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Supercars

Penrite Oil Sandown Supersprint 2022

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

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.

Supercars

Bunnings trade sydney supernight 2021

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

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.

Supercars

Merlin Triple Crown 2021

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

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

2nd Will Davison – Dick Johnson Racing

3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing Team

Social media reacts to Mostert WAU contract extension – Supercars

Randle confirmed for 2022 full-time Supercars seat – Speedcafe

The next event is the NTI Townsville 500 on the 9th to the 11th of July 2021.

Supercars

Beaurepairs Tasmania Supersprint 2021

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

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.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

OTR Supersprint The Bend 2020 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of September 26th and 27th 2020 was the OTR Supersprint at Tailem Bend. It was the second of a double header. The previous race being run there the week before.

This event ran three races, each intended to be 32 laps.

It was a critical event for the season. For the two main contenders, Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup it would be the deciding factor for the Driver’s Championship. They were close enough in points for Jamie Whincup to catch the current championship leader and take the year’s trophy.

In Race 28 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position, alongside him was Cameron Waters.

Race 28 was meant to be 32 laps but it was 31 due to the drivers having to do an extra formation lap. It was an unusual occurrence.

Scott McLaughlin performed a perfect start and got the jump over Cameron Waters into turn 1.

Once Scott McLaughlin took the lead it was hard for anybody else to catch him. He was fast, precise and faultless.

The drivers back  in the pack came in early  because they were getting held up in traffic.

Rick Kelly got turned around by Todd Hazelwood at turn 1 which put him to the back of the pack.

Scott Pye was up near the front so he stayed out longer.

Fabian Coulthard wanted to finish behind his teammate. He had a poor starting position of 15th but was taking as many places as possible.

In the middle of race Scott McLaughlin was driving confidently and holding his lead. Towards the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was on the chase and was giving Scott McLaughlin a hard time. However, Shane Van Gisbergen just couldn’t find the opportunity to take the lead and he simply ran out of time. Without fault Scott McLaughlin crossed the line first. Shane Van Gisbergen was only .6473 seconds behind. Cam Waters came in over 5 seconds later in third place.

Results for Race 28

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V-Power Racing Team

2nd Shane Van Gisergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

In Race 29 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position again. Alongside him was teammate, Fabian Coulthard.

Fabian Coulthard got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first couple of laps before letting his teammate past and allowing him to control the race.

The Red Bull Holden Racing Team had a critical mishap during Jamie Whincup’s pit stop. It appeared that he hit the right hand wheel man’s rattle gun with the impact causing the car to drag the air line. The team was penalised 30 points and $1500 fine. However, Jamie Whincup was not fined or penalised himself.

The drivers knew that it was the 2nd last event of 2020 and everyone was out to crush the  leader.

In the middle of the race after such a great start, Fabian Coulthard had a DNF due to gear box dramas.

Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin held the lead and won his second race in the event. Now there was just one more chance for Jamie Whincup to keep in the running for the championship. Things were getting really tense.

Results for Race 29

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V-Power Racing Team
2nd Anton de Pasquale – Penrite Racing

3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

In Race 30 Scott McLaughlin earned himself his third pole position out of the three races at this event. The bastard looked unstoppable. Alongside him was Cameron Waters.

At the start of the race Cameron Waters amazingly got the jump on Scott McLaughlin and led into turn 1. Its not amazing that Cameron Waters got a great start because he is a great driver but when you are up against Scott McLaughlin, it’s pretty damned hard to take the lead from the start line.

The cars further back in the pack were trying to stay out of trouble. Nobody was interested in last minute contact and risk crucial points in the championship.

Fabian Coulthard who started in P5 was desperate to make up some places and finish 3rd on the posium. As it turned out everyone else wanted the same thing and the competition became fierce. As it turned out Fabian Coulthard dropped 3 places and finished 8th.

In the fierce competition James Courtney wildly lost control and left the track. It cost him dearly. He started in 4th position and finished 10th.

Cameron Waters was the race leader. Scott McLaughlin was on his tail and I am sure wanted make this 3 out of 3 wins for the weekend, but he just couldn’t find the opportunity. Cameron Waters was driving flawlessly. Scott McLaughlin knew even in 2nd place he would be the season’s ‘Champion elect’. He may have simply thought it may not be worth taking any risk with Jamie Whincup right behind him. He just needed to hold him off and get to the finish line safely.

