Virgin Australia LASTCAR Championship: October 2016

Sunday 23 October 2016

Reynolds and Baird take out Pirtek Enduro LASTCAR cup after Pither and Stanaway crash out of race 2

Chris Pither picked up his 5th last-place finish of his career, while Richie Stanaway picked up his 1st last-place finish of his career, when their #111 Ice Break Ford was involved in a single-car crash that ended their race after 14 of the race's 102 laps. The finish came in Pither's 53rd start and Stanway's 4th start, is Pither's 2nd last-place finish of the season, the other coming after a heavy crash in the 2nd race at Launeston, 18 races ago.

The field contracted to 25 cars after Shae Davies and Chris Van der Drift in the #4 Davbridge Constructions Holden after Shae crashed heavily during Qualifying, ending the weekend for the team. Dale Wood and David Russell in the #96 GB Galvanizing/ADVAM Holden started the race in the rear. Into the fast chicane, car #96 wound up in the fence at the exit of the 7,8,9,10 chicanes, damaging the right-front of the car.

Wood and Russell held last until lap 15 when Chris Pither and Richie Stanaway had contact with James Courtney and Jack Perkins in the #22 SP Tools Holden in turn 4, breaking the Steering on car #11 and pitching it into the fence, triggering the only safety car of the race, putting car #111 to the rear on lap 16. Next to fall out was Andre Heimgartner and Aaren Russell in the #3 Plus Fitness Holden after being spun into the turn 11 wall by David Reynolds and Craig Baird in the #9 Penrite Oils Holden. Car #3 went to the garage on lap 25, losing 10 laps. Car #3 would eventually retire on lap 52.

Car #21 would eventually finish 22^nd. Wood split Scott Pye and Tony D'Alberto in the #17 Hog's Breath Cafe Ford had a jack spike failure on lap 16, breaking the air coupling inside the car. They pitted on lap 54, leading to a long pit-stop, dropping a lap and Todd Kelly and Matthew Campbell in the #7 Carsales.com Nissan, after a mis-timed pitstop on lap 35, thinking that the Heimgartner crash would cause a caution, but it didn’t, leaving Todd and Matt in 21^st.

The bottom five

Chris Pither/Richie Stanaway	14 Laps	Crash
Andre Heimgartner/Aaren Russell	30 Laps	Crash
Scott Pye/Tony D’Alberto	101 Laps	Running
Dale Wood/David Russell	101 Laps	Running
Todd Kelly/Matthew Campbell	101 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Nick Percat: 4

Lee Holdsworth: 3

Scott Pye, David Reynolds, Craig Baird, Chris Pither: 2

Tim Slade, Aaren Russell, Scott McLaughlin, , Fabian Coulthard, Michael Caruso, Cameron Waters, Kurt Kostecki, James Courtney, Will Davison, James Moffat, Karl Reindler Richie Stanaway,: 1

Team's Championship

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports, Charlie Schwerkolt Racing,: 4

DJR Team Penske, Erebus Motorsports: 3

Gary Rodgers Motorsport, Super Black Racing: 2

BOC Racing, Pepsi Max Racing, Nissan Motorsports, Holden Racing Team, Tekno Autosports: 1

Manufacturer’s Championship

Holden: 15

Ford: 6

Volvo: 2

Nissan: 1

Chain-Reaction crash leaves Reynolds and Baird last at the Gold Coast.

Sorry for bad picture quality, only able to use Print Screen

David Reynolds picked up his 8th last-place finish of his career, while Craig Baird picked up his 10th last-place finish of his career, when their #9 Penrite Oils Holden retired with Crash damage after 4 of the race's 102 laps. The finish came in Reynolds's 222nd start and Baird's 168th start, and is the second last-place finish for both in the Pirtek Enduro cup after being excluded from the Sandown 500 because Craig Baird didn't enough laps, 2 races ago.

Shae Davies and Chris Van der Drift started the race in the rear in the #4 Davbridge Constructions Holden, however on lap 3 Will Davison and Johnathon Webb in the #19 STIX Holden contacted Michael Caruso and Dean Fiore in the #23 Nissan Nismo, also causing contact with David Reynolds and Craig Baird heading into turn 4, destroying the left-side of car #9, sending them to the garage and to the rear. Car #9 officially retired on lap 9.

Rick Kelly and Russell Ingall in the #15 Sengled Holden, also caught up in the crash on lap 3, lost 17 laps in the garage with Suspension damage, but race attrition meant that car #15 eventually climbed out of the bottom five, overtaking Percat and McConville on lap 35, Waters and Le Brocq on lap 38, Lee Holdsworth and Karl Reindler on lap 50, and Coulthard and Youlden post-race when all the DNF cars are placed behind the cars that finished.

Next to fall out was Nick Percat and Cameron McConville in the #222 Clipsal 500 Adelaide was next out after contact with Tim Slade and Ash Walsh in the #14 Freightliner Holden on Lap 18. Following Percat and McConville out of the race was Cameron Waters and Jack Lebrocq in the #6 Monster Energy Holden, clobbered the inside wall, then outside wall, then the inside wall a third time on lap 22 between turns 11 and 12, triggering the first safety car of the race.

The fourth retirement of the race was Lee Holdsworth and Karl Reindler in the #18 Preston Hire/FUCHS Holden bounced on the kerbs in turn 2, then 3, cannoning car #18 into the wall on lap 35 and triggering the 2nd safety car of the race Rounding out the bottom five was Fabian Coulthard in the #12 SellMyCar Ford after he and Garth Tander in the #2 SP Tools Holden collided on the front straight on lap 96, spearing Coulthard into the wall and ending his race, triggering the final caution of the race.

David Reynolds/Craig Baird	4 Laps	Crash
Nick Percat/Cameron McConvile	18 Laps	Crash
Cameron Waters/Jack Le Brocq	21 Laps	Crash
Lee Holdsworth/Karl Reindler	34 Laps	Crash
Fabian Coulthard/Luke Youlden	96 Laps	Crash

Driver's Championship

Nick Percat: 4

Lee Holdsworth: 3

Scott Pye, David Reynolds, Craig Baird: 2

Tim Slade, