewell to Supercars.
The points gap from 3rd place onwards was too great to contend for 1st or 2nd place. However, the points were close enough between 3rd, 4th and 5th for there to be a change on the final scoreboard for Will Brown, Broc Feeney and Chaz Mostert.
The Final Event and the Final Decider! A setting for nail biting stuff!
The event started on Thursday with a wet Practice 1.
The pre-race sessions results are as follows:
Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
Thomas Randle was Fastest in Practice 2
Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying
Brodie Kostecki was also fastest in the top 10 Shootout.
For Race 27 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position which was his 9th pole for the year. David Reynolds was alongside him on the front row of the starting grid.
At the start of the race Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for first of 78 laps.
As the pack rounded turn 4 Will Brown tried passing Anton de Pasquale. Shane Van Gisbergen also tried following Will Brown to jump up in position. However, Anton de Pasquale made contact with Will Brown and then from behind Shane Van Gisbergen made contact with Will Brown. Brown’s car came to stop almost immediately. Shane Van Gisbergen was able to get back to the pits but it was soon evident that he wouldn’t be returning to the track. Not only was it all over for this race but also his ability to contend for the championship title. Such bad luck.
The safety car was deployed. It was only the opening lap and things were very messed up for Will Brown and Shane Van Gisbergen.
Later, after reviewing the incident the officials took no further action and no penalty was issued to any of the three cars involved.
Matt Payne and Cameron Hill were in the pits because of damage they received after the start.
The restart was on lap 6 and Brodie Kostecki was still in control of the race, followed by David Reynolds and Thomas Randle in 3rd place.
Broc Feeney passed James Courtney for 8th place.
On lap 15 David Reynolds took the lead off Brodie Kostecki with some incredible manoeuvring through turns 8 and 9.
The first car to pit in this race was Anton de Pasquale on lap 16.
Broc Feeney was next to pit on lap 19. When he re-joined the race he was in 20th place with clear track ahead.
Up front it started getting busy. Thomas Randle moved up to 2nd place dropping Brodie Kostecki back to 3rd place.
Cameron Waters in 4th place was 3 + seconds behind. The front of the pack were beginning to spread out.
Soon after, Thomas Randle pitted from second place handing over the spot to Cameron Waters.
Thomas Randle came out of the pits and was like a rocket. Within a few laps he managed to move up through the pack and regain 2nd place.
Cameron Waters wasn’t happy to give back the second spot to Thomas Randle and found the opportunity to pass him. Once again, the order of the top 3 cars changed.
In the middle of the race Cameron Waters was still holding second place right on the rear bumper of David Reynolds in the lead. He found his opportunity and with precision driving made the pass to get the number one spot.
Further back in the pack, Todd Hazelwood received a 5 second time penalty for contact with another car.
David Reynolds never gave up the fight to regain 1st place. With 17 laps to go he did the fastest lap of the race, 119.957 seconds. Unfortunately, it didn’t give him what he wanted. He was also under pressure from Thomas Randle in 3rd place. The front 3 cars were once again tight and left no room for error.
Cameron Waters stayed strong and held the lead using his experience to fend off the two drivers right on his tail.
Soon Cameron Water and David Reynolds edged away from Thomas Randle still holding 3rd place.
They were both on fire screaming ahead of the pack.
They crossed the finish line 0.67 seconds apart and way ahead of the others. Thomas Randle came in 14.353 seconds later to earn 3rd place. It was an incredible finish for an intense race.
Results for Race 27
1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing.
2nd David Reynolds – Grove Racing.
3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing & Tradie Racing.
In Race 28 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position for the 10th time this season. This is an incredible feat and he was given the Armor All Pole Award for year along with $10,000. Next to him on the front row of the grid was Matt Payne.
As they took off Matt Payne got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 78 laps. As much as Brodie Kostecki tried he was not able to pass Matt Payne.
Further back Shane Van Gisbergen was trying to pass Anton de Pasquale but also wasn’t able to execute a pass. It wasn’t until a few laps later that he got into his stride.
On lap 2 Broc Feeney was able to get up the inside of Cameron Waters for 4th place.
David Reynolds made his move on lap 3 to pass Todd Hazelwood for 9th place.
Shane Van Gisbergen was now moving through the pack and had now passed Anton de Pasquale, Will Davison and Will Brown for 11th place.
On lap 6 Nick Percat made contact with Jack le Brocq who went off the track and into the tyre-wall at the final turn. Surprisingly, he managed to get himself out and the safety car did not have to be deployed.
After investigation the incident the officials took no further action against either driver.
By lap 10 Matt Payne had a 1.2 second lead over Brodie Kostecki.
Broc Feeney was putting pressure on Chaz Mostert for 3rd place. He managed to get by at turn 6.
Shane Van Gisbergen showed how eager he was to make up for the NC (Not Complete) he received in the first race at this event. He did the fastest lap of the race, 120.735 seconds.
On lap 11 Chaz Mostert was desperately trying to get 3rd place back from Broc Feeney. In his attempt Chaz Mostert made contact with him and did manage to pass. It was a messy attack and Chaz Mostert was later issued a 5 second time penalty.
Shane Van Gisbergen was the first of the Red Bull cars to take a pit-stop.
In the pit area Macauley Jones was spun around by Tim Slade who was coming out of his garage.
In the middle of the race Matt Payne was still in control with a 4.8 second lead over Broc Feeney flowed by David Reynolds in 3rd.
As the race continued Matt Payne kept edging ahead. Towards the end of the race, he had a 7.5 second lead over Broc Feeney and was on target to claim his maiden win with Penrite Racing.
Noone seemed able to make ground on the rookie Matt Payne. In fact he managed to edge further ahead of the competitors.
He crossed the line with a 8.548 second lead over Broc Feeney. David Reynolds come in 3rd a few seconds later.
It was a spectacular and solid win for Matt Payne. Congratulations!
Results for Race 28:
1st Matt Payne – Grove Racing.
2nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing.
3rd David Reynolds – Grove Racing.
A massive congratulations to Erebus Motorsport and Brodie Kostecki. Well done!
This was the final race for the 2023 season. The next event will be the Bathurst Superfest on the 16th to the 25th of February 2024.
It’s with a sense of sadness that we say farewell to Shane Van Gisbergen. Well done on everything you have achieved in Supercars and best of luck for your new adventures in Nascar. Go get em!
On the weekend of Mar 30 – Apr 2nd was the Beaurepairs Melbourne Supersprint. It was round 2 of the 2023 Supercars Championship and held at Albert Park in Melbourne Victoria.
The event was a support category of the Rolex Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The Albert Park circuit is 5.3km with 14 turns. Supercars has been there every year all but 2007, 2020 and 2021.
The weekend represented big milestones for some drivers.
Chaz Mostert started his 300th race in Supercars.
In the second race Mark Winterbottom started in his 595th race. It is a track that he seems to favour having previously won 7 races at the venue, a win count that he shares with Shane Van Gisbergen.
Macauley Jones also hit his 150th race start on the Sunday of the weekend.
Congratulations!
With this in mind, plus the first time that the Gen 3 cars race at this track and it being part of the Australian F1 Grand Prix, it was set to be an exciting weekend.
In the pre- race sessions
Mark Winterbottom was Fastest in Practice 1 Tim Slade and Shane Van Gisbergen both caused red flags because they both went into the wall at turn 5 or turn 7.
