Tag Archives: Queensland raceway

Century Batteries Ipswich Super440 2025

Hi to all you Supercars Fans Around the world!

On August 8 – 10 was the Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440. It was round 8 of the 2025 Supercars Championship and the final round of the sprint cup.

The event was held at the Queensland Raceway located in the suburb of Willowbank in the city of Ipswich, Queensland.  It was first opened in 1999 and hosts an annual Supercars event.

Craig Lowndes holds the record for the most wins at the Queensland Raceway with 12 victories. He is also the only driver to have competed in every Supercars round at the circuit.

This year the Ipswich Super 440 marked special milestones for two drivers. James Courtney started his 600th race and Cameron Waters started his 300th.

The weekend kicked off with the pre-race sessions. The results were:

  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 1
  • Will Brown was fastest in Practice 2
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Qualifying

As they did the formation lap to take their place on the grid for Race 23 Chaz Mostert’s brake pedal gave way. He had to head into the garage to resolve the problem before they even started. After repairs he started from the pitlane a few laps behind everyone else.

Broc Feeney started on pole position with teammate Will Brown alongside him. Feeney got the jump off the start line and led through turns 1 and 2 for the first of 39 laps.

By the start of lap 2 Broc Feeney already had a lead of 1.180 seconds. Will Brown had fallen back to 4th place after Kai Allen and Ryan Wood got past him.

By lap 3 Broc Feeney had a 2.050 second lead followed by Kai Allen in 2nd place.

Andre Heimgartner was the first car to pit on lap 4 if you exclude Mostert, who was in the garage before the race even started.

On lap 5 Brodie Kostecki got up the inside of Anton de Pasquale for 5th place behind Will Brown. Meanwhile, Broc Feeney had nearly doubled his lead time to 4.065 seconds over Kai Allen.

Jack le Brocq ran wide at turn 3 but he was able to get back on track unassisted but dropped back to 22nd place.

Will Davison forced Jack le Brocq off the track and was later issued a 15 second time penalty.

Ryan Wood pitted on lap 19 from 3rd place along with Nick Percat and Richie Stanaway.

By the middle of the race Broc Feeney had increased his lead to a whopping 9.049 seconds. His teammate Will Brown had worked his way back into 2nd place. To avoid the possibility of a double stack in the pits with Feeney, Brown came in early on lap 24.

On lap 31 with 8 laps remaining, Broc Feeney was ripping up the track in the lead and recorded the fastest lap, 109.263 seconds.

Lap 36 saw David Reynolds along with Chaz Mostert in the sand trap. The safety car was deployed while the 2 cars were rescued.

Under “safety conditions”, drivers are limited to 80kph and must stay in formation behind the safety car. Unfortunately, this completely demolished Broc Feeney’s incredible lead.

As they bunched up and slowly trailed the safety car they reached the end of the 39 lap race, without any opportunity for last second competition.

Broc Feeney crossed the finish line first, followed by Kai Allen and then Ryan Wood.

Race 23 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Kai Allen – Grove Racing
3rd Ryan Wood – Walkinshaw Andretti United

In Race 24 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Ryan Wood alongside him.

Broc Feeney got the jump off the start line for the first of 39 laps.

Will Brown passed Ryan Wood at turn 1. As the rest of the pack came through there was contact between Brodie Kostecki, Jack le Brocq, Cooper Murray, Cameron Crick, Aaron Cameron, Jaxson Evans and Cameron Hill. There was a mess of cars all over the place including the gravel trap. Some were not able to get going again and the safety car was deployed.

The restart was on lap 4 with the top 3 places unchanged. Jamess Courtney who navigated his way through the lap 1 chaos had moved up 10 spots to 15th after starting at the back of the pack.

Amongst others, Brodie Kostecki was still in the garage from the lap 1 incident.

Meanwhile, the officials investigated Broc Feeney for lurching forward before the race start. They issued him a 5 second time penalty for a ‘false start’ which he had to serve during his next pit stop.

Possibly out of frustration at receiving a time penalty, Broc Feeney recorded the fastest circuit time of 109.782 seconds on lap 8.

The first 2 cars to pit were Bryce Fullwood and Matt Payne on lap 14.

By the middle of the race Broc Feeney still maintained the number 1 spot. However, the race leaders were still yet to pit while everybody else had taken their mandatory stops.

With 17 laps to go Broc Feeney pitted and served his additional 5 second penalty. This allowed Will Brown to take over as race leader.

