Virgin Australia LASTCAR Championship: May 2015

Sunday 17 May 2015

Mosert's no last-place finish streak ends in the tires in final race at Winton

Chazz Mostert picked up his 1^st last-place finish of his career, his no-last place finish streak broken at 77 races, when his #6 Pepsi Max Australia Ford finished under power, 4 laps down in the final race at Winton. The finish came in Mostert's 31^st round start.

Dale Wood started the race in the rear in the #21 Galvanising/Advam Holden, but rookie Andre Heimgartner in the #111 Only Domains Ford stalled at race start, dropping him to the rear. David Wall in the #34 Wilson Security/Valvoline Volvo pitted on lap 2, dropping him to the rear. On lap 7 Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cool Drive Distribution/GB Galvanising. On lap 11, Rick Kelly in the #15 Jacck Daniel's Nissan had problems with a wheel nut in the pit-lane, dropping Rick to the rear. A second pit-stop on lap 30 dropped Rick a lap down. On lap 33, disaster struck for the then-race leader Chazz Mostert in the #6 Pepsi Max Ford.

Coming out of turn 3, Mostert dropped a wheel in the dirt, then crashed into the tyre wall in turn 4 while leading, bringing out the only caution of the race. The crash dropped Mostert 2 laps down and into last-place.

Rounding out the bottom five is Will Davison in the #9 Solar Australia Erebus, who had to pit twice in the only safety car period to reach the minimum fuel limit, Shane Van Gisbergen in the #97 STIX Holden, Ashley Walsh in the #4 Starlight Foundation/Repsol Mercedes and Dale Wood in the #21 Galvanising/Advam Holden.

The bottom five

Chazz Mostert	63 Laps	Running
Will Davison	67 Laps	Running
Shane Van Gisbergen	67 Laps	Running
Ashley Walsh	67 Laps	Running
Dale Wood	67 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Scott McLaughlin: 4

Will Davison Ashley Walsh, Andre Heimgartner, David Wall, Garth Tander, Lee Holdsworth, Chazz Mostert: 1

Team's Championship

Gary Rodgers Motorsports: 5

Erebus Motorsports: 2

Super Black Racing, Holden Racing Team, Charlie Schwerkolt Racing, Prodrive Racing Australia: 1

Manufacturer's Championship:

Volvo: 5

Mercedes, Holden, Ford: 2

Holdsworth last as every Walkinshaw car except Slade tangles at the start.

Lee Holdsworth picked up his 9^th last-place finish of his career when his #18 Fuchs/Walkinshaw/Beko Holden was involved in a 4-car crash on the opening lap of the second race at Winton. The finish came in Holdsworth's 149^th start.

Fabian Coulthard in the #14 Freightliner Holden started the race in the rear after a collision with teammate Dale Wood in the #21 in qualifying. As the field filed through turns 1 and 2 catastrophe broke out for the Walkinshaw racing team.

Locking the brakes on the dirty line heading into turn 1, James Courtney in the #22 SP Tools Holden collided with fellow Walkinshaw racing drivers Garth Tander in the #2 SP Tools Holden, his teammate, and Lee Holdsworth in the #18 Fuchs/Walkinshaw/Beko Holden, also sending James Moffat in the #99 Toshiba/Nismo Nissan into the grass. As Moffat rejoined between turns 2 and 3, Ashley Walsh in the #4 Starlight Foundation/Repsol Mercedes spun Andre Heimgartner in the #111 Only Domains Ford, with Heimgartner narrowly avoiding the inside wall. suspension damage put Holdsworth out, however, Holdsworth's pit was before the start-finish line, so he didn't count for completing a lap and, since he was behind Tander at the time of the crash, he was relegated to last, with Tander 24^th.

A drive-through penalty for James Courtney left him 23^rd, while James Moffat, who was involved in the last 1, turn 1 crash, was spun out later in the race by Jason Bright in the #8 BOC Holden, leaving Moffat 22^nd. Fabian Coulthard in the #14 Freightliner Holden.

A/N: I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall of the Walkinshaw racing debrief on the night after this crash.

A/N2: Sorry for the horrible quality of the photo, but that was the only way I could put Holdsworth alone in the photo.

The bottom five

Lee Holdsworth	0 Laps	Crash
Garth Tander	0 Laps	Crash
James Courtney	19 Laps	Running
James Moffat	20 Laps	Running
Fabian Coulthard	20 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Scott McLaughlin: 4

Will Davison Ashley Walsh, Andre Heimgartner, David Wall, Garth Tander, Lee Holdsworth: 1

Team's Championship

Gary Rodgers Motorsports: 5

Erebus Motorsports: 2

Super Black Racing, Holden Racing Team, Charlie Schwerkolt Racing: 1

Manufacturer's Championship:

Volvo: 5

Mercedes, Holden: 2

Ford: 1

Dale Wood spins McLaughlin into last place at Winton.

