Tag Archives: Jamie Whincup

Repco Bathurst 1000 2025

October 26, 2025 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of October 9 -12 was the Repco Bathurst 1000!

The Bathurst 1000 is the biggest and most well known motor car race on the Australian calendar. It is arguably bigger than the Australian Grand Prix and comparable to the Melbourne Cup horse race as a cultural event that stops the nation!

This year marked the 65^th anniversary of The Bathurst 1000. And Boy, what a show it was! It will certainly go down in history as one of the best ever.

The pre-race sessions started 3 days beforehand. The preparations included 6 practice sessions, qualifying, top 10 shootout and a warmup session.

In a surprise to most punters, season leader Broc Feeney with co-driver Jamie Whincup didn’t get the pole position. The winner of last year’s Bathurst 1000 and the 2023 season champion Brodie Kostecki earned pole position for the 3^rd year running. His co-driver was Todd Hazelwood.

Alongside them on the front row for the start was Cameron Waters and co-driver Mark Winterbottom.

Todd Hazelwood took the lead off the startline. He was followed by Mark Winterbottom, Jayden Ojeda, Fabian Coulthard and Cooper Murray.

Meanwhile, the last car on the grid driven by Brad Vaughn had stalled! He had to be towed off the track. What a way to start a 1000km race!

Todd Hazelwood kept the lead in the initial laps. Behind him there was plenty of chopping and changing in the top 5 drivers. David Russel, Garth Tander and Craig Lowndes were all in the mix. Pretty soon, so was Jamie Whincup.

Jack le Brocq was the first car to pit on lap 12.

On lap 26 Broc Feeney took the wheel from Jamie Whincup and beat leader Todd Hazelwood to the pit exit. The drivers in front of them were soon out of the way as they took their pit stops. Feeney was the new leader.

Broc Feeney soon carved a 4+ second lead over the rest of the pack. Although it was still early in the race, he was looking strong and confident.

Around lap 27 the rain started to fall.

Although the rain was light, the wet track was obviously a challenge. Aaron Cameron made heavy contact with the wall at turn 2. The impact was so hard that the car lifted off the ground into the air! Somehow, he was able to push on.

It was also probably the rain that caused Mark Winterbottom to run wide at the top of the mountain and losing 2^nd place.

As they reached laps in the mid 30s, Car 25 of Chaz Mostert and co-driver Fabian Coulthard was not running on all 8 cylinders and sounding terrible. They pushed on.

Tim Slade’s car also suffered the same issue and chose to pit after lap 50. The Bendix Racing team felt they couldn’t reliably make the repairs and became the first car to exit the race early.

It was only 3 laps later that Tony Dalberto hit the wall on the exit of Forest Elbow and the safety car deployed once again. The Will Davison/Tony Dalberto car was soon declared the 2^nd victim of The Great Race.

Mostert was still having his engine problem. After lap 57 he came to a stop on Conrod Straight. Again, the safety car was deployed. Mostert must have known the car was beyond repair. By the time the team declared they wouldn’t be able to continue, Mostert was at the bar having a cold one!

While the race was under the Safety Car conditions for Mostert, leader Broc Feeney took his next pit stop. This handed the lead to Brodie Kostecki followed by Cameron Waters. Feeney returned on track in 6^th place.

The rain started getting heavier. Drivers were slip-sliding all over the place.

On lap 65 Nash Morris and Cameron McLeod made contact and in spectacular fashion went spinning around to end up facing the wrong way.

Brodie Kostecki had reported clutch issues earlier and then ran wide at The Chase. Cameron Waters snuck through and now had the lead.

Waters didn’t hold the spot for long. He joined Kostecki in the pits. The lead was taken up by Lee Holdsworth, followed by Jamie Whincup and Jayden Ojeda.

Cameron McLeod slid off track into a sand trap to bring out another safety car.

Next thing you know, Kai Allen travelling at 300kmph had a near miss with a kangaroo.

Kai Allen’s luck was used up. Soon after he was hit from behind and ended up in the wall at Forest Elbow. Another Safety Car was deployed.

Lee Holdsworth pitted from his leading position and left Jayden Ojeda in the number one spot. What a thrill for the young driver on his 2^nd running at Bathurst.

By the middle of the race David Russell co-driving for James Golding had taken the lead from Jayden Ojeda in 2^nd place. 13+ seconds further back was Scott Pye in 3^rd.

They young Jayden Ojeda was like an enthusiastic puppy. In a matter of laps he closed the gap and then took over David Russsell.

Jayden Ojeda surprised everyone. He sped ahead and quickly created his own 5+ seconds buffer in the pouring rain. He was in the 1^st spot but must have been in 7^th heaven.

Brodie Kostecki was still in the top 10 drivers when he hit the rear of Kai Allen. Kostecki was in the pits for repairs. The delay caused him to drop so far back it would be impossible to recover.

There was plenty more action on the track throughout the race.

With 37 laps remaining Broc Feeney hit the wall at Forest Elbow requiring the safety car to be deployed. The time needed for repairs left him out of race contention. It must have been devastating for Feeney who is at the top of the championship ladder with 12 wins this season.

On lap 127 James Courtney (with co-driver Jack Perkins) had scored so much damage they became the 4^th car to not complete the race.

Only two laps later Jaxson Evans with co-driver Jack Smith were the next casualties.

Ryan Wood (with co-driver Jayden Ojeda) still had the lead. With 24 laps remaining, Wood went off the track at The Chase. James Golding was right there to take the lead.

A couple of laps later Ryan Wood’s pace dramatically slowed. The car pitted. The repairs took time and the team knew there was no chance to regain their place. Regardless, they still chose to get back out there and to not quit. It is a shame they finished 19^th.

On lap 143 of 161, after 6+ hours of driving, Ritchie Stanaway and Nash Morris were the 6^th and final car to crash out of the race.

With 11 laps remaining, Golding had the lead. He was followed closely by Cooper Murray and Matt Payne. They were all within arms reach of each other.

