Tag Archives: Matt Payne

NTI Townsville 500 2025

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of July 11 – 13 was round 7 of the 2025 Supercars Championship, the NTI Townsville 500.       

The Townsville street circuit was first opened in 2009 for the Townsville 400, a Supercars championship event. Lee Holdsworth and Garth Tander scored the first 2 pole positions back in 2009. Jamie Whincup and James Courtney shared the wins.

Jamie Whincup holds the record of most wins at Townsville with a total of 12. He also holds the most podiums record of 23. Shane Van Gisbergen is second with 8 wins.

This year was the 19th occasion that the Supercars have raced on the streets of Townsville and the venue didn’t let anyone down with perfect weather.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Ryan Wood was fastest in Practice 1
  • Thomas Randle was fastest in Practice 2
  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 20 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.

At the start of the race Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 35 laps. He was followed by Cameron Waters, Will Davison and Anton de Pasquale.

Jaxson Evans received damage to the front right corner of his car #12 from contact with David Reynolds. They both dropped down to 22nd and 24th place respectively.

A few laps into the race James Courtney made contact with Aaron Cameron dropping James Courtney back to 16th and Aaron Cameron to 23rd place.

The Red Bull Ampol Racing drivers Broc Feeney and Will Brown qualified 14th and 20th on the grid. They made easy work of moving up to 10th and 14th place.

Brodie Kostecki still had the lead but was shadowed by Cameron Waters in second place.

Will Davison was passed by Anton de Pasquale and then by Matt Payne dropping him back to 5th place.

The first car to pit was Ryan Wood on lap 10 from 23rd place and when he came back out he was still in 23rd place.

Both Broc Feeney and Will Brown were still making gains and in 9th and 11th place.

Brodie Kostecki maintained control and by the middle of the race had increased his lead to 3.171 seconds over Cameron Waters.

With 11 laps remaining, the leading 3 cars of Brodie Kostecki, Cameron Waters and Anton de Pasquale finally took their mandatory pit stops.

On return to the track, the 3 drivers still held the lead and it was a mad dash to the finish line. Cameron Waters and Anton de Pasquale couldn’t make any gains on the super-fast Brodie Kostecki and he flew across the finish line with 3.7 second lead.

Race 20 Results:

1st Brodie Kostecki – Shell V-Power Racing Team
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
3rd Anton de Pasquale – Team 18

In Race 21 David Reynolds started on pole position with Matt Payne alongside him.

Matt Payne got the jump off the start line and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 70 laps.

Exiting turn 3 James Golding, Thomas Randle, Cameron Waters and Jaxson Evans all made contact and cars were spinning out of control everywhere. Cars behind them had to take evasive action. When the dust settled James Golding was stranded out in the middle of the track and the safety car had to be deployed. Thomas Randle, Ryan Wood and Cameron Waters had all dropped to the back of the field. Later, the officials declared it was a racing incident and no penalties were issued.

The restart was on lap 6 with Matt Payne still in control of the race, followed by David Reynolds and Jack le Brocq. Soon after, Broc Feeney passed Jack le Brocq to take 3rd place.

The first car to pit was Thomas Randle from 22nd place on lap 8. His car needed repair work done after being involved in the lap 1 pile up.

Brodie Kostecki was moving up and passed James Courtney for 5th place.

By lap 10 Thomas Randle was still in the pits and the crew declared that a shock absorber was broken. Once the repair was completed he rejoined the race but was way behind.

Will Davison had his rear guard smashed and pushed against the tyre by Will Brown making an aggressive pass. Davison had to pit early. After official investigation Will Brown was later issued a 5 second time penalty for his actions.

On lap 12 James Courtney’s engine failed and the safety car was deployed once again. Everyone pitted to take advantage of yellow flag. Broc Feeney did a really quick stop of 4 seconds which gave him track position.

The restart was on lap 18. Broc Feeney was in the lead followed by Matt Payne and David Reynolds.

By the middle of the race Broc Feeney had a 1.163 second lead over Matt Payne. Brodie Kostecki was 0.926 seconds adrift in third place. Chaz Mostert was 4th, up an amazing 13 places after starting 17th on the grid.

As the race continued Chaz Mostert still had more to offer. Towards the end of the race he worked his way up to 2nd place. Broc Feeney was driving faultlessly and increased his lead to 5.557 seconds. Matt Payne was still managing to hold 3rd place.

In the final laps the top 5 drivers were quite spread out giving them clean air and space to reach top speeds. However, Broc Feeney was flying and it seemed no one was able to catch him. In fact he gained even more lead over the others.

Broc Feeny crossed the finish line 6.429 seconds ahead of Chaz Mostert to earn his 21st career win. Matt Payne came in 3rd 1.963 seconds later. Will Brown led the rest of the pack across the line 13+ seconds later.

It was another spectacular finish for Feeney.

Race 21 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Matt Payne – Grove Racing

In Race 22 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Matt Payne alongside him on the front row of the grid.

Broc Feeney got the jump off the start line leading for the first of 70 laps.

Anton de Pasquale went up to second place.

On lap 3 Will Brown clocked the fastest lap of the race so far, 115.088 seconds.

On the next lap Ryan Wood outdid him recording a 114.821 second lap time.

On lap 12 the front runners were still close together. Matt Payne found the space and regained his former 2nd position from Anton de Pasquale.

The first car to pit was Cameron Waters from 4th place on lap 15. Jack le Brocq pitted on the same lap.

Will Brown got up the inside of Anton de Pasquale for third place around lap 20. He was 1.6 seconds behind Matt Payne and Broc Feeney was 2.9 seconds ahead of him.

Jack Le Brocq then recorded the fastest lap of the race 114.621 seconds.

In the middle of the race Cameron Waters had a 1.5 second lead over Broc Feeney. However, Cameron Waters was still yet to pit so it wouldn’t be long before Feeney resumed the lead. Will Brown was 2.1 seconds back, followed by Anton de Pasquale.

The top 6 cars waited till the last part of the race to take their pit stops. Once back on the track, Broc Feeney was leading over Will Brown by 1.5 seconds. Cameron Waters was following in 3rd place.

Once again Chaz Mostert was moving up through the pack and now in 4th place. It didn’t take him too long to pass Cameron Waters in 3rd.

Meanwhile, the two Red Bull Ampol Racing drivers Broc Feeney and Will Brown were in the lead and breaking away from the pack. They created a huge lead and it seemed no one could keep up. In fact, Will Brown seemed to be having trouble keeping up with Broc Feeney.

Feeney crossed the finish line with a lead of 3.019 seconds over Will Brown. Nearly 10 seconds later Chaz Mostert who had kept ahead of Cam Waters, crossed the line to take 3rd place.

It was an incredible finish for the weekend.

Race 22 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

Broc Feeney has extended his championship lead to 220 points over Will Brown.

Red Bull Ampol Racing still have command of the Teams Championship by 830 points over Grove Racing.

The next event will be the Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440 on August 8 – 10 2025.

I’m looking forward to it already and hope you will join me.

Till then, Keep Revving!

Betr Darwin Triple Crown 2025

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the 20 – 22 June was the Betr Darwin Triple Crown held at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.

Hidden Valley Raceway was first opened in 1986 and originally was not much more than a dust bowl for small scale events. It would be another 12 years before Supercars started racing at this venue.

Mark Skaife holds the record for the most Supercars race wins at the venue with a total of eight wins.

This event was round 6 of the 2025 Supercars Championship, starting on the Friday. Typical for Darwin, the weather was hot and sunny.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Ryan Wood was fastest in Practice 1
  • Andre Heimgartner was fastest in Practice 2
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 17 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.

Broc Feeney got the jump off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 42 laps.

At turn 1 Jaxson Evans went off the track and sustained such severe damage he couldn’t compete for the remainder of the weekend.

The safety car left the track on lap 7 and the race resumed. Almost immediately Macauley Jones got turned around by Anton de Pasquale. Jones dropped down to 17th. Later Pasquale was issued a 15 second time penalty to be served in the pits.

Further back Ryan Wood and Jack Le Brocq made contact. Ryan Wood’s car was damaged badly. He was in the middle of the pack without “fresh air”. The car quickly overheated and stopped. Le Brocq car lost it’s rear left wheel.

