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Supercars

Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 2023

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of 27 – 29 October 2023 was the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.

It was round 11 of the 12 rounds in the 2023 Supercars Championship.

The Gold Coast race at Surfers Paradise is a street circuit which was first opened in 1991. The challenging 4.47 km circuit alongside a strip of beaches has several fast sections and four chicanes.

From 1991 to 2008 the Gold Coast Indy 300 was an annual open-wheel motor race event. In the early days Supercars were there as a support category but from 2002 through to present it has been a round of the Supercars Championship. This year      was the 21st event at the venue that has held 44 V8 Supercars races to date.

As expected, it was perfect Queensland weather excepting a small shower on the first practice day. In the pre-race sessions:

  • Scott Pye was fastest in Practice 1
  • Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in Practice 2
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Qualifying
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top 10 Shootout

In Race 25 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Matt Payne alongside him.

As they took off Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 85 laps that makes up the 250km race. Matt Payne was right on his tail.

After starting 3rd on the grid Shane Van Gisbergen dropped to 5th before the first turn.

As Thomas Randle got to the first turn he took a shortcut across the chicanes. The officials spotted it but took no further action.

As Tim Slade got to the first turn another car made contact and spun him around. The safety car was deployed to slow drivers while he extracted himself from the dangerous position at the turn.

Brodie Kostecki was on the charge. He started 10th on the grid because his shootout lap was disallowed for going out of bounds. Now he had jumped to 7th place.

Within a few laps Chaz Mostert passed Thomas Randle to get up to 3rd place and was only 0.672 seconds behind Matt Payne.

The first car to pit was Broc Feeney on lap 9, along with Anton de Pasquale. They returned to clear track in 24th and 25th place.

Thomas Randle got by Chaz Mostert for 3rd spot.

It then seemed like the drivers were struggling with the high speed track. First Matt Payne received a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

Soon after both Chaz Mostert and Will Brown received bad sportsmanship flags for exceeding track limits.

Then it was Todd Hazelwood’s turn to receive a bad sportsmanship flag for the same reason.

Shane Van Gisbergen overtook Chaz Mostert for 4th position and was only 2.3 seconds behind Thomas Randle in 3rd place and only 4 seconds off the race lead.

Jack le Brocq alerted the team he was leaking fuel and went into the garage.

Brodie Kostecki was now in 5th place right behind Shane Van Gisbergen in their personal title battle for this year’s championship.

Cameron Waters pitted early and came back out in 8th place. When the top 7 cars took their pit stops he would resume the lead.

On lap 28 Shane Van Gisbergen took the number 1 spot off Matt Payne.

A few laps later Shane Van Gisbergen pitted and Brodie Kostecki followed him in. They came back out in 5th and 7th place.

In the middle of the race Broc Feeney was the first of the Red Bull cars to take his final pitstop. Meanwhile his teammate, Shane Van Gisbergen did the fastest lap of the race and was 6.1 seconds away from the lead.

Further ahead, David Reynolds was battling with Thomas Randle for 2nd and 3rd place.

Towards the end of the race with only 11 laps to go Cameron Waters was 1.4 seconds ahead of David Reynolds. It was another 2 seconds back to Shane Van Gisbergen in 3rd place.

Chaz Mostert once again exceeded track limits. This time he received a 5 second time penalty.

With 10 laps to go Cameron Waters still had the lead over David Reynolds but Shane Van Gisbergen had closed the gap to only 0.315 seconds.

Soon Shane Van Gisbergen took over David Reynolds. The gap to Cameron Waters in 1st was just 0.362 seconds.

With only a few laps remaining Shane Van Gisbergen was desperately looking for an opportunity to overtake for the lead and win. However, Cameron Waters is a seasoned driver. He kept his cool and defended the number 1 spot. Shane Van Gisbergen kept on his tail to the end of the race.

As they crossed the finish line there was only 0.194 seconds between them. It was a spectacular tight finish.

Results for Race 25:

1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing

3rd David Reynolds – Grove Racing

In Race 26 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position for the 8th time this year. Alongside him was David Reynolds.

As they took off Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 85 laps.

