There has been a thaw in the cold winds of rivalry. Long considered to be…
DOUBLE WINS FOR SHELL MUSTANGS AT BATHURST
MEDIA RELEASE/Shell V-Power Racing Team – Images: supplied
No. 12 Shell V-Power Ford – Fabian Coulthard
R8 Starting Position: 12th
R8 Finishing Position: 29th
R9 Starting Position: 1st (Reverse Grid)
R9 Finishing Position: 1st
R10 Starting Position: 1st
R10 Finishing Position: 6th
No. 17 Shell V-Power Ford – Scott McLaughlin
R8 Starting Position: 8th
R8 Finishing Position: 7th
R9 Starting Position: 23rd
R9 Finishing Position: 4th
R10 Starting Position: 4th
R10 Finishing Position: 1st
No. 66 Verizon Shell V-Power Mustang – Will Power
R8 Starting Position: 5th
R8 Finishing Position: 6th
R9 Starting Position: 24th
R9 Finishing Position: 11th
R10 Starting Position: 11th
R10 Finishing Position: 10th
RACE 8 RECAP
- Strong start in Race 8 for all three drivers. Power p5, McLaughlin p7 and Coulthard p9 on lap 1 keeping clear of several runners who got into trouble.
- McLaughlin and Power came together at The Chase at the end of lap one, with McLaughlin pushed wide onto the grass and Power dropping to p16, having to pit for repairs. A four-car battle pack was running down Conrod straight, with Heimgartner and Mostert also involved in the incident.
- McLaughlin received a drive-through penalty for that incident.
- Coulthard crashed out on lap four, forced into the wall at the Elbow by Cameron Waters. He had to ‘escape; to pit lane which dropped him to p25, and nearly a full lap down.
- McLaughlin pitted on lap four, dropping him to p11. Power was p14 at that point.
- Power worked his way to p8 by lap five, and p7 by lap six. McLaughlin was up to p4 on lap six of eight, yet to take his drive-through penalty.
- McLaughlin took his penalty on the penultimate lap, dropping him to p7. He raced Scott Pye from pit exit all the way to Griffin’s Bend, winning the corner and the position on the final lap.
- At the finish Power was p6, McLaughlin p7 and Coulthard p29
RACE 9 RECAP
- Race 9 was a reverse grid race, with McLaughlin and Power from 23rd and 24th, while Coulthard was from pole after finishing Race 8 last.
- Coulthard got an awesome start from pole, and had a half-second lead over Jake Kostecki at the end of lap one
- McLaughlin was caught out at Turn 1 on lap one, spinning and dropping to p17. He then engaged a recovery drive as many other cars crashed out.
- Power was also struck with issue early in this race, dropping to p23
- By the end of lap three, Coulthard had a nearly two-second lead, McLaughlin was up to p13 and Power p18
- Coulthard took his pit stop on lap five, dropping to p3. This sent McLaughlin to the lead, but yet to pit. Power was into p11 at this stage.
- Both Power and McLaughlin went to the lane on lap six. McLaughlin rejoined p5, Power p8.
- Coulthard sat P2 at that point, however leader Mostert had not taken his stop.
- Power and Van Gisbergen came together on lap seven, dropping Power to p12
- Mostert took his stop on lap seven, elevating Coulthard back to the lead and McLaughlin to p4
- Overall a very good race for the team, with Coulthard taking the win, McLaughlin p4 and Power p11 after starting p24.
RACE 10 RECAP
- Race 10 saw Coulthard start from the pole, McLaughlin from p4 and Power from p11, their finishing positions from Race 9.
- Solid start for all three drivers. Coulthard p1, McLaughlin p3 and Power p9 halfway through lap one.
- Power took his first service at the end of lap one, with two stops required this race. He rejoined in p17.
- McLaughlin was up to p2 behind Coulthard on lap two, with Coulthard holding a one-second lead. This soon dropped to 0.5s as McLaughlin chased him down. McLaughlin took Car 17 to pitlane on lap three for tyres and fuel, rejoining p8, one-second in front of Van Gisbergen.
- Coulthard sat 2.5s ahead of Heimgartner, before pitting on lap five.
- Power came together with Davison at Forrest’s Elbow on lap five, with Waters also involved. This forced Power to pit for repairs. He dropped to p23 as a result.
- McLaughlin went to the lead on lap six as the pit stops continued to play out, 0.7s in front of Van Gisbergen. Coulthard was p4, and Power p24.
- Power got caught up in an another incident on lap six at Turn 1, with Mostert and De Pasquale dropping Power to p26.
- Coulthard went to the lane from p4 for his final stop on lap eight, rejoining the race in p12 with five laps to run. He quickly cleared De Silvestro to take p11.
- McLaughlin pitted on lap 10 from the lead, rejoining p5 in front of Van Gisbergen and Coulthard as effective leader
- Power mounted a strong recovery drive after several incidents to be p10 with two laps to go
- McLaughlin had an epic race with both van Gisbergen and Brodie Kostecki, getting pushed wide on the very last corner by Kostecki to finish second. However, Kostecki took a penalty post-race to see McLaughlin be elevated back into the win.
- Coulthard ended up sixth at the flag, with Power an incredible p10 after two major incidents during the race.
- McLaughlin is on top of the Eseries points with 759 points; 86 clear of Waters in second and van Gisbergen third on 659.
COULTHARD QUOTE: “Double Shell V-Power Racing Team winners tonight! How good is that? Awesome to get to spray some De Bortoli champagne again – it was a good night behind the wheel. I was disappointed after the first race, as I felt we could have had three top 10 results tonight. I’ve been putting in the time practicing, and to get knocked out in that race was a shame. But as a blessing in disguise it put us on pole for the second race, which we went on to win and then a sixth to finish out the night. That’s actually my first Bathurst Supercars win, Eseries or not! We’re putting in a lot of time to improve on the Simworx simulator, so get to the win is good.”
MCLAUGHLIN QUOTE: Thanks to all our fans and everyone watching again this week. I had so much fun battling everyone. That battle at the end of Race 3 with Brodie and SVG was awesome, so good, great racing and while I was dirty when I got knocked off, I’m happy to take the win! Brodie has been quick all week, so I knew I would have my work cut out for me. But it was great fun, loving this Eseries.”
POWER QUOTE: “I’ve had a lot of fun tonight, got roughed up a bit in those last couple of races, but it’s good and I enjoyed it. You could make up plenty of positions, as there were lots of guys hitting walls and making mistakes. This iRacing thing is a whole lot of fun, I’ve been doing a lot of this stuff and its really good. The racing is great in Supercars, you’ve got to be really smart with it and I really enjoyed driving these cars. Thanks for having me!”
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