Seconds later Nick Percat made contact with David Reynolds at turn 5. Bryce Fullwood copped a hit while in 6th place. Richie Stanaway had smoke coming out of the left rear of car 62 while in 12th place.

The second safety car was deployed for the 2 cars (Wood and Le Brocq) to be cleared from the track, along with lots of debris left behind. Both cars would not be returning to finish the race.

The restart was on lap 12 and Broc Feeney still had control followed by Cameron Waters and Matt Payne. Brodie Kostecki used an un-sportsman-like bump and pass on Matt Payne. Officials requested he ‘redress’ the position to Payne. Later they also issued him a 5 second time penalty.

Broc Feeney then recorded the fastest lap of the race, 108.093 seconds.

Macauley Jones went off the track at turn 1, dropping him down to 21st place.

In the middle of the race two front runners Matt Payne and Cameron Hill pitted. There were still 12 cars yet to take their stops.

Broc Feeney only had 0.772 second lead.

With 15 laps to go Broc Feeney, Cameron Waters and Brodie Kostecki all pitted. Feeney changed the 2 rear tyres in 2.9 seconds. He returned on track in 6th place with the 5 cars in front yet to pit.

Once the cars took their pit stops Feeney assumed the lead once again.

The front runners were close together and Feeney couldn’t increase and secure his lead.

In the final lap he gave it his all and managed to create an astonishing 1.5+ second gap.

He crossed the finish line 1.727 seconds over Cameron Waters followed by Matt Payne.

It was exciting to the last second.

Race 17 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
3rd Matt Payne – Grove Racing

In Race 18 Broc Feeney was on pole position again. Anton de Pasquale was next to him on the front line.

Broc Feeney led into turn 1 for the first of 42 laps followed by Anton de Pasquale. Kai Allen pushed Cameron Waters back a spot to take 3rd.  At turn 1 Richie Stanaway was spun around by Matt Payne and dropped to 24th place.

On lap 4 Will Davison in 12th place did the fastest lap of the race so far, 107.968 seconds.

The Hidden Valley Raceway is known for its high speeds. The driving on the day was fast and aggressive.

Before they reached lap 10, the fastest lap record was broken by Broc Feeney, 107.811 seconds. He was still in the lead by 1.214 seconds over Anton de Pasquale.

The first 2 cars to pit were Nick Percat on lap 10 and Richie Stanaway due to steering issues on lap 11.

The first of the front runners to pit was Brodie Kostecki on lap 16 for 4 tyres. He returned to the track in 20th place but there were still 18 cars yet to pit.

By the middle of the race Broc Feeney had increased his lead to 3.9 seconds over Anton de Pasquale. Not an easy task on such a fast track. Pasquale is also known for his fast driving.

The speed and aggression continued but Broc Feeney, Anton de Pasquale and Kai Allen kept hold of the top 3 places.

With 2 laps to go David Reynolds car couldn’t restart after being hit. The safety car was deployed to rescue Reynolds. The race unfortunately finished under safety car conditions (limited to 60km p/h and drivers have to stay in formation).

So at 60km p/h Broc Feeney took his second win for the weekend.

It was tense in those last laps in the hope the safety car would clear off before the end of the race. It would have made for a crazy last dash to the finish line.

Race 18 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Anton de Pasquale – Team 18
3rd Kai Allen – Grove Racing

In Race 19 Broc Feeney started on pole position for the 3rd time out of 3 races this weekend. Alongside him was Cameron Hill.

The high speed track took its toll on the drivers and the opening stages of this race were very messy.

Broc Feeney took the lead from the start line and led through turn 1 for the first of 70 laps.

Chaz Mostert had engine issues and started the race from the pit lane because he was worried the car wasn’t going to start on the grid.

At turn 1 of lap 1 Macauley Jones ran very wide and went to the back of the pack. Andre Heimgartner dropped to 10th place.

Soon after Ryan Wood passed Anton de Pasquale for 3rd place.

Broc Feeney had a slender lead of just 0.338 seconds over Jack le Brocq in 2nd place, followed by Ryan Wood.

Cameron Hill had dropped to 7th and was struggling to hold back Will Brown who was up 3 spots in 8th place.

David Reynolds tried avoiding contact with Thomas Randle but couldn’t avoid it, then ran wide and went into the dirt.

A few laps into the race Rylan Gray ran extremely wide at turn 1. He came back on track down in 23rd place behind Chaz Mostert.

Thomas Randle ran wide and dropped spots to Nick Percat, Cooper Murray and Cameron Waters. He was now back in 19th place.

On lap 11 Broc Feeney had a 0.729 second lead over Jack le Brocq.

The pit stop sequence was yet to begin and while Feeney was still out front recorded the fastest lap of the race, 108.030 seconds on lap 12.

The first car to pit in this race was Matt Payne on lap 16. James Courtney followed him in.

Cameron Hill came in to the pits from 4th place returning on track in 22nd place.

Broc Feeney had used the last 5 laps to create a 3.5 second lead over Jack le Brocq.

On lap 26 Will Davison spun James Courtney around, dropping them both to 20th and 22nd place. Will Davison was soon issued a 15 second time penalty for the driving infringement.

In the middle of the race Kai Allen and Chaz Mostert were yet to pit but once they did, Broc Feeney took back the lead.

With 9 laps remaining Broc Feeney was in his stride. He had Matt Payne and Kai Allen behind him with a 42 second lead but was still to take his second mandatory pit stop.

Cameron Waters took a corner wide and spun around losing the left rear wheel. The wheel loss was due to a missed task in his final pit stop. The mistake dropped him down to 21st place.

Feeney took his final stop. He was so far ahead he returned to the track still in the lead with a decent buffer.

Meanwhile, rookie Kai Allen managed to pass Matt Payne for 2nd place.

Noone could catch Broc Feeney. He crossed the finish line leading 7.9 seconds ahead of Kai Allen followed by Matt Payne.

Congratulations to Broc Feeney for 3 wins of 3 races and receiving the Betr Darwin Triple Crown Trophy for 2025.

Race 19 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Kai Allen – Grove Racing
3rd Matt Payne – Grove Racing

Broc Feeney’s 3 of 3 wins at the event extended his series lead out to 183 points over Red Bull teammate, Will Brown.

Red Bull Ampol Racing are also at the top of the team’s ladder and lead by 632 points.

The next event is the NTI Townsville 500 on July 11 – 13.

Till then, Keep Revving!

Bosch Power Tools Perth Super440 2025

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of June 6 – 8 was the Bosch Power Tools Perth Super 440, round 5 of the 2025 Supercars championship.

It was held at Barbagallo Raceway which celebrated its 100th V8 Supercars race at this event.

Barbagallo Raceway was opened on the 2nd March 1969. The Supercars championship formally known as the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) first raced at the venue in 1973. Since 1978 the circuit has hosted a Supercars round every year except 2010.

The Supercars record of the most race wins at Barbagallo Raceway is held by Craig Lowndes with a total of 16 victories. He also finished on the podium 7 out of the remaining 9 races he competed in at the venue.

This year, Ex-Supercars driver Mark Winterbottom made his TV debut working with Fox Sports.  

The weekend kicked off with some of the pre-race sessions on the Friday.

  • Jaxson Evans was fastest in Practice 1
  • Matt Payne was fastest in Practice 2
  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 14 Chaz Mostert started on pole position with his teammate alongside him, 21 year old New Zealander Ryan Wood.

Chaz Mostert led into turn 1 for the first of 50 laps followed by Ryan Wood. Broc Feeney was third after passing Brodie Kostecki off the start line.

Aaron Cameron was off the track after making contact with James Courney at turn 5.

On lap 11 Ryan Wood took the lead off Chaz Mostert. Broc Feeney was still holding third place.

James Courtney made contact with Aaron Love. Aaron Love got a puncture. After pitting for repair, he returned to the back of the pack in 25th place.

Ryan Wood did the fastest lap in 55.77 seconds but only had a 0.263 second lead over Chaz Mostert. Broc Feeney was also right behind.

