Tag Archives: Supercars

Pirtek Perth Supersprint 2019 Supernight Supercars

May 20, 2019 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the World!

On the Weekend of the 2^nd to the 4^th 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

1^st Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2^nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3^rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
4^th 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 6^th 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

1^st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2^nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3^rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing Team.

I thought the night racing was an awesome spectacle.

The next event is the Truck Assist Winton Supersprint 24^th to the 26^th of May 2019.

Please feel free to comment on how the Perth Supernight went via my Facebook Fanpage.

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

Supercars

Tyrepower Tasmania Supersprint 2019 Supercars

April 11, 2019 admin Leave a comment

HI to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 5^th to the 7^th 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 25^th spot but somehow he ended up starting 15^th.

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 2^nd place, only Because he didn’t get to turn 1 and 2 1^st.

Jamie Whincup had gained 1 spot up to 14^th 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

1^st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2^nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
3^rd 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 3^rd place. Scott McLaughlin had made up 1 place to finish 4^th 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 12^th to the 14^th of April 2019.

Results for Race 8:

1^st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
2^nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V-Power Racing Team
3^rd David Reynolds – Penrite Racing

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

Please feel free to comment on how the Tasmania weekend went via my facebook Fanpage.

Supercars

Beaurepaires Melbourne 400 Supercars

March 24, 2019 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 14^th to the 17^th of March 2019 was the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400 at Albert Park in Melbourne, Victoria.

The Larry Perkins Trophy is up for grabs with Jamie Whincup defending ownership after his great win last year. Incidentally, earlier in the previous week Larry Perkins went into hospital for surgery to remove a gallbladder.

In the past The Melbourne 400 was run as a support category to the Australian Grand Prix F1 series. It was only last year that the Melbourne 400 officially became the second round of the V8 Supercars championship. I think it makes for more exciting racing as it is no longer seen as a ‘test run’.

The Melbourne 400 is an interesting opportunity in the championship because there are actually four races (25, 13, 25 & 13 laps), giving drivers with different strengths an opportunity to take advantage.

It also means 4 qualifying rounds which give the rookies a better chance to get to know the track.

Albert Park is an interesting venue as it is one of the longer tracks being 5.303Kms.

Race 4 also had the honour of being the 1000^th race since the championship started in 1960. So the weekend was quite a milestone for the sport.

As we entered the weekend, the Red Bull Holden Racing Team held the Team’s Championship lead by 5 points, while Scott McLaughlin defends his lead in the Driver’s Championship.

In the pre-race sessions it was Chaz Mostert driving his new superfast Ford Mustang who had his best weekend in a while:

Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 1
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2
Scott McLaughlin was also fastest in Qualifying for Race 3, 4 & 5
Chaz Mostert was fastest in Qualifying for Race 6

All 4 Qualifying sessions were only 10 minutes each.

Race 3 was run on Friday as sunset approached at 5:55pm

Scott McLaughlin started on pole position and alongside him was Fabian Coulthard.

At the start of 130 Kilometre, 25 lap race Scott McLaughlin got the jump on his teammate Fabian Coulthard.

Scott McLaughlin now didn’t have to worry about clean air or about being stuck behind his teammate.

It was all Mustangs at the front, Scott McLaughlin, Fabian Coulthard and Cameron Waters followed by Red Bull’s Shane Van Gisbergen in his Commodore.

However, it was the compulsory tyre change pit stop that would be the decider for many.

The only time Scott McLaughlin wasn’t leading the race was during the pitstop shuffle.

Scott McLaughlin hit the pits on lap 12 with a 4 second lead and once again came out on track to dominate.

Jamie Whincup pitted first because he didn’t want Shane Van Gisbergen who was running with a chance for a podium position to be waiting in the pits for too long behind him.

However, Shane Van Gisbergen waited to pit on lap 15 and it just mucked up his flow. There were now 4 Mustangs ahead of him.

Will Davison was happy with the way his ford Mustang was performing with only 10 laps to go he was now in 4^th position.

Macauley Jones was travelling well and enjoying his first Albert Park event as a rookie.

With 6 laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen picked up and returned to his lead over Will Davison.

Towards the end of the race, with only 4 laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen’s engine let go which meant he was the only car to have no points. He came into Albert Park 2^nd in championship, but after a disastrous weekend he is now 11^th in the championship on minus 175 points.

Scott McLaughlin comfortably took in first place. This made it his 3^rd win from the first 3 races in the season.

However, it was Chaz Mostert who had everyone’s eyebrows raised. He started in 22^nd on the grid and was 13^th by the middle of the race. Once out of the pits he showed everyone just what his car could do and came across the finish line 5^th just behind Will Davison. That is a gain of 17 in 25 laps!!!! (I am sure I could hear Chaz singing ‘Day-o, day-o. Come, mister tally man, tally me banana’).

Results for race 3

1^st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2^nd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
3^rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing Team
4^th Will Davison – 23 Red Racing Team car 23
5^th Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team

In race 4 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

But again Scott McLaughlin dominated race 4, which wasn’t surprising because the Mustang’s were quick all weekend.

Jamie Whincup was battling with Chaz Mostert for 3^rd place. When Chaz Mostert passed him and then Cameron Waters, Jamie Whincup had dropped back to 4^th place.

Garry Jacobson and James Golding made contact on the main straight which I thought would end in a massive shunt but thankfully there wasn’t.

Scott McLaughlin was still the driver no one could beat because he was flying and dominated the race from start to finish. He crossed the finish with 2.5 seconds plus lead. This made it his 4^th win out 4 starts in the championship.

It also seems the Mustangs, the newest entry to the track this year are making quite a splash. It was Chaz Mostert (Mustang) and Cameron Waters (Mustang) that pushed Red Bull’s Jamie Whincup in his ZB Commodore out of the top 3 positions.