At turn 4 Tim Slade, James Courtney, Jack Smith and Macfauley Jones made contact and cars were spinning out of control in every direction. The cars back in the pack had to drive over the top of the first chicanes to avoid adding to the pileup. All four cars had come to a stop in this dangerous part of the track. The first safety car was deployed while the stranded cars were rescued.

The track was cleared by lap 8. However, it is the lead driver who gets to make the call for when the race goes back to green. Brodie Kostecki was waiting for the right moment to give the green light signal but the other drivers became impatient and started racing too soon. Confusion followed but the race still continued. It took a while for the officials to review, and it was only later that the offending drivers were penalised.

The first two cars to pit were Jack le Brocq and Will Davison on lap 9.

David Reynolds was challenging Brodie Kostecki for the lead and putting him under pressure. He was right on his tail and constantly on the attack.

Further back Shane Van Gisbergen got by Anton de Pasquale for 9th place. His next target was Cameron Waters in 8th place.

Brodie Kostecki held the lead until he pitted on lap 28. This relinquished the number 1 spot to David Reynolds. When Brodie Kostecki returned to the race he was in 12th place.

As the other drivers began to take their pit stops Brodie Kostecki moved up and eventually had the lead again.

Once again David Reynolds was right on his tail.

Towards the end of the race David Reynolds finally took advantage of a weak spot in the leader, Brodie Kostecki’s defence and passed him. I believe Brodie Kostecki didn’t aggressively defend the move at the risk of being knocked out of the race. All he had to do was get a podium finish ahead of Shane Van Gisbergen to protect his position in the season championship.

Cameron Waters was in 3rd place but was a few seconds behind and didn’t pose an immediate challenge to Brodie Kostecki.

With 7 laps to go James Golding had a massive shunt from behind and spun around landing in the tyre barrier. He almost collected Scott Pye in the process. They did make contact but luckily it seemed pretty light.

Shortly after Scott Pye’s car readings showed a big problem. He had to pull over immediately and the safety car was once again deployed.

When the race went back to green there was only 5 laps remaining. David Reynolds still had the lead over Brodie Kostecki, followed by Cameron Waters.

Brodie Kostecki was always close behind and a constant threat. At times there was less than 0.3 of a second between them. David Reynolds is a tough and seasoned driver. He never showed signs of cracking and at no time gave any opportunities away to his challengers.

In the end David Reynolds crossed the line 0.189 seconds ahead of Brodie Kostecki.

It was Reynold’s first race win since 2018 in what was probably the most exciting race of the year.

Congratulations to David Reynolds and his team, Grove Racing.

Results for Race 26:

1st David Reynolds – Grove Racing

2nd Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Motorsport

3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

With 1 event made up of 2 races remaining, Brodie Kostecki leads over Shane Van Gisbergen by 131 points. Will Brown is 3rd and trails by 495 points, Broc Feeney is 504 points behind and Chaz Mostert is 640 points.

The grand finale event for the year will be the Valo Adelaide 500, 23 – 26 November 2023.

Hope you can join me.

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Coates Hire V8 Supercars Challenge 2017

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Coates Hire V8 Supercars Challenge Albert Park 2017.

Hi to all you v8 Supercars fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 23rd to the 26th of March 2017 was the Coates Hire V8 Supercars Challenge, a non-championship round run at Albert Park (Vic).

This weekend the teams got the chance to try out the brand new Dunlop Super Soft tyres. It was the first time the V8 Supercars Championship has tried a super soft tyres normally used in F1 racing. These are under issue from Dunlop motorsport manager Kevin Fitzsimons and intended to be used for the entire Supercars 2017 season.

In race 1 Fabian Coulthard started on pole position. Alongside him was Scott McLaughlin.

On lap 1 of 13 Scott McLaughlin got the led into turns 1 and 2. Fabian Coulthard got a bit of wheel spin so didn’t get the traction that he wanted off the starting grid.

For the first lap Jamie Whincup was running 3rd, early behind Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin.

Scott Pye went wide exiting turn 1. Fabian Coulthard passed his teammate, Scott McLaughlin heading into turn 3. However, as a result Fabian Coulthard ran wide and Jamie Whincup went from 4th to 3rd to 2nd then to 1st position on the opening lap.

Mark Winterbottom was in front of his teammate, Jason Bright.

Meanwhile further back in the pack, Cameron Waters got the better of Rick Kelly after some fierce competition against each other.