Will Brown put a move on Matt Payne for 5th place. He was now only 1.494 seconds behind Brodie Kostecki in 4th place.

Broc Feeney was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 22. He did 2 tyres in a quick 4 second pit stop. He came back out in 18th place.

In the middle of the race Chaz Mostert assumed the lead while the top 9 drivers were yet to take to their pitstops. Once those drivers pitted, Ryan Wood took the race lead back from Mostert.

Towards the end of the race, Will Brown had pushed Chaz Mostert out of 2nd place and was putting pressure on Ryan Wood for the number 1 spot.

Ryan Wood is only in his second year as a driver in the big game. To his credit he held his own and didn’t choke when under attack from far more experienced drivers.

He kept the lead and crossed the finish line a mere 0.612 seconds ahead of Will Brown. It was another 3.3 seconds back to Chaz Mostert in 3rd place.

Congratulations to Ryan Wood on his first Supercars win. Spectacular!

Results for Race 14:

1st Ryan Wood – Walkinshaw Andretti United
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

In Race 15 Ryan Wood had earned himself the pole position. Alongside him was Cameron Waters.

At the start of the race Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 50 laps, followed by Matt Payne and Ryan Wood in third place.

Andre Heimgartner went to the back of the pack after running wide at turn 1.

Will Brown moved up into 7th place after passing Kai Allen.

Aaron Cameron made contact with Andre Heimgartner which bent the steering on Heimgartner’s car. After repairs he returned to the race last, down in 25th place.

Chaz Mostert also passed Kai Allen dropping him back another spot to 9th place.

On lap 8 Will Brown did the fastest lap of 55.174 seconds.

Kai Allen and Aaron Love received bad sportsmanship flags for exceeding track limits on turn 7 of lap 16.

Ryan Wood repeated his performance of the previous race and took the lead off Cameron Waters on lap 20. It was fast becoming a great weekend for the newbie, Wood.

Wood’s lead didn’t last long. On lap 22 he ran massively wide due to a suspension failure putting Cameron Waters back in the lead. Waters was followed by Matt Payne, Broc Feeney and Will Brown.

Will Brown pitted on lap 24 for 4 tyres in a 7 second stop. Broc Feeney pitted on the next lap, also for 4 tyres in a 7.52 second stop. He came back out on the track in 17th position just in front of Will Brown.

There were 16 cars yet to take pit stops. Once they did the two Red Bull drivers, Broc Feeney and Will Brown took control of the race.

From that point on the challenge was between the two drivers. The leaders were tightly packed and Feeney was not able to break away.

Towards the end of the race Broc Feeney had a slender lead of just 0.527 seconds over Will Brown.

Cameron Waters in 4th position had dropped back and was having issues closing the gap.

Cooper Murray had the same issue as Ryan Wood earlier in the race, a suspension failure and was heading to the garage.

In the final laps Feeney managed to marginally creep ahead, but the 3 front drivers were still tightly packed. They had broken away from the main group behind reducing the pressure but it still felt very intense.  

True to his form, Broc Feeney held up and took the win with 1.576 seconds over his teammate Will Brown. Chaz Mostert was a further 0.415 seconds behind in 3rd place.

Cameron Waters crossed the finish line 5.67 seconds later in 4th place.

For Broc Feeney it was his 4th win of the 2025 Supercars season.

Results for Race 15:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

In Race 16 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.

Broc Feeney got jump off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 83 laps.

Cameron Hill’s car wouldn’t start under its own power so had to be towed to the pitlane and prove it could start on its own. It was unfortunate, he was now a long way behind the others.

David Reynolds lost 3 spots in one manoeuvre which dropped him back to 10th place.

James Courtney was looking to pass David Reynolds, but he couldn’t make the move stick.

Thomas Randle ran wide at turn 6 which allowed David Reynolds to pass and regain 1 lost spot.

Will Brown was 2.3 seconds away from the lead in 4th place but then he dropped 2 spots.

James Golding made contact with David Reynolds at turn 6, then Reynolds made contact with Ryan Wood exiting turn 7.

When they reached double digits laps, the first car to pit in the race was Nick Percat from 24th place.

Broc Feeney was 1.1 seconds ahead of Cameron Waters, with Matt Payne following 0.321 seconds behind.

Chaz Mostert was the first of the top 10 drivers to take his pit stop and returned to the track in 22nd place.

Matt Payne pitted on lap 20 to get clear track and the benefit of the undercut on the front runners. There were 12 cars yet to make their first of two mandatory pit-stops.

Jack le Brocq’s left hand side door came open on its own. He automatically received a mechanical black flag. i.e. official instruction to get it resolved immediately.

On lap 33 Will Brown made contact with James Golding at turn 7. It slowed them momentarily allowing Chaz Mostert to close the gap from behind, but he chose not to pass during that moment of mayhem.

In the middle of the race Kai Allen was the only driver yet to complete his first of 2 stops. Once he pitted Broc Feeney would assume the race lead followed by Ryan Wood, Cameron Waters and then Will Brown.

With 19 laps to go Cooper Murray had stopped on the track due to an electrical problem in car 99 and the first safety car of the weekend was deployed.

Matt Payne and James Courtney were the final 2 cars to execute their second stops.

On lap 74 of 83 Ryan Wood and James Golding made contact and both cars went off track. Ryan Wood managed to get back to the pits for repairs but it couldn’t get done in time. He unfortunately received an NC (Not Complete with no points for the race).

With 7 laps remaining Matt Payne closed in on the race leader Broc Feeney. He was only 0.411 seconds behind and James Courtney was third 2.601 seconds a drift.

Once again Broc Feeney held his number 1 spot and crossed the finish line 0.567 seconds ahead of Matt Payne. It was another 5.2 seconds back to James Courtney in third place.

It was such a tight and epic finish.

Results for Race 16:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Matt Payne – Grove Racing
3rd James Courtney – Snowy River Caravans.

With 2 wins for the weekend Broc Feeney has extended his championship lead out to 72 points over Will Brown.

The Betr Darwin Triple Crown Triple Crown is the next event on June 20 – 22 2025.

ITM Taupo Super 440 2025

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of April 11-13 was the ITM Taupo Super 440, round 3 of the 2025 Supercars championship.

It was held at the Taupo International Motorsport Park in Taupo, New Zealand.

Taupo raceway was first opened in 1959 by the Taupo Car Club. It was basically a dirt track in the countryside with the volcanic mountain Mount Tauhara in the background.

After changing hands in 2022 and finally in 2024 hosted it’s first Australian V8-Supercars event. After this event (in 2025) Supercars will be hosting next year’s NZ event at a different circuit.

This event started on Friday the 11th of April and the weather was sunny all weekend.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Andre Heimgartner was fastest in Practice 1
  • Ryan Wood was fastest in Practice 2
  • Matt Payne was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 8 Matt Payne started on pole position with Brodie Kostecki alongside him.

Matt Payne got the jump off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 37 laps.

Cooper Murray and Cameron Hill came into contact on lap 3. Cameron Hill was later deemed at fault and issues a 15 second time penalty.

After numerous attempts Ryan Wood finally passed Will Davison for 4th place.

Chaz Mostert was turned around by Thomas Randle at turn 1 dropping Mostert from 7th to 21st place. Thomas Randle received a 15 second time penalty for his actions.

Matt Payne then did the fastest lap of the race 1.28.075 seconds. He had a 1.3 second lead over Brodie Kostecki in second place.

Nick Percat was the first to pit on lap 9.

Macauley Jones was slowing approaching turn 2 and finally came to a stop. The safety car was deployed to remove his car because it was in an awkward spot of the turn. Excepting the front runners the whole field took the opportunity to take their pit-stops. The pit lane was chaotic.

The restart was on lap 16 and Matt Payne still had control followed by Cameron Waters and Anton de Pasquale in 3rd place. Kostecki had lost 2nd place when he chose to pit while the race was under safety car.

Ryan Wood passed Thomas Randle for 5th place his next target was Jack le Brocq in 4th place.

It was the middle of the race and Cameron Waters was applying maximum pressure on Matt Payne for the lead.

With 9 laps remaining James Courtney gave Cooper Murray a helping hand off the track. The safety car was not needed so the race continued.

