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SUPERCARS eSERIES WASH UP FROM RESULTS AND TEAM MEDIA

We’ve taken the time to run together in one place the media from Supercars from last Wednesday’s eSeries racing, including the finding from the DSO, plus the teams media releases, including Kelly Racing, Penrite Racing, Team 18, Shell V-Power Racing Team.

MEDIA RELEASE/Supercars – Photo: supplied

Supercars Driving Standards Observer Craig Baird has announced his findings into race 15 of the BP Supercars All Stars Eseries.

On review, Scott McLaughlin has been awarded the race win with provisional race winner Shane van Gisbergen penalised and relegated to a 5th place finish.

The incident in question took place at the end of Race 15 at Circuit De Spa-Francorchamps, where 2016 Supercars Champion van Gisbergen collided with Anton De Pasquale on the pit straight as they approached the final corner of the race.

De Pasquale was put into the fence, opening the door for McLaughlin and Cameron Waters to take second and third respectively, just ahead of McLaren F1 star Lando Norris. Van Gisbergen was awarded the provisional race win before the review.

Baird said on his ruling: “It was very clear that Car #99 had the opportunity to make a clean pass on the outside of Car #97.

“At that point, Car #99 was given no racing room. When they went back to the left, Car #99 left racing room for the #97 Red Bull Holden.

“Car #97 had racing room on the right and chose not to use it, causing avoidable contact.

“At the time of the incident there was only one camera angle available to use for the review, we knew a penalty was most likely, but we had to review it thoroughly which we now have.

“Had Shane been penalised immediately after Race 15 he would’ve started in a better position in the reverse grid race.

“The black flag Car #99 received for too many in-race penalties in Race 15 has now been overturned, as the final penalty was linked to going off circuit due to the incident with van Gisbergen.

“De Pasquale’s provisional finishing position of 19th has been reversed and he will be awarded the 4th place finishing position, with van Gisbergen awarded 5th place.

“As is always the case in motorsport, we cannot award a driver a race win because they were tussling for the lead at the time of an incident. It must be based on the position a driver is in when they officially cross the finish line.

“McLaughlin is declared the race winner and following his post-race penalty, van Gisbergen drops back to fifth.”

General Manager Television & Content, Nathan Prendergast said it was important for protests to be reviewed carefully from as many virtual angles as possible.

“Following the incident in Race 15 we compiled as many different camera angles as we could, including in-car vision, wide shots and angles we do not have access to in real-life racing,” Prendergast said.

“We’re happy with what we were able to provide and think this incident has provided us with a better understanding of the review system for future events.”

The result means van Gisbergen retains the official ARMOR ALL Round Winner award and $1000 will be donated by ARMOR ALL to his charity of choice, Wings for Life.

McLaughlin maintains his lead on the Coates Hire Leaderboard, with van Gisbergen moving into second, 59 points behind the Shell Ford driver. Cam Waters is third and De Pasquale jumps up into fourth.

1 Scott McLaughlin Shell V-Power Racing Team 1423
2 Shane van Gisbergen Red Bull Holden Racing Team 1364
3 Cameron Waters Monster Energy Racing 1358
4 Anton De Pasquale Penrite Racing 1153
5 Chaz Mostert Mobil 1 Appliances Online Racing 1145
6 Andre Heimgartner NED Racing 1011
7 Garry Jacobson Matt Stone Racing 947
8 Fabian Coulthard Shell V-Power Racing Team 907
9 Will Davison Milwaukee Racing 891
10 Lee Holdsworth Truck Assist Racing 856

MEDIA RELEASE/Kelly Racing – Image” supplied

Kelly believes pace has been found in Eseries

Round Five of the BP Supercars All Stars Eseries saw Kelly Racing take on the famous historic Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, home of the Belgian Grand Prix. This week the Supercars regulars were joined by wildcards, McLaren F1 superstar Lando Norris as well as Aussie Formula 3 driver and RedBull junior Jack Doohan.
 
Round Five incorporated a Top-10 Shootout-style qualifying session to setup the grid for race one. Unfortunately André Heimgartner just missed out, claiming eleventh spot on the grid, while Rick Kelly struggled to string a lap together and qualified to the rear of the grid.

Race One of the evening was a thriller which saw André Heimgartner get a great start in the NED Racing Mustang and claw his way into the top-ten. A last lap battle between the front runners ended in disaster and André was able to capitalise and take home sixth place.
 