The final 10 lap countdown was on, and the leading drivers were close together. The “win” for the biggest race of the year was up for grabs, and they all showed how much they wanted it.

With 9 laps left, the rain was still falling and track very wet.

Coming down The Dipper they push their cars to the max. Golding lost traction causing him to fishtail. He managed to hang on to the lead.

On Conrod Straight, Matt Payne was side by side in a challenge to Golding. At 300 kmph they approach the bends of The Chase. As they exit The Chase, Payne slides onto the trackside grass and fishtails. He regains control and stays on the attack. Any mistakes could cost dearly, and the pressure was on.

As they reach the last turn of the lap, Cooper Murray attempted a pass on the outside of Payne. Payne ran wide and Murray cut behind him to the inside and comes out of the corner leading. It was a fantastic manoeuvre.

Payne worked through lap 8 to close the gap on the cars ahead.

With 7 laps remaining, Murray made an attack on Golding. They were side by side for what seemed a long time in a fierce battle for the lead. Murray finally managed to pass taking the number 1 spot!

Reynolds was in 4^th place about 6 seconds behind, but desperately wants in on the action. He completed the circuit 1.5+ seconds faster than the three cars ahead and closed in on them.

With 5^] laps to go, the top 3 cars are still bumper to bumper. The cars were pushed to the max in the rain and the driving was faultless.

At turn 2, Golding attacked on the inside of Murray and made contact. Golding went wide and Murray slid sideways. In a magically fluid motion Matt Payne cut across them to the inside of the corner to take the lead! James Golding remained in 2^nd place. Cooper Murray dropped from 1^st to 3^rd.

Soon after, the officials issued James Golding a 5 second time penalty for causing the issue. Unable to serve the time penalty in the pits, the 5 seconds would be added to his final time at the end of the race. The 5 seconds penalty could result in losing the win and even being out of a podium finish.

Fog and mist from the low heavy cloud cover, blocked visibility across the top of Mount Panarama. The cars emerging from the mist and screaming down the mountain just looked incredible.

In the second last lap Matt Payne was aggressively driving to keep his lead. Golding is just as good and right on his tail.

The race had started nearly 7 hours ago and were just shy of 1000kms on one of the most challenging circuits anywhere. The leaders had been behind the wheel for more than 3 hours straight. In the car the temperature soars. How they could still be driving so competitively was a show of astounding stamina.

Hitting maximum speed down Conrod Straight, Golding cut to the inside of Matt Payne and they battled each other side by side through the turns. Payne comes out of the duel to keep his lead.

Golding was desperate and attacked again and again.

They reach the final lap. Amazingly, Golding attacked again and came out of turn 1 with the lead. The crowd goes absolutely mental!

Side by side they race through the bends up the mountain. Payne looks like he is about to come out ahead, but Golding is on the inside of the next bend and defends the lead.

David Reynolds is on Matt Paynes tail. He tries going around the outside of Payne on the next bend but gets cut off. It was close.

They screamed down the mountain single file towards Conrod Straight. The tension was incredible. Three cars in the last seconds of a gruelling battle. Who would crack under the pressure? Could Golding get far enough ahead to negate the 5 second time penalty at the end?

The air was filled with the roar of the crowd who had completely lost control in the excitement.

Top speeds, neck in neck, maximum focus! Noone cracked through The Chase and the final turn.

The 3 cars were so close together. The crowd was in a frenzy.

James Golding crossed the finish line 1st. Matt Payne 2^nd, David Reynolds 3^rd and Cooper Murray 4^th.

Once the 5 second time penalty was applied to Golding, the final results were announced.

Race 27 results:

1^st Matt Payne and Garth Tander – Grove / Penrite Racing
2^nd David Reynolds and Lee Holdsworth – Team 18 / TRADIE Energy
3^rd James Golding and David Russell – PremiAir Racing

The result gave Garth Tander his 6^th Bathurst win and elevates him to upper level ‘living legend’.

The Payne / Tander team also ended up winning the Enduro Cup.

Broc Feeney still leads the championship but only by 56 points over Matt Payne.

The next event is the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on October 24 – 26 2025.

Supercars

Air Touch 500 at the Bend 2025

September 26, 2025 admin 2 Comments

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of September 12 – 14 was the Air Touch 500 at The Bend.

It was round 9 of the 2025 Supercars championship and the first of the two Endurance races for the year. The second endurance race will be The Bathurst 1000.

It is the first time that The Bend hosted a Supercars endurance event and was a single race of 102 laps / 500km.

Supercars started racing at the venue in 2018 soon after development was completed. Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup dominated that year. It has been an annual venue for Supercars sprint events.

The Talem Bend circuit (aka The Bend) was opened in 2018. It was developed from an abandoned Mitsubishi test track and is probably the most significant development in Australian motorsport. It includes up to 7 different track configurations ranging between 1.101km and 7.77km in length and supports a multitude of motor sports including motor cars, karts and motorcycles. It even boasts a 100 room hotel over the pits.

The pre-race events were far more extensive than usual allowing for driver and co-driver practice sessions. They were great fun to watch and there was only one major incident occurring in Practice 4. It was a co-driver session and while performing a safety car procedure drill, Jamie Whincup co-driving for championship leader Broc Feeney hit Scott Pye co-driver for defending champ Will Brown. It was most embarrassing because both cars are in the Red Bull Ampol Racing team. The Brown/Pye car headed to the pits but was unable to complete the session.

The results for all the sessions were:

Aaron Cameron was fastest in Practice 1
Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 2
Will Brown was fastest in Practice 3
James Moffat was fastest in Practice 4
Ryan Wood was fastest in Practice 5
Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying
Broc Feeney was fastest in the Shootout
Ryan Wood and Jayden Ojeda were fastest in the Warmup

Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup started on pole position. Alongside them was Cameron Hill and Cameron McLeod. Out of the 26 cars there were 22 co-drivers behind the wheel at the start.

