Supercars 17 - Surfer's Paradise R21-22

We round out the Endurance section of the series with a trip to the Gold Coast.  Two races with double points.  And they were definitely exciting.

Race 1:

A quick and relatively harmless start got us going.

All except one.  Hamilton had a massive FPS dip and couldn't drive.  A shame because he was starting to make progress on the track.  However, a silver lining is that in the real world, he would be heading to Mid Ohio to run an actual race car in an actual race.  Good on him and good luck to him.

The biggest winner on the start was Webster who was able to sling by the backup at the chicane, sailing into the teens.

Further up the track, Buster got into the back of my car, making this turn a merry-go-round and cooking my rear tires.

But he did slow up and we were still in racing position.

And we were closing in on Will Davidson...

...when Buster lost connection.

On the other side of the track, Smith was getting hammered by Rick Kelly.

A few laps later, Buster was back and not working for position but just to check his connection.  And his driving may have been more on the limit than he would if it were possible to catch back up.

He wasn't the only one pushing as Webster found himself pogo-sticking it through the back stretch.

I also found me a Kelly and we made slight contact.

Which he then took out on Sandy the following lap.

Buster was back in the groove and not letting anyone stand in his way of at least a strong performance.

I wasn't innocent of contact as I locked up at the end of the backstretch.

Buster was making good progress when he came upon Webster who had lost it earlier and struggled to get straightened out.

But he didn't see Buster coming and they collided hard enough to destroy the Adelaide car and slow Zack down a bit.

In the end, I just had to take care and managed to cruise to victory.  Buster took a DNS and Webster managed a top 10.

Race 2:

The second round went nearly as well as the first.

Webster tried the same trick as race one.

It was a little more congested this time.  Again, though, he moved on up.

And like the first round, Buster and I were nose to tail early on.

Webster was making great progress when he came upon Ingall and got tripped up through the chicane.

I had to move some people out of the way with Gurton on my spoiler.  Honestly, I didn't think Reynolds was able to clear to the outside as quickly as he did.  Still, the road was clear for both of us.  Race on.

Sandy Smith was finding that the slow and steady approach...

...wasn't always paying off.  He did recover, though and kept on.

Within only about half a dozen laps or less, I botched the hairpin and allowed a pass.

Around the same time, Webster...

...was in and out with his connection.

Buster was also pulling magic tricks.

Which was distracting to say the least as I trailed him.

Zack Webster was in early to fix his tire issue and maybe repair some damage.

Up at the front, some lap traffic was allowing me to close back in and the chase continued.

We caught up to The Bear and passed without a problem.

So I made a problem and got into the back of Buster.  Once he straightened out again, we carried on.

Towards the end of the fuel run as we were barely hanging on to our ragged tires, James Courtney came out of nowhere.

We both nearly tagged him on our way through.

When we finally did come to pit road, Buster locked up on entry to squeeze out some extra time, blowing a tire.

That cost him some time in the pits as they struggled to get the jack under the car and I resumed the lead.

He fell a little further as Tim Slade and Sandy Smith formed a blockade it a couple pinch points.

Up the track, James Moffat was getting wrecked by Reynolds on the backstretch.

I must of caught some oil from it or something because I went wide on corner exit and just missed the corner, surrendering the lead back to Buster.

Fortunately, Whincupwas a moving road block.

And we concertinaed back together.

With three to go, Tim Slade was again in the picture and forced Gurton off line through the complex.

That opened a gap for me to slip around and we continued our cat and mouse.

With fewer laps left, Buster was less considerate of moving chicanes as he ran Coulthard a little wide.

Coming to the bus stop back on the front stretch, I tried to shoot the gap around Whincup and he closed up, causing us to bounce around.

I was further slowed by The Bear and we were set up coming to the final lap.

Another close call for Buster as Mostert was recovering from a misturn.

It was steady to the second to last corner where I was too wide on entry and Buster could shoot the gap!

With much restraint, he chose not to run me out or otherwise make contact and we held positions.

There was a little opportunity in the last corner but again, Buster showed race craft and sportsmanship by staying back.

It was a very close and exciting race in the end.

Webster was able to join us on the podium as well.

Even the Bear made up spots and came home with a top 20.