Rick Kelly had a great run in the Castrol Mustang, keeping out of trouble and making up over ten places on his qualifying position to come home P13.
 
Race Two of the night was a reverse grid format based on the finishing positions in Race One which meant both Rick and André started from the rear of the field. Rick was in the wars from the outset getting tangled up in some lap one drama, he pitted early to repair damage but was penalised for speeding in pit lane, then made an error with his refuelling numbers and was stationary for around 40-seconds – this hurt his position badly and caused him to finish P24. André meanwhile was able to race from the rear of the field to P10.

Race Three was a longer format 14-lap session with two mandatory pit stops and the starting grid was determined in order of points accrued during races one and two. André started P8 while Rick was P21.
 
André had a solid start to the race but was quickly taken out by Will Davison at turn two and sent to the rear of the grid. André was able to recover and race back for a solid P14. Rick meanwhile continued to battle in the Castrol Mustang when he was rear-ended on the way into pit lane causing his car to accelerate above the pit lane speed limit – he was given a black flag and a hefty time penalty for this, making for a very difficult race.
 
Next week the Eseries returns to North America with races at The Circuit of the Americas and Sebring International Raceway.

Rick Kelly, #15 Castrol Racing

“Even though the results don’t reflect it, I feel like we actually made a pretty big improvement this week and unlocked some pace and enjoyed Spa. I got some pointers during the week from André and it really paid off.” 

“In the first race while I didn’t do well in qualifying, I was able to have a pretty good race and had the speed to run in the midfield which I was happy with as I haven’t been able to do that in previous weeks.”
 
“Unfortunately from there it went downhill, in race two I made some pretty big errors in the pit stop, I got done for speeding in pit lane then I stuffed up the refuel numbers and put 110-litres of fuel in the car so I was stationary for about forty seconds!”
 
“That was my fault but then in race three we got rear-ended on the way into pit lane causing the car to accelerate in pit lane and go above the speed limit so I was penalised for that again and got a big time penalty, so a little frustrated by that but overall I think we’ve made some gains and with a bit more practice during the week for the next round, I think we should be able to race competitively mid-pack which I’ll be happy with.”

André Heimgartner, #7 NED Racing

“Unfortunately last night wasn’t our night, I stuffed up qualifying and just missed out on the top-ten shootout which was disappointing and put us in an average spot to start the first race. Luckily we were able to capitalise on one of the crashes towards the end and gain a few more spots.”
 
“There was a bit of carnage in the second and third races and I got taken out a couple of times which wasn’t ideal but I think we got the best results we could given everything that unfolded and managed two top-tens.”
 
“Now it’s time to concentrate on next week and try and claw back some points in the championship”


MEDIA RELEASE/Penrite Racing – Image: supplied

Anton makes it through chaos to claim another podium

Penrite Racing’s Anton De Pasquale displayed an impressive performance to take another podium in round five of the Supercars All Stars eSeries, while teammate David Reynolds finished with a best of 15th.
 
Race 15
Starting from second after maximising his speed in the Top Ten Shootout, it was super important for Anton to get a good start; and he certainly delivered.
 
The #99 Holden got off to a flyer, while David who started from P19, got caught up in chaos at the back of the pack before pitting at the end of lap 2.
 
Anton, who understood the track well from his junior development years, tried to make a gain out of fresh air and didn’t pit until lap 5; while David was forced to pit for a second time with repairs after he was turned around by Chris Pither.
 
Good strategy saw the #99 Penrite racer quick at the end and all over the back of Shane van Gisbergen. He pulled together the perfect block pass on the last lap, but it came undone at the critical moment and he was put in the fence. Anton crossed the finish line in 5th though incident points meant the time sheets put him down in 18th, ahead of David in P27. A cloud still hangs over the official result, with post-race penalties still to be handed out.


 
Race 16
The grid was reversed for the next race – David starting from P4 and Anton P26. Anton again got away well though contact with Will Davison on the start meant David was sent to the back of the pack.
 
Anton showed incredible pace and moved up the ranks to 7th before pitting on lap 3, with his teammate the last to take his compulsory stop for tyres three laps later.
 
Anton continued on his charge and ended his brilliant drive up 20 places in 6th, while David recovered to P17.
 
