Supercars 17 - Pukekohe R23-24

The sun is just about set on our run in the VASC for 2017 as we wrap up the penultimate race event at one of New Zealand's premier race tracks: Pukekohe.

Race 1:

The night kicked off a bit rocky with technical issues.  Some of them bad enough, Darrel Hamilton had to drop from the night from insufferable frame rates.  Hopefully we can clean that up for the finale at Yas Marina.  When we did get going, it was Gurton Buster on the pole with a lightning fast performance.

Newcomer, Gut Slab made some strong first impressions as he helped Dahlgren through turn three.  The contact wasn't unjustified and there was quite a lot of action coming out of the chicane ahead of the group.

Zack Webster tried to slip around the inside and avoid some of the mess when he got clipped first by Robert Dahlgren...

And then again by Moffat.  But he managed to stay the course and press on.

Sandy Smith was having a bad birthday as he lost it off of the final corner onto the straight.

Slab was having a fairly decent run up the order when he bumped Coulthard.  The impact was mild but it slowed him enough for Todd Kelly to rap the back of his right around.  Not surprising coming from a Kelly.

I also had troubles early as I caught more curb than normal and slid the tires to the rims.

This gave me zero stopping power on the long stretch despite slowing down very early and my car was ruined.  The crew fixed it up for a few laps where it would ultimately die.

The Bear was finding his presents on pit road: lots of ice cream.  I assume lots because he kept going back in there a lot.  It may have also been because his crew couldn't change half his tires...

He continued to struggle with the final corner line and slid out right in front of the leader, Buster.  It was a close one.

Many of the laps were fairly quiet but around halfway, it started to heat up again.  Here, Lowndes dumped Mostert in an identical move to Mallala that killed my win.

In this case, Chaz only just missed Dalhgren and smashed harmfully into the tire barrier.

It wouldn't be but a lap latter that Lowndes was in it again.  In this case, it was van Gisbergen collecting Nick Percat and the two went right off of Craig's bumper.

Shane went around but Nick was off in the grass and had a terrible approach to the hairpin.

And Webster was blindsided.  In this case, they both were slowed enough that it wasn't crippling but the damage didn't help and both lost several spots.

A couple laps after, Gut Slab was continuing his steady march when this seemingly innocuous contact blistered Bright's left side.

Gurton Buster was continued to dominate the field but not without several more close calls.  This time he gave Sandy plenty of space through turn one, almost touching the grass.

And not long after that, there was this unusual sideways contact with James Moffat that came very close to turning very bad.  Fortunately, he barely held on and took another victory.

Despite Gut Slab's many gains and very decent first run, an early incident may have cooked his tires too much to properly approach the chicane and he lost it into the tires.  Dead.

Meanwhile, Webster was continuing to push to the front with aggressive tactics.  Officials didn't listen to Scotty Pye's protests and ruled it racing contact.

With half a lap left, he was snatching every spot he could.

Slipping past Tander and Perkins, his momentum took him right along into Dahlgren (that guy's gotten more coverage this review than any other race I can remember).

While he wasn't fighting him for position and seemed to have 4th place secured, Webster inexplicably moved to the outside and the two bounced off each other.

Whether he thought he was clear or didn't think he was over that far, the damage was done and he spun losing his two hard earned spots.  Still, a good finish for the first run of the night.

Race 2:

The second start was more or less the same but without quite as much drama.

Gut Slab attacked Rick Kelly early, presumably thinking it was Todd and having a little return of favor from Race 1.  Or it was just congested and they got together.

This did cause some congestion as Reynolds went into the grass reacting and that put him in a tough spot coming into the essess where he collided with Jack Perkins.

Down at the hairpin, Gut Slab had closed back in on the pack where he got David Wall in the braking zone and sent him careening into Slade.  About the same time, Dalhgren got Slab and turned him into the grass.

The excitement died down for several laps before Scott Pye lost an engine.  While coasting around the track, Todd Kelly slammed him hard, not doing either of them any favors.

His brother Rick decided he didn't like Gut Slab's driving and ran him off at the hairpin.

About a third of the way in and Webster had secured a podium position after a hard fight through the field.

Slab was trying his best to make up for the previous transgressions when he just barely nicked Caruso's bumper coming off of the bump in seven.

He then got a phone call and had to park it.  At least he pulled off.  A model citizen to those who would rather text and drive.  Or talk and drive in this case.  Sadly, his good deeds would not serve him well enough as he'd lose his engine to overheating at the halfway mark.

A little bit before that point, I had another anomaly similar to race 1.  In this case, I was thrown clear to the inside of the track, right into the wall.  The damage seemed minor at the time but slowed me down plenty.  Buster faded into the distance.