Results for Race 4

1^st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2^nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing
3^rd Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing

Before race 5 started on the warm up lap, both Scott McLaughlin and Cameron Waters came together which resulted in both drives not starting and being classified as a NC (Not Complete) as a result Nick Percat and Tim Slade were affectively on the front row of the grid.

Tim Slade kept the lead as Jamie Whincup who started from 6^th position came in behind him.

Fabain Coulthard was trying to stay out of trouble because he didn’t want to help the Dick Johnson Racing Team by leaving the track to repair his car.

At lap 13 Jamie Whincup finally took the lead. Tim Slade and Nick Percat then battled for the trailing positions. Nick Percat came into turn 15 in a poor position on the outside driving wide and lost several places that he just couldn’t recover from in the remaining time.

After the pitstops it was Mostert who was right behind Whincup at the lead. The pressure was on.

With only 6 laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen lost his right back wheel! The Vodafone Safety Car was called out.

With four laps to go Chaz Mostert once again wanted to prove what his Mustang could do and took the lead off Jamie Whincup who was now closely followed by Tim Slade. David Reynolds in his ZB Commodore was not far behind. I get the feeling it was more important to him to stay ahead of Fabian Coulthard’s Mustang than to try take 3^rd position from Time Slade (also Commodore).

Chaz Mostert was incredibly fast and opened the gap on his lead to over a second. It was incredible to watch. This was his first race win for 2019. Congratulations Chaz! ‘Day-o, day-o
Daylight come and me wan’ go home’.

Aside from Scott McLaughlin and Cameron Waters who never made it past the warm up lap, it was only Richie Stanaway who was disqualified from the results due to making contact with another car. He later received a $10,000 fine for the incident. Ouch!

Results for Race 5

1^st Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.
2^nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing team.
3^rd Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing.

In race 6 Chaz Mostert started on pole position and alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

At the start of the race Scott McLaughlin got the jump and led the way early on. Given that it was only a 13-lap race with no pit stops, Scott McLaughlin dominated the race once again.

Chaz Mostert got off to a bad start from pole and was immediately behind Jamie Whincup.

It took until lap 3 for Mostert to take Whincup and get into 2^nd position but by now Scott McLaughlin had a 2+ second lead.

Rick Kelly didn’t want to get to close to the drivers in front of him otherwise he would get caught up in an accident.

In the middle of the race Macauley Jones had another massive shunt which meant the safety car was deployed to clear Macauley Jones car. He was the only car to leave the race with a Not Complete.

As the race resumed Chaz Mostert made a go for Scott McLaughlin’s lead spot but couldn’t come close. It was still exciting to watch and Im sure it did have Scott McLaughlin on edge.

As they came across the line no one could catch those top 3; Scott McLaughlin, Chaz Mostert and Jamie Whincup.

Results for race 6

1^st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing team
2^nd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team
3^rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

Chaz Mostert won the Larry Perkins Trophy and Jamie Whincup claimed his 200^th podium in his Supercars Career.

Supercars has dropped the time certain race finishes unless there are major Safety Car delays.

Triple 8 are going to debut a new Supercars wheel retention system which is to stop the wheel from coming off the car out on the race track.

The next event is the Tyrepower Tasmania Supersprint on the 5^th to the 7^th of April 2019.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/
please feel free to comment on How the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400 went.

Post Race Report, Supercars

Coates Hire Newcastle 500 2018 Supercars

December 2, 2018 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 23^rd to the 25^th of November 2018 was the Coates Hire Newcastle 500, the Supercars season grand finale.

The Newcastle race is held on local streets, part of which runs along its beautiful shore line and the city comes alive for the spectacle. Each year it gets better and better.

One of the funniest moment of the weekend was when Jessica Yates, Mark Skaife and Russell Ingall wore a t-shirt taking a dig at his fellow commentator (Russell Ingall) for a incident back in 2003. It was printed with ‘Dearest Mark, I am sorry for firing you into the fence at Sydney Motorsport Park Eastern Creek – Love Russ’. LOL.

In the sessions prior to the race:

Lee Holdsworth was fastest in Practice 1
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in the ‘Armour All’ Qualifying for race 30
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in the ‘Armour All’ Qualifying for race 31

In race 30 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position and alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

At the start of the 95-lap race Jamie Whincup got the jump on his teammate, Shane Van Gisbergen but then let him pass him up Watt Street so that Shane Van Gisbergen could close the Driver’s Championship points gap with Scott McLaughlin.

Fabian Coulthard got spun around by Jamie Whincup stopping Fabian Coulthard helping out his teammate, Scott McLaughlin up the front.

Later Fabian Coulthard got himself in more trouble. He made a mistake approaching turn 1 which put him in the wall. He then was also joined by Tim Blanchard and Nick Percat. In fact it was such a mess Nick Percat had half of Fabian Coulthard’s car in his lap. Fabians car looked pretty smashed up and he was out of the race with an NC (not complete). I didn’t think the team would be able to repair the car for Sunday’s race but somehow they worked their magic.

Craig Lowndes followed Scott Pye into pit lane for his pit stop. James Courtney was already in the pits causing Scott Pye to double stack, blocking the pit lane for Craig Lowndes. I’m sure he was mighty pissed off losing that valuable time.

When John McGregor asked Craig Lowndes what happened he replied angrily with ”Bloody Pye blocked the fastlane”.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen had enough fuel and tyre grip to chase down the cars in front of him.

However, burning up all that fuel meant when he pitted for his 3^rd and final stop there was an extended wait to fill up the race requirement of 140 litres.

Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin was in the lead, heading for victory until the most embarrassing thing of all happened. On the 2^nd last corner before the finish line he ran out of fuel! Amazingly his car continued to roll without fuel across the finish line.

