Virgin Australia LASTCAR Championship: August 2015

Sunday 23 August 2015

Moffat charges into a tie for second after Engine expires at Eastern Creek

James Moffat picked up his 10th last-place finish of his career when his #99 Toshiba/Nismo Nissan retired with Engine failure after 42 of the race's shortened 49 laps. The finish came in Moffat's 71st round start, and ties Moffat with Ashley Walsh for 2nd in the driver's Australian V8 LASTCAR Championship.

After a freak accident on Friday left Courtney with broken ribs and punctured lungs and keeping him sidelined for the weekend and likely the next round at Sandown, co-driver Jack Perkins was tabbed to race for Courtney in the #22 SP Tools Holden, starting the third race in the rear, however at turn 9 on the first lap Todd Kelly in the #7 One Steel Reinforcing Nissan collided with David Wall in the #34 Wilson Security/Payce/Valvoline Volvo, breaking the rear suspension on Todd's car and front suspension on Wall's car, Kelly made it across the line first, leaving Wall last until lap 7 when he got back on the track, dropping Todd to last, whom eventually getting back out 10 laps down.

Todd held last until lap 42 when James Moffat in the #99 Toshibo/Nismo Nissan retired with Engine failure on lap 42, dropping Moffat to last post-race as Todd Kelly was running at the end of the race, despite only completing 40 laps.

Dale Wood in the #21 GB Galvnising/ADVAM Holden spun off the track in the rain, bringing out the second safety car of the race and dropping 2 laps down. Rounding out the bottom five was Ashley Walsh in the #4 3M Mercedes.

The Bottom Five

James Moffat	42 Laps	Engine
Todd Kelly	40 Laps	Running
David Wall	43 Laps	Running
Dale Wood	47 Laps	Running
Ashley Walsh	49 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Scott McLaughlin: 5

Ashley Walsh, James Moffat: 3

Andre Heimgartner, Nick Percat, Todd Kelly: 2

Will Davison, David Wall, Garth Tander, Lee Holdsworth, Chazz Mostert, Fabian Coulthard, Jason Bright: 1

Team's Championship

Gary Rodgers Motorsports: 6

Erebus Motorsport: 4

Nissan Motorsports: 3

Super Black Racing, Brad Jones Racing, Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports, Jack Daniel's Racing: 2

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

Manufacturer's Championship:

Volvo, Holden: 6

Nissan: 5

Mercedes: 4

Ford: 3

1st lap dramas leaves Todd last at Eastern Creek

Todd Kelly picked up his 24th last-place finish of his career when his #7 One Steel Reinforcing Nissan finished under power, 2 laps down in the second race at Eastern Creek. The finish came in Todd's 217th round start.

There were a number of incidents in the first lap. Firstly, Scott Pye in the #17 Man Bus & Truck Aus. Holden was spun around by Michael Caruso in the #23 Nismo Nissan, then Rick Kelly in the #15 Jack Daniel's Nissan was almost spun into the fence by Jason Bright in the #8 BOC Holden, who was then spun out by Garth Tander in the #2 SP Tools Holden, the melee around that time involved Todd Kelly in the #7 One Steel Reinforcing Nissan and Tim Slade in the #47 Supercheap Auto Holden, almost turning Slade and dealing Steering damage to Todd's car, dropping him to the rear of the field. Pye, Kelly and Bright would all wind up in the bottom five after Bright blew out a right-front tire on lap 8 heading into turn 1.

Between Jason Bright and Scott Pye was Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cooldrive Distribution/GB Galvanizing Holden, while Dale Wood in the #21 ADVAM/GB Galvanising Holden rounded out the bottom five.

The Bottom Five

Todd Kelly	14 Laps	Running
Jason Bright	14 Laps	Running
Tim Blanchard	16 Laps	Running
Scott Pye	16 Laps	Running
Dale Wood	16 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Scott McLaughlin: 5

Ashley Walsh: 3

Andre Heimgartner, Nick Percat, James Moffat, Todd Kelly: 2

Will Davison, David Wall, Garth Tander, Lee Holdsworth, Chazz Mostert, Fabian Coulthard, Jason Bright: 1

Team's Championship

Gary Rodgers Motorsports: 6

Erebus Motorsport: 4

Super Black Racing, Brad Jones Racing, Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports, Nissan Motorsports, Jack Daniel's Racing: 2

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

Manufacturer's Championship:

Volvo, Holden: 6

Mercedes, Nissan: 4

Ford: 3

Walsh emerges as potential challenger after last-place at Eastern Creek.

