Its January 2021 and its still the off season for Supercars. I was looking back over some past races and I thought I would review the 2009 Dunlop Townsville 400. It stands out for me because it was the first ever Townsville race. It was 72 laps / 200 Kilometres.
It was race 11 in the season.
Lee Holdsworth started on pole position for the 200km / 72 laps. Alongside him was James Courtney.
Race 11 start during the Dunlop Townsville 400, Event 06 of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series at the Reed Park Street Circuit, Townsville, Queensland, Saturday, July 11, 2009.
James Courtney got the jump and led into turn 1.
Then 3 or 4 cars made contact at turn 2. It was a tense moment.
James Courtney kept the lead for those early laps while Lee Holdsworth battled Garth Tander for 2nd place.
After such a confident start James Courtney in the Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon dropped a cylinder. The lead was taken up by pole sitter, Lee Holdsworth and while Garth Tander pitted Jamie Whincup held 2nd.
James Courtney had to park in the garage and watch the rest of the race from the sideline.
In the middle of the race Jack Perkins was in the pack of leading cars. His presence seemed to have not been welcome. With a slight tap from behind by Jamie Whincup he was spun round and joined the cars at the back of the pack. Incidently, Jamie Whincup wasnt penalised for his action.
As the race drew to a close the leaders seemed to have a solid hold on their positions which no one could catch. They held firm and crossed the finish line; Jamie Whincup, Will Davison and Garth Tander.
On the weekend of August 29 and 30, 2020 was the NTI Townsville Supersprint.
Three races were run, each 39 laps of a Townsville Reed Park street circuit.
In the first race of the weekend, Race 19 Jamie Whincup started scored the pole position. Alongside him was David Reynolds.
Jamie Whincup made the most of it and got the jump into turn 1.
Further back in the pack Anton de Pasquale got turned at turn 2.
Then Shane Van Gibergen had damage due to hitting the cars in front of him. The Red Bull Team had to put him & his car 97 in the garage to repair the damage. Rick Kelly and Kelly Racing teammate, Andre Heimgartner also had damage. This wasn’t ideal because they are not near their home base in Victoria due to the COVID19 border closures.
Scott McLaughlin was shoved from behind and I was surprised that he escaped any significant damage so was able to keep going.
Scott McLaughlin was obviously not satisfied with starting position of 16 and gained 8 spots on the opening lap.
Todd Hazelwood left the track on lap 7 and didn’t return. By lap 23 his teammate Nick Percat also left the track without returning. Both received NC (Not Complete). Brad Jones Racing Team only had Jack Smith left on the track. Regardless of his dramas he did manage to finish the race.
There were a number of other drivers who didn’t make it to the finish line and received NCs. They included Zane Goddard, Andre Heimgartner and Macauley Jones. Five in total.
Jamie Whincup maintained his lead and continued to increase his lead. He managed to cros the finish line to take the win nearly 7 seconds ahead of Cameron Waters in 2nd place and close to 7 seconds after that was Chaz Mostert in 3rd place.
It was a much needed win for the Red Bull Team closing the gap on championship team leaders Shell V-Power Racing Team. It stepped up the competition for the rest of the weekend.
Results for Race 19
1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
Jamie Whincup earned himself another pole start for Race 20. Alongside him was Chaz Mostert.
Once again Jamie Whincup led into turn 1. The cars further back were trying to stay out of trouble and just maintain position.
Fabian Coulthard came in early so he wouldn’t interfere with teammate, Scott McLaighlin’s pit stop.
Shane Van Gisbergen also pitted first for the same reason. His teammate, Jamie Whincup was still leading.
Rick Kelly might have missed an opportunity but after the previous race didn’t want to risk making contact with another car.
By the middle of the race Jamie Whincup seemed to have secured his lead. He held his position right to the end. His experience ensured there were no slip ups or mistakes.
He crossed the finish line just over 3 seconds ahead of Chaz Mostert and his teammate, Shane VanGisbergen come in to collect 3rd place.