Shane Van Gisbergen was close behind taking full advantage and crossed the line ahead of Scott McLaughlin.

Now Shane Van Gisbergen was just 2 points behind Scott McLaughlin in the championship. It was a very unusual finish to the race.

However, after the dust settled at the finish line the Stewards gave Shane Van Gisbergen a 25 second penalty for his car being lowered to the ground while fuelling up at his last pit stop. Whoops!

Gisbergen had lost his win and had now been relegated to finishing 5^th in the race. So officially McLaughlin was the winner. With only 1 race for the weekend and season he now had the points to secure this year’s championship.

Results for race 30

1^st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2^ndDavid Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
3^rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

Before the start of race 31 Craig Lowndes did his final lap around the Newcastle streets circuit waving to all the fans. When he got back he took a walk up the pit lane thanking everybody for their support. All the teams took part in congratulating Craig Lowndes on his fantastic career. All the Triple 8 team members wore a shirt that said ‘Thanks CL’.

Chaz Mostert showed one of the greatest gestures of respect and asked Craig Lowndes to sign his suit.

It was now time for Race 31 and Craig Lowndes was bestowed the honour of leading the drivers out to the start line.

David Reynolds started on pole position and alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

All the Nissan drivers and cars were pink because they were supporting the McGrath Foundation. It was quite a sight.

As the 95 lap race started David Reynolds led with Scott McLaughlin following during the opening laps.

Scott McLaughlin seemed to be playing it safe which I thought was a good call; If Scott McLaughlin damaged his car and got a DNF he would lose the championship again (last year he lost the championship by only one race). All he had to do was hang in there.

Jamie Whincup helped out teammate Shane Van Gisbergen and pitted early to avoid a double stack.

Tim Blanchard got a pit lane drive through penalty for contact with Simona de Silvestro.

David Reynolds was still leading before his first pit stop.

Meanwhile Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen where battling it out in 2^nd and 3^rd position for the championship.

For a time they didn’t have the support of their team mates, Jamie Whincup in 7^th place and Fabian Coulthard back in 9^th.

Michael Caruso was trying to finish on a high with Nissan Motorsport with his contract still up for renewal. He finished the race 19^th, gaining 5 places from a starting position 24.

Lee Holdsworth is also another driver without a contract for next season. Mark Winterbottom will be replacing him at Team 18.

Nick Percat didn’t want a repeat of Saturday’s dramas which he thankfully avoided by qualifying further up the grid and running a clean race.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen had the front guards on the left and right hanging out. It wasn’t that bad so he wasn’t about to lose time with a pit stop. His race engineer, Grant McPherson said him, ‘If the Safety Car comes out in the next few laps we will pit to fix it’ (but just keep racing).

Towards the end of the race no one else could catch Scott McLaughlin or David Reynolds in 1^st and 2^nd place.

At that point Ryan Story who is the team manager at Shell V Power Racing was being interviewed by Greg Murphy and said to Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton ‘We are good on fuel today. OK boys!’. LOL.

Right at the end of the race David Reynolds had great pace. Scott McLaughlin knew he had the championship all wrapped up and it seemed he moved over and let David Reynolds take the race win.

Results for Race 31

1^st David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
2^nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3^rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

Congratulations to Craig Lowndes on everything you have achieved during your remarkable Supercars career. What you have done for the sport of Supercars racing has been documented. It will be weird not seeing you in the car full time next year. So, well done Craig Lowndes!

Thanks CL!

The next event is the 2019 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour on the 1^st to the 3^rd of February 2019.

But the Supercars Championship doesn’t start until 28^th of February to the 3^rd of March 2019.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/?ref=bookmarks please feel free to let me know how you think the grand finale went.

Post Race Report, Supercars

ITM Auckland Supersprint 2018 Supercars

November 16, 2018 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the World!

On the weekend of the 2^nd to the 4^th of November 2018 was the ITM Auckland Supersprint.

The big bomb-shell of the weekend was from Mark Winterbottom announcing that he has chosen not to sign a new contract with his current team Tickford Racing. Having originally signed with them back in 2006, this ends 13 years as a Ford driver under the Tickford banner. What is surprising is that he has not announced who he will be signing with.

In the preliminaries to the races over the weekend:

· Scott McLaughlin was the fastest in Practice 1

· Jamie Whincup was fastest in Practice 2.

· Scott McLaughlin crashed in practice 2 taking him out of that session.

· Also Todd Hazelwood got so bogged in the sand he needed help to get his car out.

· Chaz Mostert was fastest in Practice 3.

· Scott McLaughlin was the fastest in armour all qualifying for race 28.

· Simona De Silvestro caused a red flag in qualifying which meant she started race 28 from position 26.

· David Reynolds was fastest in qualifying for race 29 which gave him the last go out on track to try and claim pole position. He did well but in the end the pole was claimed by the 7 times Supercars Champion, Jamie Whincup.

On Saturday’s race 28 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position. This made it his 13th pole position for this season and 45th in his career. Alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen.

Craig Lowndes didn’t start in the top ten, in fact he started 18^th.

At the start of the 70-lap race Scott McLaughlin took the lead. Shane Van Gisbergen tried to get up the inside of him between turn 2 and 3. When he realised he couldn’t get by he tucked back in behind car 17.

Later Todd Hazelwood got pinged for passing the Safety Car so copped a PLP – Pit Lane Penalty. Naughty boy Todd Hazelwood! Jamie Whincup knows this shame all too well because he got pinged for the same thing at Bathurst in 2015. It’s a mistake that you don’t repeat too soon.