Jamie Whincup got the jump off the start and led the first of 102 laps. There was a lot of chopping and changing of positions in the early stages.

David Russell was the first of many to receive a penalty for driving infringements.

After making contact with Jack Smith on lap 1, Nash Morris was the first car to stop on lap 5 due to a flat tyre.

Jamie Whincup’s lead was less than 1 second and he wasn’t able to break away from the pack. By lap 15 he had Todd Hazelwood right on his tail and chose to let him pass to reduce risks so early in the race.

Mark Winterbottom was in 3^rd place approximately 2 seconds further back.

On lap 16 Dale Wood was the first car to pit from 18^th place. When he came back out he was in 26^th place.

Jamie Whincup pitted on lap 23 from 2^nd place for tyres and fuel. The team were having issues with the fuel rig and only managed to fill 18 litres of fuel. When Whincup rejoined he was down the order in position 20^.

Whincup’s pit stop left a gap between leader Todd Hazelwood and Mark Winterbottom. Winterbottom pitted shortly after and by the time Todd Hazelwood pitted on lap 28 he had an 8+ second lead over Cooper Murray.

By the middle of the race Chaz Mostert had a 4.2 second lead over Brodie Kostecki. Cameron Waters was in 3^rd place 1.3 seconds further back.

Towards the end of the race after Chaz Mostert took his final stop, Brodie Kostecki and Cameron Waters were left in first and second place with a reasonable gap back to Matt Payne in 3^rd.

As they battled each other in the final laps they were able to keep their distance from the rest of the pack.

It soon became obvious they were unreachable and the challenge for the win was down to the two leading drivers.

Brodie Kostecki showed exceptional form and was able to break away from the bumper to bumper attack from Waters and create a 1+ second gap. He was soon flying to the finish line at an incredible speed and continually increasing his lead.

In the end Brodie Kostecki crossed the finish line with a 3.018 second win over Cameron Waters. Matt Payne came in 3^rd place 7.6 seconds later.

What an incredible finish to the 500km race.

After starting in pole position and having the lead in the early stages Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup came in 19^th place. They seemed to really struggle to find their way back to the front after their fuel issue on the first pit stop.

Race 26 Results:

1^st Brodie Kostecki / Todd Hazelwood – Shell V-Power Racing
2^nd Cameron Waters / Mark Winterbottom – Monster Castrol Racing
3^rd Matt Payne / Garth Tander – Grove Racing

The next event will be the Repco Bathurst 1000 on 9 – 12 October 2025.

I hope you will join me for the biggest race of the season, The Bathurst 1000. The Bathurst channel begins on Monday October 6, 2025, on channel 506.

Until then; Live It, Breathe It, Dream It, Drive It !!

Bathurst 12 hour

Repco Bathurst 12 hour 2024

February 25, 2024 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 16 – 18 of February 2024 was the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour.

The Bathurst 12 Hour was first run in 1991 so this year marks a milestone as the 21^st running.

The Bathurst 12 Hour is not officially a part of the Supercars season. However, many of the Supercars drivers take part in the grand event. It is made of 4 classes; Pro AM, Silver, GT4 and the invitational class. Being a gruelling 12 hours on one of the most difficult tracks in the country, each car has three drivers that take turns behind the wheel.

Sheldon Van Der Linde claimed pole position and the Allan Simonsen Trophy for BMW team, WRT. Local Broc Feeney of the Triple 8 team qualified his 888 Mercedes to earn provisional pole position.

The race kicked off under safety car in the dark of Sunday at 5:45am. Bathurst is known for its erratic weather conditions but they started with a dry track and no major challenges. For the next 12 hours there was a spectacular display of driving from local and international teams alike.

2024 Bathurst 12 Hour Highlights

On the start, Sheldon Van Der Linde immediately made a break from the pack. Within a few laps he already created a gap of about 10 car lengths but there was still a long way to go.

There were no major incidents before the sun came up and all 25 cars were still on track.

At about the 75 minute mark, number 19 Racing Ginetta G55 GT4 caught fire in the pit lane. They were the first retirement of the race.

The first safety car was deployed after 2 hours 40 minutes of racing when the 701 Vortex spun off the track into the sand trap as it headed towards the S’s.

As the 12 hour countdown got to 8hrs 36 minutes car number 91 found the fence at turn 2 and came to a standstill on the blind corner.

A few minutes before they marked the 5^th hour of driving, Charles Weerts behind the wheel of the pole sitting car made contact at “The Cutting”. In spectacular fashion his car was out of control and the rear mounted the concrete barrier sliding along for over 50 meters. He was lucky to have not gone right over the top. The damage was so severe # 32 was now out of the race. The team was doing so well throughout the whole weekend it is a great shame they were not able to continue. I am sure they would have been contenders for a win and offered up much more of their competitive driving.

When they were into the 6^th hour of racing Bathurst did what Bathurst does. The weather changed completely and the rain came down heavily. At times there were sheets of water covering the track.

Cars were going off the track left, right and centre. The international drivers began sticking behind local drivers who knew the track and how to manage in the wet conditions. Still many cars aquaplaned off the challenging track and there were many moments that had viewers holding their breath.

Local Matt Campbell behind the wheel of #912 had the lead in the Manthey Racing / EMA Motorsport Porsche.

He was challenged multiple times with the biggest coming from the #13 Phantom Global Racing/Team 75 Porsche entry driven by Bastian Buus, Joel Eriksson and NZ local Jaxon Evans. The other challenge came from the SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes driven by Jules Gounon, Kenny Habul and Luca Stolz.

With 30 minutes remaining there was less than 1 second between the leading 3 cars and less than 8 seconds back to 8^th place. It was anyone’s game and there was no room for mistakes.

The rain had stopped but the track was still wet. With leading cars so close to each other the competitive driving was incredibly fierce.

With 15 minutes on the clock the leading Porsche #912 with Matt Campbell behind the wheel edged ahead to create a 5+ second lead. Noone was giving up. Drivers were flying down the straights side by side heading into corners looking for any opportunity to make a pass.

