Month: February 2020

Holden Heartbreak: McLaughlin’s Mustang takes Adelaide 500 victory

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Brendan Lines

February 23, 2020

Mustang driver Scott McLaughlin broke the hearts of Holden fans in the manufacturer’s farewell from the Adelaide 500 snatching an all too close victory from Red Bull’s Shane van Gisbergen.

McLaughlin claims back-to-back Superloop Adelaide 500 wins

Scott McLaughlin takes the chequered flag to win the Adelaide 500 – Image Adelaide 500

The win sees McLaughlin now taking back-to-back Adelaide 500 victories.

Undercut by van Gisbergen in the pits after an early safety car, McLaughlin said “we got away with one there absolutely.”

In a race where errors in the pit lane for both teams were the deciding factor, a spirited drive by van Gisbergen in his under-fueled ZB Commodore almost paid-off.

McLaughlin’s DJR Penske Mustang got away to a clean start on the dirty side of the starting grid getting the jump on van Gisbergen who started from pole position.

A Red-flag in the opening laps triggered by Scott Pither’s Commodore going into the wall at the Victoria Park racecourse section, caused both Red Bull and DJR teams to pit under the safety-car.

McLaughlin fueled and took tyres, the traffic in the pit lane caused DJR cars to pit both cars at the same time.

McLaughlin’s pit crew were caught unaware by the Red Bull garage and van Gisbergen was able to pit behind the Mustangs and slip away to take the lead.

It appeared DJR’s own fuel strategy had back-fired letting Red Bull out-fox them in the pitlane.

But Red Bull had another thing coming as van Gisbergen’s pit crew had mistakenly under-fueled his ZB Commodore to only lap 76 of the 78-lap race during their second pit stop.

But van Gisbergen did not simply hand the victory over to McLaughlin, during the middle stint of the race, both drivers matched each other’s time across the first two sectors of the Adelaide street circuit.

With van Gisbergen lighter on fuel, he was able to pull away from McLaughlin in the final sector to build a four-second lead on lap 38.

McLaughlin’s work was cut out to remain in striking distance of the Red Bull which was proving a faster car on track.

“Full credit to Shane and the team they had a fast car today, I think if we were in clear air like we were in the first stint we might have had his measure but he was really fast once he got the clear air,” McLaughlin said.

“Obviously he had a quick car, but yeah it was an awesome battle, because you had that gap if one person made a mistake, if they dropped a little and the other guy did you get it back, it was sort of like tit-for-tat.”

Red Bull played their last card by refueling van Gisbergen and putting him back into the race in fourth on lap 68 with fresh tyres, joining the battle between Holden’s Chaz Mostert and Mustang’s Cam Waters for the remaining podium positions.

Adding insult to injury, van Gisbergen’s Red Bull suffered a right-hand front suspension failure on lap 77, that saw him run wide turning onto the Brock Straight.

van Gisbergen’s Commodore crawled to a halt on the exit of Turn 8, and so did the dreams of Holden fans everywhere for a dream double victory send off in the brand’s final race in Adelaide.

Red Bull Holden Team Principle Mark Dutton put his team’s fuel issues were an ‘honest mistake.’

“Just a bit of a mistake about two seconds too short, Shane drove tremendously to get back to being able to fight and possibly get back on the podium, then we had a front suspension failure,” he said.

But it was not all bad news for Holden fans as Chaz Mostert was the surprise of the day, qualifying fifth and shrugging off illness, the Holden driver stepped onto the podium in his debut race for Walkinshaw-Andretti United, signing off Holden’s racing legacy at Adelaide with a second place.

“To see the emotion in there for the podium it’s pretty amazing,” he said.

It has been a historic week for all Holden fans in Adelaide hoping for the dream send off, they will have to wait to have the last laugh over the Mustangs across the Supercars season.

Supercars head to the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park for the Melbourne 400 March 12-15th

van Gisbergen secures eighth pole at Adelaide 500

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Brendan Lines

February 23, 2020

Red Bull’s Shane van Gisbergen has secured his eighth Pole position in the Top-ten shootout at the Adelaide 500, beating Scott McLaughlin’s DJR Penske Mustang to complete an all Kiwi front row for Race 2 this afternoon.

SVG surges in Practice 2, Davison second after early off

Shane van Gisbergen on a charge – Image: Adelaide 500

van Gisbergen continued what has been a dream start to 2020 for Red Bull after Jamie Whincup took pole and the win for Race 1 yesterday, but will line up seventh behind his team mate van Gisbergen.