Andre Heimgartner was fastest in Practice 2
Anton de Pasquale was fastest in Qualifying.
The first of the four sprint races started on the Thursday of this event. It was Race 3 of the season with Anton de Pasquale on pole position Brodie Kostecki alongside him.
At the start of the race Anton de Pasquale got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 19 laps. Brodie Kostecki was trying his best to take the lead and gave Anton de Pasquale a nudge at turn 5. Brodie Kostecki had to pull back and it allowed Shane Van Gisbergen to displace him.
Chaz Mostert was part of the front running pack but lost a spot when Jack le Brocq made an impressive pass at turn 3.
By the end of the first lap Bryce Fullwood gained 6 spots. After starting from 23rd on the grid he was up to 18th. If he kept this up he would be a threat to the leaders.
lap 3 Shane Van Gisbergen found the space to make his move and took the race lead off Anton de Pasquale. From that point on, he was able to control proceedings from the lead.
The first car to pit in this race was Cameron Hill from the back of the field on lap 9.
There were challenges for position happening everywhere. Drivers had to be aggressive in such a short race.
Cameron Waters was trying to pass Brodie Kostecki and Chaz Mostert was putting pressure on Cam Waters in a battle for 3rd, 4th and 5th place.
Meanwhile, Broc Feeney was battling with James Courtney for 8th position.
Anton de Pasquale was right on the tail of race leader Shane Van Gisbergen.
At one point Cameron Waters ran extremely wide exiting turn 10 which dropped him down to 6th place.
It allowed Will Brown to get in the mix, but Chaz Mostert got the better of him and was again challenging Brodie Kostecki for 3rd place.
With the continual attacks, James Courtney and Broc Feeney also became part of the challenge for those positions. In an instant Jack le Brocq was running 9th position.
The gap between 1st and 2nd was 1.2 seconds with about 1.3 seconds back to 3rd.
Both Will Davison and Andre Heimgartner came into the pits to make their stop and rejoined the race in 22nd and 23rd place.
James Golding and David Reynolds pitted on lap 10. There were still 19 cars yet to pit. Everyone was reluctant to relinquish track position.
With 8 laps to go Shane Van Gisbergen had a 1.3 second lead over Anton de Pasquale. Brodie Kostecki closed the gap in 3rd position to 0.847 seconds.
Mark Winterbottom had no radio and Team 18 had to use a pit board to communicate with him.
Once the front runners took their pit stops, Shane Van Gisbergen was back in the lead.
With 4 laps to go Brodie Kostecki got past Anton de Pasquale for 2nd place while the leader Shane Van Gisbergen was in cruise mode. There were 16 cars who had not yet pitted so the pits it was going to be very busy in that area for the remaining laps.
With 3 laps to go Shane Van Gisbergen had edged out a 2.6 second lead over Brodie Kostecki.
On the final lap Shane Van Gisbergen had a 1.5 second lead over Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown. They were closing in on him incredibly quickly. All he had to do was hang in there, defend his lead and not make any mistakes.
Brodie Kostecki was making a massive effort to catch the leader but there just wasn’t enough time. Shane Van Gisbergen crossed the finish line with only a 0.3909 of a second lead over Brodie Kostecki. Will Brown crossed the line third 1.5616 seconds later.
Results for Race 3:
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport
3rd Will Brown – Erebus Motorsport
Race 4 started late due to a crash in the Formula 3000. All the races on the weekend were time certain being a support category to the Australian F1 Grand Prix. It was almost assured they would not complete all 15 laps, but they didn’t know how many laps they would get. Drivers would have to be very aggressive to gain and keep position given the time limit.
Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position with Will Brown alongside him.
At the start of the race Will Brown got the jump and led into turn 1. Meanwhile further back in the pack David Reynolds got turned around at the first corner by Cameron Waters and Mark Winterbottom. His car ended up off the track and trapped in the sand. The safety car was deployed and the race was under yellow flag conditions. As they followed the safety car around the track in formation, Nick Percat caught fire on the left front of his Ford Mustang. He managed to get back to the pits independently but couldn’t re-join the race.
It took until lap 4 for the race to return to green and recommence. Shane Van Gisbergen immediately tried to go around the outside of Will Brown in the lead. He couldn’t make the move stick and as a result of the madness up front Shane Van Gisbergen dropped from 3rd down to 6th.
The first of the drivers to pit in this race were Will Brown, Will Davison, Jack le Brocq, Andre Heimgartner, Matt Payne and Scott Pye.
Soon after his pit stop Jack le Brocq hit the wall damaging the left front corner. He couldn’t move and the race went under ‘yellow’ while he was retrieved, and the wall repaired. He would become another driver in this race to not return to the track.
In the end the race finished on lap 8 behind the safety car while they were still repairing the wall.
It was unfortunate to finish this way but couldn’t be helped. In formation behind the safety car they crossed the finish line; Brodie Kostecki with his first career win, James Courtney and Shane Van Gisbergen.
Post race finish, James Courtney was issued a penalty for an unsafe release in the pits. Unfortunately it pushed him back to 22nd place on the recorded results. The drivers between 3rd and 22nd were elevated 1 spot. For the two Red Bull Ampol Racing cars it was an unexpected podium finish with Shane Van Gisbergen bumped up to 2nd and Broc Feeney to 3rd.
Results for Race 4:
1st Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
In Race 5 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position alongside him was Will Brown.
At the start of the race Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 followed by Will Brown. The cars further back in the pack were battling for ascendancy. At turn 5 James Golding made contact with Mark Winterbottom and pushed him into the wall. Winterbottom received damage on the left hand side and headed to the pits. He was the first car to receive an NC (not Complete).
Before the end of the lap James Courtney’s car caught fire. He managed to get back to the pits independently but would not return to this race or the last race for the weekend. He was the second car to receive an NC.
On the second lap Anton de Pasquale got turned around by Matt Payne. James Courtney became collateral damage of the incident. The safety car was deployed and the pit lane closed. Pasquale and Courtney became the two other cars to leave the track and receive an NC.
On the restart Brodie Kostecki was still in the lead followed by Will Brown and Bryce Fullwood. Meanwhile Shane Van Gisbergen passed Andre Heimgartner to take 6th position.
In the middle of the race authorities issued Matt Payne a Pit Lane Drive Thru Penalty for the incident he caused in lap 1 with Mark Winterbottom.
Towards the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen had moved up to 5th position and now had Will Davison in front of him.
James Golding got turned around by Chaz Mostert when they were 3 wide coming out of turn 3. Luckily, they both continued in the race.
After Brodie Kostecki took his pitstop he resumed the lead of the race.
With only a couple of laps to go, Brodie Kostecki held his lead and crossed the line first. He was followed by Will Davison, Bryce Fullwood, Shane Van Gisbergen and then Will Brown.
Post race finish both Will Davison and Bryce Fullwood received 15 second penalties for an unsafe pit release. It was the second time at this event that post race penalties were issued altering the podium results. Once the time penalties were applied, Shane Van Gisbergen and Will Brown were bumped up two places so the recorded results now showed them as 2nd and 3rd place on the podium.
Results for Race 5:
1st Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Will Brown – Erebus Motorsport
In only his second year as a full time driver Broc Feeney earned himself his maiden pole position for Race 6. Alongside him was Chaz Mostert.
As they took off Broc Feeney surprisingly got the jump over the far more experienced Chaz Mostert. It took until turn 5 before Mostert could make his move for the race lead. Almost immediately after Will Brown also passed Broc Feeney dropping the pole sitter back to 3rd.