Regardless of anything Cameron Water’s win was spectacular.

Results for Race 30

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V-Power Racing Team

3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

The next event is the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. In 3 weeks time.

The Bathurst channel launches Monday October 12. On Foxsports506 at 12am.

 

 

 

Supercars

Repco Supersprint The Bend 2020 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of September 19th and 20th, 2020 was the Repco Supersprint The Bend.

Before I get into the event details, the hot news at the time of completing this article is Channel 7 made their formal announcement about their multi-year agreement to broadcast Supercars events (alongside fox sport) starting 2021.

This article on SpeedCafe.com has all the details.

Here is the video of the formal announcement on Channel 7. I really like the promo clip with lots of old footage that starts at 3m35s in.

So now, on with the race….

The results for the pre-race sessions were as follows:

  • Practice – Rookie Drivers Only – Macauley Jones (Team CoolDrive)
  • Practice 1 – Shane Van Gisbergen (Red Bull Holden Racing Team)
  • Practice 2 – Fabian Coulthard (Shell V-Power Racing Team)
  • Armor All Qualifying & Top 15 Shootout – Chaz Mostert (Mobil 1 TM Appliances Online)

In Race 25 Chaz Mostert claimed his first pole position under his new team, Walkinshaw Andretti United. Alongside him on the grid was Scott McLaughlin.

Scott McLaughlin got the jump over Chaz Mostert while Jamie Whincup moved up to 2nd at turn 1. Chaz Mostert had a bad start and dropped from 1st to 4th.

Jamie Whincup wanted to get down the inside of Scott McLaughlin at turn 18 but things didn’t go to plan and both championship contenders left the track. Jamie Whincup copped a 15 second time penalty after his pit stop which put him way down in position order.

The weather was hot and as the cars came in to pit a lot had heat blisters and flat spots on their tyres. No good at all. Driving strategies needed to be implemented to avoid tyres disintegrating out on the track.

In the middle of the race as Scott McLaughlin was coming back up through the field before making contact with Car 5 of Lee Holdsworth. The incident earned Scott McLaughlin a 15 second time penalty which was applied to his time at the end of the race. So even though he physically crossed the finish 3rd he ended up receiving 14th place. Now the two main contenders (McLauglin and Whincup) battling for the championship title were way back in the field.

Shane Van Gisbergen had the lead well in hand by the middle of the race.

However, his early pit stop in the race meant towards the end he was on some pretty well worn tyres. He couldn’t get the grip or speed needed and dropped from 1st to 9th.

Towards the end of the race drivers were changing positions like hot tyres. With the heavy weight drivers pushed back in the results order due to penalties it was Fabian Coulthard (up 4 spots), Jack le Brocq (up 5 spots) and Bryce Fullwood (up 10 spots) who took the podium. It was most unexpected.

Results for Race 25

1st Fabian Coulthard – Shell V-Power Racing Team
2nd Jack Le Brocq – Tickford Racing
3rd Bryce Fullwood – Walkinshaw Andretti United

In Race 26 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position, alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

Scott McLaughlin got the jump but then Shane Van Gisbergen took the race lead.

Once Scott McLaughlin lost the lead he knew not to make contact with car 97.

During the opening laps Shane Van Gisbergen held his race lead while the cars further back in the pack were trying to move up the field. The only time Shane Van Gisbergen lost the lead was when he took the compulsory pit stop.

When Jamie Whincup took to the pits the car didn’t go up on the jacks due to problems with the air spike. This killed his pit stop time and his ability to close in on the Championship title.

When Shane Van Gisbergen rejoined the track after his stop, he made contact with the back of Scott McLaughlin’s car. It created a very tense moment because there appeared to be a lot of damage to Scott McLaughlin’s car. Thanksfully (for Red Bull fans) Shane Van Gisbergen wasn’t penalised.

The drivers back in the pack were 3 wide and that opened the door for Chaz Mostert who got down the inside of Andre Heimgartner.

Shane Van Gisbergen held fast to his lead and was not going to make any mistakes for the other drivers to take advantage of. He crossed the finish line with Andre Heimgartner and Scott McLaughlin hot on his tail.