Feeney was on the charge chasing down Will Brown. They were both way ahead of the others. Feeney really wanted the win but Will Brown held strong to the end and crossed the finish line first by a margin of 0.940 seconds. It was a huge 8.3 seconds later that Ryan Wood led the rest pack across the finish line for 3rd place.

The final chase between teammates Feeney and Brown was a real nail biter!

Race 24 Results:

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

For the 3rd time out of 3 races Broc Feeney started on pole position. Alongside him was Ryan Wood.

As they took off Broc Feeney led Ryan Wood and Will Brown through the first of the 63 laps in the race.

It wasn’t long after the start that the forecasted rain arrived. Regardless of the forecast, I don’t think anyone was prepared for it to be bucketing down like it was. All the cars had slick (dry weather) tyres on. It was going to get messy.

In the first of many incidents caused by the wet weather, Ryan Wood chasing the leader Broc Feeney, almost spun a full 360 as they went through a turn. Somehow, he managed to stay on track.

James Courtney was the first driver to pit on lap 4 to change onto wet weather tyres. He rejoined in 26th place.

Will Davison made contact with Jack le Brocq and was given a 5 second time penalty.

On lap 10 Broc Feeney recorded the fastest lap so far, 109.976 seconds. Not a bad result considering the conditions.

Chaz Mostert in 7th place was the first of the front runners to pit.

Leader, Broc Feeney pitted on lap 29 and came back out onto the circuit in 4th place. The strategy was perfect. The 3 drivers ahead were still yet to pit. When they did Feeney would once again have the lead.

Cameron Crick was slid off the track and got bogged in a sand trap at turn 6. The safety car was deployed so Crick’s car could be removed.

On the restart Broc Feeney had already passed Ryan Wood for 4th place and he had 3 more cars to pass to get to the race lead.

By the middle of the race everybody had completed their second stops and it was a sprint to the finish.

With 26 laps to go Broc Feeney only had 2 cars to pass to regain the race lead.

Shortly after Anton de Pasquale had smoke coming out of the back of the car.

Will Brown got turned around at turn 3 by Ryan Wood, dropping Brown from 5th all the way down to 23rd position.

Soon Feeney was just 0.386 seconds off Cameron Waters in the lead.

With 20 laps remaining Broc was back in the lead. He remained cool under pressure and made no mistakes.

As it got closer to the race ending, Feeney kept inching ahead.

He crossed the finish line 8.809 seconds ahead of Cam Waters. Kai Allen earned 3rd place about 1 ½ seconds later.

What a great finish for the finale of the weekend.

Race 25 results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
3rd Kai Allen – Grove Racing.

Broc Feeney won the sprint cup and the golden ticket to the finals. He also has a 337 points lead over Will Brown in the season championship ladder.

The teams are now preparing for the Enduro cup at the Bend and Bathurst.

The next event is the Air Touch 500 at The Bend September 12 – 14, 2025.

Century Batteries Ipswich Supersprint 2019 Supercars

HI to all you Supercars fans around the World!

On the weekend of the 26th to the 28th of July 2019 was the Century Batteries Ipswich Supersprint.

This Queensland raceway is home territory to the legend Craig Lowndes where he has had 12 race wins through his career. Considering that this is the 23rd Supercars event at this venue, Craig Lowndes’ stats go prove why he is a legend.

This is not to say it is a ‘friendly’ track to everyone. In 2005 Jason Richards had a massive rollover after Paul Morris made contact with him. At the same event Cameron McLean also rolled in the same section of the track. In 2010 Mark Winterbottom had a huge crash that I am sure still sticks in his mind.

Heading into the weekend Scott McLaughlin leads the championship by 292 points over his teammate, Fabian Coulthard. If there is going to be any challenges for the championship, this weekend is the time to make a move.

As it turned out Scott McLaughlin ruled in the pre-race sessions; Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 1, 2 & 3 and then again for the Armour All Qualifying.

In race 19 he started on pole position, alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

At the start of the 39-lap race Scott McLaughlin didn’t want to have any contact with Jamie Whincup so he let him go at turn 2.

By the end of the opening lap Scott McLaughlin went from 1st to 4th

There was contact between Will Davison and Scott McLaughlin which was not good. I thought that Scott McLaughlin would have had damage but somehow he didn’t.

Scott McLaughlin’s troubles were not over. Later he had a 9.2 second pit stop due to a jammed left front wheel nut. It surely affected his result at the finish line slipping from pole position to 4th.