Broc Feeney and his team felt this was the best time to try and get some clean air out of the traffic. He was the first car to pit along with almost half the pack at the end of lap 1, including; Andre Heimgartner, Bryce Fullwood, Brodie Kostecki, Cameron Waters, Nick Percat, Anton de Pasquale, Declan Fraser and Macauley Jones.
On return to the track Bryce Fullwood almost hit the wall on the exit of turn 10. Somehow he managed to avoid the collision and it seemed like a miracle escape.
Shortly after Anton de Pasquale was given a 15 second time penalty for an unsafe pit release.
Will Brown managed to take the race lead off Chaz Mostert but immediately under the pressure made a driving error and spun around. It cost him dearly and dropped back to 20th position. He then realised he had a steering issue and head to the garage.
In the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was still in the lead, followed by Bryce Fullwood and Will Davison.
With 6 laps to go Chaz Mostert’s tyres were starting to blister. It took his edge away and Bryce Fullwood got by him.
At this point in the race the top 9 cars were still yet to take the mandatory pit stop. Once they did there was another change to the lead, Broc Feeney was back up front.
On lap 12 Cameron Hill bumped the fence between turns 9 and 10 and damaged the left side of his car. He headed for the pits but with only 1 lap to go he didn’t make it back onto the track. He became the only car in this race to receive an NC.
Broc Feeney kept his lead. He crossed the finish line with just under a second gap over Andre Heimgartner, followed by Brodie Kostecki a further 1+ seconds later.
Bryce Fullwood came in 4th but post race copped a 15 second time penalty for an unsafe pit release. It pushed him down the recorded results as 18th place.
For Broc Feeney this was his first win for 2023 and second career win. Things seem to be moving fast for this rising star. Can’t wait to see things as they unfold for him.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 02: (EDITORS NOTE: A polarizing filter was used for this image.) Broc Feeney driver of the #88 Red Bull Ampol Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 during race 4 of the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400, part of the 2023 Supercars Championship Series at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit on April 02, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
Results for Race 6:
1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Andre Heimgartner – Brad Jones Racing
3rd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport
When handing out the trophies for Race 6, Broc Feeney selected his father, Paul to collect the team trophy on behalf of the Red Bull Ampol Racing. A nice way of honouring his family support.
After the points were tallied for the event, Brodie Kostecki became the recipient of the Larry Perkins Trophy for 2023. He also became the new championship leader by 32 points over Chaz Mostert.
Shane Van Gisbergen is 3rd, only 86 points behind the number 1 spot on the ladder.
The next event is the Bosch Power Tools Supersprint on April 28th – 30th, 2023.
On the weekend of the 28 – 30 October 2022 was the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.
This year marks the 19th time that the Supercars Championship has raced for points on the Surfers Paradise Gold Coast circuit. The first paying round was in 2002.Prior to 2002 there were non-championship events held as part of the annual Gold Coast Indy. In 1994, 1996 and 2001 they were run as single driver events in 2 races. In 2010 the event was run in a 2 race by 300km format with co-drivers. Since then, the format had been changed to become a single driver 2 race event of 250km each.
The weekend marked a milestone for Triple Eight Race Engineering with their 600th Supercars race. Their debut was back in 2003 at the Sandown 500. They are the 5th team in ATCC-Supercars history to surpass that milestone.
The weekend was also Mark Winterbottom’s 50th round start with Team 18. He made his first start for the team at the 2019 Adelaide 500. Winterbottom currently has a finishing record on the Gold Coast of 35 finishes from 35 starts.
This event was kicked off on the Friday. The results in the pre-race sessions had no big surprises with results as follows:
Will Davison was fastest in Practice 1
Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 2
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in the Qualifying
David Reynolds was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout
In Race 31 David Reynolds started on pole position. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.
At the start of the race David Reynolds got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2. Shane Van Gisbergen was immediately on the attack, but he wasn’t far enough up to command track position and had to tuck in behind.
The cars behind the two leaders were Cameron Waters, Chaz Mostert and Anton de Pasquale. These front running drivers quickly began to pull away from the rest of the pack.
Further back Mark Winterbottom had gained 4 spots to move up to 9th position on the opening lap.
The gap between David Reynolds and Shane Van Gisbergen was 0.225 seconds. Shane Van Gisbergen was right on David Reynold’s bumper. At the final turn of the first lap Shane Van Gisbergen had a moment and lost ground, so for now Reynolds was able to retain the lead.
The first 2 cars to pit in this race were Will Davison and James Courtney on lap 9. When they came back out they were in 24th and 25th. Will Davison’s pit was not as smooth as it should have been. The right front rattle gun got jammed and those few seconds delay meant James Courtney was able to jump him on exit.
By lap 16 David Reynolds had reported his steering wheel was loose. Not something you want when travelling about 250kph. It slowed him down and Shane Van Gisbergen was able to take the lead at turn 4. Once in the lead, David Reynolds was no longer able to keep up with him.
Further back in the pack Lee Holdsworth was putting pressure on Broc Feeney in a battle for 10th and 11th position.
David Reynolds pitted on lap 25. The team looked at the steering wheel problem but weren’t able to immediately repair it. Jake Kostecki also followed him in.
On the next lap Shane Van Gisbergen pitted and so did Todd Hazelwood.
After hitting the wall earlier, Bryce Fullwood’s passenger door kept coming open. He was issued a mechanical black flag and was forced to pit immediately.
Will Brown was in the garage due to ripping the under body out of car 9 when he went through the beach chicane.
On lap 31 Andre Heimgartner was in pit lane with smoke coming out of the back of car. It was not good news and car 8 never made it back out to the track.
Mark Winterbottom got a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.
In the middle of the race David Reynolds was still complaining about the loose steering wheel in car 26. He came in for his second pit stop. The team were ready to do a full steering wheel change. As it turned out they just had to tighten the steering wheel bolt. Oops!
When David Reynolds got back out on the track he was in the mix of the main pack and had to try returning to his former lead. In desperation he requested a blue flag from race control because he felt that Will Davison was holding him up. Before officials could respond Reynolds found space to make the pass. He had no time to waste.
David Reynolds needed to close the 4.8 seconds lead that Shane Van Gisbergen had.
Cameron Waters was still in 3rd place. He made a mistake going into turn 2. He clobbered the tyre wall and spun around. His error lost him several places. It was an unfortunate mistake so late in the race.
Fatigue started to show. Nick Percat and Tim Slade received bad sportsmanship flags for exceeding track limits at turn 2.
Once past the critical lap, drivers and teams were able to pit for fuel and tyres to get to the end of the race.
On lap 56 Shane Van Gisbergen pitted for his last stop with a 54.705 second lead over Lee Holdsworth. With such an incredible lead he returned to the track still in first place.
From that point on Shane Van Gisbergen had complete dominance on the track with an 11.362 second lead over David Reynolds. It was then another 13.488 seconds back to Chaz Mostert.
While the drivers battled for position in the top 10 it seemed that it was impossible to close the gap on Gisbergen.
With 10 laps to go Broc Feeney managed to displace Lee Holdsworth for 15th position coming out of turn 4.
Cameron Waters also finally cleared Anton de Pasquale for 5th position.
With 7 laps to go the battle between David Reynolds and Chaz Mostert had allowed Shane Van Gisbergen to open the gap to 15.2 seconds.