Scott McLaughlin picked up his 8th last-place finish of his career when his #33 Wilson Security/Valvoline Volvo finished under power, on the lead lap in the opening race at Winton. The finish came in McLaughlin's 36th start, and gives McLaughlin, a 3 last-place finish lead in the driver's championship, while Gary Rodgers Motorsports and Volvo now have a 2 last-place finish lead in the team's and manufacturer's championship, respectively.

Scott McLclaughlin in the #33 Wilson Security/Valvoline Volvo started the race in the rear after bringing out a Red Flag in qualifying, resulting in McLaughlin being barred from further participation in the first qualifying session, and having his qualifying times disallowed (although he had no time to disallow anyway). By the end of the first lap Dale Wood in the #21 Galvanising/Advam Holden had fallen behind McLaughlin to fall to last. Then on lap 7 Scott McLaughlin was spun off the road by Dale Wood, dropping McLaughlin back to last, where McLaughlin stayed for the rest of the race.

Rounding out the bottom five was Dale Wood in the #21 Galvanising/Advam Holden, Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cooldrive Distribution/GB Galvanising Holden, Ash Walsh in the #4 Starlight Foundation/Repsol Mercedes and David Wall in the #34 Wilson Security/Valvoline Volvo.

The bottom five

Scott McLaughlin	20 Laps	Running
Dale Wood	20 Laps	Running
Tim Blanchard	20 Laps	Running
Ash Walsh	20 Laps	Running
David Wall	20 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Scott McLaughlin: 4

Will Davison Ashley Walsh, Andre Heimgartner, David Wall, Garth Tander: 1

Team's Championship

Gary Rodgers Motorsports: 5

Erebus Motorsports: 2

Super Black Racing, Holden Racing Team: 1

Manufacturer's Championship:

Volvo: 5

Mercedes: 2

Ford, Holden: 1

Sunday 3 May 2015

Defending champ gets a Last-Place finish for 2015.

*All drivers who finish under power are scored ahead of all driver's who failed to finish the race.

Defending 2014 Australian V8 LASTCAR champion Scott Pye picked up his 10^th last-place finish of his career after his #17 Detroit Diesel Holden was taken out in a 2 car accident after 78 of the race's 83 laps. The finish came in Pye's 32^nd round start.

Lee Holdsworth started the race in the rear in the #18 Fuchs/Walkinshaw/Beko Holden, but by lap 6 Dale Wood in the #21 ADVAM/Wilson Security Holden had fallen to the rear. On lap 11, starting pit-stops put Jason Bright in the #8 BOC/Summit Holden to the rear, dropping a lap in the process. On lap 18, Dale Wood returned to the rear of the field approaching the completion of the first round of pitstops.

On lap 23, disaster struck for Tim Slade in the #300 Supercheap Auto Holden suffered a left-rear suspension failure, forcing the #47 to the garage and dropping him last place Slade returned to the track on lap 37, 14 laps down and in last place. So as of Lap 37 all 25 cars were still running, which isn't unusual in the V8 Supercars. Slade wound eventually finish 23^rd.

Just when it looked like all 25 cars were going to finish, on lap 79 Scott Pye in the #17 MTU Detroit Diesel Holden collided with Andrew Heimgartner in the #111 Only Domains Ford crashed out at turn 1. As Pye was behind Heimgartner at the time of the crash, Pye was credited with the last-place finish.

Rounding out the bottom five was Ash Walsh in the #4 Starlight Foundation/Repsol Mercedes after bringing out the first Safety car of the race on lap 49, after spinning off the road at turn 6 and dropping him 6 laps down to the leaders and David Wall in the #34 Wilson Security Volvo who finished a lap down to the leaders.

The bottom five

Scott Pye	78 Laps	Crash
Andre Heimgartner	78 Laps	Crash
Tim Slade	69 Laps	Running
Ashley Walsh	77 Laps	Running
David Wall	82 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Scott McLaughlin: 3

Will Davison Ashley Walsh, Andre Heimgartner, David Wall, Garth Tander: 1

Team's Championship

Gary Rodgers Motorsports: 4

Erebus Motorsports: 2

Super Black Racing, Holden Racing Team: 1

Manufacturer's Championship:

Volvo: 4

Mercedes: 2

Ford, Holden: 1

Continued mechanical woes opens up 2 finish lead for McLaughlin, his team and Volvo.

Scott McLaughlin picked up his 7th last-place finish of his career when his #33 Wilson Security/Valvoline Volvo retired with throttle issues after 11 of the race's 25 laps. The finish came in McLaughlin's 35th round start, and gives McLaughlin, Gary Rodgers Motorsports and Volvo a 2 last place finish lead over the rest of the field in the Driver's, Team's and Manufacturer's championship, respectively.

Ashley Walsh in the #4 Starlight Foundation/Repsol Mercedes started the race in the rear of the field. In a continuation of the horror start to the year Scott McLaughlin and his teammate David Wall have McLaughlin retired from the race on lap 11, citing problems with the throttle cable, dropping McLaughlin to the rear of the field.