Lee Holdsworth had a massive slide but saved it, which was super impressive.

Scott Pye had contact with another car which resulted in problems in the pits later on when removing the left rear wheel. He dropped 7 positions and finished 21st.

Jamie Whincup had a 4.1 second stop. Excepting pit stops, Jamie Whincup held his lead throughout the race.

Fabian Coulthard didn’t have a great race at all. He started 9th on the grid and finished 10th.

As they crossed the finish line, no one else could catch the top 3 drivers; Jamie Whincup with a 2 + second lead over Will Davison, then Chaz Mostert  following a further 3.87 seconds later.

Although no safety car was deployed during the race, Tim Slade and Macauley Jones were both NC’s.

It was a convincing win for Jamie Whincup whose last race win was the Sandown 500 in 2018. His tally now reaches 114 wins from 484 races. 

Results for Race 19

1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Will Davison – 23 Red Racing.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.

The unusual result for Scott McLaughlin in race 19 didn’t seem to affect him the next morning. He was fastest in practice 4 and Qualifying, earning him pole position for race 20. That is his 13th pole start this year.

In race 20 Scott McLaughlin in pole position had Chaz Mostert alongside him.

At the start of the 200 Km, 65 lap race Chaz Mostert tried to go around the outside of the Championship leader but he wasn’t able to and had to pull back in behind.

Scott McLaughlin led the whole way excepting in his 2 pit stops.

Fabian Coulthard had a shocking weekend because he didn’t qualify in the top ten on Sunday.

After such a positive result in Saturday’s race Will Davison drove with inspiration and seemed to really want to get back to back podiums. However, he just wasn’t able to move up from his starting position of 5.

By the middle of race Shane Van Gisbergen had taken over Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert. Now in second place he was putting pressure on Scott McLaughlin for the race lead.

In the last laps Shane Van Gisbergen stayed right on Scott McLaughlin’s tail but he wasn’t given any opportunity to take advantage of.  They crossed the finish line just 0.7 seconds apart and nearly 10 seconds ahead of their closest rival, Chaz Mostert.

Results for Race 20

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.

Scott McLaughlin got pinged for doing his post race burnouts in the wrong spots.

He also got fined $1000 for taking a poster on to the podium.

https://www.motorsport.com/v8supercars/news/mclaughlin-fine-poster-podium-burnout/4502597/

 

https://autoaction.com.au/2019/07/30/infamous-podium-poster-to-raise-funds-for-charity

The next event is the OTR Supersprint at the Bend in South Australia on the 23rd to the 25th of August 2019.

Please feel free on how the Ipswich event was via my Facebook Fanpage.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

Coates Hire Ipswich Supersprint 2018 Supercars

Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 20th to the 22nd of July 2018 was the Coates Hire Ipswich Supersprint.

This was a weekend of some unusual events and some big fines for drivers and teams with Chaz Mostert losing a front position on the grid. Also, Jamie Whincup and the Erebus Team received fines for some strange behaviour.

This weekend Russell Ingall was out on track in Shane Van Gisbergen’s car for the additional co-driver session. He was sitting in for Earl Bamber who is still overseas racing on other events.

Russel Ingall is like the ‘go-to man’ when someone needs an extra driver. He is always happy to get there.

Jamie Whincup did a practice start in the wrong spot. It was a poor decision and received $1,000 fine with $500 suspended to the end of the year.

The Erebus team was also fined but much more severely, $10,000 with $5,000 suspended to the end of the 2019 season. This was for an infringement during Anton De Pasquale’s pit stop. The car was dropped while an Erebus crew member was still working on the front left wheel. The mechanic was knocked to the ground but apparently not injured. I guess it’s one of those things where the person at the wheel (on the right side of the car) has no way of knowing what is going on below at the front left. It is one hell of a fine. Fair or unfair? What do you think? If you have a point of view post it on https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/

Will Davison revealed the new sponsor signage on his car from Milwaukee. The change also meant he was issued with a new car number, 120 (from his old number 230).

In race 19 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position.

Chaz Mostert was supposed to be alongside pole but was penalised for blocking Shane Van Gisbergen in Qualifying, so his start position was shuffled from 2nd to 5th. As a result Fabian Coulthard joined his teammate on the grid front row.

At the start of the 39-lap race Scott McLaughlin didn’t get the ideal start and I was sure Fabian Coulthard would take the lead. However, even with a bad start Scott McLaughlin still has the speed and skill that is hard to contend with and he managed to hold his number 1 position.