Matt Campbells driving was incredible. He kept the lead in the #912 Porsche and even though the gap closed down to just over 2 seconds, he looked confident and strong on that last lap.

The #75 Mercedes driven by Jules Gounon crossed the finish line within 2.6 seconds to take 2nd place followed by the #22 Audi.

For Matt Campbell this is his second Bathurst 12 Hour win. It also breaks the Mercedes 3 time winning streak.

Results for the 2024 Repco Bathurst 12 Hour:

1^st Matt Campbell, Ayhancan Guven, Laurens Vanthoor – Manthey Racing/EMA Motorsport

2^nd Jules Gounon, Kenny Habul, Luca Stolz – SunEnergy1 Racing

3^rd Christopher Haase, Kelvin van der Linde, Liam Talbot – Melbourne Performance Centre

Drivers

Shane Van Gisbergen is leaving Supercars to race in Nascar in 2024

February 11, 2024 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans Around the world!

It was back in July 2023 that Shane Van Gisbergen notified his team’s management, Red Bull Ampol Racing that he would be accepting a full-time position in the U.S. NASCAR championship for the 2024 season.

It came after a long period of rumours on Gisbergen’s future especially after winning back-to-back championship titles in 2021 and 2022.

It would have been a difficult decision to make and possibly harder to deliver after being with Red Bull Ampol Racing for 7 years plus having his long-term teammate & friend Jamie Whincup now in the roll of “boss” for the team.

Whether this departure from Supercars is permanent or not, I felt that Shane Van Gisbergen’s career is full of so many accomplishments I had to write an article about him.

Shane was born 9^th of May 1989 in Auckland, New Zealand.

He made his Supercars debut in 2007 (at the age of 18) with Team Kiwi Racing (TKR) at Oran Park Raceway. He also made his Bathurst 1000 debut in the same year as co-driver to John McIntyre.

In 2008 he earned himself a full-time seat with Stone Brothers Racing and was teammate to already well known driver James Courtney. In this season Gisbergen won his first podium finish at Sandown.

In 2010 the Supercars series kicked off in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. Shane had podium finishes at both venues.

During the 2011 season Gisbergen took his first ever race win on home soil at Hamilton (New Zealand) before getting another win at Darwin. His talents were beginning to shine.

In 2013 he moved from Stone Brothers Racing to Tekno Autosports. He made the team’s investment worthwhile by winning the coveted Clipsal (Adelaide) 500.

In 2014, still with Tekno Autosports he won a further 2 races and also scored his first Bathurst 1000 pole position.

In 2016 he moved to the Red Bull Racing Team and found his home with the new crew and teammates Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes.

He started the year winning the Bathurst 12 hour driving for McLaren. He followed up with exceptional performances throughout the year and earned his first Supercars Season title.

In 2017 he started his title defence in good form by winning the first 2 races. However, regardless of how good you are it is hard to challenge a legend (and teammate) like Jamie Whincup who went on to win his 7^th season title that year. Also in the mix was the rising star, Scott McLaughlin.

In 2018 he was runner up again. This time to Scott Mclaughlin who was now hitting his stride.

In 2019 he was runner up to Scott McLaughlin in the Bathurst 1000.

In the following year 2020, Shane Van Gisbergen was determined and took his first Bathurst 1000 win. This is the dream of all race drivers on an international level.

In 2021 he started the year with a broken left collarbone but still managed to win the majority of the races and resulted in his 2^nd Championship title.

In the following year of 2022 Shane Van Gisbergen dominated the season with 21 race wins. It earned him a back-to-back title and his 3^rd title for his career.

He started the 2023 season badly, being disqualified in the first race for having the cool suit dry ice box on the wrong side of the car. His teammate Broc Feeney was also disqualified for the same reason. It seemed an awfully petty reason to be taken out of the running as it would have not given them any advantage over other drivers.

Gisbergen pushed on and did well throughout the season. Even no points for the first race he was within reach of the title entering the last event for the year. However, bad luck struck again in the last event where he received a DNF (Did Not Finish) in both races. It gave Brodie Kostecki a clear win for the year. It really must have been heartbreaking to be so close to winning a 3^rd title in a row (and his 4^th overall)

During his Supercars career Shane Van Gisbergen has competed in other highly regards races like the Daytona, 24-Hour Spa and the Le Mans 24 Hour. He has also been over to the USA and competed in a NASCAR race at Chicago where he took the winning place and followed up with another attempt in Indianapolis.

In 2014 Gisbergen also competed and took the title in the New Zealand Highlands 101.

He did the same in the New Zealand Grand Prix in 2021.

After 16 years of racing in Supercars Shane Van Gisbergen has had 508 race starts, 81 wins, 176 podiums and 48 pole positions. He has taken 3 championships titles and 3 Bathurst 1000 wins.

Now (2024) he will be racing fulltime in the Nascar Cup series and Xfinity Nascar series.

Shane Van Gisbergen! Thanks for all the Supercars memories. You will be missed on the track in Australia.

Best of luck in your NASCAR adventure. Go show them what real legends are made of!

Supercars, V8 Supercars

Repco Bathurst 1000 2023

October 27, 2023 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of 5-8 October 2023 was the Repco Bathurst 1000. It was round 10 of the 2023 Supercars Championship.

Mount Panorama was first opened on March 17, 1938. The track is actually a street circuit so outside of race dates it is a public road. Yes! That is the answer to your question, “Can I actually drive around the Bathurst track?” just remember it is a 60 zone.

The first event held at Mount Panorama was a motorcycle race on the 16th of April 1938, the Australian Tourist Trophy. Two days later the Australian Grand Prix took place (a motor car race).

Before becoming known as The Bathurst 1000 the race was called the Armstrong 500. The first few years it ran at Phillip Island and was then moved to Bathurst in 1963. In those days it was a 500 mile race (approx. 804Km) and was done with only a single driver. A few years after Australia changed to metric measurements the race was increased to 1000kms.