The leading cars remained the same. In the last laps Ryan Wood was desperately attacking Cam Waters for second place. With Waters on the defence, Matt Payne was able to keep well ahead of the two.

Matt Payne’s faultless driving took him over the finish line 4.1 seconds ahead of Cameron Waters. Ryan Wood was right on Waters’ tail just 0.797 seconds behind in 3rd place.

Results for Race 8:

1st Matt Payne – Grove Racing

2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

3rd Ryan Wood – Walkinshaw Andretti United

In Race 9 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

At the start of the race Chaz Mostert got the jump over Brodie Kostecki and led into turn 1 and 2 for the first of 37 laps.

Broc Feeney got away to an unbelievable start from the second row of the grid but soon lost the places he had gained. Will Brown gained 1 spot up to 4th.

Officials were busy investigating a false start for Matt Payne and further back in the pack there was contact between Cooper Murray and David Reynolds.

Brodie Kostecki stuck close to Chaz Mostert in the lead. On lap 18 Kostecki found a gap and used it to overtake Mostert.

In the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was driving aggressively to take back his lead from Brodie Kostecki. It was so aggressive that when Mostert passed Kostecki, Kostecki left the track onto the grass. He kept the chase on Mostert going.

Soon after the two leaders came into the pits. Kostecki made some sort of judgement error and hit the wall reasonably hard coming into pit lane. The right side of his car was pretty smashed in.

As the race was reaching its conclusion, Brodie Kostecki ran wide after a nudge from Chaz Mostert. Mostert stayed in the lead but the incident allowed Will Davison to slip past Kostecki.

With a clear track and clean air Mostert was able to build on his lead. In the end he crossed the finish line 6.476 seconds ahead of Will Davison in 2nd place.  Brodie Kostecki managed to keep 3rd place and came across the line 2.715 seconds later.

Results for Race 9:

1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

2nd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team

3rd Brodie Kostecki – Shell V-Power Racing Team

In Race 10 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position with Anton de Pasquale alongside him.

As they took off Brodie Kostecki got the jump into turn 1 for the first of 61 laps. Anton de Pasquale ran wide and Kai Allen got turned around at turn 1 sending both down the order. Ryan Wood was trying to take the lead off Brodie Kostecki but with both drivers running wide, Cameron Hill was able to overtake them for the lead in one manoeuvre. Brodie Kostecki had now dropped down to 7th place.

Ryan Wood was later issued a time penalty for a driving infringement when trying to overtake Kostecki.

Matt Payne was in 2nd place and was in a prime spot to win the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy for the event. Thomas Randle passed Ryan Wood for 3rd place at turn 1 on lap 2.

On lap 5 the Ryan Wood recorded the fastest lap of the race, 128.5 seconds.

Kia Allen had smoke coming out of the right rear mud guard of car 26. He kept going until he had to come in for his pit stop.

Matt Payne took the race lead at turn 3 on lap 8  and was now followed by Thomas Randle while Cameron Hill dropped into 3rd place.

Further back Brodie Kostecki was keen to regain his position up the front and passed Anton de Pasquale for 6th place.

Macauley Jones was turned around by Cameron Waters on lap 11. Somehow, he managed to rescue himself without the safety car intervening.

The first car to pit was Will Brown in 10th place on lap 12. He returned to the track in 24th place.

In the middle of the race Matt Payne was leading by 1.4 seconds over Cameron Hill. Thomas Randle was back in third 1.9 seconds away from the race lead.

Towards the end of the race Matt Payne was looking strong to claim another victory for the weekend and therefore have enough points to claim the Jason Richards memorial trophy. He had enough of a lead so he wasn’t under immediate threat. He had a clear track and clean air. He only had to focus on maintain his speed and not making any errors of his own.

He crossed the finish line 3.194 seconds ahead of Cameron Hill. It was 5.094 seconds back to Chaz Mostert in 3rd place. After initially losing so much ground, Brodie Kostecki amazingly managed to climb back to 4th place ahead of Thomas Randle in 5th. Although the front runners were spread apart it was still a very exciting finish.

Results for Race 10:

1st Matt Payne – Grove Racing

2nd Cameron Hill – Matt Stone Racing

3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.

The next event is the Snowy River Caravans Tasmania Super 440 May 9 – 11, 2025.

Till I catch ya next time, keep revving!

Mss Melbourne Supersprint 2025

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

Round 2 of the 2025 Supercars championship, the MSS Security Melbourne Supersprint was run Thursday to Sunday, March 13 to 16 2025.

The 4 short races that make up this event were a support category to the famous Australian F1 Grand Prix held at Albert Park, Melbourne.

Supercars have been a support category since 1996, the year after the F1 Grand Prix moved to Melbourne from Adelaide.

As a support category, the Supercars races are kept short (thus the name “SuperSprint”) and are time certain.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Ryan Wood was fastest in Practice 1
  • James Golding was fastest in Practice 2
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Qualifying for all 4 races. That is pretty good going.

In Race 4 Broc Feeney started on pole position and alongside him was teammate Will Brown.

Cameron Waters who won all 3 races at the 1st event of the season (the Sydney 500)  started 22nd on the grid because of a bad run in Qualifying.

Broc Feeney got the jump off the start line and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 19 laps. He was followed by Will Brown and Cameron Hill in 3rd.

A few laps in, yellow flags were flown to warn drivers of “obstacles” ahead. A group of ducks were meandering on the track and must have been a surprise to the race leader Broc Feeney as he came screaming down the track.

Soon after they reached the middle of the race Macauley Jones tapped the back wheels out from under Aaron Cameron. Cameron spun off the track into the sand-trap and got stuck. The first safety car was deployed for his rescue.

On the restart Broc Feeney was still leading. His teammate Will Brown putting in a good challenge. They created a few seconds gap back to the rest of the pack.

Feeney held strong and kept the lead over Will Brown. In the end he crossed the finish line 1.093 seconds ahead of Brown. It was then 3.7 seconds back to Cameron Hill in 3rd place.

A really nice finish for Feeney and Brown of the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team.

Race 4 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Cameron Hill – Matt Stone Racing

For Race 5 Broc Feeney was once again on pole position with Cameron Hill alongside him.

Cameron Hill got the jump off the start line and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 19 laps. Nick Percat got away to an amazing start from position 3 on the grid and tried to go around the outside of Cameron Hill. It didn’t work so he had to stay put for the time being.

Ryan Wood made contact with Jack Le Brocq sending him into the fence at turn 5. The safety car was deployed to remove Le Brocq. He would not be returning to the race.

The restart was on lap 4. The front runners were still the same, Hill, Feeney then Percat.

On lap 7 the next safety car was deployed to rescue David Reynolds out of the turn 1 sandtrap after being hit by Thomas Randle. The second safety car deployment was affecting the race flow as it was such a short race of only 19 laps.

On the restart the leaders had not changed places and the field was tightly packed.

Feeney lost second place to Nick Percat and then lost another spot to his own teammate, Will Brown.

Cameron Hill held his lead from that very first lap. Leaders were packed close together so there was no room for error.

In the end Cameron Hill crossed the finish line a mere 0.574 seconds over teammate Nick Percat. Will Brown follow in at 3rd place .25 of a second later. Now, that is a tight finish!

Race 5 Results:

1st Cameron Hill – Matt Stone Racing
2nd Nick Percat – Matt Stone Racing
3rd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

Will Brown was 2nd on the grid alongside pole sitter Broc Feeney for the start of race 6.

As they took off Will Brown got the jump and led into turn 1 and 2 followed by Broc Feeney for the first of 19 laps.

The first lap turned into a bit of a calamity. Matt Payne was spun around at turn 1. Thomas Randle was also spun around sending him to the very back of the field. David Reynolds got spun around at turn 6. Brodie Kostecki was trying to go around the outside of Ryan Wood but he ran wide at the second last corner losing a few spots. Cooper Murray had a massive lockup after out-breaking himself. James Golding went off the track at turn 11 and got stuck in the gravel trap. The safety car was then deployed and the first lap wasn’t even completed.

Soon after the restart Nick Percat passed Broc Feeney for second place and was 0.508 seconds behind the leader Will Brown.