Ashley Walsh picked up his 6^th last-place finish of his career when his #4 3M Mercedes finished under power, on the lead lap in the first race at Sydney Motorsport Park, formerly known as Eastern Creek. The finish came in Walsh's 13^th round start.

Garth Tander in the #2 SP Tools Holden started the race in the rear after a crank sensor issue left Tander with only a slow first lap as a qualifying time.

By turn 1 Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cooldrive Distribution/GB Galvnising Holden had fallen behind Tander, then on lap 4 Dale Wood in the #21 ADVAM/GB Galvanising Holden was turned around by Nick Percat in the #222 Repair Management Australia Holden, dropping Wood to the rear. By lap 7 however Ashley Walsh in the #4 3M Mercedes fell to the rear, where he stayed for the remainder of the race.

Rounding out the bottom five was Dale Wood in the #21 ADVAM/GB Galvanising Holden, Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cooldrive Distribution/GB Galvnising Holden, David Wall in the #34 Wilson Security/Payce/Valvoline and Nick Percat in the #222 Repair Management Australia Holden.

Garth Tander finished 18th.

The bottom five

Ashley Walsh	16 Laps	Running
Dale Wood	16 Laps	Running
Tim Blanchard	16 Laps	Running
David Wall	16 Laps	Running
Nick Percat	16 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Scott McLaughlin: 5

Ashley Walsh: 3

Andre Heimgartner, Nick Percat, James Moffat: 2

Will Davison, David Wall, Garth Tander, Lee Holdsworth, Chazz Mostert, Fabian Coulthard, Jason Bright, Todd Kelly: 1

Team's Championship

Gary Rodgers Motorsports: 6

Erebus Motorsport: 4

Super Black Racing, Brad Jones Racing, Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports, Nissan Motorsports: 2

Holden Racing Team, Charlie Schwerkolt Racing, Prodrive Racing Australia, Jack Daniel's Racing: 1

Manufacturer's Championship:

Volvo, Holden: 6

Mercedes: 4

Ford, Nissan: 3

Sunday 2 August 2015

Nissan clean-sweeps last at Ipswich as Todd Kelly's engine fails in final race.

Todd Kelly picked up his 23^rd last-place finish of his career when his #7 Jayco Nissan retired with Engine failure after 61 of the race's 65 laps. The finish came in Todd's 216^th round start, and leaves Nissan with a clean sweep of last at Queensland raceway.

Tim Slade started the race in the rear in the #47 Supercheap Auto Holden, however by the end of lap 1 Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cooldrive Distribution/GB Galvanizing Holden had fallen to the rear, and the first to lose a lap on lap 9. However, Blanchard got his lap back after the first round of pit-stops. Then on lap 22 Dale Wood in the #21 ADVAM/GB Galvanising Holden copped a drive-through penalty for an unsafe pit-lane release, dropping him to the rear.

Wood held last until lap 30 when Jamie Whincup in the #1 Red Bull Holden had a drama in the pit-lane, dropping him briefly to the rear, with Shane Van Gisbergen in the #97 Darrell Lea STIX Holden falling to the rear. By the end of the second round of pit-stops, Dale Wood had returned to last, dropping a lap with about 10 laps to go and where Wood stayed until three laps to go when Todd Kelly in the #7 Jayco Nissan suffered Engine Failure, dropping him to the rear of the field. Todd Kelly was so angry he went on a 30-second swearing spree where, literally, every other word was a f*** or f*** with additions.

Rounding out the bottom five was Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cooldrive Distribution/GB Galvanising Holden after a late-race drive-through penalty, Ashley Walsh in the #4 Infant's Friend/3M/Repsol Mercedes and Shane Van Gisbergen in the #97 Darrell Lea STIX Holden

The bottom five

Todd Kelly	61 Laps	Engine
Dale Wood	64 Laps	Running
Tim Blanchard	64 Laps	Running
Ashley Walsh	64 Laps	Running
Shane Van Gisbergen	65 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Scott McLaughlin: 5

Andre Heimgartner, Ashley Walsh, Nick Percat, James Moffat: 2

Will Davison, David Wall, Garth Tander, Lee Holdsworth, Chazz Mostert, Fabian Coulthard, Jason Bright, Todd Kelly: 1

Team's Championship

Gary Rodgers Motorsports: 6

Erebus Motorsport: 3

Super Black Racing, Brad Jones Racing, Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports, Nissan Motorsports: 2

Holden Racing Team, Charlie Schwerkolt Racing, Prodrive Racing Australia, Jack Daniel's Racing: 1

Manufacturer's Championship:

Volvo, Holden: 6

Ford, Mercedes, Nissan: 3

Post-Race Exclusion leaves Percat from another last-place finish

James Moffat picked up his 9^th last-place finish of his career when his #99 Toshiba/Nismo Nissan was disqualified post-race after an engine irregularity after -20 of the race's 20 laps. The finish came in Moffat's 70^th round start.

