Tag Archives: Richard Crail

Betr Darwin Triple Crown 2026

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the 19th – 21st June 2026 was Round 6 of the Supercars Championship, the Betr Darwin Triple Crown held at Hidden Valley Raceway in the “Top End” (Darwin).

This year was the 30th anniversary of the Betr Darwin Triple Crown and boy it was a good show.

Chaz Mostert hit his own milestone, celebrating his 400th race on Saturday. Congratulations Chaz.

For Race 17 Brodie Kostecki had earned the pole position. Alongside him on the front row was Anton de Pasquale.

As the race went green Brodie Kostecki took the lead for the first of 35 laps.

By turn 5 Cameron Waters had passed Anton de Pasquale for second place.

The first car to pit was Ryan Wood on lap 6.

Brodie Kostecki pitted on lap 8, while Cameron Waters stayed on track to mind the lead spot.

Matt Payne now held 2nd place and Kai Allen was 3rd.

In the middle of the race the rest of the cars cycled through their mandatory pit stops.

Towards the end there was only 1 car remaining to stop, James Golding. Once he did Brodie Kostecki assumed the lead.

Cam Waters was once again in 2nd place, followed by Anton de Pasquale.

With 8 laps remaining the two Grove Racing teammates, Kai Allen and Matt Payne got by Anton de Pasquale for positions 3 and 4.

David Reynolds’ car was overheating. With 2 laps remaining the car couldn’t take any more abuse and stopped in a risky spot of the track. The safety car was deployed for the rescue.

The drivers had to stay in formation behind the safety car and limited to 80km per hour. The leaders were reasonably spread out but now they were queued up and close together.

Ironically David Reynolds managed to get his car going again and was back in the race before the rescue team reached him.

The safety car left the track and it was a 1 lap dash to the checkered flag.

Before the first corner Cameron Waters managed to pass Brodie Kostecki for the number 1 spot. In a flash so did Kai Allen and Matt Payne. Brodie Kostecki was now in 4th place and had lost his podium finish in that single lap.

The 3 leaders crossed that finish line bumper to bumper. It was a very tense way to finish the race.

Race 17 results:

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
2nd Kai Allen – Grove Racing
3rd Matt Payne – Grove Racing

In Race 18 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Brodie Kostecki alongside him.

Cameron Waters took the lead from the start in the first of 70 laps.

Brodie Kostecki held second place. Broc Feeney had moved up from his start in 6th place but then dropped back to 5th place. He was still 1 spot up from his start position.

As the starting laps melted away in the Top End, Matt Payne got around Brodie Kostecki for 2nd position.

Behind the scenes, Matt Payne was being investigated for jumping the gun at the start. The officials reviewed footage and issued him with a 5 second time penalty. The penalty would have to be served in one of the 2 mandatory pit stops.

Soon after the first 10 laps Ryan Wood ran wide at turn 1 dropping oil on the track. His teammate Chaz Mostert was up ahead in 4th place. As he came around on the next lap he slid on the oil and ran wide. This dropped him from 4th down to 14th place.

Ryan Wood was already in the garage trying to work out his power steering issue.

Matt Payne was the first to pit on lap 20. It was still early in the race, so he chose to serve his 5 second penalty at this stop rather than later.

In the middle of the race Cameron Waters was still leading.

Waters was wide at one turn with Kai Allen approaching on the inside. Waters drove across Kai Allen’s car as they came through the turn. The blocking move is considered bad driving form and called “moving under brakes”. If the stewards issued him with a penalty, his lead would be at risk. In the end they only issued a warning.

Soon enough Cameron Waters folded to Kai Allen’s attacks and Kai Allen became the new leader.

Towards the end of the race Kai Allen had a 7.5 second lead over Cameron Waters.

In the end Kai Allen crossed the finish line with an 8.8 second win over Cameron Waters. It was 9.3 seconds back to Brodie Kostecki in 3rd place. Although they were spread out it was an exciting race to watch.

Race 18 Results:

1st Kai Allen – Grove Racing
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
3rd Brodie Kostecki – Shell V-Power Racing Team

EOS 11

In Race 19 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Matt Payne alongside him.

There were 2 drivers, Thomas Randle and Brodie Kostecki who had cool suit failures in race 18 and suffered heat exhaustion and dehydration.

Luckily legend Mark Winterbottom, currently acting as commentator was able to step in and substitute for Thomas Randle.

Another driving legend, Todd Hazelwood was in the area racing in the Trans AM competition. He was only too willing to help out his old mate Kostecki.

As the lights went out Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 70 laps. Matt Payne was right behind him in second place.

Todd Hazelwood was the first to take a pit stop on lap 12.

Around the middle of the race Anton de Pasquale was in the lead with a gap of around 3 seconds. Matt Payne passed Cameron Waters for second place. Broc Feeney was 3.3 seconds back in 4th place.

Matt Payne was constantly putting Anton de Pasquale under pressure for the leading spot. Surprisingly Pasquale held his nerve.

With 4 laps to go Chaz Mostert in 7th place had an engine failure. The safety car was sent out to manage the drivers while Mostert was rescued.

Unfortunately, the last 3 laps were under safety conditions (driving behind the safety car, staying in formation and limited to 80kms p/h) so it wasn’t a challenging finish.

Anton de Pasquale took his 2nd win for the year. Matt Payne was in 2nd place followed by Cameron Waters.

Race 19 results:

1st Anton de Pasquale – Team 18
2nd Matt Payne – Grove Racing
3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

Cameron Waters won the Darwin Triple Crown for 2026.

The next event is the NTI Townsville 500 10 – 12 July.

Tasmania Super 440 – 2026

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the World!

Round 5 of the 2026 Supercars Championship, The Tyrepower Tasmania Super 440 was run on 22 – 24 May at Symmons Plains Raceway in Tasmania.

Symmons Plains Raceway located near Launceston in Tasmania was first opened in 1960. The historic circuit was built on the Youl Family’s estate. Supercars then known as the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) first started racing at the venue in 1969.