It has become the most well-known race in Australia and is also internationally revered. It’s the race that stops the nation and creates legends.

The legend of the King of the Mountain, Peter Brock was earned through this event. Peter Brock won his first Bathurst in 1972 in the days without a co-driver. He then went on to win again in 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1987. No other driver has beaten his record of 9 Bathurst 1000 wins.

This year was the 60th running of the Repco Bathurst 1000. An incredible milestone for any race event.

This year the event kicked off under almost perfect weather conditions. A surprise to all as Bathurst is known for some pretty challenging conditions at this time of the year.

The pre-race sessions kicked off on the Thursday and went through to Sunday morning. The results were:

Will Brown was fastest in Practice 1
David Russell was fastest in Practice 2
David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 3
Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Practice 4
Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying
Richie Stanaway was fastest in Practice 5
Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 6
Brodie Kostecki was fastest in the Shootout
Brodie Kostecki and co-driver David Russell were fastest in the warm up

In Race 24 Brodie Kostecki earned pole position but his co-driver David Russell was behind the wheel of car 99 for the start. Alongside them was co-driver Jamie Whincup after main driver Broc Feeney scored second place on the front row of the grid. There were 16 out of 28 co-drivers who started the race behind the wheel. So, it was quite a common strategy.

As the lights went green, they took off and Jamie Whincup led into turn 1 for the first of 161 laps. Pole sitter David Russell was right under his rear wing only 0.174 seconds behind.

The cars further back in the pack were dicing for places outside the top 10.

Early on Will Brown had gained 5 places up to 12^th. James Golding had gained 1 spot after starting 4th on the grid.

Jamie Whincup had a hard time getting some space between himself and David Russell in 2^nd place. By lap 4 Jamie Whincup managed to increase his lead to only 0.498 seconds. It was another 1 second back to James Golding in 3rd.

On lap 5 James Courtney ran wide on the exit to the final corner but didn’t lose any places.

Thomas Randle got up the inside of Lee Holdsworth exiting Forest Elbow for 10^th place.

Jamie Whincup had managed to increase his lead to around 1 second over David Russell.

Richie Stanaway finally got up the inside of Garth Tander to move into 5^th place. His next target was Cameron Waters sitting in 4^th position.

The first car to pit in this race was car 96 of Macauley Jones and Jordan Boys on lap 10.

Between lap 4 and 10 Jamie Whincup managed to extend his lead 1.525 seconds over David Russell.

Further back Will Brown was on the charge. He was up 10 spots after starting 17^th on the grid. He now smoothly passed Garth Tander moving into 6^th place and was only 2.8 seconds away from the lead.

On lap 17 Craig Lowndes started slowing down due to a broken gear lever mount and was forced to pit.

James Golding in 3^rd was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 18.

Car 3 driven by Todd Hazelwood and Tim Blanchard pitted on lap 21. Soon after they were investigated for a pit stop infringement and issued a 15 second time penalty to be served on their next stop. Although disappointing it was still early in the race. They had another 5 hours to catch up.

On lap 24 Dean Fiore co-driver to Bryce Fullwood made contact with Simona de Silvestro at The Chase. Simona de Silvestro who returned from her homeland, Switzerland especially for this race was pushed off the road onto the grass. There was no damage to speak of and she re-joined the race easily. Race officials took no further action on the incident.

Kevin Estre (co-driver to Matt Payne) had a big lockup at turn 1 and ended up in the sand trap. He couldn’t get out on his own and the first safety car was deployed so the recovery vehicle could assist.

While the Yellow flag was out (indicating drivers to slow down and stay in formation behind the safety car) all drivers except 2 took the opportunity to pit.

David Reynolds was under investigation for jumping ahead in the safety car line. He was later issued a pit lane drive thru penalty. That didn’t go down too well and David Reynolds started to argue the case when told by his race engineer Alistair McVean. After the restart he was reluctant to give back 3^rd place to Broc Feeney and even refused to take the drive thru penalty on the next lap. Race Director James Taylor had to warn him that he still did have to take it.

The restart which was on lap 30 saw Shane Van Gisbergen immediately took the race lead off Dylan O’Keeffe (co-driver to James Golding).

Broc Feeney was in 3^rd place (after Reynolds let him pass) and then managed to get by Dylan O’Keeffe for 2^nd place.

The 2 Red Bull cars were now running 1^st and 2^nd on the track, followed by O’Keeffe and then Reynolds.

Bryce Fullwood made contact and pushed Aaron Love off the track at The Chase. Bryce Fullwood was later issued a penalty for his actions.

On lap 39 Scott Pye made contact with Dale Wood who then went off track into the gravel trap. The safety car was sent out while Dale Wood’s car was pulled out and luckily able to return straight to the race.

When they restarted Mark Winterbottom was out front followed by Fabian Coulthard and Brodie Kostecki.

Meanwhile car 6 driven by James Moffat was under investigation for an unsafe pit release. It was later on lap 43 when he was issued a 5 second time penalty.

Brodie Kostecki soon passed Fabian Coulthard to take 2^nd position.

Then Richie Stanaway got up the inside of Declan Fraser for 4^th place. His next target was Fabian Coulthard in 3^rd place. It wasn’t long after that Richie Stanaway made his move pushing Fabian Coulthard down another spot to 4^th.

The 2 Brad Jones Racing cars with Jack Smith and Macauley Jones in the driver’s seat made contact with each other at The Chase. They both went off the track and both had minor damage that required a visit to the pits ASAP.

Not long after Macauley Jones received a 15 second time penalty for the driving infringement.

On lap 71 Dean Fiore co-driver to Bryce Fullwood was under investigation for a pit lane infringement and was issued a time penalty.

James Moffat hit the wall coming out of The Dipper and came to a stop in a dangerous part of the track. Officials thought he would not be able to get out of the predicament on his own and sent out the 3^rd safety car of the race. Before help could arrive, James Moffat was able to get going again. Unfortunately, it was only to get back to the pits in his smashed up car to then find out he would not be returning to the race.

