Supercars 17 - Mallala R13-14

Over halfway now through the series and it's close at the front.  There's still plenty of opportunity for it to go any which way.  For this last race, we took our first deviation from the regular schedule track of Townsville and instead drove Mallala.  Because no one ever made a Townsville.  Still, thanks to the long stretches followed by slow, usually 90 degree turns, Mallala did a good job of feeling like a street circuit.  Only without unforgiving walls just off the racing line.

Race 1:

The start for Race 1 was a ripper and actually had Gurton Buster on the outside for a change.

But a slow drag off the line ended in the typical result.  Still, things were close through three as he kept things cool and easy like our tires.

Behind us, things intensified quickly as Perkins and Scotty McLaughlin locked together and barreled into the pit wall, throwing the 33 rolling into the air.

Up into four, Buster ran wide, opening the door for a pass.

Coming up to the complex at Bridgestone, he was tapped by an enthusiastic Whincup and was sent around.

Only a few places were initially lost but when he rejoined the pack, Rick Kelly gave the Mopar Holden a shove, costing Buster several more places and valuable time.

Coming back up through the field, he had some help reclaiming ground as Davidson and Moffat connected into three, clobbering Tim Slade in the process.

Up the road, Webster was making and holding ground among the top runners and doing a cracking job for the LineX team.

At the back, Moffat was relieving some heat by pushing Darrel Hamilton wide at the hairpin.

His teammate, Sandy was getting turned around by Tim Slade.

Things were quiet for several laps until Perkins took Dale Wood into the tires on the pit stretch.

Around halfway, I had pulled up a good margin on Buster and was cruising heavy when just behind me, Winterbottom knocked into Percat, sending him through the grass.

It was a dead on shot and Percat's car knocked mine clear to the wall leaving us both heavily damaged and smoking.  Frosty received a penalty of 20 points deducted on that stunt.

Fortunately, I was able to fix things after a long stop and at least retain some points.

All this excitement left Gurton to have fun testing the track and car limits, holding first.

Things were getting rather congested for Zack Webster as he continued to gradually climb the order through patience, skill and some elbowing.  Even taking first at one point.

The LineX car would need to still pit and just ahead of him, The Bear was doing just that when David Reynolds rammed him from behind.

Clearly not a good time to enter the pits.  Reynolds received a points deduction as well.  Fortunately the damage was minimal and Smith raced on.

Webster was still dealing with traffic and the fight was convoluted by a late dive by Fabian Coulthard.

Poor timing left both Webster and Shane van Gisbergen out in the weeds.

The two Dick's cars were slugging it through traffic as well, picking up spots as they could when they got a little too close.  Darrel cut in on the curb and connected with Sandy.

Only a small spin but not exactly team orders.

Gurton was also having to deal with slower cars and flummoxed Mostert going through three.  He couldn't handle the Rainbow Jive.

At this point, the laps were quickly winding down and Webster had to stop for his compulsory tires and fuel where he surrendered first back to Buster.

Sadly, things were not smooth sailing to the end for him as he was turned by Will Davidson.

Things continued to get dicey on the final laps.

But everyone made it home and GB took another victory to the bank.

Race 2:

The second 23 laps saw roles reversed and back to usual.  What wasn't usual was the very quick jump on the line.  Because I couldn't see the light or flagman, I was watching the AI in the mirror for motion and slammed the throttle the instant they moved.  This gave me a questionable lead but it was agreed that there wasn't an abuse of the start.

And it was a brilliant start from the field as there was pushing but no pileups through the first few corners.

Out of the hairpin, Gurton was momentarily caught in a battle with the Fords and Holdens behind, slowing him from a tighter pursuit than he'd like.

Seconds later, Gissy and Perkins were way off into the wall, the first casualties of the race.

Almost concurrently, Todd Kelly was adding to the list by abusing the back of three or four cars at once.

Up the track, Chaz Mostert tried to sneak up the inside of Tander but neither would yield.

The result was a clearer breaking zone for Zack Webster going in to five.