Things were really beginning to hot up in the competition.
Results for Race 20
1st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
In Race 21 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.
Scott McLaughlin had a mission and led into turn 1. From that point he didn’t look back! He was adamant that Jamie Whincup would not win 3 of 3 races for the weekend.
After a few average results in the last event, I was surprised Scott McLaughlin in car 17 dominated the race.
Cameron Waters who started from second on the grid also managed to keep his place and came in 2nd place.
Nick Percat slipped one place giving way to Jamie Whincup who gained 1 spot from his start and finished 3rd.
Results for Race 21
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V-Power Racing
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
The 2nd Townsville event is this weekend on September 5th and 6th, 2020.
On the weekend of July 18th and 19th, 2020 was the Truck Assist Sydney Supersprint.
Before I get into the race article, the hot news in Supercars is that Channel 10 has confirmed it will not be renewing its broadcasting contract after this season. It looks to be going to Channel 7 next year. You can find out more in this article https://www.speedcafe.com/2020/07/24/network-10-confirms-supercars-exit/?fbclid=IwAR3uG9J-FXhX8NK8gFL3X05ELRfv9wuQSE0siN6PSBB1NKIlDUOD5vpSKq4
As COVID-19 causes havoc through Australia (especially Victoria) teams have had to temporarily relocate and operate out of Queensland. This is in an effort to stay in a COVID low risk state so they can join races avoiding border closures in other states (i.e. Victoria).
Now back to the race.
As the teams entered the weekend, Shell V-Power Racing Team led the team’s ladder by 22 points and Scott McLaughlin led the driver’s ladder, 107 points over Jamie Whincup.
There were three races, each being 125kms over 32 laps. The only change to the race setup was tyre changes had to be done with one gun.
Scott McLaughlin was aiming for his own milestone with the opportunity to equal legend Peter Brock’s race win tally.
With all this in mind, Supercars were primed for a great weekend of racing.
In the Pre-race sessions results were as follows:
Macauley Jones was fastest in the Rookie Only Practice.
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 1.
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2.
Scott McLaughlin took out the Armor All Qualifying for Race 10. This eaned him his 9th Pole Position at Sydney Motorsport Park.
In race 10 Scott McLaughlin was on Pole Position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.
At first Scott McLaughlin got the jump off the start line but then got passed into turn 2 by Shane Van Gisbrgen.
Cameron Waters then went down the inside of Scott McLaughlin at turn 3.
During the early laps Shane Van Gisbrgen was pulling away, while the drivers behind him came in to Pit to get out of the traffic.
When Scott McLaughlin came in to the pits they changed car 17 over to soft tyres. I assume this would help his grip in the turns (where he could overtake) and gain track position. Shane Van Gisbergen was still leading the race at that stage.
Shane Van Gisbergen did 20 laps on the soft tyre before pitting to go on the hard tyre. However, staying out longer was not his best strategy because now Scott McLaughlin had the number 1 track position.
It now looked very good for Scott McLaughlin to extend his series lead and be psyched for the rest of the weekend.
As it came to the closing laps Scott McLaughlin secured his lead and noone could catch him. His nearest competitor, Lee Holdsworth was just over 1.3 seconds behind. Anton de Pasquale in 3rd was well over 4 seconds behind that. Shane Van Gisbergen had slipped into 4th position just ahead of his teammate Jamie Whincup. Im sure that it was not the result the Red Bull Team was expecting.
Results for Race 10
1st Scott McLaughlin –Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Lee Holdsworth – Tickford Racing
3rd Anton de Pasquale – Penrite Racing
Once again Scott McLaughlin took out the Qualifying for Race 11 earning him Pole Position. Once again he had Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him at the start line.
Scott McLaughlin led into turn 1 with the cars behind him desperately trying to keep up with the series leader.
During the opening stages the drivers that had track position stayed out longer but the cars back in the pack pitted for clear track and to stay out of trouble.
