WINTERBOTTOM PYE HAIL SUCCESSFUL SUPERCARS ALL STARS OPENER

MEDIA RELEASE/Team 18 – Image: supplied

IRWIN Racing’s Mark Winterbottom and DEWALT Racing’s Scott Pye enjoyed the level of competition and fan interaction during the opening round of the BP Ultimate Supercars All Stars eSeries held at Phillip Island and Monza last night.

Winterbottom netted results of 20th and 14th in the first two races at Phillip Island, and eighth in final race at Monza. Pye meanwhile finished 18th, 17th and 12th in the three races.

Both drivers had limited experience with racing simulation before the introducing of the eSeries. Whilst Pye had a simulator at home, Winterbottom started from scratch after receiving an entire simulator setup and getting up to speed ahead of the highly-anticipated event held during the break caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The Team 18 drivers were supported by the remainder of the team watching and aiding them from home. Pye’s regular Data Engineer Rory Jackermis spotted and called strategy for Winterbottom in the IRWIN Racing Commodore ZB, while mechanic/all rounder Wayne Bourke, a notable sim racer in his own right was on the radios for Pye in the DEWALT Racing car.

Both drivers were hampered by additional pit-stop time penalties for jumping the start, with Pye receiving an 11 second penalty in the first race and Winterbottom penalised 28 seconds in the second.

The night was also plagued by a number of enormous crashes, with Winterbottom drilled from behind on the main straight on Lap 2 of the first race at Phillip Island. In a crash that would have required a new chassis in real life, Winterbottom simply hit the reset button and carried on with the race.

The final race at Monza only lasted a hundred metres before Winterbottom was thrown into the outside fence in the melee towards the first corner, while Pye was caught up in an incident that blocked the circuit through the Curva Grande corner and sent almost the entire field to the pit lane for repairs.

Winterbottom emerged fourth after the safety car period and moved to second on the restart, but later spun fighting for third at the first corner and was collected from behind before recovering to eighth.

Overall both drivers left with a smile and plenty of entertaining moments to keep racing fans engaged with Supercars racing at a time when all major sporting codes have been put on hold during the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Round 2 of the BP Ultimate Supercars All Stars eSeries will head to European Formula 1 circuits Silverstone and Catalunya next Wednesday April 15 at 7pm AEST, live on Fox Sports 506, Kayo Sports and the Team 18, IRWIN Racing and DEWALT Racing Facebook pages.

Mark Winterbottom – Driver, Team 18 #18 IRWIN Racing Holden Commodore ZB

“The whole night was so intense but really entertaining. It’s a great concept that Supercars has done to keep our sport alive,” said Mark Winterbottom.

“It’s so different to the real thing and it’s quite difficult when I hadn’t done any sim racing before so it was all new this week.

“The last race at Monza was awesome but I hadn’t done a full race-run around there before so when my tyres started to go I was in a bit of trouble.

“I had Rory Jackermis on the radio who’s usually Scott Pye’s data engineer, he was my spotter and we had the interaction of the team and the focus and concentration of the driving element that this series provides.

“It’s as close to the real thing you can get and while we’re in isolation it keeps our eye in and keeps us practicing our race craft.

“I’m definitely a lot more comfortable in the real race car but I was struggling not to spin on my own let alone fight for the race lead, I’m not losing focus that what I want to do is get back on track as quick as possible.”
 

Scott Pye – Driver, Team 18 #20 DEWALT Racing Holden Commdore ZB

“It was a great night and a successful event that Supercars put together,” said Scott Pye.

“The interaction with the fans on Twitch was really cool and we were able to give everyone a reason to smile in what is a difficult time for most people. 

“The races were fun and they got crazier as the night went on, especially at Monza where the long straights and big stop were always going to bring on more accidents.

“It was frustrating with the jump start and receiving a pit stop penalty in the first race which was my own mistake. I looked up and saw the lights were off and in real life when the lights are out you go, so off I went but I still had time to wait.

“I had one of our mechanics Wayne Bourke on the radios tonight calling strategy as he has a lot of sim experience himself and he did a great job. It was cool having someone in the ear as a spotter for what was happening throughout the race.

“At the end of the day we all wanted to do well and I kept learning in each race and I’m really keen to get back out there next week.”

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