Chaz Mostert’s plan to attack David Reynolds for 2nd place was interrupted and instead had to defend from Will Davison in 3rd.
With 2 laps to go Will Davison was less than a car length behind Chaz Mostert.
By the final lap Shane Van Gisbergen had gained another 2 seconds over the rest of the field.
Without fault Shane Van Gisbergen crossed the finish line 17.344 seconds clear of David Reynolds. Chaz Mostert managed to come 3rd with Will Davison pushing hard a mere .3184 seconds behind.
For Shane Van Gisbergen it was a spectacular way to earn his 20th win for the 2022 season. It also gave him enough points on the leader board to be declared champion elect for the 3rd time in his career. He now ties with other legends of the track such as Craig Lowndes.
Congratulations!
Results for Race 31
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd David Reynolds – Grove Racing
3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
For Race 32 Shane Van Gisbergen had earned pole position. It was his 45th career pole. Alongside him on the grid was Will Davison.
As they took off from the start line, the two front runners were neck in neck. At the first bend of turn 1 Shane Van Gisbergen forced Will Davison over the chicane. Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters who were right behind Davison were also forced to cut across the track perimeter.
Surprisingly Will Davison came out the other side of the closely knit turns 1,2 and 3 in the lead. Shane Van Gisbergen was told by his team to redress for his error. He slowed up before turn 4 to give Davison the space needed and avoid a penalty.
The field was tightly packed and challenges for position were happening left right and centre.
As the pack commenced lap 2 Will Davison had a 1 second lead.
After his continual efforts Brodie Kostecki finally got by Scott Pye for 5th place. Behind them were David Reynolds had Thomas Randle battling for positions 7 and 8.
It took a while but the cars further back in the pack began to settle into their own pace. They knew there was a long way to go and no need to make desperate moves in the early stages.
On approach to turn 11 of lap 4 James Golding crashed through the tyre barrier. The cars right behind were not prepared and smashed straight into him. Eight cars were involved including Macauley Jones whose car caught on fire. In a show of good sportsmanship, other drivers immediately came to assist. It was mayhem and the first safety car was deployed with the red flag shown shortly after.
Broc Feeney was another driver who suffered significant damage. His car was taken to the garage and it wasn’t certain if he would re-join the race.
The race resumed after the clean-up. Will Davison and Shane Van Gisbergen had a pretty hefty gap over Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters.
Anton de Pasquale had damage on the rear bumper due to the contact on lap 1. The Dick Johnson Racing Team made him come in on lap 9.
Scott Pye and Jake Kostecki were the next to take pit stops on lap 10.
On lap 11 Shane Van Gisbergen took the lead off Will Davison down at turn 11. Chaz Mostert was only 0.257 seconds behind them and was immediately putting Will Davison under further pressure in 2nd place.
Behind Chaz Mostert was Cameron Waters followed by Brodie Kostecki in 5th being pressured by David Reynolds.
Mark Winterbottom had gained 5 positions into 7th place but was now struggling. No matter what he did he couldn’t get past David Reynolds in car 26.
By lap 17 Shane Van Gisbergen had a 2.5 second margin over Will Davison.
Mark Winterbottom was the first of the front runners to pit. No one else followed him in.
By this stage the Red Bull Ampol Racing team declared car 88 would not be returning to the track after its involvement in the lap 4 pile up. Broc Feeney had to watch the rest of the race from the garage.
Todd Hazelwood was another driver who had to watch the rest of the race from garage for the same reason.
James Courtney who was also involved in the lap 4 melee, was getting back in his car to re-join the race. The front of car was all fixed but the back was looking like a scene out of Mad Max.
Due the delays, race control announced a time certain finish of 16:38 + 1 lap and the CPS (compulsory pit stops) requirements would remain unchanged.
On lap 22 Jake Kostecki had to step aside for the race leader Shane Van Gisbergen who had worked up a 4.2 second lead over Will Davison.
On lap 26 Will Davison had to try a new tactic for attack on the leader and came in for his first pit stop to try get advantage that way. Brodie Kostecki also pitted.
On lap 29 Shane Van Gisbergen came in with a 10.520 second lead over 2nd place Cameron Waters.
When Shane Van Gisbergen returned to the track, he was in 6th place with drivers in front yet to pit.
Cameron Waters who was left with the lead pitted on lap 30. This handed over the lead to David Reynolds.
At this stage there were 3 cars yet to take their first pit stops.
In the middle of the race Mark Winterbottom gave Brodie Kostecki a hit coming out of turn 4. He decided to redress to avoid a penalty from race control.
On lap 42 Jake Kostecki was ready to re-join the race after being in the garage for major repair works after a lost argument with a barrier wall.
Chaz Mostert who inherited the lead when David Reynolds pitted, was called in for his first pit stop. Shane Van Gisbergen was now back at the front of the pack.
By lap 57 all the drivers had done their 2nd stops so it was an even playing field to the end. Shane Van Gisbergen had a 4.3 second lead over Chaz Mostert. It was another 2.018 seconds back to Will Davison in 3rd.
By lap 64 Shane Van Gisbergen had increased his lead over Chaz Mostert to 5.7 seconds, while Chaz Mostert increased his lead over Will Davison to 3.5 seconds.
On lap 71 Thomas Randle broke down and parked on the left hand side near pit entry. The safety car was deployed under the yellow flag. The cars had to remain in formation behind the safety car. This meant any leading gaps were lost for the front runners.
On the restart Shane Van Gisbergen just pulled away. He really wanted to recreate his lead over the pack.
With 2 laps to go, Will Brown put Scott Pye in the wall at turn 13. It caused Scott Pye to drop 8 places to 13th and increased his worries of having a time penalty that would be added to his race time. Will Brown also received no advantage from the move. He received a 15 second time penalty to be added at the end.
Shane Van Gisbergen showed what he could do. Within those few remaining laps after the safety car he managed to cross the finish line 2.1 seconds over Chaz Mostert. It was then another 1.3 seconds back to Will Davison followed by David Reynolds.
To top off the race weekend for Shane Van Gisbergen’s 2 out of 2 wins and being announced as champion elect, the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team were declared winners of the Teams Championship for the year. Congratulations. Well done!
Results for Race 32
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Will Davison – Dick Johnson Racing Team
The next event is the final one for the 2022 Supercars season, the Valo Adelaide 500 on the 1st – 4th December 2022.
On the weekend of the 19th to the 21st of August 2022 was the Penrite Oil Sandown Supersprint.
This will mark the 52nd event held at Sandown in ATCC – Supercars history. No venue has hosted more rounds than the Melbourne circuit. Its championship race history includes both endurance and sprint events. This weekend’s races will be the 80th, 81st and 82nd championship races to be held at the circuit.
In the opening race Lee Holdsworth will reach a career milestone, his 500th Supercars race start. The defending Bathurst co-champion will be just the 11th driver to achieve the feat, but the first to do so at the same venue as his first career race start. Lee Holdsworth made his Supercars debut at the 2004 Sandown 500. The Friday event will mark the 15th anniversary of the Penrite Racing’s drivers first championship race win at Oran Park in 2007.
Lee Holdsworth has announced his retirement from fulltime Supercars Racing at the end of this season. Congratulations Lee, best of luck for the future.
The weekend kicked off on Friday with the usual practice and qualifying sessions without any surprising results.
Will Davison was fastest Practice 1.
Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 2 for co-drivers only.
Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 3.
Will Davison was fastest in Qualifying.
In race 24 Will Davison started on pole position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.
At the start of the race Will Davison got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 36 laps. Shane Van Gisbergen went straight to the inside covering any challenge from Will Brown right behind him. Anton de Pasquale was also making his challenge against Will Brown, but he too couldn’t make the pass.
The cars further back in the pack were settling into their race pace while the leaders were pulling away.
Will Davison had a margin of 0.985 seconds over the defending champion Shane Van Gisbergen.
Meanwhile, Broc Feeney was battling with Andre Heimgartner for positions 8th and 9th. As they approached turn 9 on Dandenong Road, Andre Heimgartner gave Broc Feeney a bump and turned him around. Broc Feeney went from 8th down to 25th position. He had lost 15 spots. The incident immediately went into investigation. After a short while Andre Heimgartner was issued a 15 second time penalty for the driving infringement.
As they crossed the line to commence lap 2 Will Davison only had a 0.720 second lead over Shane Van Gisbergen. It was then only 0.647 seconds back to Will Brown in 3rd place.
James Courtney had gained one place and was up to 6th position.
Mark Winterbottom tried to get up the inside of James Courtney, but he didn’t let the pass happen.
Will Davison couldn’t increase his lead over Shane Van Gisbergen who was sticking to him like glue.
The front of the field was tightly packed. Through lap 3 Shane Van Gisbergen was making it impossible for leader Will Davison to make any headway and kept the gap to about half a second. It was another 0.7 seconds back to Will Brown still in 3rd place with Anton de Pasquale just 0.8 seconds back. Thomas Randle was right behind and putting pressure on Anton de Pasquale.
A little further back in the pack, Brodie Kostecki was close in behind Andre Heimgartner. Cameron Waters had gained 2 places up to 10th and Chaz Mostert had moved up 1 spot into 12th.
Shane Van Gisbergen was still on the tail of leader Will Davison, ensuring the gap didn’t get to more than 1 second.
By lap 5 Brodie Kostecki had gained 6 positions to move into 8th place. His next target was 2015 Supercars Champion Mark Winterbottom.
Nick Percat had gained 5 places to move into 16th position right behind Lee Holdsworth, who had gained 3 places and was in 15th.
There were no changes at the tightly packed front of the field. Will Davison was still in the lead followed by Shane Van Gisbergen, Will Brown, Anton de Pasquale and Thomas Randle. Will Davison never being able to break past the 1 second lead.
On lap 6 Cameron Waters did the fastest lap of the race in 108.659 seconds but was still 6.3 seconds off the lead.
The first car to pit was Scott Pye in car 20 on lap 9. When he re-joined, he came back out in 22nd place.
On lap 10 Andre Heimgartner came into the pits and once done had to serve the 15 second penalty issued earlier. When he re-joined it was in 25th position.
On lap 11 David Reynolds broke the fastest lap time at 108.474 seconds.
It was only on lap 13 that Will Davison managed to break past the 1 second lead over Shane Van Gisbergen.
Anton de Pasquale had dropped back from the top 5 to 9th place and came into the pits at the same time as James Courtney.
In the middle of the race more of the front runners, Shane Van Gisbergen and Will Brown came into for their pit stops. They came back out into 15th and 16th position.
At this point there was 14 cars still yet to pit.
Shortly after, Will Davison and Thomas Randle pitted from 1st and 2nd place.
On lap 19 as Will Davison and Thomas Randle were exiting the pits, Chaz Mostert was entering for his 1 and only compulsory pit stop. Will Davison re-joined as the affective lead of the race followed by Shane Van Gisbergen. and
There were still 11 cars yet to pit.
On lap 20 Thomas Randle got a bad sportsmanship flag for careless driving. A bad sportsmanship flag is only warning to tell the driver that he is running out of lives.
Then on lap 22, Shane Van Gisbergen and James Courtney got a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.
On lap 23 Cameron Waters, Broc Feeney and Macauley Jones pitted, leaving Lee Holdsworth as the last car to pit.
Cameron Waters and Macauley Jones re-joined in 8th and 9th position.
With 12 laps to go Will Davison was finally making headway and had increased his lead over Shane Van Gisbergen to 3+ seconds. It was only 0.531 seconds back to Anton de Pasquale.
Lee Holdsworth pitted on lap 24. On the way back out his car stalled which cost a lot of time and he dropped to 24th position.
By lap 25 Will Davison resumed the physical lead of the race and now 3.8 seconds ahead of Shane Van Gisbergen and Anton de Pasquale.
Back in the pack cars in positions 14 to 17 were pretty vigorously battling. I thought Chris Pither was going to make contact with Nick Percat but didn’t. At one stage I thought they were all going to go off the track but somehow, they all stayed on.
On lap 28 Cameron Waters in car 6 also got a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.
Chris Pither was dropping down the order quickly because of a delaminating tyre.
With 10 laps to go Broc Feeney was still fighting and got up the inside of Tim Slade for 16th position.
By lap 29 Will Davison had squeezed almost another second onto his lead over Shane Van Gisbergen. It was now 4.765 seconds.
On lap 30 Will Davison broke past the 5 second mark on his lead.
With a clear track and not having to worry about defending his position he kept increasing his lead. In the end Will Davison absolutely dominated the race crossing the line 8.4 seconds clear of Shane Van Gisbergen, followed by Anton de Pasquale.
This was Will Davison’s 21st career victory in Supercars. Congratulations and happy 21st!
Results for Race 24:
1st Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.
3rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing.
In race 25 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position and alongside him was Cameron Waters.
Will Davison started 11th on the grid due to an electrical problem during qualifying. There was no fire but a lot of smoke that filled the cabin of the Shell V-Power Racing Ford Mustang. Will Davison had to pull into the pits and get out of the car. Amazingly they got back out on the track before the end of qualifying and even with this interruption they managed to get a place just outside the top 10.
Chaz Mostert had problems of his own. Engine issues had Walkinshaw Andretti United stumped. Just prior the race they decided to do an engine change! To my amazement they managed this in 8 minutes. Can you imagine dropping your car off at the mechanic and having an engine change in under 10 minutes! I don’t think so.
As they took off from the start line Shane Van Gisbergen got the jump and Chaz Mostert stuck right behind him. Broc Feeney who started in 4th had a good run but was blocked in and had nowhere to go.
As Shane Van Gisbergen led into turn 1 for the first of 36 laps, Cameron Waters was 1 back and 1 wide to Chaz Mostert.
Jack le Brocq went off the track between turns 2 and 3. As he was re-joining he made contact with another car. Unfortunately, it was his own teammate, Todd Hazelwood. The impact broke the left side steering arm of car 34 driven by Jack le Brocq. Todd Hazelwood in car 35 also had damage. He dropped back to 25th place and car 34 dropped 10 places to 24th. They bath limped around the track to make it back to the pits so were the first car in.
Within the first half lap Will Davison had gained 3 spots up to 8th place.
On lap 2 the front runners were still tightly packed. Chaz Mostert was only 0.250 seconds behind Shane Van Gisbergen. It was then only 0.416 back to Broc Feeney in 3rd place.
At turn 7 James Courtney went straight ahead over the top of the curb leaving the track. He recovered quickly enough to block an effort from Tim Slade trying to get up the inside of him so managed to hold onto his position in 14th.