A lot of the drivers got warnings from Motorsport Australia Race Control for ‘track limits’ at turn 5.
In the middle of the race Nick Percat was leading and continued to increase his lead. The cars behind simply ran out of laps to pass him.
Nick Percat just kept pulling ahead and finished in first position nearly 9 seconds ahead of Fabian Coulthard and surprisingly 19.6363 seconds ahead of Scott McLaughlin. A great result for Nick Percat and the Brad Jones Racing Team.
Results for Race 11
1st Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing
3rd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing
In Race 12 Andre Heimgartner started on pole position. Alongside him was Jamie Whincup.
As the lights went out and the cars left the start line Andre Heimgartner led for the opening stint.
Meanwhile, Scott McLaughlin who started from 3rd position made contact with another car. He now had smoke coming out of the right rear corner which meant he had to pit to fix it.
After he re-joined he came out near the back of the pack which I thought he was going to get stuck in the pack and not be able to make a break for the lead.
In the middle of the race drivers were fighting for the lead.
The 3 leading cars seemed to be firmly ahead of the pack. Andre Heimgartner who started in pole position slipped 1 place coming behind a very happy Jack Le Broq. Todd Hazelwood followed in third, also very close behind. It was a great finish.
Results for Race 12
1st Jack Le Brocq – Tickford Racing
2nd Andre Heimgartner – Kelly Racing
3rd Todd Hazelwood – Brad Jones Racing
The next race is the BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown on August 15 and 16.
But who knows what will happen in the strange times. So in the meantime be safe and check out my facebook fanpage and Youtube channel.
Last weekend (starting on Thursday, March 12 through to March 15) was supposed to be the 2nd round of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship and the opening round of the World Formula 1 Championship.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 was the winner for the weekend in its mission to spoil our fun. COVID-19 is not a new race car to contend with the super fast Mustangs, it’s the Corona Virus causing the entire world a bunch of problems.
Some of the pre-race sessions were run (see further down for the results) but the spread of Corona Virus made itself known.
The McLaren F1 team are now in isolation because 14 of the team members tested positive to Corona virus.
In the end the officials decided on Friday to not let the event go ahead and cancel all the support categories and the Formula 1.
At the moment there is talk that Tasmania and the ITM Super400 could also get cancelled due to this god damn Coronavirus.
So for the sake of keeping check on the form of the teams, here are the results from the pre-race sessions that were run:
Practice 1 – Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen finished 1st and 2
Practice 2 – Anton de Pasquale was fastest. However, Maculey Jones had a 16G-force impact with the wall at the end of turn 1. Scared the hell out of everyone.
Qualifying both Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup claimed pole position for races 3 and 4.
The next 2 rounds of the Supercars are at Symmons plains and Hampton downs. Let’s hope these next 2 events go ahead. Fingers crossed.
If you have any comments about the event or the affect of Corona Virus we would love to hear from you. Head to my V8 Supercars fan page at https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/ and have your say.
So until the next race – Keep well and healthy and keep it idling.
On the weekend of the 8th to the 10th of November 2019 was the Penrite Oil Sandown 500.
Results for the pre – race sessions were as follows:
Garth Tander was fastest in practice 1 for co-drivers
David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 2
Craig Lowndes was fastest in Practice 3
Scott Pye & Warren Luff were fastest in the warm up for the Sandown 500.
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 4 & Armour All Qualifying for Race 28
Craig Lowndes won Race 28
Jamie Whincup won Race 29
Before the race on Sunday the Supercars community at Sandown paid tribute to the life of Mike Raymond, who passed away a few days earlier at the age of 76. Mike Raymond was most well known as a commentator in the late 80s, early 90s. He gave so much to the sport, our condolences to his family and all that knew him. If anyone has a good memory to share about Mike Raymond please post it on my Supercars Facebook Fan Page. I am sure others would love to hear it. https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/
At the start of the 500 kilometre 161 lap race Craig Lowndes started on pole position, alongside him was Bryce Fullwood from the Dunlop Super 2 Series.