In this year’s event, Race 15 marked the 100th Supercars race at the venue.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 1
  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Practice 2
  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 14 Chaz Mosstert claimed his very first pole position of 2026. Alongside him on the front row of the grid was Anton de Pasquale.

Anton de Pasquale took the lead from the start line of the 50 lap race.

On lap 3 Chaz Mostert made a pass for the number 1 spot. Anton de Pasquale dropped 3 more spots to David Reynolds, Andre Heimgartner and then Brodie Kostecki.

On lap 11 Cooper Murray pitted due to a steering problem. It couldn’t be resolved in time to return to the race.

The first 2 cars to pit were Anton de Pasquale and Jayden Ojeda on lap 15. A few laps later David Reynolds was another of the front runners to pit.

In the middle of the race the other cars cycled through their pit stops till Chaz Mostert resumed the lead.

After Will Brown pitted on lap 27, his wheel fell off before he even made it out of the pit lane. The Red Bull Ampol Racing team were given a post-race penalty.

On lap 32 Broc Feeney recorded the fastest circuit time, 51.676 seconds.

Towards the end of the race only Jackson Walls and Jobe Stewart were yet to pit before Chaz Mostert retook the lead.

Broc Feeney had to make a move if he wanted a podium finish. He got by Anton de Pasquale for 5th place and then passed Andre Heimgartner for 4th. Brodie Kostecki wasn’t going to give up 3rd without a fight. He fended off Feeney’s constant attacks, while Feeney had to fend off Andre Heimgartner’s attacks.

In the end Chaz Mostert crossed the finish line with a 5.322 second win over David Reynolds. Brodie Kostecki came in 3rd place less than 1 second later. Broc Feeney missed out on a podium finish by 0.536 seconds to take 4th place.

Chaz Mostert’s lead was remarkable while the others behind were so tightly packed. It was a great finish.

Race 14 results:

1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw TWG Racing
2nd David Reynolds – Team 18
3rd Brodie Kostecki – Shell V-Power Racing Team
4th Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

In Race 15 Andre Heimgartner had pole position with Matt Payne alongside him.

As the race went green Andre Heimgartner got the jump and led for the first of 50 laps.

Broc Feeney who started in P3 of the grid passed Matt Payne for 2nd place at turn 2. Ryan Wood was in 4th place.

The first car to pit for this race was Kai Allen on lap 14.

Chaz Mostert made contact with Jayden Ojeda at turn 6 and both cars spun. The officials reviewed the incident and gave Chaz Mossstert a 15 second time penalty.

In the middle of the race David Reynolds earned himself a 15 second time penalty for hitting Brodie Kostecki. Kostecki’s car received a lot of damage and soon after smoke was coming from the rear.

Towards the end of the race Andre Heimgartner was back in the lead with a 3.8 seconds lead over Broc Feeney and Matt Payne. Although the front runners were now spread apart, the top 4 places were unchanged.

Antre Heimgartner kept that lead and crossed the finish line 3.686 seconds ahead of Broc Feeney. Matt Payne took 3rd place 4+ seconds behind Feeney.

The rest of the pack lead by Will Brown were a whopping 8+ adrift.

Race 15 results:

1st Andre Heimgartner – Brad Jones Racing
2nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Matt Payne – Grove Racing

In Race 16 Broc Feeney started on pole position. Alongside him was Matt Payne.

Broc Feeney took the lead in the first of the 84 lap race.

Jayden Ojeda had a bad start. He was 3rd on the grid but finished the opening lap in 10th place.

The first 2 cars to pit were Cameron Waters and Jackson Walls on lap 6.

Anton de Pasquale pushed Will Brown off the track to take 3rd place. Will Brown lost 2 spots.

Will Brown pitted on lap 20 to avoid a double stack with his teammate Broc Feeney.

By the middle of the race the front runners began to spread out. Broc Feeney had created a nice 2.7 second lead over Matt Payne in 2nd place. Will Brown was a further 9.7 seconds behind in 3rd.

Matt Payne recorded the fastest time of 51.802 seconds on lap 49. Then Broc Feeney beat that time with 51.693 seconds.

Towards the end of the race Broc Feeney had 3.1 second lead. As they reached the last 10 laps, he increased it to 4+ seconds.

In the remaining laps Broc Feeney had a clear track and was unhindered by other competitors. He used it to his full advantage and nearly doubled his lead. He crossed the finish line with a 7.268 second win over Matt Payne. Kai Allen was a further 2.675 seconds behind to take 3rd.

It was a fantastic scene as Broc Feeney dominated throughout this race and take his 4th win of 2026.

Race 16 results:

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

Broc Feeney still leads the championship by 90 points and Red Bull Ampol Racing still lead the team’s championship by 68 points.

The next event is the Betr Darwin Triple Crown on 19 – 21 June 2026.

ITM Christchurch super 440 2026

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

Round 4 of the 2026 Supercars Championship was the ITM Christchurch Super 440 held on April 17 – 19.

This is the first time that Ruapuna Park (currently sponsored as Euromarque Motorsport Park) was host to a V8 Supercars event. It lies on the outskirts of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island. The track is configured with 7 routes ranging from 1.19kms to 3.38kms. Supercars used the ‘Grand Prix’ 3.33kms circuit that includes 11 turns.

The event started with Race 10 which was supposed to be run the week before at the Taupo Super 440, but because of the approaching cyclone it was cancelled and rescheduled to this event.

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

Brodie Kostecki took the lead in the first of the 37 lap race.

It was a special occasion for David Reynolds, his 500th race start. From P18 on the grid he stalled at the start line. The cars behind tried to take evasive action but ended up crashing into him and each other. Reynolds’ car was a mess and dragged into the garage. It must have been bad because he didn’t return to the track and received an NC (Not Complete) before even moving. I bet this was not the way he expected his 500th race to go.

Meanwhile back at the front of the pack, Ryan Wood took second place off Matt Payne. Kai Allen was in third.