At the back end of the Albert Park track the other Kelly (brother), Todd was facing problems of his own. Smoke was coming out the back of his car. James Courtney gained a position passing him easily.

James Courtney soon found himself up behind the leading brother Rick Kelly, attempts to pass him but fails, tries again later and finally does? Tim Blanchard was also having a poor opening lap. First he ran wide in between turns 10 and 11 and Simona De Silvestro passed him. Then towards the end of the lap David Reynolds also passed.

Chaz Mostert also gained a position as he managed to get down the inside of Shane Van Gisbergen between turns 14 and 15. (This put Chaz in a great mood and he broke out into his favourite tune, ‘Day o, day ay ay ay yo. Come Mr Tally mon tally me banana’…)

On lap 2 Lee Holdsworth got past Dale Wood going into turn 1. Nick Percat also tried to make the move on Dale wood but couldn’t manage it.

Jamie Whincup was still in the lead but under pressure from Scott McLaughlin.

On lap 4 Alex Rullo was near the back of the pack understandably, as it was his first race at Albert Park and had to get used to the track.

On lap 4 Shane Van Gisbergen was trying to get as far up the field as possible.

On lap 6 the drivers were putting their best foot forward as it was already the middle of the race and only 7 laps to go. Jason Bright, however, overdid it and locked the loaded left front tyre as he was going into a turn and just sailed straight ahead.

On lap 7 pit reporter, Mark Larkham made comment about the rivalry between the two race leader’s teams, Red Bull Holden Racing Team and Dick Johnson Racing team Penske, stating how enjoyable it was to see these teams vigorously competing against each other today. I can only agree with his comments.

On lap 8 Chaz Mostert was near the front of the pack. Mark Winterbottom wasn’t too far behind.

On lap 9 Scott McLaughlin did not want to make any mistakes while Fabian Coulthard was following him so closely.

On lap 10 Nick Percat was close behind Lee Holdsworth. At his first opportunity he tried to overtake Lee Holdsworth on the inside of a turn. At 260kms/ph Nick Percat’s breaks failed on entry to the turn. He had no chance of taking the corner. His car screaming straight ahead and crossed in front of Lee Holdsworth’s path. Contact was made and they both ended up off track. They were both disappointingly now out of the race with a DNF.

On lap 11 Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard were running 1st and 2nd. Both cars being on the same team it was as if they were saying to everybody else behind them ‘catch us if you can we are the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske’.

On lap 12 Chaz Mostert was trying to catch Fabian Coulthard for 2nd spot but just wasn’t able to.  Jamie Whincup was close behind them both, desperately wanting a piece of the action but it was the second last lap and they weren’t going to make it easy.

In the final lap the top 4 cars had such a good lead they couldn’t be caught; Scott McLaughlin, Fabain Coulthard, Chaz Mostert and Jamie Whincup.

Although this is a short race (only 13 laps) it was exciting and really enjoyable to watch.

Result for race 1.

1st Scott McLaughlin – Dick Johnson racing Team Penske.
2nd Fabian Coulthard – Dick Johnson racing team Penske.
3rd Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
4th Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

In race 2 Fabian Coulthard started on pole position with his (Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske) teammate, Scott McLaughlin alongside him.

On lap 1 of 13 Fabian Coulthard took the lead over Scott McLaughlin. Garth Tander tried to make a move on Michael Caruso but it didn’t happen. He then tried it on with Chaz Mostert and did pass him.

Mark Winterbottom and Cameron Waters made contact which wouldn’t have made Tim Edwards a very happy team owner at all.

James Moffatt tried to get down the inside of Craig Lowndes but wasn’t successful. David Reynolds and Todd Kelly were battling back in the pack. Tim Slade was looking to make a move on Craig Lowndes as well and he got the job done. Scott Pye was following the two cars in front of him and hoping to take advantage of any mistake in their 1-on-1 battle.

On lap 2 Jamie Whincup went back to 7th from 3rd on the grid.  Dale Wood made contact with Simona De Slivestro but both managed to stay on track.

Chaz Mostert was putting pressure on Shane Van Gisbergen and passed him at turn 3. But Shane Van Gisbergen had the racing line going into turn number 4 and he took back his original spot.