The second safety car was triggered on lap 7 after Cooper Murray got bogged in the gravel trap at turn 11.

On the restart there was only 4 minutes left on the clock. Will Brown was looking strong for his first race win of the year, while Broc Feeney was being rear gunner so that Nick Percat wasn’t able to attack the leader.

Percat then ran into power steering issues. With less than 4 minutes to go he chose to press on. After all, he was in a podium finish position.

It took the pressure off the two Red Bull Ampol Racing drivers in the lead. Percat was busy staving off Will Davison and Brodie Kostecki’s attempts to take his podium finish.

Will Brown crossed the finish line first and Broc Feeney followed just over half a second later.

Even with the power steering problems, Nick Percat held the other contenders back and took a very well earned 3rd place. He was 4.703 seconds behind Feeney.

It was so tense watching Percat’s last lap and hoping he could hang in there.

Race 6 Results:

1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Nick Percat – Matt Stone Racing

It had already started raining before Race 7 began and conditions were looking hazardous.

Once again Broc Feeney was to start from pole position with Cameron Hill alongside him.

When it was time to start the conditions worsened and the decision was made to start under safety car (rolling start). As they commenced the warm up lap the rain really came down and sheets of water were covering the track.

Due to the busy schedule of the AGP weekend there was no time to ‘wait it out’ and the race was called off.

It was a big disappointment with no points awarded for the final race.

Never mind, we have the Taupo Super 440 coming up on April 11-13.

I can’t wait. Till then, keep revving!

Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 2024

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of October 25 – 27 was the round 11 of the 2024 Supercars Championship, Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 held in Surfers Paradise in Queensland.

The Surfers Paradise street circuit was opened on the 15th March 1991 for the 1991 Gold Coast Indycar Grand Prix. The track layout stretching along the local beaches and other main streets was a tricky 4.47km circuit with 20 turns. In 2010 its length was shortened to 2.96 km with 15 turns.

In 1994 the V8 Supercars started racing at the Gold Coast as a support category to the Indy 300. So, this year marks the 30th Supercars anniversary.

It wasn’t until 2002 that it became an official championship round in the Supercars competition.

Coming into this year’s Gold Coast 500 as the second last event of the year, there were 4 drivers in contention for the championship; Will Brown, Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters.

Things were set to be a super competitive event.

In the pre – race sessions the results were:

  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 1
  • Thomas Randle was Fastest in Practice 2
  • Richie Stanaway was fastest in Qualifying
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

In Race 21 Cameron Waters started on Pole Position with Richie Stanaway alongside him. Season leader, Will Brown started 11th on the grid due to crashing in Qualifying at turn 11.

The first lap was a little messy. Cameron Waters got the jump off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 85 laps and 250kms. The cars back in the pack were crowded with no room so were forced off track at the first chicane. Broc Feeney was one of them with all wheels out of bounds. The manovuer was called into question by fellow driver Thomas Randle. Officials let it go without penalty.

Chaz Mostert moved up to 3rd place. James Golding was battling with Broc Feeney for 4th and 5th. Ryan Wood made contact with Jack le Brocq at turn 11 and ended up in the barrier wall. Wood was able to push on, but Jack le Brocq suffered damage and went straight into the garage to have repairs undertaken.

Richie Stanaway was still in 2nd place behind Cameron Waters on lap 7 but things were going to go badly over the next handful of laps.

First Chaz Mostert overtook Stanaway at turn 11. On the next lap James Golding also passed him at turn 11. Not long after Broc Feeney did the same. This was followed up by Thomas Randle. Richie Stanaway was now moved back from 2nd to 6th place.

Jaxson Evans was the first to pit on lap 20 returning in 23rd place.

The fierce competition between the top 5 drivers continued.

Broc Feeney and Thomas Randle pitted on lap 26 probably in efforts to move out the intensity up front.

James Golding pitted on lap 27. The team couldn’t get the left rear wheel off cleanly costing him time and any chance of a decent result. He was now out of the top 5.

Around the middle of the race Chaz Mostert did the fastest lap, 111.389 seconds.

Cameron Waters was still in the lead but now had Thomas Randle behind him followed by Broc Feeney.

From that point on Cameron Waters kept edging ahead. By the time they were coming closer to the finish he had a 10+ second lead.

Waters made no errors and proved to be uncatchable. He crossed the finish line 9.8 seconds ahead of his teammate Thomas Randle followed by Broc Feeney.

It was an incredible finish.

Race 21Results:

1st Cameron Waters – Monster Castrol Racing

2nd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

In Race 22 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position. Alongside him was Will Brown.

Brodie Kostecki got the jump off the start line and led into turns 1 and 2 over Will Brown for the first of 85 laps.

At turn 11 Anton de Pasquale spun. The car behind could not avoid crashing into him. It had a dominos effect and a total of 8 cars became part of the pile up. Most cars were severely damaged. The safety car was deployed to clear the track of what now looked like a wrecking yard.

All except Anton de Pasquale were able to get repairs and return to the action later. They would of course be at least a lap behind.

The restart was on lap 7. Brodie Kostecki was still leading followed by Will Brown and Chaz Mostert.

On lap 11 James Golding was the first to make a pit stop by choice. His crew, Nulon Racing Team dropped the car on the ground without the right rear wheel on. They had to jack the car up and refit the fourth wheel. The lost time resulted in returning to the race in 20th place.

Officials immediately started an investigation as to why Nulon Racing tried to send a car out with only three wheels. It wasn’t long before they issued a drive through penalty for the error.

Thomas Randle pulled off his impersonation of a pinball machine. He bounced off the tyre barriers from one side of the track to the other through turns 1 and 2. How he got out of it without any damage was just a miracle!

On lap 17 James Courtney’s car looked a mess after the damage sustained in the lap 1 pile up. It didn’t seem to stop him recording the fastest circuit time in the race so far.

Soon after Broc Feeney’s car had smoke coming from the right front corner. It was so noticeable there were concerns but as quickly as it started, it quickly disappeared.

Brodie Kostecki pitted from his leading position on lap 30. There were still 5 cars yet to pit including Will Davison who now had the lead. Before Will Davison was able to take his mandatory pit stop he received a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits going through the back chicanes; turns 8, 9 and 10.

Brodie Kostecki had resumed lead and control by the middle of race. He was followed by Will Brown, Chaz Mostert, and Broc Feeney. They were packed tightly together.

Within the last dozen laps Broc Feeney passed Chaz Mostert to sit behind teammate, Will Brown. Cameron Waters also managed to get by Chaz Mostert to take 4th position. Cameron Waters side-swiped the tyre bundles at turn 1 and 2 losing aerodynamic fittings. It didn’t help the downforce of the car as he made a bid for a podium finish.

With 11 laps to go Brodie Kostecki was looking strong and in a dominant position. I couldn’t believe that he led from start to finish.

Just like at the Bathurst 1000, Brodie Kostecki showed his championship winning form of last year. He drove faultless and increased his lead. Where they were packed close together earlier, he was now creating a noticeable gap.

Kostecki held strong to cross the finish line 3.731 seconds ahead of the series leader Will Brown. Broc Feeney followed close behind in 3rd place 0.443 seconds later.

Race 22 Results:

1st Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

With the results of Race 22 and only one event remaining both Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters are out of championship contention.

The only driver able to challenge the season leader Will Brown is his teammate, Broc Feeney. There is only 108 points between the two. Once again, the final event will be a championship showdown: Will Brown Vs Broc Feeney.

The last and final event on the 2024 Supercars calendar is the Valo Adelaide 500, November 14 – 17 2024.

I hope you will all join me to find out who will be “The 2024 Supercars Champion”. Till then keep revving!

Ned Whiskey Tasmania SuperSprint 2024

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of August 16 – 18 2024 was the Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint, round 8 of the 2024 Supercars Championship. it was held.

Symmons Plains International Raceway in Launceston Tasmania was first opened in March 1960. After the closure of the Longford Road Circuit, it quickly established its own reputation as Tasmania’s home of touring car championship motor racing.