Results for Race 26

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Andre Heimgartner – Kelly Racing
3rd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V-Power Racing Team

In race 27 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position for the second time this weekend. Alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

At the start of the race Fabian Coulthard took Chaz Moster’s place in 2nd. Shell V-Power Racing were running 1st and 2nd.

Meanwhile there was a major incident further back in the pack. Shane Van Gisbergen turned Andre Heimgartner and caused a dominos effect with a bunch of other cars. What a mess! There were multiple cars damaged. James Courtney was lucky not to roll car 44. Mark Winterbottom was out of the race due to too much damage.

Shane Van Gisbergen copped a 15 second time penalty for hiss mistake.

In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin and teammate, Fabian Coulthard were running 1st and 2nd.

They held their positions all the way to the finish line with Jamie Whincup trying his best to keep up in 3rd position.

Results for Race 27

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V-Power Racing Team
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V-Power Racing Team
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

Things are really hotting up in the championship. Th gap between Shell V-Power Racing and Red Bull Holden Racing Teams is reduced to a mere 104 points. However, Scott McLaughlin has slightly increased his points to 215 over Jamie Whincup.

Next up is the the second of the double header at ‘The Bend’ , The OTR Supersprint. It will also be the 2nd last event of 2020. The final event will be The Bathurst 1000.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supercars

Robson Civil Townsville supersprint 2020 Supercars

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world !

On the weekend of the 5th and 6th September 2020 was the Robson Civil Projects Townsville Supersprint.

The event ran 3 races of 39 laps / 110kms each.

As the event started the Shell V-Power Racing Team were leading the Team Championship thanks to Scott McLaughlin, who was also leading the Driver’s Championship.

In race 22 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.

Scott McLaughlin got the jump on Shane Van Gisbergen and led into turn 1 while the cars further back in the pack settled into their race pace.

Mark Winterbottom was battling with Scott Pye for positions 9th and 10th.

The other battle was between Rick Kelly and Andre Heimgartner for pit priority.

When Scott McLaughlin made his pit stop he did a 3 tyre change which seems to be the trend.

Meanwhile Chaz Mostert stayed out on track longer as he was now the race leader. Being at the front gave him the opportunity to make use of clear track ahead and gain ‘time’.

On lap 16 David Reynolds had steering problems and had to take an unscheduled pit stop. Unfortunately the issue couldn’t be resolved so car 9 was now out of the race receiving an NC (Not Complete).

Not long after (lap 22) Shane Van Gisbergen was running 2nd before oil started coming out of his car. The Red Bull Holden Racing Team attempted a fix and changed his steering but when he rejoined the race he received a mechanical black flag, the oil was still coming out the back of his car. He was the second NC for the race.

Meanwhile Scott McLaughlin had regained the lead and was holding strong. Once again he proved too good to chatch, finishing just under 3.5 seconds ahead of Cameron Waters, followed by Chaz Mostert 7+seconds later.

Results for Race 22

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V-Power Racing Team
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

In Race 23 Nick Percat started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

During the opening stages Shane Van Gisbergen took the race lead from his grid start position of 4.

Cars further back in the pack were getting held up so they came in to pit early.

Fabian Coulthard who started way back in the pack at P16 was clearly frustrated so also pitted early to get clear track.

Jamie Whincup who started behind Shane Van Gisbergen wanted to catch up to his teammate to have a chance at another race win, but that wasn’t the case.

Lee Holdsworth caught up to his team mate, James Courtney but couldn’t pass him.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was still able to maintain his lead.

It was soon evident that he couldn’t be caught. He seemed to be just loving it and kept increasing his lead. By the time he crossed the finish line he had a 8.3951 second lead over Scott McLaughlin, then followed by Jamie Whincup.

This was a milestone for Triple Eight, their 200th win so it was great to have 2 places on the podium.

Results for Race 23

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V-Power Racing Team
3rd Jamie Whincup –  Red Bull Holden Racing Team

In race 24 Brad Jones Racing’s Todd Hazelwood started on pole position. Alongside him was Nick Percat.

Nick Percat got the jump at the start of the race, while the cars further back in the pack were trying to stay with the leaders.

Fabian Coulthard had another poor starting position (P14) didn’t like being this far far back and was on the charge.

David Reynolds fighting back after a DNF on Saturday.

Andre Heimgartner did his best to stay with Rick Kelly.