All the co-drivers bar Scott Pye started behind the wheel for the race on Sunday. I guess this is part of the strategy as the co-drivers have to do a minimum of 54 laps and can only do a maximum 107 laps.
Jack Smith was behind the wheel co-driving with Todd Hazelwood in his debut at the Enduro’s.
Both Alex Premat (co-driver for Scott McLaughlin) and Garth Tander (co-driver for Shane Van Gisbergen) started in positions 24th and 25th. These two cars are normally at the front of the grid. Garth Tander’s positioning was caused by Shane Van Gisbergen unable to complete the ‘main driver’ race on Saturday due to to a spin off track from a poorly timed takeover with Anton de Pasquale.
Alex Premat was sentenced to the back of the grid due to officials finding Scott McLaughlin’s engine was over-specced dating back to Bathurst. Quite a drama. If you have a point of view on this please feel free to put it up for discussion on my Supercars Facebook Fan Page.
Without surprise the experienced Craig Lowndes got the jump on Bryce Fullwood off the start line. Further back in the grid 3 cars stalled on the green light causing a fair bit of havoc.
Alex Davison was in one of the cars that stalled and was extremely lucky not to be collected by the cars just behind him.
At the end of the opening lap Tony Dalberto got turned around by Richard Muscat and found himself at the very back of the pack.
Luke Youlden in car # 9 received damage and was missing the rear wing. When he got back to the pits he knew that the day was over. With only 30 laps completed it must have been a big blow for him and his main driver, David Reynolds.
I was actually surprised that Dale Wood and Luke Youlden managed to limp their cars back to the pits. They looked in very poor shape.
Later in the race there was contact between Michael Caruso and Jake Kostecki. This was a really messy situation. It was when Jake Kostecki was merging from the pit lane into the fast lane. It appeared he was unaware that Caruso was coming down the fast lane. Usually the car controller gives the driver warning to yield over the comms when merging back onto the track.
Kostecki was able to continue the race but Michael Caruso’s front left wheel was now at a strange looking angle. With this damage he had to complete a full lap at a slower in order to come back around to the pits.
It merge was deemed as unsafe and the Kostecki Brothers Racing team were issued a drive through penalty.
In the middle of the race the Red Bull Holden Racing Team were running 1st & 2nd. If they could maintain their lead to the end of the race it would also place them at the top of the Team’s Championship ladder. The pressure was on!
But as luck would have it, with only 10 laps to go and in the lead, Shane Van Gisbergen’s car lost a bolt and smoke was coming out of the right rear. He was forced to call into the pits which dropped him from 1st to 17th. Shane Van Gisbergen & co-driver Garth Tander must have been gutted. They had started from the back of the grid in position 24 and worked their way into the lead. That is pretty amazing but it wold have also been Shane Van Gisbergen’s first win at Sandown (and a second win at Sandown for Garth Tander)
It was lucky for the Red Bull Team that Jamie Whincup was just behind Shane Van Gisbergen and able to take the lead for the team. Once he was told that his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen had to pit he knew he had to hold the lead to the end.
This was not difficult for Jamie Whincup and he came across the line first.
It brings Jamie Whincup’s career win total to 117 and Craig Lowndes win total to 110.
However, Shane Van Gisbergen slipping back to 17th meant they only closed the Team Championship points trail from 132 to 116. I’m sure it will be their inspiration to ‘go hard’ in the coming last race of the season, The Newcastle 500.
Results for Race 30
1st Jamie Whincup & Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2nd Chaz Mostert & James Moffatt – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
3rd Lee Holdsworth & Thomas Randle – Bottle O Racing Team.
Congratulations to Jack Smith who will be making his full time Virgin Australia Supercars Championship debut in 2020. Read about it in the link: https://www.speedcafe.com/2019/11/13/bjr-confirms-smith-in-expanded-four-car-2020-line-up/
Please feel free to comment on how Sandown went via my Facebook Fanpage.