Race 17
A combination of points from both races set the start of the final race with Anton this time in 4th and David down in P24 after his unfortunate mishaps.
 
Anton instantly pulled away and picked up 3rd, while David also made gains and moved up four spots before the end of the opening lap.
 
With two compulsory stops and strategy to play – David took his first on lap 5, before Anton entered pitlane one lap later. They pit again at the end of laps 7 and 10 for a 4-lap run to the finish.
 
Anton was back on track in 2nd and closing the margin to van Gisbergen before the pair made contact for the second time. The #99 racer did a great job to recover and with enough of a gap on the rest of the field he kept his place – taking home his seventh podium of the Series, ahead of David in P24.

Anton De Pasquale commented on his good night of racing: “I did a pretty good lap in the Shootout and I knew if I just finished the lap I would have been second and in the fight. In the race we had a pretty good strategy, I had Brodie (Kostecki) on the headset helping me out. We went for an overcut, just went a bit longer. It almost worked but eventually it gave us tyre overlaps at the end so for the final lap I could really attack Shane and then I sided him up for a move around the outside of the last chicane. He tagged me on the way out and put me in the fence. We still finished fifth, but I got an incident point penalty for hitting the fence and that put us further back.
 
“The reverse grid race I got back 20 spots. I almost got wiped twice on that first lap with a crash on the start line which blocked most of the track, so I had to alongside the fence through the grass, but I made it through. I got clipped a little bit and then at the end of the lap we were going in to pit and they crashed in front of us into pit lane so we had to miss the pits and go around again, so basically a lot of it comes down to luck. In the end it was a good result and we managed to get up to sixth. 
 
It was good to get on the podium again in the final race. It was basically between me and Shane, whoever got out of turn 1 in front was probably going to win that race based on speed. The way it all worked out after the incident in the first race, he started on pole and I started fourth. He doesn’t make any mistakes and we had similar speed so unfortunately we weren’t able to catch him, but it was good to get another second.”
 
David Reynolds was disappointed to not show his true potential: “It was a terrible night for me. I got crashed into in every race and sometimes twice. I was trying to race around and stay out of trouble and the trouble seemed to find me. At the start there is so much going on that you don’t really know what’s happening. In the real world you can account for everything that’s happening but in this racing it just happens and you’re not really sure what’s gone on. 
 
“I enjoyed driving Spa. It’s one of my favourite tracks in the world and I really enjoyed practicing on it. It’s just the racing went terribly bad. I tried to be really conservative to not get caught up in the mess but that didn’t work out so I might have to be more aggressive next week. 
 
“It’s a bit of a lucky dip. If you are fast in these cars and you qualify up the front you kind of stay out of the mess but I’m just not skilled enough yet to qualify out of the mess. I practiced for a week straight on that one track and still end up qualifying in the middle of the pack.  I’m still not used to the whole idea of sim racing but I’m getting more comfortable. I think it’s going to take a lot more practice to take another step forward.”


MEDIA RELEASE/Team 18 – Images: supplied

Pye scores personal best, while Winterbottom’s ‘crash magnet’ in play at Spa

IRWIN Racing’s Mark Winterbottom battled at Spa-Francorchamps while DEWALT Racing’s Scott Pye enjoyed his best night so far in Round 5 of the BP Ultimate Supercars All Stars ESeries.

The fifth round of ESeries action saw the schedule brought back to three races and only held at the single track. Germany’s Nurburgring was originally scheduled to host a race but was later scratched to focus on Spa. Both drivers preferred the single-track round of racing.

Qualifying speed was hampered by multiple kerb hop/off-track penalties. Winterbottom’s night at Spa was plagued by incidents. He went spinning early in Race 15 and finished back in 24th. Pye was also taken out in the first race, driving from the back of the grid and working his way back to finish in 20th.

Starting third for the reverse grid Race 16, Winterbottom briefly held the lead before holding second to Super2 rookie wildcard Broc Feeney while Pye made it into the top five before completing his compulsory pit stop.

The Team 18 pair battled hard after the pit stops but drama when Winterbottom was tagged and turned around by Jake Kostecki at the Fagnes bend while Pye swerved into the gravel trap in avoidance. Winterbottom finished a lap down in 27th but Pye recovered to finish ninth, his personal best ESeries race result.