As the others settled into the race, Cameron Hill’s car had fallen to the back of the pack with smoke coming from the right front. Cameron Hill was one of the victims involved in the start line pile up with Reynolds. He only made it to lap 5 before having to bail out of the race and became the second driver to get an NC.

The first car to pit was Aaron Cameron on lap 13 from 21st place.

The first of the leaders to pit was Kai Allen from 3rd place on lap 17. He came back out on track in 14th position.

In the middle of the race Brodie Kostecki still had the lead. Ryan Wood trailed by 1.967 seconds in 2nd place.

Matt Payne and Ryan Wood then pitted together. They rejoined in 8th and 10th position.

The leader Brodie Kostecki was one of 7 cars still yet to pit. Once those cars pitted it left Kai Allen in the lead.

This is Kai Allen’s second season in V8 Supercars. He handled the lead with skill beyond his years.

Brodie Kostecki and Ryan Wood made their way to the front of the pack to take 2nd and 3rd place. They were close behind Kai Allen in the lead but he managed to hold them off for the remaining laps.

The checkered flag waved Kai Allen crossed the finish line with Brodie Kostecki on his tail with only 0.742 of a second between them. Ryan Wood crowded them in 3rd place 0.444 seconds later. That was a tight finish.

Kai Allen became the 89th Supercars winner in the history of the sport. Congratulations Kai!

Race 10 Results:

1st Kai Allen – Grove Racing
2nd Brodie Kostecki – Shell V-Power Racing Team
3rd Ryan Wood – Walkinshaw TWG Racing

In Race 11 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position with Matt Payne alongside him.

Brodie Kostecki took the lead in the first of 37 laps. Kai Allen who was 4th on the start grid had a fantastic launch and jumped into 2nd place.

By the end of the first lap Ryan Wood who started 6th on the grid was up to 3rd place. Broc Feeney was up 1 spot and in 4th.

A few laps in Matt Payne was fighting his way back and took 4th place from Broc Feeney.

On lap 5 Cameron Hill was called into the pits after being hit by David Reynolds. David Reynolds was issued a 15 second time penalty. Andre Heimgartner also pitted for damage repairs.

The front runners were tightly packed with Brodie Kostecki still in the lead and Kai Allen right behind him. Matt Payne gained another spot into 3rd place.

On lap 11 Anton de Pasquale was the first to take an unforced pit stop.

In the middle of the race Matt Payne became the leader while Kostecki and Allen were pitting.  Payne and 9 other cars were yet to pit. The pit lane started getting busy.

James Golding spun on his pit entry. Macauley Jones came in and had to go around him.

Once all the pit stops were taken Brodie Kostecki was once again in the lead. Kai Allen was challenging him for the lead, but Brodie Kostecki fought him off.

EOS 10

The leaders were still tightly packed as they reached the last laps of the race.

Matt Payne who had managed to stay in 3rd place had a loose wheel nut. Sure enough the wheel came off and went rolling down the track on its own. His podium finish was decimated. He hobbled on the remaining 3 wheels back to the pits for a replacement. He returned on track in 22nd place.

Matt Payne’s exit from 3rd left a gap in the field easing the pressure on front runners. Brodie Kostecki was flying and Kai Allen could only just keep up. There was no time left to put in a challenge.

Kostecki crossed the finish line a mere 0.598 seconds ahead of Kai Allen. 8+ seconds later Ryan Wood took 3rd.

Race 11 Results:

1st Brodie Kostecki – Shell V-Power Racing Team
2nd Kai Allen – Grove Racing
3rd Ryan Wood – Walkinshaw TWG Racing

In Race 12 Ryan Wood started on pole position with Matt Payne alongside him on the front row of the grid.

Matt Payne took the lead off the start line. Ryan Wood was right on his bumper.

By the end of the 1st lap Broc Feeney moved up from 6th to 3rd. Brodie Kostecki was in 4th place.

Cars started pitting on lap 13. The first 2 were Anton de Pasquale and Cameron Hill.

Aaron Cameron received a time penalty for spinning Cooper Murray. Murray dropped from 10th to 16th.

By the middle of the race Matt Payne had a 12+ second lead.

Inside the top 10, Declan Fraser received a 5 second penalty for ramming Macauley Jones.

After all cars had pitted and reaching the end of the race, Matt Payne lead by 4.5 seconds. Ryan Wood was 2nd. Broc Feeney was right behind him.

With patience, Broc Feeney eventually managed to get by Ryan Wood for second place.

Matt Payne had a clear track and used it well to build a bigger lead. Broc Feeney was desperately chasing him but the gap kept growing wider.

Matt Payne was in “The Zone” and crossed the finish line with an amazing 11.643 second win over Broc Feeney. 2.5+ seconds later James Golding took 3rd place.

Race 12 Results:

1st Matt Payne – Grove Racing
2nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd James Golding – Blanchard Racing Team

In Race 13 Matt Payne started on pole position for the 2nd time this weekend. On the front row next to him was Anton de Pasquale.

As the green flag waved Matt Payne got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 61 laps. Will Brown went up to second place. Kai Allen went up 3 places to third.

Jackson Walls and Rylan Gray made contact and both spun off the track. In the process Aaron Cameron also made contact with them. Rylan Gray struggled to get his car refired and was stuck on the grass. Aaron Cameron had smoke coming from the left rear corner of car 3.

Seconds later and just before the safety car was deployed, Ryan Wood made contact with Anton de Pasquale, pushing him off the track. Pasquale was in 4th and dropped to 9th place.

The safety car was deployed to clean up the track and move Rylan Gray’s car.

The officials investigated the Rylan Gray and Jackson Walls incident but no penalties were issued.

On lap 8 both Red Bull Ampol Racing drivers, Will Brown and Broc Feeney had radio communication issues. The team had to resort to the old fashioned pit board to message the drivers.

The first car to pit was Jayden Ojeda on lap 8.