That same damage may or may not have had anything to do with this.

Pit stops were taking place and while Zack wasn't in need of one, Mostert certainly thought he was.

It was very kind of him to send Webster right where he needed to be.  Why yes, I'd like four fresh tires, please.  And an ice cold Coca-Cola.

The Kelly brothers were still at it and this time ran The Bear afoul after he'd been performing very well.

Coming to the closing laps, Zack had just worked his way back into the podium spot when I caught up to him.

While I had plenty of pace on him in the start of the race, the damage made things very competitive.  It got dicey around Sandy.

And while we weren't racing for position, we were taking risks as though we were.

It almost worked out to be a drag race to the end but Zack pushed a tad too much out of the 180 and just caught it to keep his well deserved podium.

Meanwhile, Gurton Buster pocketed another easy 'W'.  However, he may be receiving a massive penalty for victory burnouts while competitors were still active on the track.  We'll have to see how the officials respond.

The last track of the series is a whopper and a replacement for New Castle which is being run in the real live VASC series this year.  Almost 3.5 miles of city turns around the beautiful recreation of Yas Marina Night.  This track has had contributions from none other than Gurton Buster.  We'll certainly be critiquing.

Race 1

Track: BAR Pukekohe Park Raceway

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	008	J Zolecki	52.727
2	013	T Nadz	52.776
3	1	J Whincup	53.094
4	061	D Hamilton	53.240
5	6	C Mostert	53.332
6	5	M Winterbottom	53.425
7	97	S Van Gisbergen	53.450
8	888	C Lowndes	53.556
9	14	F Coulthard	53.588
10	9	W Davison	53.781
11	8	J Bright	53.799
12	21	D Wood	53.830
13	18	J Perkins	54.165
14	2	G Tander	54.187
15	16	S Pye	54.242
16	15	R Kelly	54.271
17	47	T Slade	54.341
18	222	N Percat	54.380
19	55	D Reynolds	54.407
20	33	S McLaughlin	54.488
21	23	R Ingall	54.681
22	22	J Courtney	54.838
23	4	L Holdsworth	54.876
24	7	T Kelly	55.224
25	34	R Dahlgren	55.342
26	17	D Wall	55.410
27	055	G Slab	55.665
28	360	J Moffat	55.872
29	36	M Caruso	55.948
30	023	Z Webster	--
31	021	T Bear	--

Weather: Clear, 73 °F, South 1 mph

Session: Happy Hour

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	008	J Zolecki	51.595
2	013	T Nadz	52.612
3	023	Z Webster	53.721
4	14	F Coulthard	53.933
5	5	M Winterbottom	54.151
6	9	W Davison	54.228
7	1	J Whincup	54.236
8	97	S Van Gisbergen	54.403
9	888	C Lowndes	54.429
10	21	D Wood	54.585
11	6	C Mostert	54.645
12	33	S McLaughlin	54.677
13	8	J Bright	54.832
14	55	D Reynolds	54.855
15	18	J Perkins	54.891
16	16	S Pye	54.974
17	4	L Holdsworth	55.058
18	2	G Tander	55.194
19	360	J Moffat	55.216
20	222	N Percat	55.294
21	15	R Kelly	55.351
22	47	T Slade	55.367
23	7	T Kelly	55.543
24	23	R Ingall	55.544
25	22	J Courtney	55.626
26	17	D Wall	56.000
27	34	R Dahlgren	56.150
28	36	M Caruso	56.303
29	021	T Bear	1:33.761