Chaz Mostert’s attack on Shane Van Gisbergen was blocked and the leader was even able to edge further ahead a little to 0.499 seconds.
Broc Feeney was right behind Chaz Mostert putting in an effort to take his place in 2nd.
On lap 5 Cameron Waters and Will Davison made contact. After starting on the front row in 2nd position Cameron Waters had dropped 5 places from 2nd down to 7th position.
As the pack was approaching the end of the back straight, Andre Heimgartner made contact with Scott Pye. As a result Andre Heimgartner went straight ahead at turn 7 leaving Scott Pye and Cameron Waters in a messy battle still on track.
On lap 6 Lee Holdsworth was back in the pack. He was getting held up so pitted to try and get some clear track. No one else followed him into the pits.
The leaders were still bunched closely and Shane Van Gisbergen managed to only just get ahead of Chaz Mostert by 1.1 seconds. Chaz Mostert was tailed by Broc Feeney by a mere 0.563 seconds.
James Golding was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 7. He dropped all the way down to 21st position on his return to the track.
Thomas Randle also pitted on the same lap.
By lap 8 Shane Van Gisbergen could only manage to extend his lead to 1.7 seconds over Chaz Mostert.
Further back in the pack, Mark Winterbottom was putting pressure on Andre Heimgartner for 9th position.
They both pitted on the next lap and re-joined the race in 17th and 18th position.
At this point there were 16 cars yet to pit.
On lap 10 David Reynolds made contact with Cameron Waters on the exit of turn 1 and again on the exit of turns 2 and 3. Cameron Waters then copped another whack, this time from Brodie Kostecki in car 99.
By lap 11 Shane Van Gisbergen had increase his lead to 2.255 seconds over Chaz Mostert. Chaz Mostert had also finally shaken Broc Feeney off his tail and had a gap of 4.223 seconds.
On lap 13 Will Davison pitted but on leaving the crewman still had the rattle gun on the wheel. It didn’t cause any accident but the team was issued a pit lane infringement.
Getting close to the halfway mark of the race on lap 14, two of the front runners came into pit; Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney. They were fast stops and they came back out in 9th and 10th position.
Jack Smith in car 4 got a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding the track limits.
On lap 21 Shane Van Gisbergen pitted with a + 14.8 second lead over Cameron Waters who had assumed 2nd place.
Towards the end of the race there were only 3 cars to pit, Tim Slade, Nick Percat and Bryce Fullwood. Once they pitted Shane Van Gisbergen assumed the lead of the race once again.
From that point on Shane Van Gisbergen was in control. He had 3.8 second lead over Chaz Mostert and it was another 7.7 seconds back to David Reynolds.
As the race got close to the finish, Shane Van Gisbergen kept edging away. He just could not be caught. It was faultless driving and he crossed the line 7.5 seconds clear of the rest of the field. Chaz Mostert in 2nd place was followed 4+ seconds by Will Brown.
This was Shane Van Gisbergen’s 15th win out of 25 races this season. That is 60% of the time he has been on the top step of the podium. That is the stuff legends are made of!
Results for Race 25:
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.
3rd Will Brown – Boost Mobile Racing.
In Race 26 Will Davison started on pole position with the defending Supercars Champion Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.
As they took off at the start Will Davison got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 36 laps.
Shane Van Gisbergen was trying to go around the outside of Will Davison but couldn’t make the ground and had to tuck back in behind.
The gap that the leaders had on the on rest of the field was huge.
At turn 3 four cars made contact and spun around to face the wrong way. The drivers involved were Jake Kostecki, Chris Pither, Macauley Jones and Todd Hazelwood. The drivers all got the cars moving again so there was no need for a lap 1 safety car to be deployed. The incident went into investigation but Motorsport Australia took no further action.
On lap 2 Shane Van Gisbergen was on the charge looking for the lead of the race which he got at the second last corner.
Will Davison’s teammate Anton de Pasquale made contact with him and as a result Pasquale’s two front wheels were in the air. He had to come straight into the pits to have the damage on car 11 looked at. While in the pits he had dropped all the way down to 23rd position.
Will Davison also had damage on the front left corner of car 17. The guard was rubbing on the tyre, but he didn’t want to lose 2nd place so didn’t pit. The gap between Shane Van Gisbergen in 1st and Will Davison in 2nd was only 0.141 seconds.
Due to damage caused by the incident on lap 1, Todd Hazelwood had to also pit at the same time as Anton de Pasquale.
During lap 3 Shane Van Gisbergen made a mistake coming out of turn 4. Will Davison tried to take advantage and regain the lead but Gisbergen recovered quickly and fended off the attack.
Behind the two leaders, Broc Feeney was putting pressure on Cameron Waters for 4th position. Chaz Mostert was unaffected in 3rd place.
On lap 6 Will Davison was proving a headache to Shane Van Gisbergen and had done the fastest lap of the race so far 109.365.
Chris Pither who was involved in the 4-car accident on lap 1 finally had to pit for rear tyres and bonnet repair on car 22.
Jack le Brocq and Andre Heimgartner also pitted on this lap.
In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen pitted. On the re-join to the race he only dropped to 8th position.
Shane Van Gisbergen had Chaz Mostert right behind him in 9th but in effect they were battling for 1st and 2nd with the 7 cars ahead still yet to pit. Broc Feeney was behind them in 3rd but was 38 seconds further back.
On lap 20 Cameron Waters and Will Brown pitted from 4th and 5th.
Andre Heimgartner left the track at turn 7. He was issued a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.
On lap 23 Will Davison who was in the lead had to pit. Now Lee Holdsworth was the only one left to do so. Once that happened Shane Van Gisbergen assumed the lead of the race.
When Will Davison re-joined the race it wasn’t long before he returned to 2nd place just 2.2 seconds from Shane Van Gisbergen.
Within the last 10 laps Chaz Mostert was under pressure from his ex-teammate Cameron Waters. Right behind them was Broc Feeney trying to look for a gap to make his move.
Mark Winterbottom was further back and he got a bad sportsman flag for exceeding track limits.
Tim Slade had gained 5 spots and was now up to 7th position.
For 2 laps in a row Chaz Mostert was under attack from Cameron Waters trying to earn 3rd place. Chaz Mostert was able to hold him off.
Will Davison was desperate to catch Shane Van Gisbergen and did the fastest lap of the race 108.613 seconds.
Heading down into turn 9 on Dandenong Road, Cameron Waters locked up the front right brakes and went off the track. He came back on in 10th position. It gave Broc Feeney the opportunity he was looking for and he moved up to 4th place.
Shane Van Gisbergen had a 1.3 second lead over Will Davison. It was another 6.6 seconds back to Chaz Mostert then only another 0.605 seconds back to Broc Feeney.
On lap 33 Broc Feeney finally passed Chaz Mostert for 3rd position.
Shane Van Gisbergen held his lead but only just. He crossed the line a mere 0.4611 seconds ahead of Will Davison.
Broc Feeney crossed the line 11.3437 seconds later in 3rd place.
This was Shane Van Gisbergen’s 2nd win for the weekend, earning him a commanding 500 points lead over Cameron Waters in the Driver’s championship for the season. It was also his 70th career win in Supercars. This is the stuff legends are made of. Congratulations Shane!
Results for Race 26
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.
2nd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team.
3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing.
The next event is the ITM Auckland Supersprint September 9th to the 11th.
On Friday the 29th to the 31th of October, 2021 was the Bunnings Trade Sydney Supernight.