The first of the leaders to pit was Anton de Pasquale on lap 9. The gap between Matt Payne and Will Brown (now in second place) was 5.066 seconds.

Rylan Gray and Aaron Cameron were still in the garage getting repairs done and had not returned to the track yet.

Matt Pa yne pitted from the race lead with 4 other cars yet to stop.

With 11 laps to go everybody had completed their second mandatory pit stops. Matt Payne still had the lead and was 7.1 seconds ahead of Kai Allen.

With 7 laps remaining Ryan Wood stopped on the pit straight. The safety car was deployed and Wood’s chance at claiming the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy for the event was crushed.

Matt Payne’s lead was also negated by the safety car requiring drivers to stay behind in formation at 80km p/h.

On the restart Kai Allen followed Matt Payne. Kai Allen was instructed not to attack his teammate and let him ride out the last laps.

Brodie Kostecki and Broc Feeney were tied on points for the event’s Jason Richards Memorial Trophy. Chaz Mostert made contact with Brodie Kostecki and others had to take evasive action to avoid a collision. With only 2 laps remaining Kostecki would finish after Feeney. Feeney would get the trophy. Chaz Mostert received a 30 second penalty for causing the incident.

EOS 17

The leaders held their places and Matt Payne crossed the finish line 1.126 seconds ahead of teammate Kai Allen. 0.938 seconds later Broc Feeney came in to take third place.

Not only did Broc Feeney win the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, he also regained the series lead by 23 points and leads the ‘spint’ cup.

The Red Bull Ampol Racing Team lead the Teams Championship.

Race 13 Results:

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

The next event is the Tyrepower Tasmania Super 440 on May 22 – 24.

ITM Taupo Super 440 2026

Hi to all you Supercars Fans Around the world!

On the weekend of April 10-12 was the ITM Taupo Super 440, round 3 of the 2026 Supercars championship. It was held at Taupo on the North Island of New Zealand.

Brodie Kostecki headed into the weekend as the series leader by 28 points over Cameron Waters.

David Reynolds reached a milestone at this event, starting his 500th race in Supercars. What an Achievement! Congratulations David.

The Taupo Super 440 had 3 races scheduled but by Saturday afternoon the weather warning for cyclone Vaianu heading directly to the area was received. The 3rd race set to run on Sunday was cancelled. A sensible thing to do but disappointing for the fans, nonetheless. Mind you, if they had to, most supercars fans would stand trackside through a cyclone in their undies if it wasn’t cancelled.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Jack le Brocq was fastest in Practice 1
  • Ryan Wood was fastest in Practice 2
  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 8 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position with Broc Feeney alongside him.

As they took off Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 37 laps. Broc Feeney tried to go around him at the first turn but realised it would ruin his approach to turn 2. It was a good attempt, but he had to pull back in the last second.

Kai Allen made contact with Rayan Wood just after turn 1. Allen lost 5 places and was down to 11th. Wood only dropped a single spot to 7th.

At turn 11 Kai Allen was getting into more trouble. He made contact with Aaraon Cameron causing him to spin and drop from 11th to 16th. His car was looking pretty shabby with the rear bumper hanging off.

Although still early in the race Kai Allen had to head to the pits to deal with the damage sustained.

By the middle of the race there were only 7 cars that were still yet to pit. Once they did Brodie Kostecki assumed the number 1 spot.

On lap 23 Broc Feeney recorded the fastest lap of the race, 129.330 seconds.

His teammate Will Brown had moved ahead of him to 2nd place while Chaz Mostert held 3rd. Feeney desperately wanted his spot back.

Broc Feeney battled with Chaz Mostert and eventually got past. Mostert then lost another spot to his own teammate, Ryan Wood. There were only 8 laps to go.

It wasn’t long before Ryan Wood took over Broc Feeney.

With 5 laps to go the leaders were spread out. Brodie Kostecki had a 4.1 second lead over Will Brown. Ryan Wood was another 5.1 seconds behind.

Somehow, Brodie Kostecki increased his lead and crossed the finish line with a 16.185 second win over Will Brown. Ryan Wood was only 0.347 seconds behind in third. Broc Feeney had fallen 6.914 seconds back into 4th place.

Race 8 results:

1st Brodie Kostecki – Shell V-Power Racing Team
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Ryan Wood – Truck Assist Racing

In Race 9 Ryan Wood started on pole position, alongside him was Will Brown.

Ryan Wood took the lead from the start line for the 1st of 60 laps.

At the front of the pack and still on the first lap James Golding was forced out wide by Chaz Mostert.

Leader Ryan Wood was followed by Will Brown, Broc Feeney, James Golding and then Chaz Mostert. Before the end of the lap Matt Payne overtook Chaz Mostert for 5th place.

The first car to pit was David Reynolds on lap 15.

Will Brown closed in on Ryan Wood for the race lead and was only 0.618 seconds behind.

Around lap 23 Broc Feeney pitted from second place. He rejoined in 8th place right behind Chaz Mostert in 7th. There were only 2 cars yet to pit, Brodie Kostecki and James Golding

When Brodie Kostecki finally pitted Ryan Wood assumed position number 1.

By the middle of the race Ryan Wood still had the lead with Will Brown trailing by 2.6 seconds.

Ryan Wood had to pit on lap 43 and Matt Payne followed him in for the second round of stops. Ryan Wood came back out in 8th place.

Towards the end of the end of the race Chaz Mostert had the lead and was followed by teammate Ryan Wood. Chaz Mostert is a fast and experienced driver. He could have easily defended his lead but instead chose to let Ryan Wood through and act as his guard.

With 9 laps left there was only 0.396 seconds between Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood. Broc Feeney was a further 4.292 seconds behind in third place but closing in fast.

Jackson Walls was in the garage with a broken right front suspension. The repair took too long and he never made it back out to the track. He was the only one to receive an NC (Not Complete).

Broc Feeney kept closing in on the leaders. Pretty soon he made a surprising pass on Mostert in 2nd place.