“Just gutted Jamie (Whincup) made a mistake there would have been good to be on the front row, but awesome race with Scotty (McLaughlin) starting up the front, looking forward to it, car’s really good so looking forward to today,” van Gisbergen said.

A strong first sector for van Gisbergen earned him the first lap in the 1:19s with a 1:19.810 to take pole.

McLaughlin was right on the pace, but being point zero-three seconds down in the final sector eventually cost the Kiwi pole position.

Tickford Racing had a strong showing as the Mustangs of Cam Waters and Will Davison qualified third and fourth respectively.

Davison who lit up the first two sectors, locked up the brakes of his no.23 Mustang in the final corner costing him two-tenths of second.

Qualifying for the Top-ten Shootout was not without its own dramas as the session was red-flagged after a Turn 8 incident involving BJR’s Jack Smith.

The Commodore driver’s aggressive slide caused severe damage to the left side of his car, the team is now confident that can repair the damage before the race in just under two-hours time.

Ouch-time at Turn 8 – Image Fox Sports

“It felt like a reasonably hard hit, but the car looks OK much to my surprise and the rest of team,” Smith said to Fox Sports.

“I clipped the wall on the inside, kind of before I hit it I saw it coming, I knew I turned in too early, so misjudged it, just clipped it and spat me out.”

A disappointed David Reynolds who started on the front-row finishing fourth yesterday, suffered a engine failed due to a suspect plug lead, which his mechanics could not fix in time.

Reynolds will now start 14th in his Penrite Racing Commodore.

Race 2 of the Adelaide 500 kicks off 3:20pm CDST.

Red Bull champs here to stay

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Brendan Lines

February 22, 2020

Red Bull Holden put an end to speculation yesterday as the team announced it will retain its championship winning drivers Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen for 2021.

Here to stay Shane van Gisbergen (left) Jamie Whincup (right) – Image: Red Bull

In what has been a tumultuous week for all Holden fans, there is finally some good news for the future of the brand’s top-flight team.

The 37-year old six-time champion Whincup has firmed up his commitment to the sport after recent speculation of retirement.

“My addiction for racing, speed and trying to beat my mates to the finish line started when I was seven years old,

“Any thought of finishing full-time driving this year doesn’t sit well with me,” he said.

Whincup’s impressive career record stands at 118 wins and 208 podiums over his 496-race appearance, while it’s may seem what more can he achieve at the highest level, Whincup says there is still plenty left in the tank.

“I feel I have plenty to offer this sport from behind the wheel,” Whincup said.

“While my full focus is on this year’s championship and delivering results for our teammates, sponsors and Red Bull Holden fan base, it’s great to know that all the fun will continue well into 2021.”

For van Gisbergen it was a very easy decision to resign with the team he won his first Supercars championship.

“It’s been an awesome few years with the Red Bull Holden Racing Team, and honestly there wasn’t much thought put into extending my contract for a few more years,” van Gisbergen said.

“I absolutely love this place and all the people in it, and the future looks exciting with the changes that look to be put in place.”

Van Gisbergen says remaining team mates with Whincup is good for the team as it hunts down its next Team’s championship.

“It’s always good to have someone like JDub (Whincup) by your side. We get along well together and he’s still as capable of being the fastest driver on the grid.

“It’s amazing to think that his driving is still at his peak level, so I think it’s a fantastic decision for him to keep competing for a few more years.”

Both Whincup and Van Gisbergen will go into this morning’s Qualifying 1 for a shot at the Top-ten shootout before Race 1 4.20pm CDST.

Mostert hunts McLaughlin to top Practice 3

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Brendan Lines

February 21, 2020

Holden’s Chas Mostert has shutdown a charge from Scott McLaughlin’s Mustang to go fastest in Practice 3 at the Adelaide 500 with a blistering lap in the closing stages showing there is plenty of fight in the roaring Lion.

Chaz Mostert was on a tear in final Adelaide practice.

Chas Mostert on his hot-lap Image: Fox Sports

Earlier this week McLaughlin said he was out to ‘ruin’ Holden’s farewell in Adelaide, just as the Kiwi kept piling on fastest laps from the opening minutes of the session, it looked as though McLaughlin was going in for the kill.

But Mostert kept hunting the Mustangs all session lighting up the circuit with a 1:19.241s, in what was a real shootout for pace between the Andretti -owned Holden and Penske- owned Mustang.

In his debut race for Andretti Walkinshaw United Mostert insists it’s just practice but a welcome result for the team.

“Today might have just suited us and as the track gets grippier it might go away from us,” Mostert said.