The Symmons Plains International Raceway is 2.4kms with 7 turns. This track has been dominated by Triple Eight Race Engineering in recent years. Triple Eight has won at least one race in every Tasmanian round since its first success in the Apple Isle in 2007 with 27 wins out of 40 starts. The only exception being 2013 when Brad Jones Racing took both races.

Mark Winterbottom reached a milestone in this year’s event. In the second race, he started his 600th ATCC race. Winterbottom’s career spans all the way back to the 2005 Darwin Triple Crown. Congratulations!

As the weekend kicked off the results in the pre-race sessions were as follows:

  • David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 1
  • Ritchie Stanaway was fastest Practice 2
  • Cameron Hill was fastest in Practice 3
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 17 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.

At the start of the race Broc Feeney got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 55 laps.

At turn 6 Matt Payne got turned around by Will Davison which put both drivers at the back of the pack in 23rd and 24th place.

This year’s championship leader Will Brown started 16th on the grid. He moved up 1 place to 15th.

As they completed the opening laps, last year’s season champion, Brodie Kostecki dropped down 1 spot to 4th when Nick Percat took over 3rd place.

Pretty soon Brodie Kostecki lost another spot to Chaz Mostert.

On lap 8 Broc Feeney still had the lead. Cameron Waters was .6 seconds behind in 2nd place. Nick Percat was 1.6 seconds further back in 3rd.

Will Brown was eager to make up for his bad grid positioning (of 16) and now in 12th place. He seemed keen to get up the front where the action was.

The first car to pit in this race was Ryan Wood on lap 20. He came back out in 22nd position.

Cameron Waters in 2nd place was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 27. Broc Feeney stayed out to make the most of his race lead.

Feeney was now followed by Nick Percat in 2nd and Chaz Mostert in 3rd.

Percat and Mostert then chose to pit on the same lap. The returned to the race in 10th and 12th respectively with Cameron Waters between them in 11th place.

Broc Feeney was ordered to pit next time around.

There were 9 cars yet to stop before the pole sitter Broc Feeney would assume the lead. However, Nick Percat’s pit stop time was so quick he came back out in front of Broc Feeney.

Chaz Mostert returned from his pit stop in 3rd place and on lap 34 did the fastest lap time of the race, 51.732 seconds.

Towards the end of the race Chaz Mostert had to regain 3rd place from Cameron Waters.

Chaz knew he was in contention for a podium finish but still put the pressure on to try get second place or a win. That is the mindset of a champion.

It wasn’t until the final few laps that Mostert took an opportunity to pass Broc Feeney. Chaz Mostert was now in 2nd place and chasing Nick Percat for the number 1 spot.

Mostert ran out of time and in the end Nick Percat crossed the finish line 0.614 seconds ahead of him. Broc Feeney followed in at 3rd 1.783 seconds later.

It really was an exciting and tense finish.

Results for Race 17:

1st Nick Percat – Matt Stone Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

In Race 18 Thomas Randle started on pole position. On the front row alongside him was Cameron Waters.

Thomas Randle got the jump off the start line and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 55 laps. He was followed by Cameron Waters, Will Brown and David Reynolds in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place. At turn 4 Thomas Randle ran wide and Cameron Waters took the lead of the race.

Cameron Hill was in the front pack but at turn 6 also ran wide and went off the track.

Last year’s season champ Brodie Kostecki had started 8th on the grid. He moved up through the front runners but when he got to David Reynolds in 4th place he struggled to take over.

On lap 8 Kostecki made another attempt but failed and tapped Reynolds car who then spun off the track. It was a dangerous spot to be stranded and the safety car went out.

The majority of the field took advantage of the “yellow flag” to take their mandatory pit stops.

Brodie Kostecki was not out of trouble yet. When Mark Winterbottom was coming in for his stop, Brodie collided with him damaging his own car. For a moment it looked as if he was going to be out of the race. They did manage to make repairs and he resumed a few laps later.

The race officials investigated the incident and once the race resumed issued Brodie Kostecki a drive thru penalty.

The restart was on lap 12. Cameron Waters was still in control followed by Will Brown and Thomas Randle. Broc Feeney moved up to 6th and Chaz Mostert to 7th place.

When Brodie Kostecki executed his drive through penalty he exceeded the pit lane speed (40kmph) and was given another pit lane penalty. He then received a 3rd drive through penalty for another pit lane infringement. It just wasn’t his day.

On lap 20 Aaron Love and Jaxon Evans made contact with each other. Aaron Love was able to continue but Jaxon Evans was stranded and another safety car was deployed.

The restart was on lap 25. On the next lap Matt Payne received a drive thru penalty for disobeying the red light on the pit lane exit.

Through the middle stages of the race the top 10 positions stayed much the same. Cameron Waters was out front followed by Will Brown and Thomas Randle.

Finally, around lap 37 Broc Feeney created some action. He took over Jack le Brocq to take 5th place. Soon after he passed Bryce Fullwood for 4th place.

With 10 laps to go Thomas Randle ran high and wide allowing Broc Feeney to go up to 3rd place. He was now right behind his teammate Will Brown and probably making Brown and Cameron Waters concerned about keeping him at bay.

With 8 laps left Cameron Waters had a healthy lead of 3.096 seconds over Will Brown.  Broc Feeney was close behind Brown and putting in a challenge for second place.

Thomas Randle gave Broc Feeney a bump at the hairpin turn 4. Both cars spun but stayed on the track. By the time they got their cars facing the right direction and got up to speed, they down the order outside the top 10. Thomas Randle was issued a 15 second time penalty for his actions whish pushed him further back.

Cameron Waters kept edging away from the pack. With clear track there was nothing that could stop him.

By the time he got to the finish line Cameron Waters had 6.3 seconds over Will Brown. Bryce Fullwood followed in 3rd place 1.4 seconds later.

The Randle / Feeney incident was an unexpected turn of events in the last laps. It made for some tense moments at the finish. Unfortunately for them, Feeney came in 15th and Randle 18th. It’s a shame that Randle who was leading earlier on, was on his way to his first professional win ended up so far back. For Feeney who looked like he would have at least a podium finish didn’t earn enough points to stay in 2nd place on the season championship ladder.

Regardless, it was a great one to watch.

Results for Race 18:

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Bryce Fullwood – Brad Jones Racing

Will Brown still leads the championship by 81 points over Chaz Mostert. It’s another 120 points back to Broc Feeney in 3rd place.

The next event is the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 September 13 – 15 2024.

Hope you can join me.

Panasonic air conditioning Sydney Supernight 2024

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of July 19 – 21 2024 the Panasonic Air Conditioning Sydney Supernight was held. It was round 7 of the 2024 Supercars Championship.

The event was held at Sydney Motorsport Park formerly known as Eastern Creek Raceway.

Sydney Motorsport Park was first opened on the 10 November 1990 however, the main event came along in 1992 when the V8 supercars made their first appearance at the circuit. The venue has been host to events such as motorcycle racing, A1 Grand Prix, Touring cars and Muscle Car Masters.

Just 2 days before this year’s event on July 17th 2024, James Courtney announced that he will be retiring from fulltime Supercars racing at the end of season 2025. He is now 44 years old and has been a full time driver since 2006. If he completes next season he will reach the 20 year milestone in Supercars. That is quite an achievement. 

The pre-race sessions started on the Friday. Results were as follows:

  • Ryan Wood was fastest in Practice 1
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Qualifying
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

In Race 15 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Thomas Randle alongside him.

As they took off Thomas Randle got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 51 laps.

As the pack got to turn 2 there was contact between Mark Winterbottom and Macauley Jones. Winterbottom’s car suffered damage and he had to head straight for the pits. Macauley Jones was just a victim in the process but he did manage to keep going.

The top 3 cars were reasonably close to each other. Chaz Mostert started to apply the pressure on his former teammate Cameron Waters in a bid for second place.

It wasn’t long before Chaz Mostert found his opportunity and before turn 7 passed Cameron Waters. Chaz Mostert was now in second but was still 2.079 seconds behind race leader Thomas Randle.

On lap 13 Brodie Kostecki was the first to take his pit stop from 24th place.

As they reached into the 20 something laps Thomas Randle pitted from the lead, followed by Chaz Mostert and then Broc Feeney. While Randle pitted it was Cameron Waters who assumed the lead.