There were only a few laps remaining. I was wondering of Broc Feeney was going to catch the lead from Wood or was Chaz Mostert going to reclaim 2nd position from Feeney.

Ryan Wood had a few seconds lead and didn’t let it slip.

In the end Ryan Wood crossed the finish line with a 3.036 second win over Broc Feeney in second place. Chaz Mostert came in 3rd 2.476 seconds later.

Race 9 results:

1st Ryan Wood – TWG Racing
2nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Chaz Mostert – TWG Racing

Ryan Wood will go down in history as the first one to take a win for Toyota in Supercars.

The next event is the ITM Christchurch Super 440 on Apr 17 – 19 2026.

I hope you will all join me.

Valo Adelaide 500 2024

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 14 – 17 November 2024 was Valo Adelaide 500, Round 12 of the 2024 Supercars Championship. This was the last round for the year held on the Adelaide Street circuit in South Australia.

The Adelaide Street Circuit was purpose built to host the Australian Grand Prix when Adelaide won the rights in 1985. The 3.80 km track combined sections constructed in Victoria Park as well as utilising city streets.

Supercars started racing at the Adelaide circuit in 1999. The event was known as The Sensational Adelaide 500 and run over 2 legs. At that very first event both races were won by legend Craig Lowndes. He won the first race from the second row of the grid and on the Sunday, he won after starting at the back of the pack. He unbelievably went from last to first.

This year marks the 25 year anniversary for Supercars at the venue.

This year it was the last event for the year, so is a milestone for two people leaving the sport as full-time drivers. Tim Slade is leaving after a 15 years career and Mark ‘Frosty’ Winterbottom ends his illustrious career after 21 years. We thank you and wish you all the very best for the future.

The event kicked off on a Thursday with warm weather. Great for the visitors but making it a hot 45 degrees plus inside the race cars.

The pre-race sessions results were:

  • James Courtney was fastest in Practice 1
  • David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 2
  • Will Brown was fastest in Qualifying. The session was cut short due to a red flag with 9 minutes 41 seconds remaining, caused by a big shunt between Richie Stanaway Cameron Hill and David Reynolds.
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 3
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the top 10 Shootout

In Race 23 Cameron Waters started on pole position, alongside him was Thomas Randle.

Dale Wood started 24th on the grid as substitute for Richie Stanaway who was receiving medical attention after his crash in qualifying.

Cooper Murray was sitting in for “Dad to Be” Jack le Brocq who was heading home to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.

Chaz Mostert was having clutch problems pre-race and had to start from the pit lane.

The two Red Bull Ampol Racing driver’s came into this event as the only 2 in contention for the season title. So, although it was a tense situation it would have been relatively a friendly competition between the two, Will Brown and Broc Feeney.

At the start of the 78 lap race Thomas Randle got the jump and took the lead. Cameron Waters tucked into second place and Matt Payne was right behind them in third. The championship contenders Will Brown and Broc Feeney were battling for 4th and 5th place.

Both Broc Feeney and Will Brown soon passed Matt Payne for 3rd and 4th position.

Last year’s reigning champ, Brodie Kostecki had moved up 4 places into 7th.

Chaz Mostert who was 3rd on the season ladder wanted to keep his place on the scoreboard. He passed David Rynolds to take the 18th spot.

The first car to pit in this race was Tim Slade from 21st position on lap 17.

Soon after Slade returned to the track he was hit by David Reynolds. Slade was able to continue but David Reynolds was slowing and had to head into the garage to resolve the problems with car 20.

Broc Feeney in 3rd place was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 27. The stop was 5.5 seconds and he re-joined in 7th position. The 6 cars ahead were yet to take their pit stops. Once they did Feeney took the lead of the race.

Mark Winterbottom was spun around and pushed out of 5th place by Cooper Murray.

By the middle of the race Broc Feeney had a comfortable lead over Thomas Randle and Cameron Waters. Will Brown was in 4th place.

Broc Feeney kept edging ahead of the pack. It seemed he was untouchable.

With 8 laps to go Broc Feeney had created an 8.7 second lead on the rest of the pack. Meanwhile, his teammate Will Brown had passed Thomas Randle and Cameron Waters to take 2nd place. For Will Brown to finish within the top 5 places would be good enough for him to wrap up the 2024 Supercars Championship.

Will Brown wanted the win but just couldn’t close the gap on Feeney.

Broc Feeney crossed the finish line an amazing 12.117 seconds clear of Will Brown to take his 12th career win, and his 6th win of the 2024 season. Cameron Waters followed in 3rd place.

With this result Will Brown was named ‘2024 Champion Elect’. What a great moment for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team. Top two drivers and top team for the year!

Race 23 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

In Race 24 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Chaz Mostert alongside him.

As they took off Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney were neck in neck until they got to turn 4 when Mostert was able to finally take the lead. Meanwhile Will Brown was right behind.

On lap 4 Matt Payne went into a tyre wall at turn 11. Payne couldn’t get the car into reverse and the front end was buried under the mountain of tyres. The safety car was deployed to rescue him & after a short stint in the garage returned to the race.

The restart was on lap 8 and Chaz Mostert still had control of the race. Broc Feeney in 2nd was looking very racy after the restart and put in several challenges for the lead but Mostert defended well.

At turn 7 Will Brown was hit and spun around by Brodie Kostecki trying to make a pass for 3rd place. The new Champion Elect, Will Brown dropped from 3rd all the way down to 22nd. Although already named champ aft the previous race, being at the back of the pack was surely not how he wanted to finish the season.

Thomas Randle took advantage of the mayhem, and he was now the driver in 3rd place.

Later in the race after the officials reviewed the incident, Brodie Kostecki was issued a 15 second time penalty.

Ryan Wood in 5th place got turned around by Anton de Pasquale at turn 9. Cameron Waters trying to avoid the incident hit Pasquale and went up onto 2 wheels which looked extremely scary.

The first car to pit was James Golding on lap 20 from 20th place.