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.
On the weekend of the 5th to the 7th of July, 2019 was the Watpac Townsville 400.
While Scott McLaughlin has dominated the season, his teammate Fabian Coulthard has also had a great season. On this weekend he will be hitting a milestone, his 400th race. He is 2nd in the championship with career stats including 12 race wins, 54 podiums, 9 pole positions and held the lead for 689 laps over all races. It is no wonder that even this early in the year the Shell V Power Racing Team have announced re-signing Fabian Coulthard (and Scott McLaughlin) for next season.
This news ends the speculation about Scott McLaughlin racing for Roger Penske in the US. The following link is an article by ‘FoxSprts’ and gives some insight to some of the big name drivers and their prospects for 2020.
As the weekend wound up to the big event, the results in the pre-race sessions were as follows:
·Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 1
·Lee Holdsworth was fastest in Practice 2
·Fabian Coulthard was fastest Practice 3
·David Reynolds was fastest in Qualifying for race 17
In race 17 David Reynolds started on pole position. Alongside him was Chaz Mostert.
Rick Kelly ran with a new car number, 100 in honour of one of his big supporters, Castrol to celebrate 100 years in Australia and New Zealand.
At the start of the 70 lap race David Reynolds got the jump on Chaz Mostert and kept his lead for most of the opening laps.
Andre Heimgartner, Cameron Waters and Jamie Whincup nearly came together and almost hit the wall but somehow they missed.The drivers who started back in the pack came in early to try and get track position.
Jamie Whincup also came in early to get out of the traffic and also get track position. It worked out well for him and he found the clear air he was looking for. It was a big help in keeping him up front with a chance of taking his first race win of 2019.
In the middle of the race David Reynolds had bad luck in his pit stop. It was unfortunate that cross threaded wheel nut cost him his chance at victory.
David Reynolds’ bad luck was just the opportunity Scott McLaughlin was looking for and he was soon in the lead.
As the race came to a close he and Jamie Whincup had a good lead on the rest of the pack without a chance of being caught.
Shane Van Gisbergen who wanted to get on the podium also had some bad luck (that went by the name of Chaz Mostert ) and finished 4th with Chaz Mostert in front of him.
Results for Race 17:
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team 2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team 3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing
In race 18 on the Sunday, Cameron Waters started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.
As they started the 70 lap race the rain started. A wet and slippery track usually spells disaster.
David Reynolds and Scott McLaughlin made contact between turns 1 and 2. The damage was significant enough for them to both head back to the pits.
David Reynolds’ car went back into the garage with broken steering.
I was quite surprised that the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske crew let Scott McLaughlin re-join the race. I thought for sure that the DJR Team would have put car 17 in the garage but didn’t.
The rain was getting heavier. After Jamie Whincup had re-joined from his pit stop he was still on slick tyres and the wet weather caused him to hit the wall.
As Jamie Whincup got his car back to the pits race engineer David Cauchi said, ‘Turn it off. No oil pressure!’. It was the second time this weekend that Jamie Whincup missed out on what could have been his first race win for the season.
In the middle of the race the rain started to pour down. This meant the cars and drivers needed to be on ‘Wets’.
Simona de Silvestro got called to come in to the pits but when she went back onto the track she crossed the yellow line to re-join which is not allowed. The drive through penalty she received cost her a few positions at the finish line.
Towards the end of the race Shane Van Gisbergen took the lead after Scott McLaughlin received car damage. He and Fabian Coulthard had comfortable space ahead of the pack and were uncatchable.
But the race was interrupted. Both Nick Percat and Garry Jacobson’s cars caught fire in two separate incidents. Nick Percat’s fire was in the pits causing a huge amount of smoke and flames looked to almost reach the fuel stands (That would have been a massive disaster).
Garry Jacobson’s car caught fire out on track which meant the race finished under safety car.