Two more venues left.  Next at Pukekohe.

Race 1

Track: Surfers Paradise 2013

Session: Practice

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	008	J Zolecki	1:09.006
2	013	T Nadz	1:10.412
3	8	J Bright	1:10.770
4	2	G Tander	1:10.964
5	061	D Hamilton	1:11.119
6	888	C Lowndes	1:11.173
7	1	J Whincup	1:11.194
8	5	M Winterbottom	1:11.220
9	16	S Pye	1:11.465
10	15	R Kelly	1:11.708
11	97	S Van Gisbergen	1:11.753
12	21	D Wood	1:12.061
13	18	J Perkins	1:12.260
14	33	S McLaughlin	1:12.327
15	023	Z Webster	1:12.423
16	22	J Courtney	1:12.442
17	23	R Ingall	1:12.452
18	6	C Mostert	1:12.459
19	55	D Reynolds	1:12.738
20	17	D Wall	1:12.759
21	360	J Moffat	1:13.051
22	7	T Kelly	1:13.458
23	47	T Slade	1:13.494
24	36	M Caruso	1:13.566
25	34	R Dahlgren	1:15.551
26	14	F Coulthard	1:16.295
27	021	T Bear	1:16.483
28	4	L Holdsworth	1:17.934
29	9	W Davison	1:18.910
30	222	N Percat	1:19.854

Weather: Clear, 70 °F, North 5 mph

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	008	J Zolecki	1:07.396
2	013	T Nadz	1:08.202
3	9	W Davison	1:08.215
4	1	J Whincup	1:08.342
5	14	F Coulthard	1:08.713
6	6	C Mostert	1:08.838
7	888	C Lowndes	1:09.068
8	5	M Winterbottom	1:09.076
9	97	S Van Gisbergen	1:09.101
10	16	S Pye	1:09.424
11	55	D Reynolds	1:09.460
12	2	G Tander	1:09.482
13	47	T Slade	1:09.696
14	8	J Bright	1:09.716
15	18	J Perkins	1:09.752
16	33	S McLaughlin	1:09.783
17	15	R Kelly	1:09.831
18	21	D Wood	1:09.842
19	222	N Percat	1:10.297
20	22	J Courtney	1:10.306
21	4	L Holdsworth	1:10.557
22	23	R Ingall	1:10.603
23	360	J Moffat	1:10.749
24	17	D Wall	1:10.968
25	34	R Dahlgren	1:11.120
26	7	T Kelly	1:11.524
27	061	D Hamilton	1:11.533
28	36	M Caruso	1:11.746
29	023	Z Webster	1:13.282
30	021	T Bear	1:22.087

Weather: Clear, 69 °F, East 6 mph

Session: Happy Hour

P

#

DRIVER

TIME

Weather: Cloudy, 60 °F, Northwest 17 mph

Session: Race

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	2	013	T Nadz	90.244	21	14*	185	Running
2	18	21	D Wood	-1L	20	0	170	Running
3	3	9	W Davison	-1L	20	6	170	Running
4	29	023	Z Webster	-1L	20	0	160	Running
5	15	18	J Perkins	-1L	20	0	155	Running
6	4	1	J Whincup	-1L	20	1	155	Retired
7	28	36	M Caruso	-1L	20	0	146	Running
8	10	16	S Pye	-1L	20	0	142	Running
9	20	22	J Courtney	-2L	19	0	138	Running
10	7	888	C Lowndes	-2L	19	0	134	Running
11	9	97	S Van Gisbergen	-2L	19	0	130	Running
12	12	2	G Tander	-2L	19	0	127	Running
13	22	23	R Ingall	-2L	19	0	124	Running
14	5	14	F Coulthard	-2L	19	0	121	Running
15	19	222	N Percat	-2L	19	0	118	Running
16	8	5	M Winterbottom	-2L	19	0	115	Running
17	17	15	R Kelly	-3L	18	0	112	Running
18	21	4	L Holdsworth	-3L	18	0	109	Running
19	30	021	T Bear	-3L	18	0	106	Running
20	26	7	T Kelly	-3L	18	0	103	Running
21	16	33	S McLaughlin	-7L	14	0	100	Retired
22	11	55	D Reynolds	-10L	11	0	97	Retired
23	6	6	C Mostert	-10L	11	0	94	Accident
24	1	008	J Zolecki	-10L	11	0	91	Accident
25	23	360	J Moffat	-11L	10	0	88	Accident
26	14	8	J Bright	-11L	10	0	85	Retired
27	13	47	T Slade	-14L	7	0	82	Clutch
28	24	17	D Wall	-18L	3	0	79	Camshaft
29	25	34	R Dahlgren	-20L	1	0	76	Retired
30	27	061	D Hamilton	-21L	0	0	73	Disco