By the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was out front with a 3 + second lead over Broc Feeney. There was then a 9.927 seconds gap back to Will Davison in third place.

On lap 50 the 3 leaders pitted for the final time. On exit there was contact between Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney. Officials deemed it Feeney’s error and issued him with 15 second time penalty.

With 13 laps to go the lead pack had changed order. Anton de Pasquale was in the number 1 spot, followed by Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert and Will Brown.

Take note that Brown was in 4th place after working his way back to the front after being pushed to the rear of the pack early on in the race. I guess that shows why he earned the championship crown.

Anton de Pasquale’s car was showing the strain of the gruelling 78 lap race. The spoiler on his car was hanging loose and scraping the track. He had to relinquish the lead and head to the pits for repairs before the officials gave him a mechanical black flag.

The lead had changed once again; Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert then Will Brown. Although Feeney was in the lead he still had a 15 second time penalty that would be added post race. He knew he wouldn’t be standing on the podium.

Chaz Mostert in 2nd place looked like he would inherit the win from Feeney.  With 4 laps to go Mostert exceeded track limits and was issued a drive through penalty.

Once Mostert left the track to serve the penalty, Will Brown moved into 2nd place on the track.

Brown knew of the impending 15 second penalty hanging over Feeney, so he took no risks to challenge him. He would win by default.

When Mostert returned to the track after serving the drive through penalty he was miraculously in 3rd place.

Broc Feeney crossed the line first, followed by teammate Will Brown, Chaz Mostert and then Thomas Randle.

Feeney’s time penalty dropped him down to 7th place in the final results. Will Brown claimed the win, Chaz Mostert was declared 2nd and Thomas Randle 3rd.

It was bad luck for Feeney but what a great finish to Will Brown as the season champ.

Race 24 Results:

1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

Well, that’s it for the 2024 Supercars season.

The Sydney 500 will be the first event to kick off the new season in Feb 2025. I can’t wait and hope you will join me in the new year.

In the meantime, I wish you all a very safe and happy festive season and new year.

Repco Bathurst 12 hour 2024

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

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

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

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

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

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

2024 Bathurst 12 Hour Highlights

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results for the 2024 Repco Bathurst 12 Hour:

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

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

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

Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hour 2022

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 13th to the 15th of May 2022 was the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

The Bathurst 12 hour is a time race independent of laps.

It is also a GT not a Supercars race, so the results don’t affect the Supercars series.

There were plenty of drivers from the Supercars paddock that competed, like; Lee Holdsworth, Broc Feeney, David Reynolds, Cameron Waters, Shane Van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes, Alex Davison, Chaz Mostert, Will Brown and Jack Perkins.

Some of the more well-known internationals that competed included; Kenny Habul, Jules Gounon, Kelvin van der Linde, Marcus Winklehock and Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

I was keeping my eye on Chaz Mostert, Broc Feeney, Shane Van Gisbergen, Lee Holdsworth, Dean Fiore, Craig Lowndes, Cameron Waters and Grant Denyer.

Normally this event is run in February but due to Covid messing with things, it was re-scheduled for May.

Also, it usually starts between 6am and 6:15am (during daylight savings). Marketing determined it best to have the race finish during TV peak-time for better ratings. This meant an earlier start of 5:15am, so the first 90 minutes of the race were in the early morning dark.

The first 90 minutes were in the dark before sunrise.

Before the race started the fog had descended on Mount Panorama.

Chaz Mostert earned himself pole position. He was teamed with Liam Talbot and Fraser Ross in car 65, an Audi from Melbourne Performance Centre. I wasn’t surprised that Chaz Mostert started behind the wheel because of his experience at this venue in the Supercars Series.

South African, Kelvin van der Linde was alongside pole.

Broc Feeney, the Red Bull Ampol Racing rookie started the 888 Mercedes from 5th position. In his Bathurst 12 Hour debut this was a big assignment, but no doubt because the team have faith in him.

There were only 20 cars on the grid this year compared to the normal 30 or 40 cars. The reduction was of limited international competitors due to COVID.

A rolling start behind the safety car is the norm for the Bathurst 12 Hour, I guess to reduce the risks of a standing start in the dark. It was also a good choice considering this year’s foggy conditions.

When the safety car peeled off, the start of the race was absolutely spectacular. The drivers in the top 10 held their positions with Mostert and Linde being the pace setters.

The safety car came out more than once due to the foggy conditions. The visibility was so poor that even the drivers were making comments. Typical of Bathurst, the fog turned to rain, then fogged up again and then rained again.

Before the sun came up, Zane Morse in car 52 tagged the wall at the top of the hill forcing a safety car. The Wheels/FX Racing PNG Marc II V8 was the first car to leave the track.

Two hours into the race Dale Wood in car 50 was the next victim of The Mountain.

About halfway through car 95 was pulled from the race with engine problems.

Car 45 hit the wall exiting The Dipper and required immediate repairs. When it rejoined the race they suffered another hit taking it out of the race for good.

I am not superstitious but I note that the above cars mentioned all have the number 5 in their car numbers; 52, 50, 95 and 45. Coincidence?

Of all the things that happened to the cars in such a gruelling race, it was the pole sitter car 65 that had my eyes wide open in disbelief. The car had stopped on Mountain Straight. To rectify the issues, you wont believe this….. They literally pressed Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart and then … they were off and away! LOL!

The weather played havoc through the day. There were multiple occasions that the safety cars were deployed, and other cars were pulled from the track to sit out the rest of the race.

It was the team of Jules Gounon, Martin Konrad, Kenny Habul and Luca Stolz who crossed the line first with an 8.7 second lead. They were in car 75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG. (note another 5 in the car number).

The Craft Bamboo Mercedes, car 91 was the next across the line. Daniel Juncedella, Kevin Tse and Maro Engel put in an incredible challenge to the leader in the last 2 hours of the race. It really was an intense extended battle to the finish line.