Weather: Clear, 80 °F, Southwest 11 mph

Session: Race

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	1	008	J Zolecki	125.106	30	30*	185	Running
2	6	5	M Winterbottom	-1L	29	0	170	Running
3	10	9	W Davison	-1L	29	0	165	Running
4	13	18	J Perkins	-1L	29	0	160	Running
5	14	2	G Tander	-1L	29	0	155	Running
6	30	023	Z Webster	-1L	29	0	150	Running
7	15	16	S Pye	-2L	28	0	146	Running
8	19	55	D Reynolds	-2L	28	0	142	Running
9	9	14	F Coulthard	-2L	28	0	138	Running
10	8	888	C Lowndes	-2L	28	0	134	Running
11	12	21	D Wood	-2L	28	0	130	Running
12	7	97	S Van Gisbergen	-2L	28	0	127	Running
13	23	4	L Holdsworth	-2L	28	0	124	Running
14	24	7	T Kelly	-2L	28	0	121	Running
15	26	17	D Wall	-2L	28	0	118	Running
16	25	34	R Dahlgren	-2L	28	0	115	Running
17	11	8	J Bright	-3L	27	0	112	Running
18	28	360	J Moffat	-3L	27	0	109	Running
19	21	23	R Ingall	-4L	26	0	106	Running
20	20	33	S McLaughlin	-5L	25	0	103	Running
21	22	22	J Courtney	-5L	25	0	100	Running
22	27	055	G Slab	-7L	23	0	97	Accident
23	31	021	T Bear	-7L	23	0	94	Running
24	17	47	T Slade	-14L	16	0	91	Accident
25	5	6	C Mostert	-15L	15	0	88	Accident
26	18	222	N Percat	-15L	15	0	85	Retired
27	29	36	M Caruso	-16L	14	0	82	Accident
28	2	013	T Nadz	-24L	6	0	79	Accident
29	16	15	R Kelly	-29L	1	0	76	Retired
30	3	1	J Whincup	-30L	0	0	73	Accident

Caution Flags: 0 (0 laps)

Lead Changes: 0 (1 driver)

Weather: Clear, 79 °F, Southwest 14 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 3x

AI Strength: 95%

PENALTIES

LAP	#	INFRACTION	PENALTY
10	021	Speeding in pits	Drive through pit lane

Race 2

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	008	J Zolecki	51.725
2	013	T Nadz	52.819
3	6	C Mostert	53.518
4	1	J Whincup	53.547
5	888	C Lowndes	53.590
6	5	M Winterbottom	53.637
7	023	Z Webster	53.709
8	2	G Tander	53.817
9	9	W Davison	53.826
10	14	F Coulthard	53.915
11	8	J Bright	53.983
12	15	R Kelly	54.134
13	97	S Van Gisbergen	54.138
14	21	D Wood	54.182
15	16	S Pye	54.224
16	055	G Slab	54.289
17	33	S McLaughlin	54.323
18	55	D Reynolds	54.332
19	22	J Courtney	54.481
20	18	J Perkins	54.599
21	222	N Percat	54.686
22	360	J Moffat	54.783
23	47	T Slade	54.871
24	4	L Holdsworth	54.999
25	23	R Ingall	55.111
26	7	T Kelly	55.117
27	34	R Dahlgren	55.138
28	17	D Wall	55.228
29	36	M Caruso	55.372
30	021	T Bear	--

Weather: Clear, 72 °F, Southwest 7 mph

Session: Race

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	1	008	J Zolecki	125.634	30	29*	185	Running
2	2	013	T Nadz	-25.14	30	0	170	Running
3	7	023	Z Webster	-1L	29	1	170	Running
4	5	888	C Lowndes	-1L	29	0	160	Running
5	3	6	C Mostert	-1L	29	0	155	Running
6	4	1	J Whincup	-1L	29	0	150	Running
7	9	9	W Davison	-1L	29	0	146	Running
8	13	97	S Van Gisbergen	-1L	29	0	142	Running
9	10	14	F Coulthard	-1L	29	0	138	Running
10	8	2	G Tander	-1L	29	0	134	Running
11	6	5	M Winterbottom	-2L	28	0	130	Running
12	19	22	J Courtney	-2L	28	0	127	Running
13	23	47	T Slade	-2L	28	0	124	Running
14	12	15	R Kelly	-2L	28	0	121	Running
15	22	360	J Moffat	-2L	28	0	118	Running
16	25	23	R Ingall	-2L	28	0	115	Running
17	27	34	R Dahlgren	-2L	28	0	112	Running
18	24	4	L Holdsworth	-2L	28	0	109	Running
19	28	17	D Wall	-2L	28	0	106	Running
20	26	7	T Kelly	-3L	27	0	103	Running
21	21	222	N Percat	-4L	26	0	100	Running
22	14	21	D Wood	-5L	25	0	97	Accident
23	18	55	D Reynolds	-5L	25	0	94	Retired
24	30	021	T Bear	-5L	25	0	91	Running
25	29	36	M Caruso	-9L	21	0	88	Accident
26	20	18	J Perkins	-9L	21	0	85	Running
27	11	8	J Bright	-15L	15	0	82	Accident
28	17	33	S McLaughlin	-16L	14	0	79	Retired
29	16	055	G Slab	-17L	13	0	76	Camshaft
30	15	16	S Pye	-29L	1	0	73	Gearbox

Caution Flags: 0 (0 laps)

Lead Changes: 2 (2 drivers)

Weather: Clear, 72 °F, Northeast 7 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 3x

AI Strength: 95%

PENALTIES

LAP

#

INFRACTION

PENALTY