Car 888 driven by Craig Lowndes had to serve a pit lane penalty after he turned off the ‘pit limiter’ to early while in the pit lane.

Richie Stanway clocked the best lap time of the race on lap 92. He had also moved up to 2^nd place after passing Tony Dalberto.

Jamie Whincup rounded up Garth Tander which took him from 5^th up to 4^th place. “The Goat” was now only 7.9 seconds away from the lead. He then pitted on lap 93 to hand the wheel over to Broc Feeney who would race all the to the end.

Richie Stanaway pitted soon after on lap 97 from the number 1 position and Shane Van Gisbergen took the driver’s seat for the final stage of the race.

Once these two Red Bull Ampol Racing Team cars came out of the pits, Shane Van Gisbergen returned to the number 1 spot with his team mate Broc Feeney not far behind.

On lap 137 of 161 (25 laps remaining) Broc Feeney was slowing due to a gearbox issue stopping him from changing gears. He slipped from 2^nd to 3^rd allowing Brodie Kostecki to pass him. Broc Feeney had to head to the pits. It was unlucky timing being so close to the end of the race.

The team were able to repair the issue, but Broc returned to the track in 24^th position. Unfortunate for him to go from a podium contender to the back of the pack.

It was later revealed that all 3 of the 888 Engineering cars had the same issue (the 2 cars of Gisbergen and Feeney driving for Red Bull Ampol Racing and also the Craig Lowndes/ Zane Goddard duo driving under the Super Cheap Auto banner. It’s surprising any of them finished.

With 18 laps to go Shane Van Gisbergen was still out front with a good lead of 15.010 seconds over Brodie Kostecki.

In the last laps Shane Van Gisbergen controlled the race and was too far ahead for Brodie Kostecki to challenge him for the win.

It was incredible to watch as Shane Van Gisbergen kept edging ahead to finally cross the line with a 19.9 seconds lead over Brodie Kostecki.

Shane Van Gisbergen is now a 3-time winner of the Bathurst 1000.

It puts him in striking distance of the season leader Brodie Kostecki for the remaining two events. Can he now become a 4-time Supercars Champion before he heads to the US in 2024? Its going to be fun finding out.

Results for Race 24

1^st Shane Van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2^nd Brodie Kostecki and David Russell – Erebus Motorsport

3^rd Anton de Pasquale and Tony Dalberto – Shell V-Power Racing Team

Out of the 28 starters only 24 cars finished the race. 4 cars got a DNF.

Brodie Kostecki still leads the championship by 131 points over Shane Van Gisbergen. With 2 events to go (4 races) in the 2023 championship it is going be an exciting finish to the year,

The next event is the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on the 27^th – 29^th October 2023.

I hope you will join me.

Supercars

Penrite Oil Sandown 500 2023

September 28, 2023 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 15 – 17 September 2023 was the Penrite Oil Sandown 500, round 9 of the 2023 Supercars Championship.

Sandown International Raceway was first opened as a horse racetrack in 1888 (135 years ago) and known as Oakleigh Park. Four years later it was renamed to Sandown Park.

It boasts to be one of the first locations for a motor racing event way back in 1904. However, it didn’t have a dedicated track for motorsports until 1962. The first big event was held in 1965 with a record crowd of 52,379 attending causing traffic chaos in the quiet suburb of Springvale, Melbourne Victoria.

The track is known to be a fast run consisting of two straights, the main straight and a back straight allowing for speeds between 250 and 260kmph. Its layout and high speeds lends itself to endurance races and Supercars have consistently made the Sandown 500 a warm up to the Bathurst 1000.

I imagine its not the favourite track for the Triple 8 team. They have had wins at this location but some very bad luck as well.

In 2012, on lap 159 out of 161 Jamie Whincup was in 2^nd place chasing down the lead. Mark Winterbottom made contact with Jamie Whincup forcing him off the track and losing a spot to move back to 3^rd.

In 2019 again with only a few laps remaining, Shane Van Gisbergen received a puncture while leading the race. It not only robbed him of a sure win but took him off the podium all together. The only consolation was it gave the lead and win to car 888 of his teammates Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes.

In this year’s event there were no surprises in the pre – race sessions.

Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 1
Zane Goddard was fastest in Practice 2
Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Practice 3
Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 4
Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying.
Will Brown was fastest in the Top 10 Shootout
David Reynolds and Garth Tander were fastest in the warmup.

In Race 23 the two Erebus cars started in the front row. Co-driver Jack Perkins started in the number 1 spot after Will Brown earned them pole position. Alongside them was David Russell, the co-driver for season leader Brodie Kostecki.

The majority of the co-drivers started behind the wheel except for Craig Lowndes and Aaron Love.

At the start of the race Jack Perkins got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 161 laps.

The 2 Erebus cars took the lead into the first turn followed by James Moffat, co-driver to Cameron Waters.

Richie Stanaway was co-driver to Shane Van Gisbergen. He started 19^th on the grid and was stuck behind the main pack trying hard to look for a gap to move ahead. It was too tight and he just couldn’t do it.

The leaders were starting to edge away while the cars behind settled into their race pace.

Up the front the leaders were tightly packed. Jack Perkins had a slender lead of 0.290 seconds over David Russell.

On the commencement of lap 2 Jamie Whincup passed Garth Tander for 4^th position and James Moffat for 3^rd. Jamie Whincup was now only 0.328 seconds behind David Russell.

By lap 3 Jamie Whincup seemed to do the impossible and passed David Russell to take 2^nd place and find himself only 0.792 seconds away from the lead.

On lap 5 he took the number 1 spot off Jack Perkins at turn 1. From that point on Whincup didn’t make any mistakes.

Just outside the top 10 cars, Zak Best went off the track between turns 1 and 2. The lost time put him to the back of the pack.

