SUPERCARS RACE 18 WATPAC 400 RACE REVIEW

The Red Bull Holden Commodores locked out the front row of the grid for race 18 as Scott McLaughlin struggled to get a clean lap. The number 17 Shell V-Power Ford qualified towards the tail of the top 10. Rick Kelly and David Reynolds occupied the second row from Will Davison and Craig Lowndes, while Scott Mclaughlin and Nick Percat made up the 4th row. James Courtney and Scott Pye rounded out the top 10.

CHECK OUT OUR SUPERCARS TOWNSVILLE GALLERY HERE

Shane vanGisbergen had a near perfect launch at the start of the race, while Jamie Whincup was slow away, the number 1 quickly tucked in behind vanGisbergen to minimise any damage. Rick Kelly lunged to the left of Whincup while Reynolds looked to go around the outside. The Erebus Commodore ran side by side with vanGisbergen but lost track position at the exit of turn 2 and dropped back into second place. Scott Mclaughlin found himself bumped from the top 10 as Courtney, Pye and Percat battled for position at the exit of the corner. There was more action further back with incidents involving Michael Caruso and Richie Stanaway.

Simona De Silvestro made a lunge on the inside of turn 2 and was forced over the ripple strip, as she returned to the circuit proper she made contact with the side of teammate Michael Caruso. The Drive Racing Nissan spun mid track as the rest of the cars weaved past. Further back, Richie Stanaway was hit in the rear by a GRM Commodore in the braking area for turn 2, with Stanaway forced into a spin down the escape road.

Jamie Whincup quickly moved back up the field and had passed both Kelly and then Reynolds by lap 5. McLaughlin was the first to pit on lap 13 as the Shell V-Power team plotted to move the championship leader back up the field. The early stop and lighter fuel load allowed McLaughlin to leap frog a number of cars during the second stint and move behind the leading Red Bull cars.

Whincup stopped on lap 18 for fuel and tyres and took the lead when vanGisbergen stopped on lap 24 as teams opted for a variety of race strategies. Whincup and vanGisbergen continued to run in formation for the next 20 laps as vanGisbergen looked for a chance to regain the lead. McLaughlin initially stayed with the lead pair only to drop back as his tyres faded. Shane vanGisbergen finally made his move for the lead on lap 43 at turn 11 hairpin. Jamie Whincup made his final stop five laps later, while SVG covered the move on the following circuit. Shane vanGisbergen emerged with a 2.6 second lead over his teammate.

The race was nullified on lap 61 when Michael Caruso made heavy contact with the tyre bundle on the run to turn 11. He had been trailed by Anton De Pasquale, who had gained a better run out of turn 10 and looked to move up the inside. When Caruso moved across to cover the line contact was made and the Nissan was sent across the infield grass and into the tyre bundle. The impact threw the bundle into the air and pushed the stack some ten metres out of position. Caruso emerged from the car unaided, though the front of the Altima had sustained heavy damage. Stewards announced a post race investigation into the incident.

A final 5 lap dash began with vanGisbergen in control of the race from Whincup as McLaughlin moved into 3rd. Will Davison and Garth Tander made contact at turn 6 when Tander looked to slide the GRM Commodore inside the Red 23 Ford when Davison ran wide at the entry to the corner. The pair quickly ran out of room and contact was made, with Davison pushed off track and into the tyre wall.

Shane vanGisbergen went on to win race 18 from Jamie Whincup and Scott McLaughlin. Craig Lowndes took another 4th place from Chaz Mostert, who had struggled the previous day.David Reynolds, Rick Kelly, Fabian Coulthard, Cameron Waters and James Courtney rounded out the top 10.

“Our cars have been awesome all weekend and it’s a good personal day for the #97 crew,” van Gisbergen announced. “They turned our car around, qualifying and race, and we came out on top. As a team, a double-one two is awesome.”

“The story of car #1’s day was a poor start and that put us behind the eight-ball,” Whincup said.
“I think there’s something bent in the front-end, the kerbs are really aggressive here. But there was
no team orders or cruising to the end, we pushed hard and if there was a gap I would have taken it.”

For Scott McLaughlin the weekend was more about gathering vital championship points as the Shell V-Power team look for ways to bridge the performance gap between the Ford and Red Bull Holden “The crew gave me an awesome strategy and the tyre life was fantastic,” McLaughlin said. “I didn’t get the best start and lost a few places, but I’ll take third after today. It’s a win for us.”

For all our news keep your eyes peeled on the Velocity Magazine website and social media, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for our daily updates and to get the latest edition of our glossy magazine subscribe here from just $55 for 6 issues.