Shane Van Gisbergen was going really quick during the opening laps and I thought he might take the lead off Scott McLaughlin but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

The Vodafone Safety Car was deployed due to Fabian Coulthard being in the wall after Richie Stanaway and Lee Holdsworth made contact. Fabian Coulthard was close behind and tried to avoid them but oversteered, first hitting the wall on one side of the track and then careening to the other side of the track hitting the wall again. My first thought when I saw Fabian Coulthard’s car in the wall was there will be no way the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske crew can repair the car in time to get back out on the track, especially with the limited spares all the teams had with the race being ‘off-shore’.

When car 12 returned to the back of the pits the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske crew put the cover over the car. Commentator, Mark Skaife said it wasn’t repairable and was right. Fabian Coulthard was out of the race with an NC (Not Complete).

Jamie Whincup qualified 5^thso when the Vodafone Porsche Safety Car was deployed for Fabian Coulthard, Jamie had to double stack behind Shane Van Gisbergen.

There were a lot of cars going off the track between turns 2 and 3. I can only assume this was due to the wet weather.

Mark Winterbottom was holding up the race leader Scott McLaughlin. Scott McLaughlin asked for Mark Winterbottom to get the blue flag (informs a driver that a faster car is approaching and that the driver should move aside to allow one or more faster cars to pass) which was fair enough. Unfortunately the flag didn’t come out soon enough.

In the end Scott McLaughlin’s race engineer, Ludo Lacroix brought him in to the pits to try give him a clear track when he re-joined the race and not get held up any further. If Scott McLaughlin had stayed out on the race track for one more laps with traffic in front of him he would have lost a massive amount of time and ruin his existing chance of a race win.

In the middle of the race Shane Van Gisbergen was battling with Scott McLaughlin for the lead and the Championship. The stakes were high and they both knew it.

Towards the end of the race Scott McLaughlin still had the race lead. Shane Van Gisbergen was in hot pursuit and tried to overtake on turn 8 but Scott McLaughlin blocked him. Shane Van Gisbergen had nowhere to go and made contact. It wasn’t really his fault but Shane Van Gisbergen was given a 5 second penalty.

Finally in the last few lapse Shane Van Gisbergen got his way and took the lead, holding it to the finish line by just .5118 seconds.

Results for race 28

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

At the end of race 28, the gap for the Driver Championship between Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen was now just 2 points.

In race 29 Jamie Whincup started on pole position. Alongside him was championship leader Scott McLaughlin.

I was amazed that the Dick Johnson Team Penske crew managed to repair Fabian Coulthard’s car overnight in time for the race, given the amount of limited spare parts all the teams had.

At the start of 70 lap race Scott McLaughlin tried to get up the inside of Jamie Whincup between turns 2 and 3 but wasn’t successful.

Scott McLaughlin wasn’t fazed as he knew there was a long way to go, which was a good call I thought as there was no point taking serious risks at this stage of the game.

Jamie Whincup pitted first so that Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t have to double stack.

Craig Lowndes was trying to get passed David Reynolds’ for third position but unfortunately didn’t manage to do that. It would’ve been a great result to see Craig Lowndes on the Podium in his second last event as a full time driver.

When Shane Van Gisbergen pitted for his 2^nd stop the team put the car up on the incompressible jacks to reverse the setup change they did at the his first pit stop.

Anton De Pasquale followed his teammate, David Reynolds as he has done for most of this year as a rookie.

At one stage I thought there was going to be contact between Mark Winterbottom and Scott McLaughlin but luckily there wasn’t. In fact there weren’t any other major accidents with any of teams the whole weekend.

In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup was behind Scott McLaughlin trying to get the lead and give his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen a better chance to close the Championship points gap between him and Scott McLaughlin.

I thought Jamie Whincup was going was to either win or finish 2^nd but he is a team player and moved over when asked by his race engineer, David Cauchi to try and help Shane Van Gisbergen earn extra points and win the 2018 Supercars championship.

Unfortunately for Triple 8 Scott McLaughlin was just too fast and came across the line first.

Results for race 29

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

The gap between Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen is 14 points.

The next event is the Coates Hire Newcastle 500 on the 23^rd to the 25^th of November 2018.

This event will be Craig Lowndes final fulltime Supercars drive and it will also Tim Blanchard’s final race.

The funniest part of the weekend was when Mark Skaife made a bet with Russell Ingall. Ingall saying that Jamie Whincup still stood a chance to win the 2018 Championship and Skaife stating it was not likely at all.

If Mark Skaife lost the bet he would’ve had to wear a t shirt printed with ‘I Love the Enforcer’ (the Enforce being Russel Ingall’s nickname).

Now Russell Ingall has to wear a t shirt that Mark Skaife creates with content still to be announced. LOL.

As the season draws to a close, the drivers that don’t have a contract for 2019 at the moment are:

· Mark Winterbottom

· Lee Holdsworth.

· Michael Caruso.

· Richie Stanaway

· Tim Blanchard

Also at this stage Tickford looks like it will only have 2 cars in 2019, Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert.

It will be interesting to see how things will turn out for next season.

https://www.facebook.com/williamsperfectride/ if you have any thoughts or Opinions on how the race weekend went please feel free to let me know via my Facebook Fanpage.

Post Race Report, Supercars

OTR Supersprint the Bend 2018 Supercars

September 3, 2018 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 24^th to the 26^th of August 2018 was the OTR Supersprint at The Bend in South Australia.

Some interesting statistics from the weekend:

It was Jamie Whincup’s 209^th Championship round start.
Garry Rogers Motorsport celebrated their 300^th round.
Craig Lowndes started his 289^th round.
Also there were 28 cars racing at Tailem Bend instead of just the normal 26.

As they worked through their way of the preliminary activities before the race, there were some unusual results:

Tim Slade was fastest in Practice 1.
Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2.
Nick Percat was fastest in Practice 3.
James Courtney qualified 24^th and Craig Lowndes qualified 25^th due to getting held up by traffic in front of them. No doubt a disappointing result for them.