On lap 19 the left rear wheel parted company with the car of David Reynolds / Garth Tander. The car slid, turned around, collided into the guard rail and came to a stop. Meanwhile, the wheel continued along the track on its own. After bouncing off the ground it freakishly landed on the rear of the passing Monster Energy Mustang driven by James Moffat and tore the rear wing completely off the car.

With debris all over the track plus Garth Tander stranded with only 3 wheels and facing the wrong way, the first safety car was deployed.

It was truly a bizarre incident! The Reynolds / Tander car was towed from the track and was in such poor shape it wasn’t able to return. Main driver, David Reynolds didn’t have a chance to get behind the wheel.

Lee Holdsworth pitted for repairs while the safety car was still out. The main issue was with the rear diffuser but the team wasn’t able to get it off straight away. They sent the car back out on the track and then called Holdsworth back in once they got appropriate tools ready. The repairs were done before the safety car left the track.

The restart was on lap 26 and Jack Perkins was back in the number 1 spot for Erebus.

Tony Dalberto, co-driver to Anton de Pasquale received a 15 second time penalty for an unsafe pit release.

Jordan Boys had a massive lock up going into turn 1 and went off the track. Surprisingly there was no damage, except for maybe a flat spot on the tyres.

Race leader Jack Perkins exceeded track limits and received a bad sportsmanship flag. This is more a warning than a penalty.

By lap 41 Jamie Whincup regained the race lead pushing Jack Perkins back to 2^nd place.

Jaylyn Robotham, co-driver to Cameron Hill made contact with Craig Lowndes. Lowndes managed to keep control and avoided hitting the wall. I have no doubt that any other driver would have suffered significant damage but Craig Lowndes’ experience showed.

Soon after James Moffat got spun around at turn 1 by Dylan O’Keeffe.

On lap 47 Richie Stanaway did the quickest lap of the race.

Jayden Ojeda went off the track dropping him from 3^rd to 6^th place.

After receiving previous warnings, Mark Winterbottom received a 15 second time penalty for exceeding track limits.

After Jamie Whincup had earlier taken the race lead, main driver Broc Feeney was now behind the wheel. In the middle of the race he had a 6.3 second lead over Will Brown. Brodie Kostecki was a further 12.5 seconds back.

The gruelling length and high speeds of the race were really showing. Macauley Jones was next to receive a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

Craig Lowndes dropped a spot to Andre Heimgartner.

Towards the end of the race Broc Feeney was still holding the lead. On lap 130 he pitted with 18.798 seconds over teammate Shane Van Gisbergen. Shane Van Gisbergen had to wait until lap 131 to take his last pit stop.

On lap 140 of 161 Cameron Hill had to be rescued from the sand trap at turn 9. For such a long race it was surprising that this was only the second time the safety car was deployed.

On lap 147 Chaz Mostert received a 15 second time penalty for making contact with another car.

The gap at the front of the race was closing. Broc Feeney was still out front but only by 0.203 seconds over Brodie Kostecki.

In addition, this was a time certain race and time was running out. The pressure was really on.

With 2 minutes 59 remaining Will Brown ran wide at turn 9 and Shane Van Gisbergen squeezed past to take 3^rd place. Shane Van Gisbergen had moved up 16 spots throughout the race. What an amazing drive.

However, a champion like Shane Van Gisbergen is never satisfied with being third and put the pressure on Brodie Kostecki. Kostecki kept his cool and made no mistakes but the pressure from Gisbergen didn’t allow him to pressure Broc Feeney for the win.

In the end Broc Feeney crossed the line with a 0.9816 second margin over Brodie Kostecki with another 2.2 seconds back to Shane Van Gisbergen in 3^rd place.

The win earned 888 Race Engineering their 250^th race win in Supercars. Wow! What an amazing achievement. Congratulations team.

On the season scoreboard Brodie Kostecki has extended his championship lead to 155 points over Shane Van Gisbergen. Broc Feeney is 3^rd with 204 points off the lead. Will Brown is 4^th and 294 points off the lead.

Erebus are still leading the Team’s Championship but only by 95 points over the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.

Jamie Whincup is now a 6 time winner of the Sandown 500. Can he and Broc Feeney do it again at Bathurst?

Results for Race 23

1^st Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2^nd Brodie Kostecki and David Russell – Erebus Motorsport

3^rd Shane Van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway – Red Bull Ampol Racing

There are 3 events to go in the 2023 Supercars championship.

900 points left on the table across the final 3 events.

The next event is the Repco Bathurst 1000 on the 5 – 8 of October 2023.

The Bathurst channel begins Monday October 2 on Fox Sports channel 506.

Supercars

Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint

April 7, 2022 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of 26^th and 27^th of March 2022 was the Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint.

This year marks the 49^th time this event has been at Symmons Plains Raceway. This year’s event comprised of 3 races of 44 laps each. It’s a short track of 2.4 km with 7 turns. For these Supercars a lap is just under 50 seconds.

Chaz Mostert came to this event as the current championship leader for the first time in his Supercars career.

Garry Jacobson reached a milestone starting his 100^th Supercars championship race on Saturday.

The weekend also provided the opportunity for the defending series champion, Shane Van Gisbergen to move passed the total race win tally of two former Supercars champions, Garth Tander and Scott McLaughlin.

Mark Winterbottom was poised to take over the mantle as the most experienced Supercars driver at Symmons Plains Raceway by the end of the weekend. It was also Mark Winterbottom’s 46^th start at this track. He has finished every race at Symmons Plains Raceway. OMG! What an amazing achievement!

For this year’s newcomer to Supercars Brocq Feeney, it will be his first time at this track.

So, as you can see it was promising to be a great event.

In the pre-race sessions:

Will Davison was fastest in Practice 1
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
Cameron Waters was fastest in Qualifying.

In race 3 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Will Davison alongside him. The 19 year old rookie, Brocq Feeney earned himself 3^rd and Shane Van Gisbergen started 5^th.

At the start of the race Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 while the cars behind battled for positions.