In the middle of the Red Bull Holden Racing Team in cars 88 and 97 were running 2nd and 3rd  to Scott MacLaughlin.

Scott McLaughlin held firm to his position. It seemed Jamie Whincup couldnt find the pace to take the leader. In the second last lap Jamie Whincup gave way to his teammate, Shane Van Gisbergen who had fresher tyres and could maybe find the pace. In a spectacular manoeuvre Shane Van Gisbergen cut into the inside of Scott McLaughlin on a corner. Scott was forced outwards and had to slow down to make the turn. Jamie Whincup was tight on Shane Van Gisbergen’s tail followed him right passed Scott McLaughlin. The championship leader had dropped 2 places in a split second. The two Red Bull cars dashed to the finish line to claim first and second place. It was spectacular!

Results for Race 24

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Jamie Whincup –  Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V-Power Racing

The next event is the Bend Supersprint on the 19th and 20th of September 2020.

Supercars

Corestaff Darwin Supersprint

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of August 22nd and 23rd, 2020 was the Corestff Darwin Supersprint.

Three races of 38 laps each were run.

In Race 16 Jamie Whincup started on pole position. Alongside was Scott McLaughlin.

When the race got underway Scott McLaughlin led into turn 1 with Jamie Whincup in hot persuit trying to regain his number one position.

Scott McLaughlin’s teammate, Fabian Coulthard was back in the pack having a poor grid starting position of 14th. To avoid any double stacking Fabian pitted early.

Meanwhile, there was an intense battle between Todd Hazelwood and Rick Kelly for 9th and 10th.

Shane Van Gisbergen who started 11th on the grid, seemed to be struggling to keep up with cars in front of him. It was later revealed he just couldn’t get the straight line speed expected. After the race the team couldn’t resolve the issue and decided to change the engine overnight.

Mark Winterbottom and Scott Pye had a great weekend for team 18.

By the middle of the race it was evident that Scott McLaughlin was unbeatable.

He held strong to his lead and crossed the finish line approximately 2.5 seconds ahead of rival, Jamie Whincup. Cameron Waters came in third more than 12 seconds later. Nick Percat had a good run finishing 5th having started from 9th. The other big gain was from his teammate, Todd Hazelwood who started 23rd on the grid and finished 7 places up in 16th. A great result for Brad Jones Racing.

Results for Race 16

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

In race 17 Scott McLaghlin earned himself another pole position for the season. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

Once again Scott McLaughlin got the jump and led into turn 1.

The cars further back in the pack couldn’t come into the pit lane until at least lap 5.

Fabian Coulthard came in early to ensure he didn’t double stack with teammate and race leader, Scott McLaughlin.

Nick Percat also came in early because he was getting held up by traffic.

Shane Van Gisbergen and Scott Pye were battling fiercely for 2nd and 3rd position.

Lee Holdsworth who had started from 11th position was on the charge. It was evident things were going right for him and he wanted a shot at a podium position if not, then at least be in the top 10. Regardless of his efforts (and they were good) he wasn’t able to get it done and finished in 8th position.

Once again by the middle of the race it appeared that Scott McLaughlin had secured himself in the lead.

Scott McLaughlin scored his second win for the weekend and crossed the finish line 9.6874 seconds ahead of his rival Shane Van Gisbergen.

Shane Van Gisbergen managed to win the battle against Scott Pye by the thinnest margin – .2449 seconds. So the race actually finished in the order that they started on the grid.

Results for Race 17

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3rd Scott Pye – Team 18

In Race 18 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

Again Scott McLaughlin in car 17 led into turn 1. This was the third time out of three races for the weekend that car 17 took the lead off the start.

When I saw Scott McLaughlin lead off the line I knew he was going to win. He was having a great weekend.

Rick Kelly was trying to hold off Fabian Coulthard but it couldn’t be done.

Andre Heimgartner was further back in the pack then he wanted to be but didn’t seem to be able to make much headway.

By the time all the pit stops were complete Scott McLaughlin was once again the race leader.

He was just too fast and again kept increasing his leading gap. He crossed the finish line 13.8356 seconds ahead of closest rival, Nick Percat. Scott Pye followed in at 3rd just under a second later.

It was an increadible result for Scott McLaughlin earning 3 out of 3 wins.

Results for race 18

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing
3rd Scott Pye – Team 18