In race 22 Jamie Whincup started in pole position. Alongside him was his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen.

When the cars headed out on to the Tailem Bend Race track, Garth Tander had stopped on the Parade lap because he had electrical problems.

At the start of the 24-lap race there was contact between Jack Le Brocq and Anton de Pasquale. Jack Le Brocq was spun off track. The officials deducted 25 points from Anton de Pasquale’s Championship total and in a post-race investigation issued him a $3,000 fine with $2,000 suspended for ‘careless contact’. This sounds harsh but was backed by the fact this was Anton de Pasquale’s third offence of a similar nature in the last four rounds.

I couldn’t believe how many spots James Courtney made up on the opening lap and during the race. I thought, ‘Wow! That is remarkable’.

Craig Lowndes pitted early on to get clear track and to avoid double stacking. It worked in his favour because he re-joined the race with no one too close behind so that meant he could do it safely.

In the middle of the race Garth Tander found his problem had not been fixed and his car stopped just before the entry to the pit lane. The Vodafone Safety Car was deployed and the race went to ‘yellow’.

Up to this point Shane Van Gisbergen had a good lead but this then went back to zero because the field was all bunched up. Once Gart Tander was towed off the track and the race went back to green, Shane Van Gisbergen wanted to regain his good lead. He just took off and said, ‘Catch me if you can!’

Towards the end of the race no one could catch the top 3 drivers which were Shane Van Gisbergen, who finished 6.2602 seconds ahead of Rick Kelly. Rick Kelly was followed by Michael Caruso 2.652 seconds later. Jamie Whincup leading the rest of the pack was nearly 4 seconds behind that with Scot McLaughlin in close pursuit. Quite a wide spread in the finish of such a short race.

With a win for Shane Van Gisbergen, the gap between him and Scott McLaughlin was now only 41 points.

Results for Race 22

1^st Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2^nd Rick Kelly – Nissan Motorsport.
3^rd Michael Caruso – Nissan Motorsport.

In race 23 the two Red Bull teammates were again at the front of the grid as in the last race. Jamie Whincup was on pole position with Shane Van Gisbergen alongside him.

At the start of the 41 lap race the best start was from Craig Lowndes, who was 6^th on the grid and making excellent headway. He was going so well I thought Triple 8 were going to have a 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd early on in the race. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

Scott McLaughlin didn’t have the speed all weekend and as result the championship leader qualified 5^th both days.

Fabian Coulthard was struggling like his teammate, Scott McLaughlin was all weekend.

The drivers in front made a choice to stay out, which was a good choice but cars further back in the pack came in to not get held up.

David Reynolds was on the charge which paid off for him. Once he gained position he didn’t let up and by the end of the race he had gained 9 spots from 12^th on the grid and finished 3^rd.

Anton de Pasquale was trying to stay out of trouble. During the Qualifying for the race he had got pinged again for making contact with Simona de Silvestro. Especially after his penalties in race 22 the day before, he had had enough.

It was in the race that Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske took the lead in the Pirtek Pit stop Challenge during Scott McLaughlin’s pit stop.

Craig Lowndes tried to take 7^th place from Will Davison but he couldn’t manage the pass and had to stay where he was for the time being.

In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup and Shane were running 1st and 2^nd. Roland Dane and his Red Bull Team must have been quite happy at this. Things were looking good.

The Red Bull pair managed to keep their momentum and as the race came to a finish it seemed they were just too quick for everybody else to keep up. Surprisingly this was including Scott McLaughlin.

Results for Race 23

1^st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing team.
2^nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
3^rd David Reynolds – Freightliner Racing.

Shane Van Gisbergen is now the new Supercars Championship leader but only by 19 points. Can the Red Bull Holden Racing team keep the lead or will Scott McLaughlin take it back? Things are getting very exciting.

The next event is the Rabble Club.com Sandown 500 on the 14^th to the 16^th of September 2018 which is in 3 weeks’ time.

If you have any thoughts on how the weekend panned feel free to give me your opinon via my Facebook Fanpage I would like hear your feedback.

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

Post Race Report, Supercars

Coates Hire Ipswich Supersprint 2018 Supercars

July 29, 2018 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars fans around the world!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In race 19 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results for race 19

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results for Race 20

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

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

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

Post Race Report, Supercars

crownbet Darwin Triple Crown 2018 Supercars

July 1, 2018 admin Leave a comment

Crownbet Darwin Triple Crown 2018

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 15^th to the 17^th of June, 2018 was the Crownbet Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.

There was lots of unexpected excitement in the preliminary events leading up to the two races this weekend:

Fastest in Practice 1 was Rick Kelly.
Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Practice 2 and 3.
David Reynolds was fastest in Qualifying for race 15.
Scott McLaughlin was the fastest in Qualifying for race 16.
Rick Kelly was the fastest in the race shootout.

Same as at last event, the owner of the Erebus Motorsports team Betty Klimenko wasn’t at Darwin because she was sick with the flu. It must be a bad flu for her to stay away. Get well soon Betty!

Also, Fox Sports commentator Russell Ingall wasn’t in attendance either.

Macauley Jones was the wildcard for the weekend.

The LOL moment for the weekend was James Courtney got fined 1,000 dollars for calling Richie Stanaway a ‘Buffoon’ on the last lap of Saturday’s Race.

In practice 3 before Qualifying, Macauley Jones caused a red flag which meant he couldn’t take any further part in the race. The roof of his car was kinked because of the sideways angle he went into the sand trap.

It was also another milestone for Jamie Whincup, starting his 450^th race on the weekend.

In race 15 David Reynolds started on pole position. Alongside him was championship leader, Scott McLaughlin.

David Reynolds led early on with Scott McLaughlin in hot pursuit.