This was the first of four back to back events scheduled for the Sydney Motorsport Park (Eastern Creek Raceway). This was made possible due to the removal of many COVID-19 restricts being lifted in NSW.
However, commentator Mark Larkham (one of my favourites) was not at the track because of boarder restrictions in Queensland. So he was stranded with the banana benders for this event.
Mark Winterbottom hit a milestone. This was his 550th Supercars race.
Heading into the event the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team were at the top of the Teams Ladder. The team’s 2 drivers also are at the top of the Championship; Shane Van Gisbergen with a solid lead at the top of the ladder followed by teammate, Jamie Whincup in second place.
In the pre-race sessions Anton de Pasquale dominated with amazing results:
Fastest in Practice 1
Fastest in Practice 2
Fastest in the Armour All Qualifying
and the Armour All Top Ten Shootout
He also started in Pole Position for all 3 races at this event.
In race 20 Anton de Pasquale started on pole position. Alongside him was Will Brown.
As the race got underway Will Brown was giving the pole sitter something to think about. He duelled with Anton de Pasquale into turn 1 and then again at turn 2. However, Anton de Pasquale held place and Will Brown had to tuck back in behind him.
At the back of the pack Jack Smith in position 19 stalled car 4 off the start line and immediately dropped back to 24th, last place.
Jamie Whincup also had a poor start and dropped to 9th off after starting 8th.
On the exit of turn 3 Will Davison was on the outside, ran wide and did some lawn mowing on the grass dropping a few places on the first lap.
Shane Van Gisbergen made up 3 spots on the first lap to run 3rd.
Shortly after Anton de Pasquale slid out and lost some time allowing Will Brown to catch up, sitting right on his tail.
Chaz Mostert was battling with Will Davison for positions 6 and 7.
David Reynolds came in early because he was getting held up.
Fabian Coulthard and Andre Heimgartner both started the race in the middle of the pack and also chose to pit early to get some clear track.
The leaders decided to stay out to keep track position.
On lap 16 Anton de Pasquale in position 1 and Will Brown came in at the same time. Will Brown’s luck changed and his stop was delayed because the right rear wheel nut came lose. He lost so much time he rejoined the race in 21st place.
In the middle of the race James Courtney in car 44 got a bad sportsmanship flag for track limits at turn 5.
Meanwhile Jamie Whincup was trying to get further up the order but just couldn’t find the space.
In the closing laps Shane Van Gisbergen in second place was giving Anton de Pasquale a very hard time. I would imagine that it would have been quite daunting for Anton de Pasquale to have the series leader right in your face, but credit to him he held his nerve and managed to cross the line first. It was a spectacular finish.
Results for Race 20:
1st Anton de Pasquale – Dick Johnson Racing.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.
3rd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsort.
In race 21 yet again Anton de Pasquale started on pole position. This time alongside him was teammate Will Davison.
Anton de Pasquale stalled on the start line and dropped back through the field at a rate of knots.
Will Davison took the lead into turn 1 and the cars further back in the pack settled into their race rhythm.
Anton de Pasquale was caught back in 7th place. I was surprised at his poor start considering how he had dominated the weekend so far.
Up until the first pit stop I thought Will Davison was going win his first race since Bathurst 2016, but that didn’t happen.
He had Shane Van Gisbergen on his tail and they came in to the pits at the same time. Shane Van Gisbergen did a 3 tyre change and Will Davison did 4 tyres. Will Davison’s dash was blank and they had to recycle through the electricals so he was stationary a lot longer than he would have liked.
As a result, Shane Van Gisbergen re-joined the race in the lead.
From that point on Will Davison and Anton de Pasquale were on the attack and putting pressure on the leader.
Shane Van Gisbergen is no rookie and didn’t crack under the pressure. He simply just increased his lead and crossed the finish line 2+ seconds over his rivals. This was his 12th win for 2021.
Anton de Pasquale had bad luck in this race. Although he finished 3rd it was soon revealed in his pit stop the team put the wrong tyres on. They belonged to his teammate , Will Davison so Poor Pasquale was disqualified after the race finish.
Results for Race 21:
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing team.
2nd Will Davison – Dick Johnson Racing.
3rd Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing.
For the third time in three races on the weekend, Anton de Pasquale started on pole position. Alongside him was rookie, Will Brown.
As Race 22 got underway Anton de Pasquale led into turn 1 with Will Brown close behind. The cars further back in the pack soon settled into their race pace.
Shortly after Shane Van Gisbergen jumped the goat, Jamie Whincup.
Andre Heimgartner was back in the pack getting held up so he choose to get out of the traffic and pit early.
Before the pit stops started I thought at one stage Will Brown was going to take the lead. But Anton de Pasquale was having a great weekend and not about to let the rookie take his number one spot.
Shane Van Gisbergen kept his lead over teammate Jamie Whincup and it was only mid race when he made a mistake that Whincup could reclaim his 3rd place.
Nearing the end of the race Will Brown once again challenging for the lead but that didn’t happen and Anton de Pasqale won.
It was an incredible performance by Anton de Pasquale. He started on pole position for all 3 races and won 2 out of 3. That is not bad going. Congrats Anton!
Results for Race 22
1st Anton de Pasquale – Dick Johnson Racing.
2nd Will Brown – Erebus Motorsport.
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing.
It was great fun to watch and I’m already looking forward to next weekend: Same place, Same time for the Armor All Sydney Supernight.
On the weekend of June 18 to 20, 2021 was the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway.
It was an exciting weekend that I had been looking forward to. Not just because Hidden Valley is a fast track but also the last event at Winton was cancelled due to COVID lockdowns. So it’s been a while since the last race.
Neil Crompton was not in Darwin last weekend because he was recovering from prostate cancer surgery. Crompo, we are all praying for you and wish you a speedy recovery.
In other news, Chaz Mostert has signed a new multi year deal with Walkinshaw Andretti United until the end of 2023. This puts an end to the speculations that he may be replacing Jamie Whincup in 2022 at the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team alongside Shane Van Gisbergen.
Also last weekend it was confirmed that Thomas Randle will make his full-time debut in 2022 with Tickford Racing under a 4th Rec – Racing Entitlements Contract.
The weekend’s event was underway as scheduled. In the pre-race sessions it was a mix of results:
Nick Percat was fastest in Practice 1
Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 2
Anton de Pasquale was fastest in Qualifying for race 12.
In race 12 Anton De Pasquale started on pole position with Mark Winterbottom alongside him.
As the race got underway things immediately went wrong and by turn 1 there was a 6 car pileup.
Mark Winterbottom lost power and went wide to avoid being a hinderance. Shane Van Gisbergen managed to sweep down the inside of Anton de Pasquale to take the lead. Anton de Pasquale turned in tight clipping Shane Van Gisbergen’s back wheel. It slowed Pasquale, changing his driving line and Scott Pye ended up in his behind spinning him round. As this brought them to a halt in the middle of the turn, others came to join the ‘pile up party’; Including Todd Hazelwod, Jack Smith, Fabian Couthard, Garry Jacobson. It was utter mayhem and the safety car had to be deployed to clean up the mess. Garry Jackobson was the only one able to continue the race. The others were out with NC (Not Complete).
When the race went back to green Shane Van Gisbergen was leading the race.
Jamie Whincup came in early to find some clear air and not get caught up in traffic. The leaders stayed out until lap 5.