Rounding out the bottom five was Shane Van Gisbergen in the #97 Darrel Lea STIX Holden, Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cooldrive Distribution/GB Galvanising Holden, David Wall in the #34 Wilson Security/Valvoline Volvo and Scott Pye in the #17 MTU Detroit Diesel Ford.

The bottom five

Scott Mclaughlin	11 Laps	Throttle
Shane Van Gisbergen	25 Laps	Running
Tim Blanchard	25 Laps	Running
David Wall	25 Laps	Running
Scott Pye	25 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Scott McLaughlin: 3

Will Davison Ashley Walsh, Andre Heimgartner, David Wall, Garth Tander: 1

Team's Championship

Gary Rodgers Motorsports: 4

Erebus Motorsports: 2

Super Black Racing, Walkinshaw Racing: 1

Manufacturer's Championship:

Volvo: 4

Mercedes: 2

Ford, Holden: 1

*I didn't see either race 7 or race 8 so sorry for the lackluster report.

Turn 7 Suspension failure leaves Tander last at Barbagallo

Garth Tander picked up his 11th last-place finish of his career when his #2 Mobil 1/SP Tools/ANZAC Appeal Holden retired with Suspension failure after 7 of the race's 25 laps. The finish came in Tander's 238th start.

David Wall started the race in the rear in the #34 Wilson Security/Valvoline Volvo. On lap 7 however Garth Tander in the #2 Mobil 1/SP Tools/ANZAC Appeal Holden suffered a left-rear suspension failure on the tough turn 7 kerbing, retiring from the race and dropping him to the rear.

Rounding out the bottom five was Dale Wood in the #21 GB Galvanizing/Advam Holden, David Wall in the #34 Wilson Security/Valvoline Volvo, Scott Pye in the MTU Detroit Diesel Holden and Andre Heimgartner in the #111 Only Domaind Ford.

The bottom five

Garth Tander	7 Laps	Running
Dale Wood	25 Laps	Running
David Wall	25 Laps	Running
Scott Pye	25 Laps	Running
Andre Heimgartner	25 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Scott McLaughlin: 2

Will Davison Ashley Walsh, Andre Heimgartner, David Wall, Garth Tander: 1

Team's Championship

Gary Rodgers Motorsports: 3

Erebus Motorsports: 2

Super Black Racing, Walkinshaw Racing: 1

Manufacturer's Championship:

Volvo: 3

Mercedes: 2

Ford, Holden: 1

*I didn't see either race 7 or race 8 so sorry for the lackluster report.

How Juniorgeneric defines a Last-Place finisher

Australian V8 LASTCAR'S Official Definition of a "Last-Place Finisher" (LPF)

For the purposes of the Australian V8 LASTCAR championship rankings and statistics, a "Last-Place Finisher" (LPF) is a driver(s) who, after qualifying for a V8 Supercars Championship Points-Paying race, the result must be confirmed from official sources, or unofficial sources failing that. Only one driver (or two in a endurance race) can be classified as the LPF for that race.

Meeting those requirements, the LPF can be any driver classified as such for any reason, including, but not limited to.
1) A "did not start" although it should be noted that there is a difference between my definition of "did not start" and Brock Beard's definition of "Did not Start".
For example, in Bathurst 2015 Chazz Mostert and Cameron Waters' #6 Pepsi Max Ford had a huge accident during practice that injured Mostert and all but wrote off the car. Car #6 was withdrawn, and therefore I don't count Mostert and Waters as finishing last. Under Brock Beard's definition, however, Mostert and Waters would have finished last instead of David Wall and Chris Pither.
2) An entrant who encounters an event once the race has started which prevents the driver(s) from finishing ahead of any other qualified entrants, including both DNFs and drivers who finish under power but laps down*

*Only when all the cars in the race are running ahead of the LPF

3) A decision to “start and park” the driver’s entry (Extremely rare in V8 Supercars)
(4) a disqualification handed down by V8 Supercars and/or track officials that subsequently classifies the driver(s) in the final position behind the unofficial LPF.

Australian V8 LASTCAR shall not consider the LPF as anything else, including but not limited too
1) Any DNQ's
2) Any driver's who's car withdrew before the race start.
3)The lowest-ranked driver who finishes the race under power (unless all cars finished under power, actually quite common in V8 Supercars)
4) A driver(s) who finished last initially, however post-race disqualifications usurped the spot.
5) A driver(s) who may be catagorised as finishing last for exhibition events (I may bring these back at some point in the near future, I need more accurate numbers for the events before I start them up again)
6) Anything in non-V8 Supercar Main game (again, insufficent historical data)
7) A driver who was running last when the checkered flag fell, however because they greeted the checkered flag but a drive who was in front of them at the end of the race, however was not running at the end of the race. In that instance the driver who doesn't finish the race will fall behind the driver whom is still running at the end of the race.

In the rare event where official results or a preponderance of unofficial results are later updated with more accurate information about who was the LPF for that event, Australian V8 LASTCAR rankings and statistics shall be updated to reflect that change.