On lap 2 David Reynolds cracked under the pressure, locking the right front wheel and running wide. It gave Scott McLaughlin the opening he was looking for to take the race lead.

Andre Heimgartner ran out of room when he was getting towards making it within the top 10. Although he didn’t make it, the point was he gave it a go!

Craig Lowndes qualified in position 12 and moved up 5 spots straight off the grid, which I though was very impressive.

Jamie Whincup almost made contact with the rookie Anton De Pasquale, but in the end backed off the throttle to avoid contact with him. That wouldn’t have been cool. I am also sure Jamie Whincup’s team owner, Roland Dane was happy to see his own driver make a call to back off and not risk his car.

It didn’t stop Jamie Whincup’s aggressive driving style. At the end of the race, Rick Kelly was defending his racing line while Jamie Whincup tried get to around the outside which was a brave move but it didn’t pay off. He ended up getting swamped by Shane Van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes. Jamie Whincup dropped 2 spots from 8^th to 6^th.

Shane Van Gisbergen chose to stay out on track longer before pitting in order to maintain track position or double stack with Jamie Whicup.

In the middle of the race Fabian Coulthard was getting towards the top 5, desperately wanting a single digit finish position next to his name.

At the end of the race Garth Tander came in to put a fresh set of tyres on which helped him charge through and finished 5^th after starting 13^th. An impressive effort.

Towards the end of the race nobody could catch the top 3 drivers they were Scott McLaughlin, Shane Van Gisbergen and David Reynolds.

Greg Murphy was hoping that Shane Van Gisbergen got onto the podium on Saturday and wasn’t let down. He finished 2^nd after starting 5^th on the grid.

Craig Lowndes gained 5 spots, starting 12^th and finishing 7^th.

Everybody finished race 15. No DNFs.

No one else does the ‘shoey’ (drinking the winner’s Champaign from his driving boot) only David Reynolds. That is GROSS!

For Scott McLaughlin this makes his 6th race win for 2018.

It was very Entertaining race.

Results for race 15

1^st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
2^nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3^rd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.

In race 16 Rick Kelly started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

Interesting to note, newcomer Anton De Pasquale made it into the top 10 shootout and started 3^rd on the grid.

I’m sure Betty Klimenko would have been very happy and proud of Anton de Pasquale for being on Provisional Pole Position before the shootouts.

Garth Tander also made the top 10 shootout on Sunday.

The 3 Triple 8 cars Qualified 3^rd 11^th and 14^th.

Jamie Whincup gained a better grid position on Sunday compared to Saturday.

I was surprised that David Reynolds starting at 4^th position went right around the outside of everybody from turn 1 to take the lead.

Jamie Whincup tried to get into 2^nd but it didn’t pay off.

Jamie Whincup and Anton De Pasquale nearly made contact at turn 1 in the opening laps.

Jamie Whincup then dropped a few places and was crowded so came in early to get a clear track.

Fabian Coulthard was inside the top 10 but after he had his first pitstop he was back in the pack a bit.

Pit reporter, Greg Murphy was talking to Barry Ryan, Erebus Team Manager about Anton de Pasquale’s race excellent performance and how moving David Reynolds to the other side of the garage was to help more to improve Anton de Pasquale’s consistency.

This year was Macauley Jones’ 2^nd year as a wildcard in Darwin. Brad Jones was happy to see his progression. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up a full-time driver in the future.

A lot of cars that started in the top 10 stayed out longer while the going was good.

David Reynolds must have been really happy with his performance leading in the opening stint of the race after also finishing on the podium for race 15 the day before.

In the middle of the race Scott McLaughlin had smoke pouring out the back. My first thought was to bring it in, check it over, then fix it.

He did come into the pits but after he turned off the pit lane speed limiter the smoke started pouring out again. Then I started to think there is no way he would make it to the finish with the amount laps that were left. Comentator, Neil Crompton said the same thing but somehow, he made it to the finish line.

Later the team revealed the reason why Scott McLaughlin had smoke coming out of the back of his car was because of an overheating problem. Fabian Coulthard also suffered the same overheating problem.

Will Davison got through both of the races which was a great effort considering he had a moon boot on due to hurting his left ankle during training for the Darwin event.

Towards the end of the race it was getting very exciting to watch because David Reynolds was heading for another win in 2018.

Craig Lowndes gained 4 spots by starting 14^th and finishing 10^th.

There were 3 DNFS; Cameron Waters, Lee Holdsworth and Jack Le Brocq.

Cameron Waters car stopped on the main straight due to overheating and when interviewed by Riana Crehan he wasn’t happy at all.

In the end no one could catch the top 3 drivers – which were David Reynolds, Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup.

What an amazing weekend for David Reynolds!

The next event is the Watpac Townsville 400 on the 6^th to the 8^th of July, 2018.

Results for race 16

1^st David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport.
2^nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team.
3^rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

Post Race Report, Supercars

Perth Supersprint 2018

May 10, 2018 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of 4^th to the 6^th of May 2018 was the Perth Supersprint at Barbagallo Raceway, Western Australia.

It’s interesting to note Will Davison started his 400^th race in Supercars which is an awesome milestone to reach. Also interesting to note, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup started 12^th and 14^th on the grid respectively due to not making it into Q3. That meant that Craig Lowndes was the only Triple 8 car to get in get into the top 10 starting 8^th on the grid. Rick Kelly had to start last at the back of the grid for Race 11 due to having an engine failure in Qualifying.

In practice 1 Andre Heimgartner was fastest for Nissan Motorsport in car 7.

In practice 2 Scott McLaughlin was fastest in car 17.

In practice 3 Will Davison was fastest in car 400.

In race 11 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Cameron Waters. At the start of the 50 lap race Scott McLaughlin got jump on Cameron Waters into turn 1 which I am sure he was happy with that.