On lap 3 Chaz Mostert was under pressure from Jamie Whincup.

Then Chaz Mostert turned Shane Van Gisbergen around in between turns 14 and 15 clipping him at the left rear corner as he attempted a pass. As a result Chaz got a drive thru penalty. Shane Van Gisbergen then got into more trouble. As he went forward to turn his car around and get going in the right direction again, James Moffatt hit him head on. Both drivers had to walk back to pit lane. The damage caused was extensive enough and they were both out of the race.

Roland Dane and Garry Rogers would not have been happy with their 2 cars being damaged so severely.

On lap 3 the Safety Car came out to clean up the damaged Holden Commodores of Shane Van Gisbergen and James Moffatt.

Simona De Slivestro was also out of race 2 due to a stuck throttle.

On the restart the Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske cars were leading, that is Scott Mclaughlin and Fabian Coulthard. The Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske were putting in a good challenge to the Triple 8 race engineering team (Jamie Whincup, Shane Van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes).

Pit reporter, Mark Larkham interviewed Roland Dane, team owner of Triple 8 Race Engineering. In regards to the extensive and costly car repairs needed after the incident with James Moffatt, he told Mark Larkham ‘I will never be as rich as Roger Penske’.

Mark Larkham then interviewed Shane Van Gisbergen who stated his deep disappointment about the incident with James Moffatt.

On lap 5 the cars were still under the safety car. After the restart there was bad news coming for Supercheap Auto Racing’ and Chaz Mostert. He copped a black flag (drive thru penalty) for spinning Shane Van Gisbergen around.

On lap 6 After Chaz Mostert came in to serve his pit lane drive thru penalty. The 2 DJR Shell V power racing team fords had bolted into the distance and couldn’t be caught by the cars behind them.

On lap 7 Todd Kelly was battling with his brother Rick Kelly for 8th and 9th spot. On 8 David Reynolds was following his teammate Dale Wood to get fresh and cool air for the engine due to how long he was behind him for.

On lap 9 Fabian Coulthard had Scott Mclaughlin chasing him down for the race lead. It was exactly what Dick Johnson racing Team Penske wanted.

On lap 10 Scott Pye was following James Courtney for 11th and 12th. On lap 11 Michael Caruso was putting pressure on Scott Mclaughlin for 2nd place but he couldn’t get the move done in time.  Which Michael Caruso wasn’t happy with at all.

On lap 12 David Reynolds was following James Moffatt but wasn’t able to pass him cleanly. Meaning without contact and no damage.

In the final lap of the race teammates Fabain Coulthard and Scott Mclaughlin took the race win,

Results for race 2

1st Fabain Coulthard – Shell V Power racing team. Dick Johnson racing team Penske.
2nd Scott McLaughlin – Shell V Power racing team. Dick Johnson racing team Penske.
3rd Michael Caruso – Nissan Motorsport.
4th Garth Tander – Garry Rogers Motorsport.

In race 3 Fabian Coulthard started on pole position alongside him was Jamie Whincup.

On lap 1 of 13 Jamie Whincup tried to go around the outside of the pole sitter Fabain Coulthard but couldn’t quite pass him. Jason Bright, Garth Tander and Alex Rullo made contact in concertina affect. Taz Douglas was right behind them and just managed to swerve around them. Jason Bright and Garth Tander both spun around. When they re-joined the race they were at the back of the pack.  They were all doubled up on turn 3. Gath Tander was on the outside of Rick Kelly. Will Davison was on the outside of Michael Caruso. James Courtney was on the outside of David Reynolds. David Reynolds gave James Courtney enough racing room for them to continue their battle for positions 5 and 6.

Shane Van Gisbergen started race 3 in position 25 on the grid and made it all the way up to 11th on the first lap. Mark Winterbottom passed Craig Lowndes back in the pack. Tim Blanchard, Cameron Waters and Tim Slade were three abreast. Cameron Waters managed to pass both of them in 1 go. Then Tim Slade got up the inside of his teammate, Tim Blanchard.

On lap 2 the field was settling down into a race pace and rhythm.  While everyone else was trying to catch the leaders up front, Simona De Silvestro went off the track  due to trying to pass her teammate Rick Kelly  . Scott Pye went off on to the grass to avoid making contact with Simona. James Courtney went into pit lane to inspect some damage that he may have suffered as a result of contact with another car. Garth Tander had a flat right front tyre (which meant he had to limp back to the pits to get it changed). It seemed that once again for a short race there was going to be lots of excitement.