“I’m not looking too much into it, just awesome for me to see the emotion in the garage, those guys have been, for the last year or couple of years on the bad end of some results, you know to see the eyes light up and even though it is practice to be at the pointy end and being able to mix with these great drivers and teams out there it’s exciting.”

Despite McLaughlin’s attack on the timesheets he says the DJR Penske Mustang is around where it needs to be.

“We’ll see how we go tomorrow, we probably don’t have it at the moment, but we do need to keep searching for a nineteen-two, I think we’re not too far away, for me a really promising day because we didn’t roll out that well and we’ve tuned it up now over the weekend and it’s really nice now, very excited for tomorrow, ”he said.

Third fastest Will Davison so far has been ‘Mr. Consistency’ placing his Tickford Mustang in the top three for every session so far bringing the fight right to the Commodores.

Davison says competing for qualifying spots over the weekend throughout the practice sessions has intensified the action on track.

“It is good, I think it makes for a bit more entertainment today,

“Practice last night and two sessions today, it nearly felt like two qualifying sessions,” he said.

Qualifying for the Top 10 shootout begins 11:55 am CDST tomorrow.

Van Gisbergen keeps Holden on top after Practice 2

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Brendan Lines

February 21, 2020

Red Bull have shown their hand in Practice 2 as Shane van Gisbergen went fastest posting the first sub – one minute twenty lap for the weekend, keeping the Holden flag flying high as the Commodores and Mustangs continue to parry on the streets of Adelaide.

SVG surges in Practice 2, Davison second after early off

Shane van Gisbergen on a charge in Practice 2 – Image: Adelaide 500

There was anger out on track as the teams began to show more of their race pace, yet the unforgiving street circuit continued to punish those who dare, as the session was red-flagged twice after Will Davison and Scott Pye’s separate incidents.

Second in Practice 1 yesterday, van Gisbergen has been on the pace, yet found himself ‘hating life’ wrestling his new ZB Commodore’s control damper suspension challenging.

Struggling for pace in his first run van Gisbergen pitted, opting for the team to increase his rear-wing angle to the maximum thirteen degrees allowable — the move paid off as the Kiwi posted a 1:19.807s on his 14th lap for the session.

The best of the Mustangs was Tickford’s Will Davison who built on his third fastest from yesterday. That was after a wild ride going straight on into the gravel at the racecourse section of Victoria Park.

But after his car returned to the garage during the red-flag period, Davison dusted himself off and the team pulled the gravel out of his Mustang, Davison later posted a 1:19.897s.

Red Bull Holden’s Jaime Whincup was also in the discussion, posting a 1:19.951s, but after two stints his best lap earned him third fastest for the session.

In similar fashion to Practice 1, today’s session ended with another incident as Scott Pye’s Commodore appeared to have a suspension failure mid-corner slamming into the barriers coming onto the Brock Straight.

Pye spoke with Fox Sports after the session.

“I think maybe we broke a shock, I’m not entirely sure I just went into the apex, the front right broke and I missed that hard left, missed the tyre-wall and hit the concrete wall hard,” he said.

Reigning champ Scott Mclaughlin remains .240s off the lead going into Practice 3 later this afternoon, but still finished in the top ten to gain a place in tomorrow’s Qualifying 2.

Practice 3 kicks off 6.00pm local time tonight.

Shocking reaction: Driver’s first thoughts of control suspension

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Brendan Lines

February 21, 2020

Yesterday’s Practice 1 was the first time the Supercars field turned official timed laps for the Adelaide 500, from ‘wild’ to ‘crap’ we heard yesterday’s top three fastest driver’s first thoughts on the new control aero and suspension for 2020.

Reynolds tops opening practice

David Reynolds gets ‘wild’ setting the fastest time in Thursday’s Practice 1 with 1:20.686s, – Image Adelaide 500

David Reynolds – Penrite Racing ZB Commodore:

“It’s different for me, but it’s very, very wild, extremely wild, feels like I’m out of control, but I love it it’s good fun.”

“Well it’s Thursday, I think we always complain about that here Thursday, because there’s not a lot of grip in the track, the aero is different the shocks are slightly different and probably trying too hard to be fair.”

“It was really good so I’m happy , got a lot of work to do obviously, I think everyone is struggling out there, just watching all the replays everyone is battling with a bit of balance, so just who can do a good job make it even, make the car balance and go fast.”

Shane van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team ZB Commodore:

“As Dave (Reynolds) said it’s pretty wild on the first day the shocks are pretty different than what we’ve had in the past, and just trying to learn that and understand that, but feels alright.”