Fabian Coulthard was cheered on by his partner, Becky Lamb and their kids who attended the races over the weekend.

I couldn’t believe the amazing start that Shane Van Gisbergen got. After qualifying 8th on the grid, he was in the 3rd spot by turn 2. I thought it was an amazing piece of driving. Well done Shane Van Gisbergen.

David Reynolds was pulling out all stops to try and stay in championship contention. If he wants this to happen he will have to prove himself all the way to the end of the season. As commentator Mark Skaife said, that it is pretty questionable because he is too far behind in terms of points.

Garth Tander and Rick Kelly spent some quality time up close and personal as they battled for position 5 and 6.

In the middle of the race Craig Lowndes was on the charge to get to the front of the field from his qualifying position of 10th. It worked out well and he did finish 3rd. It seems Queensland Raceway is his cup of tea. This is his 23rd podium finish on this track.

During the telecast, commentator Mark Larkham talked about the introduction of Ford Mustang for the 2019 season. That ought to shake things up a bit. They will not come into the game without the intention of winning so the competition will be tough.

Scott McLaughlin once again showed his stuff and was the race winner earning 150 points to his season tally. As a result this extends his championship lead from what was 131 points to 143 points. Scott McLaughlin! You missed out on the championship last year by bad luck. Will 2018 be your year?

Results for race 19

1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

In race 20 once again, Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

At the start of the 65 lap race James Courtney, Scott Pye and Mark Winterbottom all made contact which resulted in a lot of damage. All three were forced to return to the pits for repairs.

Shane Van Gisbergen led the entire way. I was happy to finally see a Triple 8 car up front instead of Scott McLaughlin.

Craig Lowndes came in to get his first pit stop out of the so he wouldn’t have double stack with Jack Le Brocq. I think was a good strategy that he must keep in mind because if the Vodafone safety car was deployed then Craig Lowndes would have to double stack behind Jack Le Brocq which can cause serious loss in track time.

Soon after the start Nick Percat went off the race track at turn 1 due to a flat left front tyre.

Fabian Coulthard took the opportunity to come into the pits while teammate Scott McLaughlin was running 2nd and staying out to maintain track position.

Chaz Mostert also stayed out early on for the same reason because he was racing near the front.

After the incident at the start causing Mark Winterbottom to spend repair time in the pits, he was able to rejoice on return to the track even though a couple of laps behind race leader Shane Van Gisbergen. I personally was quite surprised that Mark Winterbottom was able to get back out there.

James Courtney on the other hand did not re-join the race because he had too much damage to continue.

Garth Tander and Rick Kelly were once again battling it out this weekend. In race 19 it was for 5th and 6th, this time it was for positions 9th and 10th.

In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin was trying to catch Shane Van Gisbergen. Scott McLaughlin might have the speed to earn him all his pole positions but out on the track Shane Van Gisbergen is a hard man to beat.

As the race came to its end Chaz Mostert was running 3rd under heavy pressure from Jamie Whincup who is never happy without a podium finish. Chaz Mostert kept him at bay and kept his position to the end.

Shane Van Gisbergen who led the entire race came across the line triumphantly more than 2 seconds ahead of Scott McLaughlin.

Results for Race 20

1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
3rd Chaz Mostert – Tickford Racing.
4th Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

The next event is the Red Rooster Sydney SuperNight 300 on the 3rd and 4th of August 2018.

The funniest moment of weekend was after Neil Crompton had finished interviewing Craig Lowndes. Craig Lowndes (having grown up as a fan of Greg Murphy) went to the port-a-loo yelling ‘5 minutes’ whilst acting out a tantrum in jest of a Greg Murphy incident at Bathurst back in 2002. Crompton immediately got the joke and had a good laugh.

 

Coates Hire Ipswich Supersprint 2017

Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the Weekend of the 28th to the 30th of July, 2017 was the Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint.

In Qualifying for race 15 Scott McLaughlin got on his 2nd run to try and improve his time. He zoomed past 8 or 9 slower cars out on track, most moving out of the way for him. Later in the lap he had to pull back for safety as he came across Alex Davison right in his path. It was a close call and forced him to abort his qualifying lap. Post race there were many comments made about better race control to avoid such high risk situations.

For the main game it was a special day for Todd Hazelwood making his debut in the V8 Supercars Championship. He joins the ‘main game’ coming up from the Dunlop Super2s under sponsorship from Bigmate Racing.