Will Davison tried to go around the outside of Cameron Waters on the opening lap, but he couldn’t find the right space to make the move. Brodie Kostecki took advantage and moved up to 2^nd behind race leader Cameron Waters, pushing Will Davison into 3^rd place.

Shane Van Gisbergen was on the charge passing cars left right and centre. Anton de Pasquale was amazed by the driving from Shane Van Gisbergen.

Walkinshaw Andretti united pitted Nick Percat in car 2 early because of damage.

Thomas Randle went out in the weeds on lap 1 and so did Macauley Jones on lap 2.

For the opening few laps Cameron Waters was enjoying the clear air.

The cars back in the pack pitted early on to get clear track.

The first driver to pit was Jake Kostecki in car 56, because he was getting held up by other cars.

Cameron Waters stayed out because he had track position.

Will Davison pitted first so his teammate Anton de Pasquale didn’t have to double stack if the safety car was deployed.

At the end of the first quarter of the race Jack Le Brocq went off the track at turn 2. As he hit the sand trap, he broke the right front suspension. The car was still driveable, but he still headed straight for the pits.

The cars further back in the pack were battling for positions.

Chaz Mostert got up the inside of James Courtney to move up to 10^th position.

Shane Van Gisbergen got up the inside of Will Davison who had worked his way back into 2^nd place. Moments later Shane Van Gisbergen then took the race lead off Cameron Waters. The Dick Johnson Racing Team reacted, it was now the best time to get Will Davison to bring in car 17 for his compulsory pitstop.

The cars now following Shane Van Gisbergen were battling for 2^nd 3^rd and 4^th.

By the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was still in the lead and looking in shape for his 2^nd win of 2022.

Mark Winterbottom turned David Reynolds around at turn 4 and copped a drive through penalty. Chaz Mostert was tailing the two drivers and had nowhere to go. He had a head-on with Reynold’s spun car. Chaz Mostert suffered a lot of damage to the right front and was forced to head into the pits. Reynolds got off lightly and continued driving.

Shane Van Gisbergen held his lead through the second half of the race.

As the defending champion he appeared confident and drove flawlessly. As he came across the line he had just under a 3 second lead over Will Davison and a further spread of almost 3.5 seconds over Cameron Waters.

Chaz Mostert finished 23^rd and Broc Feeney held up well finishing 5^th.

Results for Race 3

1^st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

2^nd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team.

3^rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing Team.

In race 4 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position with his teammate Brocq Feeney alongside him.

Brocq Feeney got the jump of the start and led into turns 1 and 2, then pulled away from the pack with his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen playing rear gunner.

In between turns 6 and 7 there was contact between Jack Le Brocq and Andre Heimgartner. It was a brutal run in before the first lap was complete the red flagged was out so they could clean up the mess.

The race resumed with a rolling start and Brocq Feeney got the jump again with his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen right behind him.

While Brocq Feeney was in control of the race, he had full backup from Shane Van Gisbergen.

Further back Mark Winterbottom was moving up through the field really quickly.

Also back in the pack Garry Jacobson was putting in a fierce challenge to Chris Pither.

The other cars came in early because they were getting held up.

Scott Pye was behind his teammate Mark Winterbottom acting as rear gunner.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen took the lead off his younger teammate. Brocq Feeney knew he couldn’t pass Shane Van Gisbergen so worked hard at keeping in 2^ndplace.

Cam Waters and Tim Slade were pushing hard against each other. Tim Slade lost control sliding sideways onto the grass and getting air under all four tyres. On landing it seemed the car should surely roll but it didn’t! A miracle! He kept sliding and crossed the track further ahead. Amazingly didn’t get collected by any other drivers. That’s 2 miracles in about 2 seconds.

Up the front the drivers were holding their positions. Chaz Mostert was chasing down David Reynolds for third place but there wasn’t much opportunity to move up.

Broc Feeney crossed the line only 2.4 seconds behind Shane Van Gisbergen. They were followed by David Reynolds with Chaz Mostert hot on his tail.

It was a brutal race with four drivers served NC’s (Not Complete); Jack Le Brocq leaving before the end of the first lap, Jake Kostecki on lap 7, Andre Heimgartner on lap 11 and Thomas Randall so close to the end on lap 39.

Shane Van Gisbergen had now earned 2 wins from 2 starts for the weekend. The defending champ was showing what he is truly made of.

Results for Race 4

1^st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

2^nd Brocq Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing.

3rd David Reynolds– Penrite Racing.

In Race 5 Will Davison started on pole position with Jack le Brocq alongside him.

At the start of race Jack le Brocq took the lead into the first turn with Will Davison dropping in behind at 2^nd.

I was amazed that Jack le Brocq was leading during the opening stages after the damage to his car 34 on the first lap of Race 4.

On lap 2 he locked up of the front wheels at turn 4 and slid out onto the grass. He dropped down the order big time.

Will Davison now had the lead with the unenviable issue of having Shane Van Gisbergen right behind him in 2^nd place.

While the leaders were pulling away, the drivers back in the pack pitted early because they were getting held up by other cars.

Mark Winterbottom was battling with Jack le Brocq for positions 6 and 7.

By the middle of the race all the pitstops were complete and Shane van Gisbergen took the lead of the race.

Although the leading pack was tight it seemed Shane Van Gisbergen could not be passed. He had total control.

He was followed across the finish line by pole sitter, Will Davison and Anton de Pasquale with a desperate David Reynolds less than half a second behind him.

Shane Van Gisbergen had a great weekend earning 3 wins from the 3 starts. What a way to start the year!

about:blankAdd title

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of 26^th and 27^th of March 2022 was the Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint.

Chaz Mostert came to this event as the current championship leader for the first time in his Supercars career.

Garry Jacobson reached a milestone starting his 100^th Supercars championship race on Saturday.

For this year’s newcomer to Supercars Brocq Feeney, it will be his first time at this track.

So, as you can see it was promising to be a great event.

In the pre-race sessions:

Will Davison was fastest in Practice 1
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
Cameron Waters was fastest in Qualifying.