As they called the end of the race there were 3 DNF’s. They were Jamie Whincup, Mark Winterbottom and Garry Jacobson.
Results for Race 18:
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team 2nd Fabian Coulthard – Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske 3rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing
The next is the Century Batteries Ipswich Supersprint on the 26th to the 28th of July 2019.
On the weekend of the 24th to the 26th of May was the Truck Assist Winton Supersprint
The hot news as this goes to press is that Chaz Mostert has a big decision to make about his future because at the end of this season he will be off contract with Tickford Racing. There is talk about opportunities for him at Team Penske as well as going overseas. It’s a; happening for him right now. What will Chaz Mostert choose to do? (AutoAction published a really interesting article on Chaz https://autoaction.com.au/2019/05/30/chazs-big-decision).
In the co–drivers’ session which was Practice 0, Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander finished 1st and 2nd.
Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1.
Chaz Mostert was also fastest in Armour All Qualifying which gave him pole position for Race 13.
This weekend was also a milestone for some out on track:
·It was Shane Van Gisbergen’s 100th race as a member of Triple Eight Race Engineering. ·It was also Jamie Whincup’s 220th round start, equalling him with Mark Skaife for 8th on the all-time list of starts.
I just had a flashback to Winton 2013. Jamie Whincup, Russell Ingall and Dean Fiore had an accident which took them out of the race. I hoped nothing like that would happen on this weekend.
In Race 13 Chaz Mostert started on pole position and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.
At the start of the 40-lap race Both Chaz Mostert and Fabian Coulthard made contact in between turns 1 and 2 which allowed James Courtney to take the race lead!
Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard came together on lap 1 at turn 5 and re-joined at turn 9.
I thought Scott McLaughlin was going to get a drive thru penalty or a 15 second stop and hold for re-joining between turns 8 and 9 but apparently they were within the rules for the Winton weekend.
Fabian Coulthard received a 15 second penalty for making that contact with Scott McLaughlin.
Throughout the race a number of drivers got pinged for a range of driving infringements.
When David Reynolds gave James Courtney a bump and took the race lead he copped a 15 second penalty.
Fabian Coulthard was trying keep up with his teammate, Scott McLaughlin but he couldn’t quite get close enough.
Scott Pye was struggling to stay in the top 10.
By the middle of the race the two Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske drivers, Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard were running 1st and 2nd.
Towards the end of the race no one could catch Scott McLaughlin in first and Fabian Coulthard, second.
Unfortunately Fabian Coulthard’s 15 second penalty early on in the race pushed him down to 15th place, dropping 13 spots. Must have been a hard pill to swallow but the weekend was not over yet.
Results for Race 13
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V power Racing Team. 2nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team. 3rd David Reynolds – Penrite Racing. 4th James Courtney – Mobil 1 Mega Racing. 5th Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team. 6th Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
In the lead up to Sunday’s race Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2 and then also fastest in the Armour All Qualifying.
For the 67 lap Race 14, once again Scott McLaughlin started on pole position with Fabian Coulthard alongside him.
Scott McLaughlin got the jump on his teammate Fabian Coulthard and pretty much dominated the race accept for pit stops.
Will Davison was hoping for a solid result so I was quite surprised that Will Davison broke down and Rick Kelly’s engine blew. They both ended up with DNF’S .
In the middle of the race, after the 2nd round of pit stops no one could catch the 2 Shell V Power Mustangs of Scott McLaughlin and teammate, Fabian Coulthard.
Once again the pair held position and crossed the finish line 1st and 2nd. This time Fabian Coulthard made it onto the podium.
Results for Race 14
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team. 2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team. 3rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
The next event is the Bet Easy Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway starting on June 14.
On the Weekend of the 2nd to the 4th of May 2019 was the Pirtek Perth Supernight.
This was the first night race to take place at the Barbagallo Raceway and as showcase of the setup commentators Craig Lowndes and Greg Murphy took Jamie Whincup and Rick Kelly’s cars out onto the racetrack for a couple laps.