Another interesting point is that during the Telecast on Friday, Saturday and Sunday on Fox sports 5 channel 506, there was a drone following the cars around the track. It is something that I had not seen before and should make for some interesting footage.

In race 15 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. Alongside him was Craig Lowndes.

On lap 1 of 39 C raig Lowndes got the jump on Scott McLaughlin and led into turn 1. This was a great start to the race for him considering he had qualified in 2nd spot on the front row of the grid.

Later at turn 3 all hell broke loose. Dale Wood made contact with James Moffat. As James Moffat spun around he made contact with his teammate James Golding. James Golding was able to just continue with bent steering, a brave thing to do. However, James Moffat wasn’t so luck and had to eventually pit with an overheating engine. All this mayhem cause Simona de Silvestro to make contact with Alex Rullo. He came out of turn 3 with a left front tyre pointing in the wrong direction and at the wrong angle. Alex Rullo limped his car back to the pits and unfortunate could not return the race. A DNF even before the first lap was over.

On lap 2 Scott McLaughlin was putting pressure on Craig Lowndes and down at turn 3 he passed him for lead of the race.

On lap 3 all the wildcards were following behind the main game drivers trying to learn as much as they could. It’s a good strategy to learn how the pros do ‘what and when’ as they navigate the track.

On lap 8 Shane Van Gisbergen was down in the position order after he pitted. However, he gained the advantage of rejoining the race with fresh air.

On lap 9 Simona de Silvestro had put the lap 1 incident behind her and was now enjoying her first race at Ipswich . She followed her team owners, Todd and Rick Kelly gaining valuable pointers from these experienced drivers.

Mark Winterbottom had to abort his attempt to pass Cameron Waters to avoid making contact.

As the race moved on, Shane Van Gisbergen easily made it back through the field after his one and only pit stop.

Fabian Coulthard tried to stay with his teammate Scott McLaughlin in the lead but soon found out just how fast Scott McLaughlin is.

Dick Johnson and Roger Penske would have been very happy with Scott McLaughlin’s race performance. He had held the lead for most of the race and made it look easy.

Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup were battling it out in attempt to gain a podium position.

On lap 33 Jason Bright left the race receiving a DNF.

As the race came to a close, Scott McLaughlin maintained his lead a past the checkered flag.

Chaz Mostert had a great run and moved up from his starting position of 3 to a finish of second.

Shane Van Gisbergen had come from a start further back in the track gaining 4 positions to come in 3rd.

Craig Lowndes who started the race next to pole position faced some great competition and came in 5th. Still a great performance.

The surprise for me was Jamie Whincup finishing 20th, down 6 spots from his start position and about 30 seconds behind the winner.

Results for race 15

1st Scott McLaughlin – Dick Johnson racing Team Penske.

2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap auto racing Team.
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – red bull Holden racing team.

4th Tim Slade – Freightliner Racing.
5th Craig Lowndes – Team Vortex

 

In race 16 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Chaz Mostert

At the start of the 65-lap race Chaz Mostert got the right amount of throttle to get off the line with a fine start and take the lead into turn 1. Scott McLaughlin pulled in behind him.

At the start of the 2nd lap of the race Garth Tander wanted to pass James Moffat but wasn’t close enough to get the job done and losing his ongoing battle with James Moffat for pit priority.

Jamie Whincup was trying get by his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen but didn’t get close enough.

Craig Lowndes pitted early so that he wouldn’t have to double stack with Will Davison.

Scott McLaughlin was leading after the front runners went into the pits for the first round of pitstops.

Alex Rullo stayed out while his teammate Taz Douglas pitted and then re-joined with clear air which was handy.

There was contact between the 2 Nissan Motorsport cars of Michael Caruso and Shae Davies in between turns 1 and 2 which had ruled Michael out of race 16.

In the middle of the race Fabian Coulthard had made his way back into the top 3 for the final time, later dropping back a couple of positions to finish 5th.

By lap 41 Dale Wood left the race receiving a DNF. He was the fourth one out of the race receiving a DNF after Will Davison, Michael Caruso and Jack Le Brocq.

Towards the end of the race it was a certain for the top 3 drivers; Chaz Mostert, Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen. Jamie Whincup came in 4th about 1.5 seconds later.

Results for 16

1st Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team
2nd Scott Mclaughlin – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
4th Jamie Whincup Red bull Holden Racing Team

The next event is the Red Rooster Sydney Supersprint on the 18th to the 20th of August 2017.