On lap 3 Fabian Coulthard was pulling away from Jamie Whincup. Mark Larkham had a chat to Ryan Story, Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske team manager and asked why the 2 Dick Johnson Racing team Penske cars were going so well at Albert park.

Craig Lowndes got in front of Cameron Waters. Cameron Waters tried to get the spot back but couldn’t get the job done. At turn 3 Shane Van Gisbergen tried to get up the inside of Rick Kelly but the Champion couldn’t get job done

On lap 4 the drivers up front were doing well and had the cars behind chase them down. Tim Slade got up the inside of Cameron Waters at turn 3. But then Cameron Waters did the switch back and got the spot back after Tim Slade ran very wide.  Tim Slade  could only  re-join safely on lap 5

On lap 6 Chaz Mostert was chasing Cameron Waters for 10th place,   the cars were doing well in terms of No Damage, on lap 7 Scott Mclaughlin and Fabain Coulthard the 2 Dick Johnson Racing team Penske Cars couldn’t be caught because they were just too quick. On lap 8 Mark Winterbottom was following his teammates to get in front to be in the top half of the race instead of the bottom half.  Which Tim Edwards wanted. So they did. On lap 9 James Courtney was doing a great job making places for the Mobil1 HSV Racing Team. Which he wanted to do on lap 10 the cars up the front of the field were racing towards the Checkered Flag. On lap 11 Jamie Whincup was running 2nd which he the red bull Holden Racing Team and Roland Dane who is the team boss at Triple 8 race engineering were very happy with. In the middle of the race the fords were just too fast for the Holden’s too catch them. On lap 12     No One was able to catch the front runners. Towards the end of the race no one could catch Fabain Coulthard and Jamie Whincup. On the final lap which was lap 13 Dick Johnson was getting Excited because his team was about to score another 1st and 2nd finish.

Results for race 3

1st Fabain Coulthard – Shell V Power Racing Team. Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske.
2nd Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Scott McLaughlin – Dick Johnson Racing team Penske.
4th Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing team.

In race 4 Jamie Whincup started on pole position alongside him was Fabain Coulthard on lap 1 of 13 Fabain Coulthard got the jump Jamie Whincup got Wheel spin off the line. Tim Slade lost a couple of spots at the start of the race. Shane Van Gisbergen tried to get up the inside of Chaz Mostert in between turn 15 and 16. But Chaz wouldn’t let him pass.

On lap 2 Garth Tander and Cameron Waters both had Damage to their race cars heading into turn 1. Scott McLaughlin passed Cameron Waters on exit of turn 1. Craig Lowndes tried to go around the outside of Cameron Waters and Craig managed to get him.

On lap 3 Tim Slade was putting a lot of pressure on the 2016 V8 Supercars Champion Shane Van Gisbergen. Cameron Waters had Extreme heat problem with the engine on the monster energy racing ford car 6.

On lap 4 Tim Slade tried to pass Shane Van Gisbergen at turn 3 but wasn’t able to be done. He was rattling the rear bumper of car 97 just letting him know that he was there. Michael Caruso was putting the pressure on James Courtney.

On lap 5 Shane Van Gisbergen was holding up a bunch of cars behind him.

On lap 6 the cars and drivers were starting to think about the end of the race, in the middle of the race Fabain Coulthard had a flat tyre due to an Aggressive Set up. On car 12.

On lap 7 Chaz Mostert was up in 2nd place while the cars were battling back in the pack. Which wasn’t ideal. But when the drivers don’t qualify up the front the car can get caught up in the mess.

On lap 8 Mark Winterbottom wanted to finish in a strong spot so that prodrive racing Australia. Didn’t have to do an all-nighter. Towards the end of race Jamie Whincup also had a Flat Tyre on the left rear due to a broken Anti Roll bar.  Alex Rullo and Simona De Slivestro were battling for position 18 and 19. In the end no one could catch Chaz Mostert.

On lap 9 David Reynolds was following Dale Wood his teammate for position 12 and 13. Which they were not happy with. But they were just outside the of the top ten.

