Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!
On the weekend of 4th to the 6th of May 2018 was the Perth Supersprint at Barbagallo Raceway, Western Australia.
It’s interesting to note Will Davison started his 400th race in Supercars which is an awesome milestone to reach. Also interesting to note, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup started 12th and 14th on the grid respectively due to not making it into Q3. That meant that Craig Lowndes was the only Triple 8 car to get in get into the top 10 starting 8th on the grid. Rick Kelly had to start last at the back of the grid for Race 11 due to having an engine failure in Qualifying.
In practice 1 Andre Heimgartner was fastest for Nissan Motorsport in car 7.
In practice 2 Scott McLaughlin was fastest in car 17.
In practice 3 Will Davison was fastest in car 400.
In race 11 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Cameron Waters. At the start of the 50 lap race Scott McLaughlin got jump on Cameron Waters into turn 1 which I am sure he was happy with that.
Fabian Coulthard was not far behind his teammate early on but because Fabian Coulthard was battling Mark Winterbottom it allowed Scott McLaughlin to pull away by 3 seconds.
If Mark Winterbottom was able to get by Fabian Coulthard earlier than what he did, Scott McLaughlin wouldn’t have had a 3 second margin on everybody else.
Jack Le Brocq made the choice to come in so that Craig Lowndes wouldn’t have to double stack.
Anton De Pasquale in car 99 got a 10 second time penalty for a false start due to being outside of the start grid marking where he should have been positioned. His team Erebus Motorsports owner, Betty Klimenko was not in Perth due to her having the flu. I am sure he was happy she was not there to see it happen. It was an unfortunate mistake.
Commentator, Mark Skaife didn’t know whether James Courtney was coming into the pit lane or staying out for another lap but he was. Then as he was coming up to the pit lane entry James Courtney got spun by his former teammate, Garth Tander which would have made James Courtney not happy at all.
In the middle of the race as Chaz Mostert was coming in for his final pit stop he got turned around by Jamie Whincup. Chaz Mostert shook his head. He too wasn’t happy.
The Barbagallo raceway is full of sand which means if you get stuck and bogged you can’t get out without help.
Surprisingly there were no Vodafone Safety Car Periods because the drivers who went off track somehow managed to get back on with no problem.
Towards the end of race Scott McLaughlin was leading the race with a 5 second lead over Mark Winterbottom in 2nd place. The end of the race was really exciting! It Gave Scott McLaughlin his 3rd race win of the year so far and he is the still the championship leader by 158-point lead over Shane Van Gisbergen. Scott McLaughlin now has 1247 points over his closest competitor which is still Shane Van Gisbergen on 1089. Jamie Whincup who led the Championship by just 11 points going into Phillip Island, he is now 268 points adrift of Scott McLaughlin. Craig Lowndes is in 4th in the points and only 194 points from Scott McLaughlin.
Jamie Whincup had crossed the finish line 6th behind Craig Lowndes, but after getting a 5 second penalty for turning Chaz Mostert around at turn 7 he was dropped from 6th to 11th in the results after the end of the race.
Tim Blanchard had a DNF (Did Not Finish) otherwise known as NC (Not Complete). So he was the only car out of 26 to not finish the race.
Results for race 11
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Mark Winterbottom – Tickford Racing
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
4th Tim Slade – Freightliner Racing
5th Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.
In Race 12 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position. Alongside him was Jamie Whincup.
Interesting to note in race 12 Fabian Coulthard started down in position number 17. Scott McLaughlin, Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander started in positions 19th, 25th and 26th. It was a surprise to see them in those positions as they all normally start within the top 10 spots.
Jamie Whincup got the jump on Shane Van Gisbergen due to him not getting the right amount of wheel spin. As a matter of fact, Shane Van Gisbergen nearly bogged down off the front row from Position 1.
In the early laps Todd Hazelwood and Garth Tander made contact with James Golding. The safety car was despatched and the race went to ‘yellow’.
James Golding and Garth Tander are teammates so I am sure this would’ve not made Garry Rogers, their team boss very happy at all.
Unlike the other drivers taking the opportunity to pit, Will Davison didn’t want to double stack. He chose to stay out on the track and got to lead race 12 in his 400th race. It must have been extra nice for him on this occasion.
Tim Blanchard looked like he was going to make contact with Will Davison but for the sake of Will Davison thankfully didn’t.
A short time later, Scott Pye got spun around by Richie Stanaway.
Mark Skaife was quite surprised that Scott McLaughlin didn’t end up in drama throughout the race because of where he started on the grid. The idea being that, to make his way to the front he was going to push hard and possibly take risks.
Scott McLaughlin didn’t think he had a chance to win race 12.
I was so proud of the effort Craig Lowndes made to start from 25th and finish 3rd. Well done! Great effort mate!
Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton couldn’t believe how many cars and how many positions he had gained, 21 in total.
I couldn’t believe Scott McLaughlin missed all the carnage on track and managed to keep his car straight without putting a scratch on it.
Fabian Coulthard got pit priority because Scott McLaughlin started in 19th.
Jack Le Brocq also got pit priority because Craig Lowndes started in position 25.
In the middle of the race Tim Slade went off the race track between turns 3 and 4. Shane Van Gisbergen was tight in behind him and had to take evasive action to not hit Tim Slade’s ZB Holden Commodore.
Towards the end of the race the finish things became very exciting. David Reynolds went off track on approach to turn 7 which could have given 2nd place to Craig Lowndes. It looked bad for David Reynolds but he surprisingly made it out of the sand trap. If he had decided to put his foot on the brake pedal at that moment he would surely have been bogged in the sand.
Scott McLaughlin proved his abilities. He moved up 18 spots from 19th to 1st.
Craig Lowndes started 25th moved up to 3rd which in total is 22 position gained. He received 129 points for that race and in is still 4th in terms of the championship, 194 points behind Scott McLaughlin.
Scott McLaughlin’s head to head wins in races 11 and 12 gives him a 158 point lead over Shane Van Gisbergen. Another amazing weekend for Scott McLaughlin.
In the next race at Winton Motor Raceway, Lee Holdsworth will start his 400th race in Supercars. Congratulation Lee Holdsworth, I’m looking forward to it almost as much as you!
Results for race 12
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport
3rd Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.