V8s: 3 Race Starts at GC600…Yet Whincup Wins Again

 

This was originally posted on Richard’s F1…check it out here!

On a hot and sticky day at the Gold Coast, the dynamic duo of Jamie Whincup and Sebastien Bourdais took the top spot on the podium today after an action filled race at the ArmorAll Gold Coast 600.  The TeamVodafone pair were joined by Jonathon Webb and the German Marc Leib for Tekno Autosports and Mark Winterbottom and Will Power for FPR in third.

The race took some time to start though, with the internationals having a little drama getting underway...requiring 2 restarts and a fair while to clean up, the concrete canyon lived up to its name!

James Hinchcliffe was a little slow off the mark for Garry Rogers Motorsport and was subsequently hit by Luizzi’s Irwin Ford which lead to Ricky Taylor’s Fujitsu Holden flip onto it’s head! Simon Pagenaud for Stone Brothers Racing also being involved meant that four cars were out before a single lap had been started. But that wasn’t all…

The restart saw Nicolas Minassian in the Holden Brad Jones Racing stall and Franck Montagny hitting the rear of the car.  Again, the red flags were given some unwanted air time.

The race finally got underway 50 minutes behind schedule, meaning the race was then timed to finish at one lap after 4.15pm, for a total of 79 laps.

The race was fought hard and fast with a number of different leaders throughout the afternoon.  FPR’s Mika Salo was the early leader however once Whincup swapped in, he lead the bright orange from the front for the last 44 laps.  Jamie talked after the race:

“What a crazy start to that race. I thought we’d never get into it and get the race going. We fought on and the Webb car was hooked up and hard to keep at bay.”

Indeed, Webb nipped at Whincup’s heels for about 20 laps, applying pressure to Jamie all the way to the end of the race.

Only 18 of the 28 starters finished, and there were three different safety car outings.  Mika Salo and Will Davison weren’t able to capitalise on Salo’s early lead after contact with a wall lost them their edge.

Mark Winterbottom, who came in third and is focusing on his bid for the Championship, praised his co-driver, local Will Power but will be looking to push for a win on Sunday.

“It was a good fight back and a tough race. Will (Power, co-driver), did a great job and I could attack at the end. We were coming but we needed a few more laps so we were just a bit short.”

Full results are below.

Let the racing continue!

2012 V8 Supercars ArmorAll Gold Coast 600 – Race 1 Results (79 laps*):

	Driver		Entry / Team	Result
1.	Jamie Whincup / Sébastien Bourdais		Triple 8 Racing	1:45:10.0919
2.	Jonathon Webb / Marc Lieb		Tekno Autosports	+ 0.4647
3.	Mark Winterbottom / Will Power		Ford Performance Racing	+ 1.0893
4.	Garth Tander / Ryan Briscoe		Holden Racing Team	+ 12.2211
5.	Tim Slade / David Brabham		Stone Brothers Racing	+ 12.9548
6.	Craig Lowndes / Richard Lyons		Triple 8 Racing	+ 14.6256
7.	James Courtney / Darren Turner		Holden Racing Team	+ 17.1494
8.	Rick Kelly / Graham Rahal		Kelly Racing	+ 21.5720
9.	Russell Ingall / Peter Dumbreck		Walkinshaw Racing	+ 22.0760
10.	Shane van Gisbergen / Jeroen Bleekemolen		Stone Brothers Racing	+ 22.5905
11.	Michael Patrizi / Lucas di Grassi		Tekno Autosports	+ 23.7514
12.	Jason Bright / Stephane Sarrazin		Brad Jones Racing	+ 23.9662
13.	Greg Murphy / Justin Wilson		Kelly Racing	+ 25.1239
14.	Taz Douglas / Mike Conway.		Dumbrell Motorsport	+ 25.4685
15.	David Wall / Jamie Campbell-Walter		Brad Jones Racing	+ 55.0786
16.	Steven Johnson / Max Papis		Dick Johnson Racing	+ 1 lap
17.	Dean Fiore / Gianni Morbidelli		Dick Johnson Racing	+ 2 laps
18.	Will Davison / Mika Salo		Ford Performance Racing	+ 16 laps
	NOT CLASSIFIED
DNF.	David Reynolds / Nick Heidfeld		Ford Performance Racing	66 laps
DNF.	Steve Owen / Boris Said		Dick Johnson Racing	40 laps
DNF.	Tim Blanchard / Marco Andretti		Kelly Racing	19 laps
DNF.	James Moffat / Peter Tox		Dick Johnson Racing	18 laps
DNS.	Lee Holdsworth / Simon Pagenaud		Stone Brothers Racing	0 laps
DNS.	Tony D’Alberto / Vitantonio Liuzzi		Tony D’Alberto Racing	0 laps
DNS.	Fabian Coulthard / Nicolas Minassian		Brad Jones Racing	0 laps
DNS.	Michael Caruso / James Hinchcliffe		Garry Rogers Motorsport	0 laps
DNS.	Karl Reindler / Franck Montagny		Kelly Racing	0 laps
DNS.	Greg Ritter / Ricky Taylor		Garry Rogers Motorsport	0 laps