Dale Wood in the #21 GB Galvanising/ADVAM Holden started the race in the rear, however when the race began the Gearbox broke in Shane's #97 Darrell Lea STIX Holden, bringing out the only Safety Car of the race.

Then heading into turn 3 Nick Percat in the #222 Repair Management Australia Holden, Lee Holdsworth in the #18 Fuchs/Beko Holden and Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cooldrive Distribution/GB Galvanising Holden came together, tearing the rear door off of Percat's car and ending his race. Strangely, Percat wound up being scored behind Van Gisbergen. Holdsworth would eventually finish 22nd.

Next to fall out was Ashley Walsh in the #4 Infant's Friend/3M/Repsol Mercedes when on lap 5 a hose blew off the Power Steering on his #4, forcing Walsh to the garage and out of the race. Holdsworth was elevated to the final position in the bottom five when James Moffat's #99 Toshiba/Nismo Nissan was found to have an engine irregularity, resulting in an exclusion for both races 1 and 2, leaving Moffat last for both races.

The Bottom Five

James Moffat	-20 Laps	Excluded
Nick Percat	0 Laps	Crash
Shane Van Gisbergen	0 Laps	Gearbox
Ashley Walsh	5 Laps	Power Steering
Lee Holdsworth	20 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Scott McLaughlin: 5

Andre Heimgartner, Ashley Walsh, James Moffat: 2

Will Davison, David Wall, Garth Tander, Lee Holdsworth, Chazz Mostert, Fabian Coulthard, Nick Percat: 1

Team's Championship

Gary Rodgers Motorsports: 6

Erebus Motorsport: 3

Super Black Racing, Nissan Motorsports: 2

Holden Racing Team, Charlie Schwerkolt Racing, Prodrive Racing Australia, Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports, Brad Jones Racing: 1

Manufacturer's Championship:

Volvo: 6

Holden: 4

Ford, Mercedes: 3

Nissan: 2

Post-Race Exclusion keeps Bright out of last at Ipswich.

James Moffat picked up his 8^th last-place finish of his career when his #99 Toshiba/Nismo Nissan was disqualified post-race after an engine irregularity after -20 of the race's 20 laps. The finish came in Moffat's 70th round start.

Jason Bright in the #8 BOC Holden started the race in the rear after troubles in Qualifying. At the first corner, Dale Wood in the #21 turned Todd Kelly in the #7 Jayco Nissan, among other cars involved in the resulting concertina included Jason Bright as well as David Wall in the #34 Wilson Security/Payce/Valvoline Volvo, damaging both cars, ending Bright's race and knocking him to last, while Wall came home 2 laps down in 23rd.

Splitting Bright and Wall was Scott Pye in the #17 Western Star Trucks Holden, who retired with a broken Oil Cooler after 10 laps. Rounding out the bottom five was Dale Wood in the #21 GB Galvanising/ADVAM Holden. Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cooldrive Distribution/GB Galvanizing Holden was originally in the bottom five, however when James Moffat's #99 Toshiba/Nismo Nissan was found to have an engine irregularity, Moffat was excluded from both race 1 and race 2, elevating Blanchard out of the bottom five.

The bottom five

James Moffat	-20 Laps	Excluded
Jason Bright	0 Laps	Crash
Scott Pye	10 Laps	Oil Cooler
David Wall	18 Laps	Running
Dale Wood	20 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Scott McLaughlin: 5

Andre Heimgartner, Ashley Walsh: 2

Will Davison, David Wall, Garth Tander, Lee Holdsworth, Chazz Mostert, Fabian Coulthard, Nick Percat, James Moffat: 1

Team's Championship

Gary Rodgers Motorsports: 6

Erebus Motorsport: 3

Super Black Racing: 2

Holden Racing Team, Charlie Schwerkolt Racing, Prodrive Racing Australia, Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports, Brad Jones Racing, Nissan Motorsports: 1

Manufacturer's Championship:

Volvo: 6

Holden: 4

Ford, Mercedes: 3

Nissan: 1

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.