With one lap out of the way and feeling conscious about my quick start, I ran wide at turn two.  I actually just over ran one and had a terrible line into that corner.  But I felt more at ease with relenting the lead even though the debate was settled.

Of course, that only intensified the action as the chase was on between the championship leaders.

While racing at the front was close, the back was even more explosive as Michael Caruso laid into Sandy Smith braking for three.

A lap later, Hamilton pounded door handles on the same Caruso and they both took a spin.  That's a little more like team orders.

Several more laps of good, clean racing went by with little issue when Webster was coming through one a little too snug on the curb.

As he dropped off, his tires blew like the Hindenburg.

While that was certainly a shock he now had to travel the whole course with three wheels.  A major blow to an easily top ten finish.

Especially considering the only true contact he'd had all weekend was here with Percat who honestly was trying to pass the wounded 21 too aggressively.  Much harder to stop when you're down a tire.

Around halfway and there was little between the two front runners as we continued to try and run qualifying laps.

The margin tightened further as we came into traffic.

While this made things interesting, it was certainly making victims out of some of the drivers.

Buster went for a similar strategy as Race 1 and pit early to clear some of the field and drop as much fuel before the end of the race, making for a light and fast finish.

Unfortunately, he was released right into more traffic.

Still, this didn't slow him too much and he was only a few seconds back as I took off from my mandatory stop.

Then, an error!  Running wide at three lost valuable time.  Could it be that he couldn't come back from this setback?

Driving hard, I must have not shifted properly because I blew out 6th gear and now my times were suffering from a hindered straightline speed.  Thank God it wasn't 2nd-4th.

As that story developed, Sandy was also hit with a mechanical failure.  Although his was much worse with a blown piston.  Possibly from early damage, his promising race was completely over.

His teammate, Hamilton took his time working through the field.  Here, he and Winterbottom had a moment.  I can't say I'm sorry to see that.

With laps dwindling, my margin was quickly disintegrating.  It was using everything I had through the tricky bits to balance the lost pace on the backstretch.

With only about a second or two separating us, we came to the checkers and Gurton did a preemptive donut to help me celebrate a long awaited win.

A great set of races despite some tragedies.  Hopefully we can continue to see this kind of thing carry on through the rest of the season.  We're certainly seeing some good improvement and it's making for a lot of fun.  We now move to Queensland, another fast, flat track.

Race 1

Track: Mallala Motorsport Park

Session: Practice

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	008	J Zolecki	1:01.525
2	013	T Nadz	1:02.153
3	6	C Mostert	1:02.336
4	5	M Winterbottom	1:02.410
5	97	S Van Gisbergen	1:02.637
6	1	J Whincup	1:02.668
7	14	F Coulthard	1:02.740
8	888	C Lowndes	1:02.775
9	9	W Davison	1:02.801
10	33	S McLaughlin	1:02.966
11	023	Z Webster	1:02.972
12	2	G Tander	1:03.021
13	8	J Bright	1:03.066
14	15	R Kelly	1:03.131
15	55	D Reynolds	1:03.191
16	21	D Wood	1:03.207
17	16	S Pye	1:03.336
18	18	J Perkins	1:03.437
19	22	J Courtney	1:03.531
20	061	D Hamilton	1:03.554
21	47	T Slade	1:03.574
22	4	L Holdsworth	1:03.748
23	23	R Ingall	1:03.988
24	360	J Moffat	1:04.022
25	17	D Wall	1:04.083
26	222	N Percat	1:04.172
27	34	R Dahlgren	1:04.342
28	7	T Kelly	1:04.574
29	36	M Caruso	1:04.637
30	021	T Bear	1:05.238