Will Davison was the remaining Dick Johnson Racing car after the retirement of car 11 driven by Anton de Pasquale. De Pasquale’s car looked such a mess I was thinking that they wouldn’t be able to repair car overnight, but somehow they did.
In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen’s was on target for another race win in 2021 but it was a day of mishaps. When he came in for the pit stop the team couldn’t get the wheel nut undone, so instead of the stop being a 3 or 4 seconds it ended up being a 30 seconds. They delay cost him the race lead and win. After looking so strong he finished in 13th position.
The race lead was now in the hands of Cheeky Chaz Mostert. His experience and great driving made it impossible for anyone else to catch him before he crossed the finish line first.
Results for Race 12
1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
3rd Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing
In race 13 Will Davison started on pole position. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen. The last time Will Davison started on pole position was 2014 at Homebush Sydney Olympic park.
David Reynolds qualified 21st for race 13 which he wasn’t happy with because he wanted to be further up but it didn’t work out.
At the start of the race Shane Van Gisbergen got the jump and led into turn 1. The cars further back in the pack came in early to get track position.
Nick Percat who qualified to start in 10 position wanted to repeat his podium finish achieved on Saturday. His driving throughout the race was more aggressive than usual but his experience means he knows what he is doing and poses less risk than most. Unfortunately for him it was a tough race and only managed to gain one place by the finish.
The Red Bull cars which qualified well, Shane Van Gisbergen started 2nd and Jamie Whincup started 6th on the grid, stayed out longer because they had track position. It paid off for both of them.
In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was back at the front. Soon after his teammate, Jamie Whincup had moved up from 6th to 3rd. Will Davison was holding onto 2nd position and was proving a tough nut to crack for Jamie Whincup to make the result 1st and 2nd for Triple 888 Racing..
The three drivers kept their position and proved impossible for anyone else to catch them. They also finished the race in that order; Shane Van Gisbergen, Will Davison and Jamie Whincup.
Results for Race 13
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team
2nd Will Davison – Dick Johnson Racing
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team
4th Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
In race 14, the third and final race for the weekend it was again Will Davison whi started on pole position. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.
Shane van Gisbergen went around the outside at turn 1 and in the process kept the lead which I wasn’t surprised with at all.
The cars further back in the pack came in to get track position and stay out of the hot air from the cars in front of them.
As the pit stops started taking place the leaders stayed to keep their positions.
Jamie Whincup was happy about having a good performance in Darwin with a 2nd and 3rd finish in the previous races..
In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was the leader of and looking like winning the race comfortably.
The series season leader Shane Van Gisbergen showed why he was the series champ to date and drove faultlessly to the finish line with more than a two second lead over Will Davison and Jamie Whincup in thrid. Shane Van Gisbergen now leads the championship by 221 points.
Results for Race 14
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team
On the weekend of the 17th and 18th of April, 2021 was the Beaurepaires Tasmania Supersprint.
Marcos Ambrose a Tasmanian native was apart of the broadcast team for Fox Sports.
Neil Crompton who normally chairs the commentary box was sitting in on the hosting panel to fill in for Jess Yates. She and husband, Luke Egan have welcomed another baby into the world. His name is Samuel Lewis Egan and will be little brother to Isabella (7). Congratulations Jess and Luke.
In the lead up to this event all eyes were on Shane Van Gisbergen who has been driving like a bat out of hell since his win in the final event (Bathurst) for last season.
Shane Van Gisbergen took out the trophy for both races at the opening event for this season, The Bathurst 500. He then followed up with a triple win for races 3, 4 and 5 at the Sandown Supersprint.
So everyone was keen to see what he could do at this event. That however may be wishful thinking because this year there is some stiff competition and some very fast cars.
The results for the pre-race sessions were as follows:
Cameron Waters was fastest in practice 1 and 2
Shane Van Gibergen was fastest in Armour All Qualifying for race 6
In race 6 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.
At the start of the race Cameron Waters got the jump on Shane Van Gisbergen and led into turn 1 for the first of 44 laps.
Jamie Whincup got up to 2nd on lap 1 but then Shane Van Gisbergen overtook his teammate.
Then after a few laps Shane Van Gisbergen had the lead which was very impressive.
The drivers who were up front stayed out because they had track position and clear air.
Jamie Whincup came in early because he was looking for track position and clear air. It also ensured Shane Van Gisbergen in the lead wouldn’t risk a double stack.
Chaz Mostert was again showing some great driving and up in 5th place.
There were 2 mandatory pit stops so strategy was going to be a big part of getting or maintaining track position.
By the middle of the race Anton de Pasquale was in 3rd position but he didn’t seem to have much hope of catching Shane Van Gisbergen in 1st and Jamie Whincup 2nd.
Shane Van Gisbergen held his lead with confidence to gain his 6th win out of 6 races for the season. Specatacular!
Results for Race 6
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team. 2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team. 3rd Anton de Pasquale – Dick Johnson Racing.
In race 7 Cameron Waters started on pole position, alongside him was Jamie Whincup.
Cameron Waters led into turn 1 for the first of 44 laps.
When they got to the hairpin turn Jack Le Broq made contact with Anton de Pasquale and was spun round ending up at the back of the pack. Andre Heimgartner and Fabian Coulthard were also caught in the mayhem as the pack round the turn.
Jamie Whincup tried to get by Cameron Waters early on but couldn’t so he had to pit early to get clear air which paid off.
James Courtney had a massive slide on a left bend and ended up shooting across the traffic to the right hand side. He was lucky not to collect the cars following him. He managed to save it all by getting back on track and continue driving.
Chaz Mostert was trying to move up through the field to get near the race leaders but that didn’t happen.
In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup was the race lace leader and looking good for his first win of his final season.
Regardless of Shane Van Gisbergen’s efforts, Jamie held the lead to the finish line with his teammate in tow. I wander if it was any consolation to Shane Van Gisbergen that it was his teammate that broke his winning streak.
Results for Race 7
1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.
3rd Will Davison – Dick Johnson Racing.
In race 8 Cameron Waters started on pole position and alongside was Chaz Mostert.
Zane Goddard qualified on the 2nd row of the grid. Not bad for a rookie when you consider the stiff competition out there.
As the final race for the weekend got underway Chaz Mosert got the jump off the line and pretty much led the entire race accept for pit stops. Early on there cars behind him were chasing him down but Chaz Mostert didn’t want to give up the race lead.
Jack Le Broq came in early to get track position and clear air.
After the mayhem on lap 1 of in the previous race Will Davison cleverly chose to pull back from the battle he was having with Anton de Pasquale.
Jamie Whincup pitted first then Shane Van Gisbergen pitted the lap after.
Chaz Mostert stayed out longer because he was leading the race.
Bryce Fullwood was moving up the order while his teammate Chaz Mostert was up front.
By the middle of the race Shane Van Gibergen seemed relegated to being back in the pack. He and teammate, Jamie Whincup couldnt find the room to move up through the field. As it turned out they each gained only one position by the end of the race.
On the other hand Chaz Mostert seemed to be increasing his lead crossing the finish line more than 10 seconds ahead of Anton de Pasquale in 2nd place. It was an incredible finish.
Results for race 8
1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
2nd Anton de Pasquale – Dick Johnson Racing
3rd Wil Davison – Dick Johnson Racing.
The next event is the OTR Supersprint at the Bend on the 8th and 9th of May 2021.
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 sofast.
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
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.