Caution Flags: 0 (0 laps)

Lead Changes: 2 (3 drivers)

Weather: Cloudy, 58 °F, Northwest 14 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 3x

AI Strength: 92%

PENALTIES

LAP

#

INFRACTION

PENALTY

Race 2

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	1:07.430
2	1	J Whincup	1:07.705
3	008	J Zolecki	1:08.148
4	5	M Winterbottom	1:08.403
5	6	C Mostert	1:08.465
6	14	F Coulthard	1:08.549
7	888	C Lowndes	1:08.557
8	8	J Bright	1:08.583
9	97	S Van Gisbergen	1:09.011
10	2	G Tander	1:09.011
11	9	W Davison	1:09.118
12	21	D Wood	1:09.237
13	16	S Pye	1:09.414
14	55	D Reynolds	1:09.489
15	33	S McLaughlin	1:09.502
16	15	R Kelly	1:09.631
17	18	J Perkins	1:09.874
18	47	T Slade	1:09.876
19	23	R Ingall	1:09.984
20	222	N Percat	1:10.265
21	4	L Holdsworth	1:10.508
22	34	R Dahlgren	1:10.685
23	22	J Courtney	1:10.688
24	360	J Moffat	1:10.903
25	36	M Caruso	1:10.907
26	7	T Kelly	1:11.195
27	023	Z Webster	1:11.401
28	17	D Wall	1:11.411
29	021	T Bear	1:17.022

Weather: Clear, 66 °F, Southwest 6 mph

Session: Race

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	1	013	T Nadz	92.633	21	10	180	Running
2	3	008	J Zolecki	-0.23	21	11*	180	Running
3	27	023	Z Webster	-1L	20	0	165	Running
4	10	2	G Tander	-1L	20	0	160	Running
5	5	6	C Mostert	-2L	19	0	155	Running
6	11	9	W Davison	-2L	19	0	150	Running
7	6	14	F Coulthard	-2L	19	0	146	Running
8	4	5	M Winterbottom	-2L	19	0	142	Running
9	26	7	T Kelly	-2L	19	0	138	Running
10	15	33	S McLaughlin	-2L	19	0	134	Running
11	8	8	J Bright	-2L	19	0	130	Retired
12	20	222	N Percat	-2L	19	0	127	Running
13	22	34	R Dahlgren	-2L	19	0	124	Running
14	7	888	C Lowndes	-2L	19	0	121	Running
15	18	47	T Slade	-3L	18	0	118	Running
16	14	55	D Reynolds	-3L	18	0	115	Running
17	24	360	J Moffat	-3L	18	0	112	Running
18	23	22	J Courtney	-3L	18	0	109	Running
19	2	1	J Whincup	-3L	18	0	106	Retired
20	29	021	T Bear	-4L	17	0	103	Running
21	19	23	R Ingall	-5L	16	0	100	Running
22	9	97	S Van Gisbergen	-5L	16	0	97	Accident
23	17	18	J Perkins	-9L	12	0	94	Retired
24	25	36	M Caruso	-9L	12	0	91	Retired
25	13	16	S Pye	-13L	8	0	88	Accident
26	21	4	L Holdsworth	-15L	6	0	85	Retired
27	28	17	D Wall	-16L	5	0	82	Retired
28	12	21	D Wood	-16L	5	0	79	Accident
29	16	15	R Kelly	-18L	3	0	76	Retired

Caution Flags: 0 (0 laps)

Lead Changes: 4 (2 drivers)

Weather: Clear, 66 °F, Northwest 9 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 3x

AI Strength: 92%