Weather: Clear, 47 °F, Northwest 1 mph

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	1:01.953
2	008	J Zolecki	1:02.043
3	1	J Whincup	1:03.129
4	2	G Tander	1:03.209
5	5	M Winterbottom	1:03.286
6	55	D Reynolds	1:03.389
7	8	J Bright	1:03.413
8	97	S Van Gisbergen	1:03.428
9	6	C Mostert	1:03.433
10	888	C Lowndes	1:03.510
11	023	Z Webster	1:03.587
12	21	D Wood	1:03.760
13	14	F Coulthard	1:03.769
14	16	S Pye	1:04.079
15	33	S McLaughlin	1:04.425
16	15	R Kelly	1:04.426
17	47	T Slade	1:04.458
18	4	L Holdsworth	1:04.538
19	18	J Perkins	1:04.727
20	22	J Courtney	1:04.814
21	222	N Percat	1:04.986
22	23	R Ingall	1:05.064
23	17	D Wall	1:05.259
24	360	J Moffat	1:05.276
25	9	W Davison	1:05.464
26	34	R Dahlgren	1:05.518
27	7	T Kelly	1:05.716
28	36	M Caruso	1:06.321
29	061	D Hamilton	--
30	021	T Bear	--

Weather: Clear, 47 °F, Northwest 1 mph

Session: Happy Hour

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	008	J Zolecki	1:02.370
2	013	T Nadz	1:02.927
3	6	C Mostert	1:02.939
4	5	M Winterbottom	1:02.978
5	8	J Bright	1:03.096
6	1	J Whincup	1:03.503
7	2	G Tander	1:03.541
8	14	F Coulthard	1:03.589
9	21	D Wood	1:03.604
10	888	C Lowndes	1:03.688
11	9	W Davison	1:03.715
12	15	R Kelly	1:03.763
13	18	J Perkins	1:03.895
14	4	L Holdsworth	1:04.186
15	47	T Slade	1:04.227
16	97	S Van Gisbergen	1:04.289
17	360	J Moffat	1:04.313
18	16	S Pye	1:04.330
19	222	N Percat	1:04.461
20	7	T Kelly	1:04.663
21	023	Z Webster	1:04.721
22	33	S McLaughlin	1:04.775
23	17	D Wall	1:04.828
24	55	D Reynolds	1:05.041
25	22	J Courtney	1:05.681
26	23	R Ingall	1:05.904
27	36	M Caruso	1:05.957
28	34	R Dahlgren	1:06.815
29	061	D Hamilton	1:07.009
30	021	T Bear	1:08.197

Weather: Clear, 74 °F, West 5 mph

Session: Race

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	2	008	J Zolecki	88.010	23	5	180	Running
2	9	6	C Mostert	-4.42	23	6	175	Retired
3	13	14	F Coulthard	-14.04	23	0	165	Retired
4	18	4	L Holdsworth	-27.66	23	0	160	Retired
5	12	21	D Wood	-29.35	23	0	155	Retired
6	25	9	W Davison	-30.88	23	0	150	Retired
7	16	15	R Kelly	-33.21	23	0	146	Retired
8	11	023	Z Webster	-35.38	23	4	147	Running
9	26	34	R Dahlgren	-45.43	23	0	138	Running
10	8	97	S Van Gisbergen	-46.88	23	0	134	Running
11	3	1	J Whincup	-49.66	23	0	130	Running
12	27	7	T Kelly	-50.78	23	0	127	Running
13	28	36	M Caruso	-58.43	23	0	124	Running
14	4	2	G Tander	-59.86	23	0	121	Running
15	20	22	J Courtney	-1:03.74	23	0	118	Running
16	6	55	D Reynolds	-1:04.38	23	0	115	Running
17	24	360	J Moffat	-1L	22	0	112	Retired
18	17	47	T Slade	-1L	22	0	109	Retired
19	23	17	D Wall	-1L	22	0	106	Retired
20	14	16	S Pye	-1L	22	0	103	Retired
21	5	5	M Winterbottom	-1L	22	0	100	Retired
22	29	061	D Hamilton	-1L	22	0	97	Running
23	30	021	T Bear	-2L	21	0	94	Running
24	1	013	T Nadz	-2L	21	8*	101	Running
25	10	888	C Lowndes	-4L	19	0	88	Susp
26	21	222	N Percat	-15L	8	0	85	Retired
27	22	23	R Ingall	-16L	7	0	82	Accident
28	19	18	J Perkins	-16L	7	0	79	Accident
29	7	8	J Bright	-22L	1	0	76	Accident
30	15	33	S McLaughlin	-22L	1	0	73	Accident