Fabian Coulthard was not far behind his teammate early on but because Fabian Coulthard was battling Mark Winterbottom it allowed Scott McLaughlin to pull away by 3 seconds.

If Mark Winterbottom was able to get by Fabian Coulthard earlier than what he did, Scott McLaughlin wouldn’t have had a 3 second margin on everybody else.

Jack Le Brocq made the choice to come in so that Craig Lowndes wouldn’t have to double stack.

Anton De Pasquale in car 99 got a 10 second time penalty for a false start due to being outside of the start grid marking where he should have been positioned. His team Erebus Motorsports owner, Betty Klimenko was not in Perth due to her having the flu. I am sure he was happy she was not there to see it happen. It was an unfortunate mistake.

Commentator, Mark Skaife didn’t know whether James Courtney was coming into the pit lane or staying out for another lap but he was. Then as he was coming up to the pit lane entry James Courtney got spun by his former teammate, Garth Tander which would have made James Courtney not happy at all.

In the middle of the race as Chaz Mostert was coming in for his final pit stop he got turned around by Jamie Whincup. Chaz Mostert shook his head. He too wasn’t happy.

The Barbagallo raceway is full of sand which means if you get stuck and bogged you can’t get out without help.

Surprisingly there were no Vodafone Safety Car Periods because the drivers who went off track somehow managed to get back on with no problem.

Towards the end of race Scott McLaughlin was leading the race with a 5 second lead over Mark Winterbottom in 2^nd place. The end of the race was really exciting! It Gave Scott McLaughlin his 3^rd race win of the year so far and he is the still the championship leader by 158-point lead over Shane Van Gisbergen. Scott McLaughlin now has 1247 points over his closest competitor which is still Shane Van Gisbergen on 1089. Jamie Whincup who led the Championship by just 11 points going into Phillip Island, he is now 268 points adrift of Scott McLaughlin. Craig Lowndes is in 4^th in the points and only 194 points from Scott McLaughlin.

Jamie Whincup had crossed the finish line 6^th behind Craig Lowndes, but after getting a 5 second penalty for turning Chaz Mostert around at turn 7 he was dropped from 6^th to 11^th in the results after the end of the race.

Tim Blanchard had a DNF (Did Not Finish) otherwise known as NC (Not Complete). So he was the only car out of 26 to not finish the race.

Results for race 11

1^st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2^nd Mark Winterbottom – Tickford Racing
3^rd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team
4^th Tim Slade – Freightliner Racing
5^th Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

In Race 12 Shane Van Gisbergen started on pole position. Alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

Interesting to note in race 12 Fabian Coulthard started down in position number 17. Scott McLaughlin, Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander started in positions 19^th, 25^th and 26^th. It was a surprise to see them in those positions as they all normally start within the top 10 spots.

Jamie Whincup got the jump on Shane Van Gisbergen due to him not getting the right amount of wheel spin. As a matter of fact, Shane Van Gisbergen nearly bogged down off the front row from Position 1.

In the early laps Todd Hazelwood and Garth Tander made contact with James Golding. The safety car was despatched and the race went to ‘yellow’.

James Golding and Garth Tander are teammates so I am sure this would’ve not made Garry Rogers, their team boss very happy at all.

Unlike the other drivers taking the opportunity to pit, Will Davison didn’t want to double stack. He chose to stay out on the track and got to lead race 12 in his 400^th race. It must have been extra nice for him on this occasion.

Tim Blanchard looked like he was going to make contact with Will Davison but for the sake of Will Davison thankfully didn’t.

A short time later, Scott Pye got spun around by Richie Stanaway.

Mark Skaife was quite surprised that Scott McLaughlin didn’t end up in drama throughout the race because of where he started on the grid. The idea being that, to make his way to the front he was going to push hard and possibly take risks.

Scott McLaughlin didn’t think he had a chance to win race 12.

I was so proud of the effort Craig Lowndes made to start from 25^th and finish 3^rd. Well done! Great effort mate!

Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton couldn’t believe how many cars and how many positions he had gained, 21 in total.

I couldn’t believe Scott McLaughlin missed all the carnage on track and managed to keep his car straight without putting a scratch on it.

Fabian Coulthard got pit priority because Scott McLaughlin started in 19^th.

Jack Le Brocq also got pit priority because Craig Lowndes started in position 25.

In the middle of the race Tim Slade went off the race track between turns 3 and 4. Shane Van Gisbergen was tight in behind him and had to take evasive action to not hit Tim Slade’s ZB Holden Commodore.

Towards the end of the race the finish things became very exciting. David Reynolds went off track on approach to turn 7 which could have given 2^nd place to Craig Lowndes. It looked bad for David Reynolds but he surprisingly made it out of the sand trap. If he had decided to put his foot on the brake pedal at that moment he would surely have been bogged in the sand.

Scott McLaughlin proved his abilities. He moved up 18 spots from 19^th to 1^st.

Craig Lowndes started 25^th moved up to 3^rd which in total is 22 position gained. He received 129 points for that race and in is still 4^th in terms of the championship, 194 points behind Scott McLaughlin.

Scott McLaughlin’s head to head wins in races 11 and 12 gives him a 158 point lead over Shane Van Gisbergen. Another amazing weekend for Scott McLaughlin.

In the next race at Winton Motor Raceway, Lee Holdsworth will start his 400^th race in Supercars. Congratulation Lee Holdsworth, I’m looking forward to it almost as much as you!

Results for race 12

1^st Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power Racing Team
2^nd David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport
3^rd Craig Lowndes – Autobarn Lowndes Racing.

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Coates Hire Supercars Melbourne 400

March 30, 2018 admin Leave a comment

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 22^nd to the 25^th of March 2018 was the Coates Hire Supercars Melbourne 400 at Albert Park. This year there has been a change to the Melbourne 400. It is now officially a part of the Championship and the teams and drivers were racing for points for the first time.