I thought the lights and light towers looked incredible.
As the pre-race sessions started I noted the return of Mark Larkham as pit-lane commentator. He missed the last event at Phillip Island (see my previous article for details) so it was good to see him back in his role.
Results for the pre-race sessions were as one would expect:
·Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 1
·Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2
·Scott McLaughlin was also fastest in Qualifying for race 11
In race 11 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.
At the start of the 50-lap race Fabian Coulthard got jump off the line and the championship leader, Scott McLaughlin had to pull in behind him.
David Reynolds and Anton de Pasquale were in battle for position and made contact with each other at turn 1 but David Reynolds held his spot.
Shane Van Gisbergen pitted early to get track position because he was getting held up by David Reynolds in his battle with Anton De Pasquale.
Scott McLaughlin tried to make a pass for the lead but Fabian Coulthard held firm to his lead.
Later Todd Hazelwood made a great pass on Jack Le Brocq. It was a nice clean piece of driving.
Before the pit stops had been completed Fabian Coulthard was the affective race leader and seemed in fine form as he held the position through the entire race. Scott McLaughlin was still close behind but everyone else was further back and no one could catch them.
Fabian Coulthard appeared full of confidence as he crossed the finish line to make it a back 2 back win after winning at race 10 at Phillip Island.
It was a great race and the night light setup was brilliant. Surprisingly no Safety Cars were deployed through the entire race.
Results for Race 11
1st Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
4th Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
In the Pre-Race Sessions for race 12:
·Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 3
·Scott McLaughlin was also fastest in Qualifying
In race 12 Scott McLaughlin once again started on pole position with Jamie Whincup alongside him.
At the start of the 83-lap race Scott McLaughlin nearly stalled giving Jamie Whincup the lead he wanted. This was bad luck again for Scott McLaughlin after his poor start from pole position in Race 11.
Jamie Whincup was in front of the field for the first couple of laps.
Most of the cars back in the pack pitted early to get into clear air.
Soon after Andre Heimgartner made contact with Scott Pye which caused the 1 and only Safety Car deployment during races 11 and 12.
On the restart Shane Van Gisbergen gave Rick Kelly a bump which put him off the race track and Rick Kelly’s front air dam was full of sponsorship signs. I thought there would’ve been no way he could have made it to the end of the race but somehow he did.
Scott McLaughlin was now leading the race but Jamie Whincup kept him honest the whole way, which was good to see.
I thought at one stage that Jamie Whincup was going to win his first race for 2019 but that wasn’t the case.
As the race came to a close Jamie Whincup kept the pressure on the defending Supercars Champion and series leader, Scott McLaughlin. Driving without fault there was no chance for Jamie Whincup to take that lead position from him.
So once again Scott McLaughlin won another race for 2019.
Jamie Whincup started the Perth Supernight Supercars event down in 9th in the driver’s championship and is now up to 6th in the championship.
The only way any of the other drivers can close the points gap on Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard is for them have 8 bad races with DNF’S and NC’S. It does seem none of the other drivers will have a chance.
Results for Race 12
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing Team.
I thought the night racing was an awesome spectacle.
The next event is the Truck Assist Winton Supersprint 24th to the 26th of May 2019.
Please feel free to comment on how the Perth Supernight went via my Facebook Fanpage.
On the weekend of the 5th to the 7th of April, 2019 was the Tyrepower Tasmania Supersprint.
The pre-race sessions for race 7 were almost as fun to watch as the main race.
In the additional co-driver practice session Warren Luff was the fastest.
Jamie Whincup lost his fastest time passing under a yellow flag due to Nick Percat getting stuck in the sandtrap. The result of this was Chaz Mostert clocked the fastest time in Practice 1.
Jamie Whincup got back and was fastest in Practice 2.
Then Nick Percat was fastest in Practice 3.
In Qualifying for Race 7, Jamie Whincup spun around at turn 4 meaning he couldn’t take any further part in the session. Originally he was destined to go into the race at the 25th spot but somehow he ended up starting 15th.