The third car to come across the line was also a Mercedes AMG, giving Merc a 1,2 & 3 on the podium. This was the 888 car from my favoured team Triple Eight Race Engineering, driven by Supercars defending champ Shane Van Gisbergen, Broc Feeney and Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

It was an incredible race and im already looking forward to its return next year. Good thing is it is expected to run in its usual schedule of February, so I don’t have to wait a full year!!!!

Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour 2020

HI to all you Supercars fans around the World!

On the weekend of January 31 to February 2nd was the 2020 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12-hour, a pre supercars season race.

This is one of the years most gruelling endurance races for GT cars. It is so well known it draws many international teams and drivers.

In the preliminaries to the race there were a number of mishaps.

The 777 car didn’t take the start due to too much damage on Saturday. Team manager, Roland Dane was not happy. He said that Cameron McConville should have retired a long time ago. Joke or not, that is pretty harsh!

39 cars were entered but only 34 started the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hour before the sun came up, at the unholy time of 5:45am.

Most cars had experienced international drivers start behind the wheel.

The number 8 Bentley started near the back of the pack after not making Qualifying.

Matt Campbell put the Porsche on pole position but co-driver Patrick Pilet started the car.

During the opening stages the 999 Mercedes led the opening lap, then not long after that the McLaren took the lead and was hard to catch from there.

Craig Lowndes started the number 1 Porsche and he did a double stint early on.

When the sun came up the accidents started to happen.

The first safety car was dispatched just under 90 minutes into the race. Car 188, the Aston Martin driven by Côme Ledogar took a turn too wide, bounced over S-bend curbs and heavily hit a concrete wall. He then bounced off the wall and made contact with cars on the left and then the right. The the whole right hand side was torn clean off the car, passenger door and rear wheel included coming to a halt in the middle of the track

This wasn’t the last of the carnage. There was much more to come during the race.

Chaz Mostert’s 12-hour race got ruined in the third hour. After his co-driver Nicky Catsburg took the wheel, in his first few laps collided with a kangaroo. It must have been a big disappointment; Chaz Mostert is yet to win the 12 hour.

Also, Warren Luff was behind the wheel when the 95 MARC car caught fire in the pitlane. Twice!

Garth Tander crashed out in the # 22 Audi between Reid Park and McPhillamy Park after contact with the 222 Audi which completely decimated the 22 Audi. I thought there is no way that the team could repair the car in time for the rest of the race, which unfortunately they didnt.

Jamie Whincup spun Marc Cini around in number 9 Hallmarc Audi and didn’t get pinged for it.

In the middle of the race most of the teams changed brake pads and rotors. This improved performance and the drivers went nuts with grip.

The number 1 Porsche had brake dramas and finished the race 2 laps down.

Towards the end of the race the bad weather forecasted hit with a dust storm, thunder, lighting and buckets of rain.

I was surprised how many crashes there were in the Bathurst 12-hour last weekend.

Out of the 34 cars that were in the start line only 23 finished. Awesome but gruelling race!

 

Results for the 2020 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour:
1st Jules Gounon & Maxine Soulet – Bentley Team M Sport.
2nd Alvaro Parente & Ben Barnicoat – 59 Racing.
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen Jamie Whincup & Maximilan Gotez. – Mercades AMG Team Triple Eight.

Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour 2019

Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend 1st to the 3rd of the February, 2019 was the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour which is a pre-season race before the Supercars Championship starts.

This is an international endurance race for GT and production cars, not V8 Supercars but there were so many drivers from the Supercars Championship in the race I include it in my reviews.

The title ‘Bathurst 12 Hour’ is true to its name. It is a time based race of 12 hours and disregards the number of laps performed.

In order to do the 12 hours in one hit the race started at 5:45am when it was still dark.

Englishman, Jake Dennis driving the Aston Martin was originally supposed to start in pole position but had been docked 2 grid spots for speeding in the pit lane. Then due a technical infringement by the team the Aston Martin started in 12th spot.

Car #999, the Mercedes Benz driven by Maximilian Buhk started in pole position; alongside him was the Mercedes Benz #77 driven by Luca Stolz.

V8 Supercars star, Shane Van Gisbergen started 19th on the grid after not making the top ten shootout on Saturday afternoon.

When the Mercedes Benz safety car took off for the warm up lap the 12-hour clock started for the race. After the first lap the race gets underway with a rolling start (not a standing start).

During the opening laps everybody was trying to keep their cars nice and straight as they knew it was a long race.

The two AMG Mercedes, cars #999 and #77 maintained their 1st and 2nd places.

In this early stage Shane Van Gisbergen made up 4 positions going from 19th to 15th. An excellent start but there was a long way to go.

It wasn’t long after that the carnage started.

On lap 6 while still early and quite dark car #71 ended up going down the escape road, an error not often seen.

Car #27, the Ferrari driven by Nick Percat got spun around at Forest Elbow after getting involved with the lapped car, MARC Focus V8 driven by Dutchman, Mathijs Bakker.  Later, Percat laid claim that this was an incident that couldn’t be helped and a result of multi-class racing. Bakker was not so diplomatic and did not hold back to vehemently blame Percat. The repair time cost percat at least 25 laps.

The 888 Vodafone Mercedes had a drama with the brakes. After Shane Van Gisbergen had to pit to try and have it repaired the team could not find the issue. Shane Van Gisbergen had to return to the track he was not happy. Little did he know how this was going to affect all the drivers.

Martin Tomczyk was battling with Craig Lowndes and nearly took his BMW into the wall on the right-hand side.

James Winslow received a lot of damage to the rear of his car and had parts flapping around which meant he had to pit to get them removed, otherwise risk receiving a mechanical black flag.

Garth Tander in car #22 had an accident by running into the back of #19 driven by Danish Kristina Neilson. He had to limp his Audi back to the pits and was soon declared out of the race.

When the accidents started, I thought these are going be expensive repair jobs.

On the race broadcast Chad Neylon, pit reporter for fox/10 used a giant touch screen to explain how he believed the strategies would unfold. It was a great insight.