In the middle of the race there were 4 cars yet to still pit. Once they did Chaz Mostert took the race lead. He was followed by Thomas Randle and Anton de Pasquale in third place.

Will Davison showed how eager he was and did the fastest lap of the race, 131.505 seconds.

Chaz Mostert’s experience showed as he defended the lead throughout the rest of the race.

Although he couldn’t fully break away from the pack, Chaz Mostert still managed to cross the finish line 2.6 seconds ahead of Matt Payne. A further 4.5 seconds later Thomas Randle came in to take 3rd place.

Results for Race 15

1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
2nd Matt Payne – Grove Racing
3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

In Race 16 Will Davison started on pole position. Alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

As they took off Will Davison got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 51 laps. At turn 4 Will Davison ran wide giving Chaz Mostert the opportunity to pounce and get to the front of the field.

At turn 8 Broc Feeney ran extremely wide causing him to drop all the way down to 23rd place. It just didn’t seem to be his weekend.

On the next lap at turn 2 David Reynolds got up the inside of Matt Payne to enter the top 10 spots.

It didn’t last long, and Matt Payne re-took 10th place back.

The positions up front had not changed except for Will Brown who made up 1 spot to hold 4th place.

Chaz Mostert had extended his lead out to 2.3 seconds over Will Davison in P2. Matt Payne unbelievably got into 7th spot and stayed side by side to Anton de Pasquale down the entire straight.

David Reynolds got into a bind and was trying to avoid leaving the track. Unfortunately, he made contact with Ryan Wood. Brodie Kostecki was behind the two and had no chance to avoid giving David Reynolds a helping bump off the track. What a mess, Kostecki and Reynolds were now at the back of the pack. Ryan Wood fell back to 13th place (unlucky).

The first car to pit in this race was Broc Feeney. He returned to the track in 25th place.

Cameron Waters and Anton de Pasquale pitted on lap 25.

There were still 3 cars yet to pit. Once they took their mandatory stops, Chaz Mostert assumed the lead.

Once again Chaz held his place and even clocked the fastest lap of the race,131.302 seconds.

With 9 laps to go car 26 Ritchie Stanaway had a clutch issue causing his wheels to spin whilst hoisted on the air-jacks in the pits. They tried to resolve the issue but in the end chose to send him back out to finish the race and earn the points. A much better option than a DNF (Did Not Finish).

Chaz Mostert kept edging away from the rest of the pack and the front runners became more spread out. Mostert took advantage of the clear track and crossed the finish line 8.3 seconds clear of Cameron Waters in second place. It was another 8.9 seconds back to Will Brown in 3rd place.

It was great weekend for the Walkinshaw Andretti United team and their driver Chaz Mostert winning 2 out of 2 races this weekend. It was his third win in the 2024 Supercars season.

A look at the Driver’s Championship points after this event shows Will Brown still holds the number 1 spot. He leads by 105 points over Chaz Mostert in 2nd. Broc Feeney’s bad weekend moved him down a spot from 2nd to 3rd. Things are getting mighty interesting!

On the Team’s Championship scoreboard Red Bull Ampol Racing still lead by 805 points over Walkinshaw Andretti United.

Results for Race 16

1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
3rd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

The next event is the Ned Whiskey Tasmania Supersprint 16 – 18 August 2024.

Betr Darwin Triple Crown 2024

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the June 14 to 16 2024 was the Betr Darwin Triple Crown.

It was round 5 of the Supercars Championship and held at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.

Hidden Valley Raceway was first opened in 1986 and is part of a larger motorsport complex. It has a 1 km drag strip alongside the racetrack itself. Originally it was first used as a dirt track, motorcross track and go kart circuit.

Since 1998 it has held an annual round of the Supercars championship.

Mark Skaife won the first ever Supercars race at the venue.

The second race went down in history. Both Holden Racing Team cars were on P1 and P2 on the starting grid but were non-starters and sitting in the garage with the same engine issue. So in a highly unusual situation the race started with the front row of the grid vacant! I don’t recall this ever happening before or since.

This year’s event saw both Will Davison and James Courtney celebrate their 250th round in Supercars.

The weekend started with typical NT winter day, 32 degrees, hot and sunny.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Will Brown was fastest in Practice 1
  • James Golding was fastest in Qualifying
  • Will Brown was fastest in Practice 2
  • James Golding was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout

As they cars undertook their formation lap for Race 11 Brodie Kostecki who was going to start 11th on the grid had to drive back to the pit lane with engine issues that the team couldn’t resolve. So the defending champ was out of the race even before it started.

James Golding started on pole position, a first in his Supercars career. Alongside him was Broc Feeney.

James Golding got the jump on Feeney off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 48 laps.

Between turns 2 and 3 Broc Feeney had a slide and it looked like he was going to turn himself around but somehow, he managed to regain control stay in position.

The gap between the two leaders was 0.186 seconds.

At turn 6 of lap 4 Broc Feeney took the race lead off James Golding. Mark Winterbottom also went through in one swift motion. As a result the polesitter went from 1st to 3rd in a heartbeat.

Will Brown moved up a spot to 5th place and Chaz Mostert who started 22nd on the grid had gained 6 places and now in 16th position.

Soon after Cooper Murray went off the track at turn 1 after getting a helping hand from Jaxson Evans. Evans received a 15 second time penalty for his helping hand.

A lap later Anton de Pasquale also ran off the track at turn 1 and dropped out of the top 10 down to 11th place.

The first car to pit was Ryan Wood on lap 16. A few laps later Matt Payne and Macauley Jones also pitted.

Broc Feeney had a 2.6 second lead over Mark Winterbottom.

The pole sitter, James Golding had slipped back to 7th place.

On lap 24 while Mark Winterbottom and Will Brown were in the pits Broc Feeney was left out on track to do the fastest lap of the race, 108.219  seconds.  He had a lead of 8.4 seconds over Cameron Waters with 8 cars still to take their pit stop.

With 9 laps to go Broc Feeney still had the lead over Mark Winterbottom. Meanwhile Chaz Mostert who started 22nd on the grid was up to 7th place after passing 16 cars on track.

As they counted down the final laps the top 3 places were unchanged with Broc Feeney still in command with cars spread out.

There was no way they could catch Broc Feeney and he never let them gain on him all the way to the finish line. He took the win 8.6 seconds clear of Mark Winterbottom in second place, then it was 1 second back to Will Brown in third. It was an amazing finish.

Results for Race 11

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Mark Winterbottom – Team 18
3rd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

In Race 12 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Brodie Kostecki alongside him.

Matt Payne had electrical problems and didn’t manage to make it out on track in time for the formation lap. The Grove Racing team managed to resolve the issue but had to start the final race of the weekend from the pit lane.

As they took off Broc Feeney got jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 48 laps. Brodie Kostecki had a bad start and Will Brown moved past him to take 2nd position.

As they made their way through lap 1 Andre Heimgartner hit the back of Cooper Murray’s car and bounced up and over the top of him. Bits of cars flew everywhere, both had extensive damage but were able to make their way back to the pits for repairs. The safety car was deployed so the debris could be cleared off the track.

The restart was on lap 4 but back in the pack there was chaos. The green ‘restart flag’ was waved at one only spot instead of the multiple locations around the track. The front runners could see it but the cars further back couldn’t.  As engineers started communicating to their drivers that the race was green some drivers started to speed up but others were still uninformed and sticking to the safety speed limit of 80kmph. It was a mess and looked like there were going to be collisions in the confusion. Luckily, there were no incidents.

The leaders had a good lead on the rest of the pack. Will Brown was putting a lot of pressure on Broc Feeney, but he didn’t want to relinquish the lead.

Broc Feeney soon extended his lead out to 1.3 seconds. On lap 12 he had clear track and clocked the fastest lap of the race, 107.679 seconds.

The first 2 cars to pit were David Reynolds and Nick Percat on lap 18. They returned to the race in 23rd and 24th place.

At this stage Andre Heimgartner received a pit lane penalty for not maintaining the safety speed of 80kph after the incident during lap 1.

In the middle of the race Brodie Kostecki came into the pits from 3rd place and returned to the track in 11th place.  