This now became round 2 of the championship and included races 3, 4, 5 and 6.

It was also a milestone for Jamie Whincup with this being his 200^th championship event.

In race 3 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position, alongside him was his teammate Fabian Coulthard. Craig Lowndes started 17^th which wasn’t ideal, but it was because James Golding held him up on his ‘hot lap’ during Qualifying.

At the start of the 25 lap race, Scott McLaughlin led into turn 1 in front of Fabian Coulthard while everybody else was settling down into their race pace.

During the opening laps Simona De Silvestro was trying to pass Jack Le Brocq, but in the end it resulted in Simona De Silvestro having damage on the left front corner of her car # 78. She managed to get back to the pits but things didn’t look good and she was out of the race getting a DNF or NC (Not Complete).

When the pit stops started to happen Scott McLaughlin and the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske had an issue with their pit gear. It resulted in them losing the lead track position to Jamie Whincup.

Interesting to note this wasn’t the only incident for the team on the weekend. During practice, Mark Skaife saw one of Dick Johnson Racing (DJR) Team Penske’s wheel nearly go onto Jamie Whincup car, so the guy from DJR tapped the mechanic on the shoulder to say that’s the wrong wheel for the wrong car! LOL!

In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup was still the leader until Scott McLaughlin found a way around him at turn 3. It was a great pass, nice and clean. It allowed him to later take off and put some space between him and Jamie Whincup.

Towards the end of the race nobody else could catch the three leaders. Scott McLaughlin crossed the finish line first about 1.3 seconds ahead of Jamie Whincup. Fabian Coulthard followed him about 1 second later.

After Simona De Silvestro’s NC, the 24 of 25 remaining cars finished the race.

Results for race 3

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

In race 4 Jamie Whincup started on pole position and alongside him was Scott McLaughlin. The race started behind the Mercedes Safety Car due to the rain, and wet weather, but Jamie still led for pretty much the entire race.

Once the race went under green after starting under yellow Jamie Whincup just took off. Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin couldn’t keep up the with Jamie Whincup’s car #1. He made two mistakes due to wet conditions but managed to stay out front.

During the opening laps everyone else was settling down into a race pace.

There were no pit stops because it was only a 13 lap race.

David Reynolds was already on ‘wets’ for the start because it was safer than being on dry weather slicks (tyres).

Craig Lowndes once again started at the back of the pack in 26^th position due to getting held up and not getting a clear track in the Qualifying.

It wasn’t the end of his bad luck. In the opening laps he came together with another driver which caused a steering problem. He was forced to pull into the pits. When Greg Murphy interviewed Craig Lowndes later, he said the steering ‘was bent and Cactus’. It was his first Did Not Finish – Not Complete for 2018.

In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup was still leading the race and on target for his first win of the year.

Towards the end of the race Jamie Whincup took the chequered flag and he also took his 109^th career win in Supercars!

Results for race 4

1^st Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
2^nd Scott McLaughlin -Shell V Power Racing team.

3^rd Fabian Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team
4^th Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team

In race 5 Scott McLaughlin started on pole position alongside him was Nick Percat.

At the start of the 25-lap race Scott McLaughlin got the jump into turn 1 for the 1^st time which he was happy with.

Then after the opening lap Scott McLaughlin made a big mistake by running off the race track in between turns 1 and 2. This put Scott Pye and Jamie Whincup into 1^st and 2^nd which they knew would have been a great result for both drivers.

Scott Pye was out in front being chased by Jamie Whincup when the rain came pelting down.

A lot of the drivers nearly lost control of their cars on the slippery pit apron. Garth Tander wasn’t warned about the wet pit box and he come in at a strange angle and looked like he was going to hit the wall. He only narrowly missed 2 of his own crew members! It looked like a disaster waiting to happen.

Towards the end of the race no one could catch the top 3 drivers who managed to hold their positions from lap two to the end ; Scott Pye, Jamie Whincup, and Nick Percat.

Scott McLaughlin’s mistake cost him dearly finishing 15^th. A drop of 14 spots from his pole starting position.

Results for race 5

1^st Scott Pye – Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing.
2^nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing.
3^rd Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing.

In race 6 Jamie Whincup started on pole position and alongside him was David Reynolds.

At the start of what was supposed to be a 13 lap race David Reynolds took the race lead from turn 1 after Jamie Whincup got bogged down from his pole position on the start.

Jamie Whincup’s poor start lost him another spot with Nick Percat moving into 2^nd place. Jamie went from 1^st to 3^rdstraight off the start.

Anton De Pasquale nearly hit the fence going around the back of Albert Park during the opening lap.

On lap 2 James Courtney got spun around at turn 3 by James Golding. James Courtney’s car didn’t move after that and he was out of the race, DNF. There were no penalties given to James Golding but the officials are investigating the incident and will have a verdict by the running of the Symmons Plains event in two weeks.

In the middle of the race James Golding had plumes of smoke coming out from underneath his car. It was a suspected oil fire. He pulled in near the Fire Marshall’s area. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was caused due to the contact he made earlier with car 25 of James Courtney. The race went under Yellow while the Safety Car came to his rescue.

No one else could catch the top 3 drivers David Reynolds, Nick Percat and Jamie Whincup.

Shane Van Gisbergen started from 26^th after a poor Qualifying time but proved himself and charged through to finish 13th.

David Reynolds had led from start to finish, an amazing effort.

Results for race 6

1^st David Reynolds – Erebus Penrite Racing.
2^nd Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing.
3^rd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

Jamie Whincup was awarded the Larry Perkins Trophy and is now 6^th in the championship. Well done Jamie!

The next event is the Typerpower Tasmania Supersprint from the 6^th to the 8^th of April 2018 in 2 weeks.

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