“There’s less aero and shocks, driving around hating life, but you got to remember everyone’s got the same problems.”

“I don’t mean hating life, but the cars are crap, but it probably looks better the cars are moving everyone is sliding, everyone has got the issues so hopefully it look a bit better, we’re all battling a bit more, we’ve been pretty lucky in previous years having nice shocks and stuff, now we got these things we are all battling.”

“I think you always got to get the car right you know, that’s what today was we’re trying a lot of stuff, trying to match the shock absorber to each set and try different things, so there is still a lot to figure out, so we’ve got some big sessions tomorrow, we didn’t get a new tyre run at the end there, most people wouldn’t have so that would have been interesting.”

Will Davison – Tickford Racing Mustang

“We were trying to anticipate what we were going to get, the car was quite comfortable for me it’s certainly different we’ve certainly lost overall down-force, probably an interesting session and to be honest I was pretty comfortable in the car, so I won’t touch on what the other guys said, I was getting a bit of tyre deg, quite a bit of over-steer at turn four and I was a bit concerned until I think Davey (David Reynolds) come past me once all sideways, I tough oh well he’s got the same issue.”

“Shocks is quite interesting for us, it’s quite a positive thing for me at the moment as long as they are reliable, so we’ll see, I think the degradation amongst everyone is going to be different so we’ll see more mistakes possibly and might have to tune the cars quite a bit differently.”

Practice 2 at the Adelaide 500 kicks off 2.05pm CDST today.

Practice Red-flagged as Reynolds sets ‘wild’ pace

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Brendan Lines

February 20, 2020

Practice 1 at the Adelaide 500 has been red-flagged as Lee Holdsworth came together with Garry Jacobson in the closing stages.

Holdsworth and Jacobson clash – Image Fox Sports

Holdsworth’s argument with his Matt Stone Racing rival on the exit of the Senna Chicane looked more like a racing incident than a practice session.

The incident cut short valuable track time which the teams would have wanted to gauge the new control damper and aero package for 2020.

Fastest for the session was Penrite Racing’s David Reynolds with a 1:20.686s.

“I think everyone did their time and then after that no one really ran any new tyres, so we’re kind of lucky there, it’s different for me but it’s very wild.” he said.

Reynolds wasn’t the only one having a wild time, as Red Bull’s Shane van Gisbergen had some ‘wild’ moments of his own.

The Kiwi had a wide moment at the infamous Turn 8 and parked up his Red Bull up the Wakefield st. escape road.

“We’ve been pretty lucky in previous years that we’ve had good shocks, but we’ve got these things we’re all battling,” he said.

Despite the rough ride, van Gisbergen was only .0098 seconds adrift from Reynolds, posting a 1:20.696s.

After a disappointing testing on Tuesday at The Bend, Reynolds says the new found speed is welcome.

“Tuesday was p-sixteen, so after that I was looking for a paper bag, but today the car’s rolled out and it felt good,” he said.

The Adelaide 500 continues tomorrow.

Hazelwood and BJR ready to impress local fans

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Brendan Lines

February 20, 2020

As the anticipation at the Adelaide 500 builds this afternoon for Practice 1, Adelaide-born Todd Hazelwood is ready to impress with his new team Brad Jones Racing(BJR).

https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/d24be93280a91174153be2d313a4b096

Adelaide’s Todd Hazelwood – Image: Supercars

The 24-year old South Australian is about to step into his #14 BJR ZB Commodore for its first session at the Adelaide 500 today.

“For me this is my first race meeting with this team, I’m brand new to the whole crew at Brad Jones Racing, so for me I just want to start the year off cleanly,” Hazelwood said.

“We had a really positive test on Tuesday at the Bend Motorsport Park, this was my first chance to get an idea what the car is capable of, so far so good, but I’m just keen to go racing.”

But there is some added weight of expectation that Hazelwood and fellow South Aussie team mate and Bathurst winner Nick Percat are proudly baring, as BJR are the adopted home team for many local Holden fans.

“One hundred per cent we’re flying the flag high this week for Holden obviously after the news that’s just come out,” Hazelwood said.

“Having two proud South Aussies doing that I think is quite special and being in the same team together, we’re going to be pushing as hard as we can to get the best result possible.”

With only one day’s testing up their sleeve, Hazelwood says the team is using all its time wisely as the minutes countdown to the 4.00pm start time today.

The garage is now buzzing over his shoulder, Hazelwood says the team is still making final adjustments to the suspension of his BJR ZB Commodore.