Broc Feeney came in on lap 26 which temporarily handed the lead to his teammate Will Brown. At this stage there were 10 cars yet to pit including Will Brown. Once those cars took their stops, Broc Feeney would assume the lead again.

Broc Feeney and Will Brown kept edging ahead of the pack. When the final car to pit peeled off the track the 2 Red Bull Ampol Racing cars assumed 1st and 2nd place with a gap of 2.4 second between Broc Feeney and Will Brown. Meanwhile Brodie Kostecki in 3rd position was 8.8 seconds behind.

Broc Feeney and Will Brown were not satisfied and with clear track increased their lead over the rest of the pack.

In the end they crossed the finish line 1.2 seconds apart but a phenomenal 17+ seconds ahead of Brodie Kostecki in 3rd place. It was a great finish to the weekend for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team.

Results for Race 12

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

3rd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport

Congratulations to Red Bull Ampol Racing. Their drivers Broc Feeney taking a win in both races for the event and Will Brown taking a 3rd and 2nd place.

Will Brown still leads the championship, but Broc Feeney’s double win closed the score gap to only 108 points.

The next event is the NTI Townsville 500 on 5th – 7th July 2024.

I hope you can join me. Until then, Live it, Breathe it, Dream it, Drive it!

ITM Super 400 Taupo New Zealand 2024

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!              

On the weekend of 19 – 21 April was the ITM Taupo Super400 held at the Taupō International Motorsport Park in New Zealand.

It was round 3 of the 2024 Supercars Championship and was the first time that Supercars had raced at this new venue.

The Taupō International Motorsport Park circuit first began life in 1959 when the Taupo Car Club carved out a short dirt track to the northwest of the town. Nestled in open countryside with the spectacular volcanic mountain of Mountain Tauhara as the backdrop, the track was soon asphalted and become a bustling venue for the club’s activities. The track length is 3.3 kms with 14 turns.

The event marked a special milestone for David Reynolds starting his 200th round in Supercars.

Last year’s champion Brodie Kostecki also had his 100th race start in Supercars.

The event started on the Friday. The weather was sunny as the weekend kicked off, but temperamental New Zealand weather was wet and miserable on the Saturday. It changed again and was dry for Sunday.

There were two races, 60 laps (200kms) each.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
  • Matt Payne was fastest in Qualifying
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the top 10 Shootout

In Race 7 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Will Brown alongside him in P2.

At the start of the race Will Brown got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 60 laps.

Tim Slade had a great start from P3 and tried to go in-between Will Brown and Cameron Waters. He made contact with Cameron Waters and both drivers spun around before the first turn. Cameron Waters was able to get his car back to the pits for repairs and return to the race later.  Tim Slade wasn’t so lucky. He was stranded in the middle of the track and the safety car was deployed to clean up. Unfortunately, the damage was so severe Tim Slade was not able to return to the race.

Before the safety car could be deployed Matt Payne and Broc Feeney made contact and spun around at the first turn. It was also immediately investigated to see who was at fault.

Later the stewards found Tim Slade at fault but couldn’t issue a penalty as he was already out of the race. Matt Payne received a 15 second time penalty.

The restart was on lap 5 and Will Brown still had control with a slender lead of 0.688 seconds followed by Andre Heimgartner and Chaz Mostert. Meanwhile the cars further back in the pack were struggling in the wet conditions.

The first car to pit in was Nick Percat on lap 6 from 23rd place .

The drivers back in the pack were finding it difficult to deal with the spray coming up from other cars.

Chaz Mostert did the fastest lap of the race 136.291 in third place. He was 1.3 seconds away from the race leader Will Brown.

Bryce Fullwood got spun around at turn 11 by Jack le Brocq. Fullwood couldn’t get going again because he had no oil pressure. The safety car was deployed to get his car out of the way.

The majority of the field pitted under yellow except for Nick Percat who pitted on lap 6.

Nick Percat was issued a 15 second time penalty for doing 90kmph when the race was under yellow (FCY) and he should have been doing 80kmph.

On the restart Andre Heimgartner assumed control of the race followed by Will Brown and Chaz Mostert. Meanwhile, James Courtney passed Thomas Randle for 7th place.

Will Brown in second place started closing in on the lead.

Brodie Kostecki turned James Courtney in a tussle and Kostecki was issued a 15 second time penalty at his next stop.

Chaz Mostert got up the inside of Will Brown for second place. Will Brown was then under pressure from behind by Will Davison.

By this stage Broc Feeney made it into the top 10 positions.

Chaz Mostert was now only 0.364 seconds behind the lead.

Suddenly the nut from Chaz Mostert’s right rear wheel came off. After the next turn the wheel made its own bid for freedom rolling down the track on its own. What an unusual set of circumstances! He managed to limp back to the pits on three wheels to get a fourth one but it took him out of contention for the race.

With 8 laps to go Andre Heimgartner was looking strong with a 2.052 second lead.

He was being followed by the 2 Shell V-Power Racing Fords of Will Davison and Anton de Pasquale.

Andre Heimgartner kept his spot and crossed the finish line with a 1.171 second win over Will Davison followed by Anton de Pasquale 1.4 seconds behind.

Results for Race 7

1st Andre Heimgartner – Brad Jones Racing
2nd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing
3rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing

In Race 8 Matt Payne started on pole position with Broc Feeney alongside him.

As they took off Matt Payne got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 60 laps.

Chaz Mostert had an unusually bad start and immediately lost 6 places taking him all the way down to 15th place.

After a few laps Matt Payne edged ahead to have a 1 second lead over Broc Feeney, followed by Anton de Pasquale in third place.

Will Brown was busting to get in on the action and was putting pressure on Brodie Kostecki in 4th place.

Within the next few laps Will Brown finally managed to get by Brodie Kostecki. His next target was Anton de Pasquale 2.5 seconds ahead in 3rd place.

On lap 13 Broc Feeney found the opportunity to take the race lead off Matt Payne and gained track position.

The first car to pit was David Reynolds on lap 13 coming in from 24th place (the back of the field).

After chasing Broc Feeney for a few laps and making no headway Matt Payne chose to pit. This gave Anton de Pasquale second place 1.8 seconds behind the lead.

Soon after Will Brown got up the inside of Matt Payne who was back in 3rd place. Will Brown now had 1.5 seconds to make up to take Anton de Pasquale in second place.

By the middle of the race the front of the field became more spread out. Broc Feeney had a 2.6 second lead over Anton de Pasquale. Will Brown in 3rd was 2 seconds further behind.

Chaz Mostert was trying to make up for lost ground at the start of the race. He got up the inside of Cameron Hill and was now in 10th place.

At lap 30 Will Brown was significantly faster than the two leaders and gained enough ground to be right on Anton de Pasquale’s tail. It wasn’t too long before Will Brown passed him to take second place.

Broc Feeney and Will Brown were looking strong to score another 1 2 finish.

On lap 48 Will Brown did the fastest lap of the race 127.920. The two leaders had edged so far ahead the gap back to Anton de Pasquale in 3rd place was 16+ seconds.

With 9 laps to go Will Brown was driving so fast Broc Feeney was slowing him down. The opportunity came and Will Brown passed his teammate Broc Feeney for the lead.

Further back in the pack Chaz Mostert re-entered the top 10 and was soon in 7th place.

James Golding who started in 17th on the grid moved into 6th place (a hike of 11 spots).

On the last lap Brodie Kostecki made contact with Richie Stanaway and received a 15 second time penalty (added to his post race finish time). It edged him out of the top 10 to end up in 12th place.

The leaders once again were spread out. Will Brown had control and confidently raced to the finish line with a 3.358 seconds lead clear of his teammate Broc Feeney in 2nd place.

The Jason Richards trophy is awarded to the round winner. Although Anton de Pasquale finished 3rd in both races it still made him the highest points scorer. A great result for him and the Shell V-Power Racing team. Congratulations!

Results for Race 8

1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Anton de Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing

Will Brown is still leading the championship with a 71 point lead over his teammate Broc Feeney.

The next event is the Perth Supersprint running from the 17th – 19th May 2024.

I hope you can join me.

Until then, to all you Supercars fans around the world KEEP REVVING!