Mark Winterbottom was fastest in Qualifying and gained himself the pole position.
In race 7, alongside Mark Winterbottom on pole was Scott McLaughlin.
At the start of the 50-lap race Scott Mclaughlin got the jump off the line which meant that Mark Winterbottom had to pull back into 2nd place, only Because he didn’t get to turn 1 and 2 1st.
Jamie Whincup had gained 1 spot up to 14th but made contact as he tried to get past Chaz Mostert at turn 6 and received damage to the front end and was forced to pit. As a result that put him 2 laps down.
When he re-joined, he had to stay out of the way because he was 2 laps down which made it impossible to gain any ground.
Fabian Coulthard was following his teammate Scott McLaughlin who had ‘the man flu’. It didn’t seem possible that he would take the number 1 position from Scott McLaughlin. However, it seemed more likely that Scott McLaughlin would need to exit the race due to his poor condition from the flu.
Scott McLaughlin was in the lead and simply not giving up another win for the season just because of the flu. (Proving it is harder to beat the ‘man flu’ than it is to beat everyone in the V8 Supercars).
By the middle of the race no one could catch Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard. They had such a strong lead and maintained it right to the end.
Results for Race 7
1st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
3rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
In the Pre-Race sessions for race 8; Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 4 and Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Qualifying for Race 8.
In Race 8 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.
At the start of the 84-lap, 200 Kilometre race I think most cars were fitted with slicks, which I thought was brave given that it was spitting on the sighting lap.
On the opening lap there was contact between Lee Holdsworth and Andre Heimgartner.
James Courtney tried to get around the outside of Rick Kelly at turn 4 but wasn’t able to get the run on Rick Kelly.
Before the race started it had started to rain but once the race got underway it started to pour.
But I was Surprised that no one pitted for wets (tyres) because the clouds looked black as the ace of spades.
Garry Jacobson and a lot of other teams and drivers got pinged for not using the handbrake in the pitlane. Whoops!
After the first round of pitstops Fabian Coulthard was able to warm his wet weather slicks over the next lap before Scott McLaughlin rejoined the race. On fresh cold tyres Scott McLaughlin had to let Fabian Coulthard through at turn 4, the hairy hairpin.
Both the Ford Mustang’s of Lee Holdsworth and Cameron Waters were still in or exiting the pits when flames started coming out the left-hand side. There wasn’t any crash or apparent reason and it did seem weird that both seemed to have the same issue (was it sabotage by Red Bull? If any knows please post on my fanpage – a link is at the bottom of this article.)
In the middle of the race while Shane Van Gisbergen was pitting, David Reynolds was close in behind Fabian Coulthard at the lead. When the right opportunity came, David Reynolds made all the right moves and took the lead. Both drivers are veterans so it became exciting to see who would hold out the longest.
This became even more exciting as Shane Van Gisbergen returned to the race from his pit stop. Soon it was Shane Van Gisbergen’s race again. He returned to the lead and continued to dominate to the end.
The funniest moment of the weekend was When Garry Rogers rode a bike out on the Starting Grid fully clad in cycling gear. He looked hilarious in lycra. LOL.
Near the end of the race Anton de Pasquale’s gear leaver came loose in his car. My first thought was come in and get it fixed. Surprisingly he pressed on. Madness, I tell you, MADNESS!!
As the race came to a close nobody could catch Shane Van Gisbergen who crossed the finish line over 5 seconds ahead of Fabian Coulthard in second place, followed by David Reynolds nearly 2 seconds behind in 3rd place. Scott McLaughlin had made up 1 place to finish 4th with his man flu.
So it was Pole and Podium for Shane Van Gisbergen. A very nice result for Red Bull.
The next event is the WD40 Phillip Island Supersprint on the 12th to the 14th of April 2019.
Results for Race 8:
1st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V-Power Racing Team
3rd David Reynolds – Penrite Racing