Pye enjoyed a clean final race and battled hard with McLaren Formula 1 young-gun Lando Norris and Brad Jones Racing’s Nick Percat in the mid pack, finishing in 11th. 

Winterbottom took matters into his own hands in the final race and gave it back to his opponents, but finished back in 29th.

The BP Supercars All Stars ESeries continues next Wednesday May 13 with Round 6 heading back to the United States of America to race at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas and Sebring in Florida. Watch it live from 6pm on Fox Sports 506, 10 Play, Scott Pye’s Twitch account and the DEWALT Racing and IRWIN Racing Facebook pages.

Mark Winterbottom, driver #18 Team 18 IRWIN Racing Holden Commodore ZB

“That was a tough night,” said Winterbottom

“I seem to be a bit of a magnet for crashing, I have magnetic panels and everyone is drawn to me!

“I got belted into in the first two races so in the last race I thought ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ and so I crashed into everyone else. 

“I briefly lead the reverse grid race but ended up with the same result.

“I hope I’m only crashing in iRacing land and not when we can get back on track in the real world.”

Scott Pye, driver #20 Team 18 DEWALT Racing Holden Commodore ZB

“The circuit doesn’t suit the low-downforce high-horsepower Supercars as they like to move around on the track, so there were plenty of times where we had to conserve and limit the amount of times we exceeded track limits,” said Pye.

“The racing through the field was better tonight and the track catered for some great battles and passing opportunities.

“I struggled in qualifying with the kerb strikes so we had to start off the back in the first race, I was taken out but we worked our way back up to 20th.

“I finished in the top ten in the second race and had a good battle with Frosty for a bit there and it was nice for both of us to have some good speed in the races.

“Overall I certainly felt a lot stronger tonight, the race craft was better but I’m still learning and there’s plenty of improvement still to be made but I’m excited for the next few rounds.”


MEDIA RELEASE/Shell V-Power Racing Team – Images: supplied

STRONG NIGHT AT SPA FOR SHELL V-POWER RACING

No. 12 Shell V-Power Ford – Fabian Coulthard

R15 Starting Position: 15th
R15 Finishing Position: 11th
R16 Starting Position: 20th (Reverse Grid)
R16 Finishing Position: 18th
R17 Starting Position: 16th
R17 Finishing Position: 13th

Notes:

  • Coulthard’s iRacing pace continues to improve week-on-week as we progress through the Eseries.
  • Tonight, he showed solid race-pace once more, however could only bank a best result of 11th with lots of carnage through the pack
  • He was the victim of other driver’s incidents in both the second and third races of the night, and was then forced into recovery drives
  • He had great battles with F1 wildcard Lando Norris across the evening
  • He continues to sit seventh in the Eseries points table

Quote: “There was plenty of action tonight, and it feels like I’m always in it. Race pace is fine, but we’ve got to tune up qualifying and get out of the mid-pack. We just keep getting caught up in everyone else’s dramas. It was cool to have some battles with Lando, side-by-side through plenty of corners, nice and clean and fair. Now we’re heading back to the states for the next one!

No. 17 Shell V-Power Ford – Scott McLaughlin

R15 Starting Position: 15th
R15 Finishing Position: 2nd
R16 Starting Position: 29th (Reverse Grid)
R16 Finishing Position: 21st
R17 Starting Position: 6th
R17 Finishing Position: 3rd

Notes:

  • Scott McLaughlin was right up the pointy end in qualifying, taking third position in the Top 10 Shootout
  • He earned a strong second place in the opening race of the night, as Shane van Gisbergen and Anton de Pasquale came together on the last lap. This leave that race’s results provisional, with post-race investigations to come.
  • Race 16 was a messy one, with two incidents that caused damage pushing McLaughlin down the order. 
  • He raced hard and clean in the final race of the night, again being the beneficiary of contact between Van Gisbergen and De Pasquale, and an error from Chaz Mostert on the final lap of the race to take third place.
  • He now sits second in the points, only one behind Van Gisbergen at the halfway mark of the All-Stars Eseries. 

Quote: “That was a big night, I’m mentally drained. So sweaty! Ha. I got a bit impatient there at the end with Mostert, but in the end he made a mistake and I took the position. That second race of the night was a bit of a mess, but overall wasn’t my best night and wasn’t my worst. All good, we’ll get set to go again next week.”

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