Caution Flags: 0 (0 laps)

Lead Changes: 3 (4 drivers)

Weather: Clear, 73 °F, West 2 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 3x

AI Strength: 95%

PENALTIES

LAP

#

INFRACTION

PENALTY

Race 2

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	008	J Zolecki	1:02.154
2	013	T Nadz	1:03.276
3	1	J Whincup	1:03.369
4	6	C Mostert	1:03.639
5	8	J Bright	1:03.649
6	888	C Lowndes	1:03.679
7	14	F Coulthard	1:03.781
8	5	M Winterbottom	1:03.786
9	023	Z Webster	1:03.924
10	2	G Tander	1:04.062
11	97	S Van Gisbergen	1:04.128
12	9	W Davison	1:04.356
13	18	J Perkins	1:04.362
14	55	D Reynolds	1:04.455
15	21	D Wood	1:04.463
16	16	S Pye	1:04.671
17	15	R Kelly	1:04.711
18	33	S McLaughlin	1:04.874
19	222	N Percat	1:04.938
20	360	J Moffat	1:05.101
21	22	J Courtney	1:05.192
22	47	T Slade	1:05.327
23	4	L Holdsworth	1:05.416
24	23	R Ingall	1:05.614
25	34	R Dahlgren	1:05.792
26	17	D Wall	1:05.941
27	7	T Kelly	1:06.110
28	36	M Caruso	1:06.746
29	061	D Hamilton	--
30	021	T Bear	--

Weather: Clear, 76 °F, West 9 mph

Session: Race

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	2	013	T Nadz	89.557	23	11*	185	Running
2	1	008	J Zolecki	-10.51	23	9	175	Running
3	7	14	F Coulthard	-19.68	23	0	165	Retired
4	3	1	J Whincup	-22.81	23	0	160	Retired
5	17	15	R Kelly	-43.43	23	0	155	Running
6	4	6	C Mostert	-44.08	23	3	155	Running
7	14	55	D Reynolds	-48.35	23	0	146	Running
8	18	33	S McLaughlin	-49.45	23	0	142	Running
9	5	8	J Bright	-50.02	23	0	138	Running
10	6	888	C Lowndes	-53.73	23	0	134	Running
11	12	9	W Davison	-57.80	23	0	130	Running
12	16	16	S Pye	-58.76	23	0	127	Running
13	20	360	J Moffat	-1:00.83	23	0	124	Running
14	8	5	M Winterbottom	-1:01.34	23	0	121	Running
15	24	23	R Ingall	-1L	22	0	118	Retired
16	23	4	L Holdsworth	-1L	22	0	115	Retired
17	19	222	N Percat	-1L	22	0	112	Retired
18	10	2	G Tander	-1L	22	0	109	Retired
19	28	36	M Caruso	-1L	22	0	106	Running
20	26	17	D Wall	-1L	22	0	103	Running
21	9	023	Z Webster	-1L	22	0	100	Running
22	22	47	T Slade	-1L	22	0	97	Camshaft
23	27	7	T Kelly	-1L	22	0	94	Running
24	21	22	J Courtney	-1L	22	0	91	Running
25	29	061	D Hamilton	-3L	20	0	88	Running
26	30	021	T Bear	-11L	12	0	85	Piston
27	15	21	D Wood	-19L	4	0	82	Accident
28	11	97	S Van Gisbergen	-20L	3	0	79	Retired
29	25	34	R Dahlgren	-21L	2	0	76	Retired
30	13	18	J Perkins	-21L	2	0	73	Accident

Caution Flags: 0 (0 laps)

Lead Changes: 4 (3 drivers)

Weather: Clear, 76 °F, Northwest 7 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 3x

AI Strength: 95%