Mark Dutton, racing engineer and current manager of Triple 8 was the Car Controller for the day, which was cool to see.

Shane Van Gisbergen ran wide at turn 1 due to sitting on the left-hand side of the car and lost the positions he had previously made.

When the sun started to rise the race was still under green. The cars that started further back in the pack now tried to make their move to get inside the top ten.

Braking problems continued to bother the three drivers of the 888 Vodafone Mercedes. The crew were unable to repair the issue and drivers were required to use both feet to apply the brakes. I am sure this did not help their driving form. At the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen literally rolled out of the car onto the ground in exhaustion.

The funniest part of the weekend was when Chad Neylon gave David Reynolds a lift in the AMG Mercedes Benz Safety Car to the race track. Neylon’s driving caused Reynolds to spill his coffee. Chad Neylon said ‘Lesson learnt, don’t drive to the track in the AMG Safety Car’. Reynolds response was “you’re a bad driver”. LOL

Jamie Whincup was given a Drive Through Penalty for passing the AMG Safety Car. Somehow  Roland Dane (triple 8 Owner) flexed his muscles of influence because he got the stewards and officials to negate the penalty.

The last time Jamie Whincup got a Drive Through Penalty was 2015 in the Bathurst 1000 but never in the Bathurst 12 hours.

Towards the end of the of the race Matt Campbell was leading with 2nd and 3rd chasing him down for the win, while  Shane Van Gisbergen was on an almighty charge to try to get on the Bathurst 12-hour podium but the top three were not giving up their positions.

38 cars started the race. By the end of the 12 hours of true endurance racing 15 cars had received DNFs. It’s a damned tough race.

 

Results for the 2019 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hours

1st Matt Campbell – Car 912, Porsche 911 GT3-R for Earl Bamber Motorsport
2nd Jake Dennis –  Car 62, Aston Martin Vantage  for R Motorsport
3rd Raffaele Marcello – Car 999, Mercedes AMG for Mercedes AMG Team GruppeM Racing
4th Shane Van Gisbergen – Car 888, Mercedes AMG Team Vodafone.

The next event is the first race of the V8 Supercars Season, The Superloop Adelaide 500 from the 28th of February to the 3rd of March 2019.

Bathurst 12 hour 2018

HI to all you v8 Supercars Fans around the world on the weekend of the 2nd to the 4th of February 2018 was Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hour. This is a preseason race before the V8 Supercars championship gets underway The Coverage started at 530AM but the race didn’t start until 545AM on 7mate channel 188. The Commentators were Richard Crail Johnny Palmer and john Hindhaugh the pit reporters were Chad Neylon Shae Adam and Alex Hart from channel 7.   At Mount Panorama Bathurst New South Wales.

Chaz Mostert started on pole position in the BMW car 43 alongside him was Kelvin Van Der Linde in the Audi Car 37

As soon as the cars took off on the Formation lap that’s when the 12-hour started.

On the opening lap there was a safety car to clear an incident that happened just before the Liqui Moly Bridge on lap 1 Chaz Mostert was leading the opening stages while it was still Dark which is when the Cars and Drivers are Faster while it is cooler but once it starts to warm up through the day that’s when some cars struggle to keep up

When the restart took place, Chaz Mostert was flying and no one else could catch him.  Craig Lowndes Shane Van Gisbergen and Come Ledorgar started in 8th on the grid.

Interesting to note Steven Richards was sent to back of the grid as a result of a Technical infringement which meant they didn’t take their place in the Pirelli top 10 shootout as a result they had to start from position number 49 on the grid, and that is the 75 Mercedes of Jamie Whincup Kenny   Habul Tristan Vauiter and Robert Marciello that’s why they started 15th.

When the cars stop near the Garage the engine Has to be Switched off while the work is going on. GT Racing has Different rules to V8 Supercars.  The crews must push and pull the Bathurst 12-hour cars in and out of the Garages, and the Crews must have all the pit Gear over the red line before the cars can leave the pits.

In the practice sessions Max Twigg in car 8 and Kent Baygent in car 15 had contact Approaching the chase at high speed forcing car number 15 to withdraw from the race. In Qualifying car number 94 of the marc cars Australia hit the BP Ultimate approaching the top of the mountain.

I couldn’t believe how quick Chaz Mostert was in the Early stages. Everyone when the started knew not to take unnecessary Risks otherwise they would have been out of the race really early on. Which wouldn’t have a good sight. Shane Van Gisbergen started the Mclrean 650 S because he knows how to drive a Mclrean Shortly after Craig Lowndes got into the 58 Mclrean he had to bring in to the Garage to Workout why the car was over heating so much.

There were a lot of drive thru Penilaty’s a lot tyre Punches a lot of Damage and also a lot of Safety Cars.

With 2 and a half hours left on the race  clock Chaz  Mostert in the 43 BMW M6 GT3 was involved in a big crash Involving the Bentley of Steven Kane also along with the Class B Porsche Craft Bamboo Porsche driver was Kevin Estre forcing Kean Booker forcing Chaz  Mostert’s rapid BMW out of the 2018 Bathurst 12 hour.

Paul Morris had to Pull over on to the near a fire Marshalls post due to there being a fire under the bonnet of car 54. The crash at the top of mountain early in the race was on lap 44 and because its hard for me to see the lap counter it’s hard to Tell.

But I was surprised to how many Safety cars’ DNF’S Crashes and Accidents there were the cars that stayed out were rewarded with either a podium finish or a race win at the end of the day. 

Chaz Mostert co drivers in the 43 BMW Were

Augusto Farfus Marco Wittman.

Will Davison was driving the 39 Audi.  Getting some race lap before he steps into his ride for 2018.

Which is going A Ford instead of a holden. For lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.

Results for the 2018 Liqui moly Bathurst 12 hour

1st Robin Frijns – WRT Audi Car 37
2
nd Kenny Habul Jamie Whincup Tristan Vautier and Robert Marciello.
Car 75
3rd J Bleekemolen and T Pappas. Car 540.