* Following the two separate startline accidents, the race distance was reduced from its scheduled 102 laps and instead time-limited to a one-hour, 45-minute minute race

Yassmin Abdel-Magied RichardsF1.com Journalist [Images via V8Supercars.com]

V8s: Whincup on Pole for GC600

This was originally posted on Richard’s F1…check it out here!

Jamie Whincup kept the momentum of his Bathurst win going, qualifying on pole for Saturday’s ArmorAll Gold Coast 600 race today. 

The last endurance weekend of the series saw Whincup, who is partnering with Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais clock in a fastest lap time of one minute and 11.8730 seconds.

The pair are joined on the front row by the Will Davison / Mika Salo duo for FPR.

Mark Winterbottom found himself frustratingly qualifying in sixth place, next to Jonathon Webb and the German Marc Lieb who was quick in the practice runs earlier. 

Reynolds, Tander and Lowndes are among the names that missed the top ten shootout and find themselves starting a little lower on the list.  The full results are below.

2012 V8 Supercars ArmorAll Gold Coast 600 – Race 1 Qualifying Result:

	Driver		Entry / Team	Top-10 Result
1.	Jamie Whincup / Sébastien Bourdais		Triple 8 Racing	1:11.6478
2.	Will Davison / Mika Salo		Ford Performance Racing	+ 0.2252
3.	Rick Kelly / Graham Rahal		Kelly Racing	+ 0.2363
4.	Michael Caruso / James Hinchcliffe		Garry Rogers Motorsport	+ 0.3103
5.	Jonathon Webb / Marc Lieb		Tekno Autosports	+ 0.3104
6.	Mark Winterbottom / Will Power		Ford Performance Racing	+ 0.3345
7.	Fabian Coulthard / Nicolas Minassian		Brad Jones Racing	+ 0.5422
8.	Tony D’Alberto / Vitantonio Liuzzi		Tony D’Alberto Racing	+ 0.5775
9.	James Courtney / Darren Turner		Holden Racing Team	+ 0.7883
10.	Shane van Gisbergen / Jeroen Bleekemolen		Stone Brothers Racing	+ 15.4123
	Driver		Entry / Team	Q1 Result
11.	Tim Slade / David Brabham		Stone Brothers Racing	1:11.8249
12.	David Reynolds / Nick Heidfeld		Ford Performance Racing	1:11.8434
13.	Craig Lowndes / Richard Lyons		Triple 8 Racing	1:11.8748
14.	Steve Owen / Boris Said		Dick Johnson Racing	1:11.8761
15.	Russell Ingall / Peter Dumbreck		Walkinshaw Racing	1:11.9226
16.	Lee Holdsworth / Simon Pagenaud		Stone Brothers Racing	1:12.0095
17.	James Moffat / Peter Tox		Dick Johnson Racing	1:12.0436
18.	Steven Johnson / Max Papis		Dick Johnson Racing	1:12.0519
19.	Michael Patrizi / Lucas di Grassi		Tekno Autosports	1:12.0682
20.	Greg Ritter / Ricky Taylor		Garry Rogers Motorsport	1:12.1432
21.	Jason Bright / Stephane Sarrazin		Brad Jones Racing	1:12.1475
22.	Greg Murphy / Justin Wilson		Kelly Racing	1:12.2718
23.	Karl Reindler / Franck Montagny		Kelly Racing	1:12.2786
24.	Garth Tander / Ryan Briscoe		Holden Racing Team	1:12.3608
25.	Tim Blanchard / Marco Andretti		Kelly Racing	1:12.4528
26.	Taz Douglas / Mike Conway		Dumbrell Motorsport	1:12.7148
27.	Dean Fiore / Gianni Morbidelli		Dick Johnson Racing	1:12.7304
28.	David Wall / Jamie Campbell-Walter		Brad Jones Racing	1:12.8859

Yassmin Abdel-Magied RichardsF1.com Journalist [Images via News Limited]

V8s: Whincup and Dumbrell’s epic Bathurst Victory

This was originally posted on Richard’s F1…check it out here!

