The air at Eastern Creek was filled with the roar of V8 engines, the aroma of freshly burnt BP Ultimate filled the air and cars bore the signs of battle despite no actual Supercar racing apparently occurred. All evidence to support these claims were wiped out by the drop of a red flag, well two to be precise.

On a day where the Supercar faithful waited anxiously to see whether a new king could be crowned to fill the void left when the previous monarch, McLaughlin, abdicated his Australian title to seek a much bigger title. Shane van Gisbergen stood on the cusp of that throne, with victory in Race 30, the penultimate event of the season all that was needed for the New Zealand driver to regain the title that had eluded him since 2016.

Rain had fallen steadily throughout the evening before and across the morning. It wasn’t the monsoonal downpour that had been predicted, just a steady flow of precipitation that dripped like some annoying tap. The S5000s, Toyota Gazoo Racing 86 Series and run their races with little drama, while Supercars, Super 3 and Super 2 had all completed the qualifying preliminaries.

The first seeds of doubt may well have been sown after Jamie Whincup speared off the track while avoiding a Shell V-Power Mustang in the latter stages of qualifying. The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver had reduced visibility in the sprays of water that hung in the air between the Grandstand and Pit Complex, which left the Mustang ahead hidden until the last possible moment. The #88 slid across the concrete apron, over a section of highly glossed grass then threatened to dig in the gravel as the car spun sideways before clouting the tyre wall with some force.

Amazingly neither Whincup or his Commodore had appeared to suffer any residual effects as he duly restarted the car and drove back onto the circuit.

The Top 10 shootout was then run and won by Nick Percat in the BJR R&J Batteries Commodore. Shane van Gisbergen was 2nd and David Reynolds 3rd on his return to Sydney Motorsport Park and the Kelly Grove Racing Team.

All was then set for Race 30, once the final Super 2 and Super 3 race was completed. It was here that things suddenly turned.

Race Control had elected to start each race that day behind the Safety Car, which gave drivers extra sighting laps, the chance to warm up tyres and employ a single file rolling start. It had worked wonderfully well for the earlier categories, but this time things did not go to plan.

It began with an opportunistic and somewhat premature move by Zac Best to pass Broc Feeney for the lead of race 2 before the cars had crossed the control line. That move should have resulted in some form of recrimination from race officials, who had more pressing issues at hand.

The field had just completed lap 1 when contact between Angelo Mouzouris and Matt Chahda at the exit of Turn 1, saw Chahda’s Ford Falcon slide sideways towards the Turn 2 apex and collect the Nissan Altima of Jayden Ojeda. Steven Page speared off the circuit towards the outside wall at Turn 1 just seconds later. As Chahda danced back and forth on the ice like grass to gain some form of momentum and Page remained firmly stuck in the tyre wall, Race Control deployed the Safety Car. Chahda finally made it back onto the circuit and toured back to the pit lane minus his rear wing, while Page also drove away under his own power after a helpful tug from the trackside Manatou.

 

Racing then resumed briefly before Kelly Grove Junior driver Matt Payne careered through the tyre bundles at Turn 1 and was then followed by Jim Pollicina and Angelo Mouzouris. With tyre bundles destroyed and cars littering the run off area, the race was red-flagged and then declared a non-event as crews began the task of recovery and restoration.

The track schedule had already fallen behind time when the Supercars made their way onto the circuit and lined up on the grid for Race 30. The Safety Car led the field off the line as had been the case with the preliminaries before and fans eagerly awaited for the race to start.

Two laps later and the writing was already on the wall for Race 30. Instead of turning off the flashing lights and peeling towards the pitlane, the Safety Car continued to lead the field in procession. After a few more laps, those with a recent knowledge of Formula One could sense a Spa moment descending from the dark clouds that hovered overhead. With no improvement in conditions the red flag was shown and cars were diverted to the pitlane. Drivers retreated to the relative comfort of their respective garage, while the loyal fans huddled under cover as they awaited further news.

The race was eventually declared a no-result, which gave Shane van Gisbergen the Beaurepaires Sydney Cup, $25,000 in prize money and an insurmountable lead in the 2021 Repco Supecars Championship.

“It sucks we couldn’t put on a show but it’s been an awesome time and super cool to win another championship. I’m over the moon,” van Gisbergen said.

Opinions were divided amongst the teams and drivers, with many declaring the move to be sensible given the Whincup incident in qualifying and the multitude of accidents in the Super 2 event just prior, the proximity to the Repco Bathurst 1000 and the short turn around time for any substantial repairs.

Pole sitter Nick Percat was of the opposite opinion.

“Sorry to everyone who wanted to see a race. The wrong call was made today. We are paid professionals expected to drive to the conditions… we have wet tyres for a reason!” Percat wrote on his Twitter account.

And so the four week odyssey at Sydney Motorsport Park ends with two races that weren’t actually races at all.

MORE MOTORSPORT NEWS…

• EMOTIONS RUN HIGH AT THE QATAR F1 GP AS HAMILTON WINS AGAIN

• THE BULLS SCORE A 1-2 AND SECURE THE TEAMS’ CHAMPS AT THE SYD SUPERNIGHT

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