On lap 10 Chaz Mostert was the leading the race. Which Chaz Mostert wanted.

On lap 11 the cars and drivers behind him but couldn’t which made their teams Frustrated about.

On lap 12 Shane Van Gisbergen and Tim Slade and Todd Kelly all tried to get up to the rear bumper of Chaz Mostert’s Supercheap Auto Racing Car. Car number 55.

Results for race 4.

1st Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing Team.
2nd Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
3rd Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing.
4th Todd Kelly – Nissan Motorsport.

The hosts were Jessica Yates and Russell Ingall. The Commentators were Richard Crail and Jack Perkins. And the pit lane reporter was Mark Larkham. The next event is the Tyre power Tasmania Super sprint from the 7th to the 9th of April 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post Race Report, V8 Supercars

Sydney Motorsport Park Eastern Creek – Post Race 2016

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Grid walk

Hi to all you V8 Supercars fans around the world.

On the weekend of the 26th – 28th August 2016 was the Red Rooster Sydney Supersprint.

This weekend started for Dad and I on the Wednesday when Dad picked up an accessible car from Freedom Motors. Then we booked in to the Atura Hotel in Blacktown NSW, where we stayed the weekend.

On the Friday we arrived early to watch all the practice races and meet up with the drivers and their crews to get our photos taken. Eddy Mostert, who has become a friend of ours started stirring me up early about the Ford and Holden competition, then Tim Edwards joined in and this continued all weekend. Lucky they have thick skins… Hahaha…

On the Saturday Dad and I had the fortune of meeting Craig Lowndes new wife Lara and she told me that Craig had spoken fondly of us. Dad and I were impressed that he remembered us, as so many people love and follow Craig. Before the race started Lara gave us the final 2 Grid Walk passes (Thank you Lara), this gave us an opportunity to get more photos with the cars before the race started.

Lara Lowndes

In race 18 Chaz Mostert started on pole position alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen of the 31 lap race.

On lap 1 Chaz Mostert got the jump and led through turns 1, 2 and 3 but then he ran wide approaching turn 4 which resulted in him going nearly off the track and on to the grass. Which meant that Shane Van Gisbergen took the race lead. Jamie Whincup had passed Scott Pye at the same corner and then after he had passed him, he then passed Chaz Mostert to move in to 2nd spot. Also Chaz Mostert was under pressure from Scott Pye.

In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup made his pit stop and he re-joined behind his teammate Craig Lowndes then Scott McLaughlin got passed by Jamie Whincup at turn 6.

Towards the end of the race the 2 Red Bull cars battling for the race lead and the race win, coming up in fifth place was Craig Lowndes.

Results for race 18.

1st – Shane Van Gisbergen – Red Bull Racing Australia.
2nd – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia.
3rd – James Courtney – Holden Racing Team.

In race 19 we are looking for Jamie Whincup to finally get his 100th chamionshop win.

Chaz Mostert started on pole position alongside him was Shane Van Gisbergen for the 51 lap race. On lap 1 Craig Lowndes went from 4th to 1st by turn 1, Mark Winterbottom locked up his front right tyre. Scott McLaughlin nearly ran right off the track on the exit of turn 1.

In the middle of the race Jamie Whincup nearly hit the back of Craig Lowndes entering the pit lane.

Towards the end of the race Jamie got a bad sportsmanship flag for all 4 wheels over the yellow line on the exit of turn 5, but managed to hold on to take the race win and become the 2nd driver to join the 100 club. Congratulations Jamie.

Results for race 19

1st – Jamie Whincup – Red bull racing Australia.
2nd – Craig Lowndes – Team Vortex.
3rd – Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing.

The next event is the Wilson Security Sandown 500 in 3 weeks’ time September 16th – 18th September 2016.

I had my photo taken with Glenn Seton, Tim Edwards, Neil Crompton, John Bowe, Karl Reindler, Lee Holdsworth, Grant Denyer, Cameron Mcconville, David Reynolds, Fabain Coulthard, Cameron Van Den Dungen, Chad Neylon, Kyle Bullock, Garth Tander, Lara Lowndes, Mark Dutton, Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup.

The commentators were Neil Crompton, Mark Skaife, Greg Rust, Greg Murphy and Riana Crehan.