Paul Dumbrell put it perfectly:  “You would not get a better motor race. You couldn’t have written it like this”…and what a great race it was!

A gruelling 30 last laps lead to a photo finish with Jamie Whincup crossing the line a mere 0.3s in front of rival David Reynolds to win the 50th Bathurst 1000 in a magnificent finale. 

In front of a record breaking 57,939 strong crowd (bringing the cumulative crowd for the four days to 207,205), Whincup took his fourth win at Bathurst for the TeamVodafone Holden Commodore with his co-driver Paul Dumbrell taking his first win, in disbelief. 

“I honestly didn’t think we were getting home,” Dumbrell admitted after the race.

But get home they did.  Craig Lowndes and Warren Luff finished off the podium for Team Vodafone after they fought from the middle of the pack due to the claim third. 

James Courtney and Cameron McConville came in fourth, followed by Michael Caruso and Greg Ritter for Fujitsu Racing who put in a solid performance.

There was the usual Bathurst drama, with Steve Owen crashing the VIP Petfoods car on Lap 55, smashing into the barriers but coming out unhurt, and a total of six safety car interventions. 

Unfortunately for pole sitter Will Davison, his name is among those who didn’t make the 161 laps; Davison and McIntyre broke a watt’s linkage and finished their day on lap 131.  Davison’s wasn’t the only big name to crash out, with defending champions Garth Tander and Nick Percat crashing out early on lap 38 and ultimately coming 25th.

Other non finishers included Johnny Reid’s Tekno Commodore (broken gearbox), Team iSelect’s Taz Douglas and Scott Pye (due to engine problems) and Team Hiflex Racing’s Tony D’Alberto and Dale Wood (for steering arm issues). 

It was definitely a race to be remembered, with nothing certain until the cars crossed the finish line.  Whincup said as much:

“It wasn’t over until the last corner of the last lap. I was trying to juggle tyres, petrol and conserve over the top – it was crazy stuff.” said Jamie, after his win.

David Reynolds, with Dean Canto in P2 (The Bottle-O Falcon) was a little more subdued, blaming his nerves for his [still amazing] finish, although the up and coming driver definitely did display his maturity and potential. 

"This could be life changing this race. If we had won it would have been life changing. It was close but I was not brave enough on the last lap.

"It is not just me for Dean as well. I said if I was going to get on the podium it would be a good one, so second at Bathurst was not too bad."

Whincup’s teammate Craig Lowndes, praised the TeamVodafone crew:

"There's no doubt TeamVodafone have the right car and driver and team behind them. This was what Jamie said that it is all about a team effort.

Mark Winterbottom, who qualified in P3 for Ford Performance Racing, only managed P11 in a rough race for the Winterbottom/Richard’s duo.

“It’s a shocker today. You can’t do much different though. The tyres just kept letting go. You were always copping the punches. The last tyre set let go in 10 laps. It’s frustrating but that’s Bathurst.

The pole sitter Will Davison, coming in 24th, had no words for what was a nightmare on the track for the FPR Falcon.  

“I’m speechless. I can’t believe how bad today went. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. It started so well but it just wasn’t our day.

“The car was good in the first stint. To top it off, I had the wildest ride of my life.  I had zero brakes. I was nursing a damaged tyre and I came onto Conrod and I felt a big bang. The anti-roll bar broke, I ran over it and it cut the brake lines and I touched the brakes into the Chase and I aimed for the gravel and I was sure it was going to roll.”

Ah, how Bathurst bites.

Some interesting Bathurst facts about this race (Courtesy of V8Supercars)

*    The youngest-ever combination in the race – 20-year-old Jesse Dixon and 18-year-old Cameron Waters – finished a creditable 20th in the Shannons carsales.com.au Commodore, three laps down on the winners.

*    A total of 19 cars finished on the lead lap at the end of 161 laps, equaling the record set in the last two years in 2010 and 2011.

*    There were nine different cars that led laps in yesterday’s race, though none more than winners Whincup and Dumbrell. Their #1 Commodore led 102 of the 161 laps, the most by a winning car since Whincup paired with Craig Lowndes to win in 2008.

*    The fastest lap of the race was 2m09.5962s on lap 139 set by Shane van Gisbergen, who ultimately finished 12th.

Next on the calendar…the GC600! Stay tuned for all the Goldcoast V8 happenings on Richard’s F1!

Yassmin Abdel-Magied RichardsF1.com Journalist [Images via V8Supercars.com and Getty]