“There’s been a few suspension changes with a control damper in the category, so it’s going to be interesting how the car takes the curbs we haven’t really been able to try that yet,” he said.

Superscars will be on track from 4.00pm to 4.40pm today.

Renault’s first test has Ricciardo smiling again

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Brendan Lines

February 20, 2020

Daniel Ricciardo is smiling after his first pre-season test in his new Renault R.S.20 yesterday at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona in the build up to the Australian Grand Prix in March.

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A smiling reaction for Ricciardo – Image: Renaultsport

After a difficult first season with the French team, the Australian is back and feeling good about his first impressions of the new car.

“It feels awesome to be back driving a Formula 1 car,” Ricciardo said.

“I had a big smile on my face leaving the garage as it’s been a while since I’ve had my own race car. It’s really cool to think about the thousands of hours which have been put into creating this car and then feeling it come alive on track. In terms of our programme, we’ve made a solid start and we have a good base to work from. We know we have to keep working this week and make some improvements ready for the first race. We have to be precise in our work and make everything count. I’m looking forward to continuing the progress through the week.”

Limited to just a 56-lap stint on Day 1 of testing, Ricciardo finished 7th in the standings with a best time of 1:17.873s.

Finishing ahead of his new team mate Esteban Ocon in 8th, the first impressions of the new R.S.20 was enough to put an all too familiar smile on the Aussie’s face.

The day also saw Ricciardo sporting his ‘Honey Badger’ helmet design for 2020, but as modern F1 drivers go, helmet design is a moving space throughout the season.

Through the speed traps the new Renault was fourth fastest, just pipping the Mercedes, but the comparison is heavily depended on aero simulations and fuel load, rather than outright pace.

As rendered images were teased of the R.S.20 at its launch in Paris last week, the R.S.20 took to the track in its stealthy black testing livery.

Daniel Ricciardo at the wheel of his new R.S.20 – Image: Renaultsport

But the team insists that its 2020 challenger will be back in its familiar yellow and black colours very soon.

Ricciardo will resume his seat in the R.S.20 for the morning test session on Thursday.

Shakedown for Kelly Racing’s first Mustang at The Bend

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Brendan Lines

February 18, 2020

It’s been a busy off season at Kelly Racing developing its all new Mustang for 2020, but after an overnight cross-country haul Kelly and Co. have given their new machinery a full shakedown at The Bend today and first impressions are good.

#15 Mustang for Kelly Racing takes to The Bend for the first time – Image: Kelly Racing

There were early dramas to the day, as a failed coil pack limited the team to sharing one coil, meaning only single car runs were possible.

Despite the set back team owner Todd Kelly said to Speedcafe: “If that’s the only drama, we’re laughing. To have no other major dramas is still a miracle with the amount of work that’s been done in such a rush towards the end.”

The all new #15 car managed 14th best at the end of testing posting a 1:48.5517s, but it’s too early to gauge the outright pace says driver Rick Kelly.

“You know it’s baby steps for us to get the cars on the track and get them to turn some nice reliable laps and they did exactly that, the outright performance is too early to tell where we’ll sit and it will take a few rounds for us to fully understand that, but initial impressions seems really good,” he said.

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Rick Kelly talks with his engineer after final test run – Image Local Goals

The Tailem Bend circuit threw up some oversteer on entry to the corners, something Kelly has become accustomed to across The Bend’s layout.

The team’s key concerns for the day was proving the drivability and mapping of the car that will continue over to the car’s set-up for the Adelaide 500 later this week.

For the first time pre-season testing has been scheduled the week leading up to the opening round at Adelaide — robbing the teams of lead-in time to process and re-think any changes to their cars.

For Kelly Racing it has been a long road to deliver its first Mustang, this is the first time the team will run its new aero package and test an engine that has never run a lap in its life.

The Braeside team has been working at fever pitch right up to today’s test in order to get its new package right for the day.

“It’s pretty exciting the work that’s gone on at Braeside our headquarters the last three of four months has been pretty intense,” Kelly said.

“Obviously as you get closer to the day the intensity with hours and workload goes through the roof and to the point where I think we’re at a level we’ve never experienced before, with the guys literally working all night to get the cars done,

“So we arrived at the track at Three-thirty this morning with the cars, unloaded today and they’ve ran fantastically all day, so I reckon its a massive credit and pat on the back to the guys to work these hours to get the cars running and as well as they have today, it’s spectacular,” he said.

The Adelaide 500 kick-off this Thursday.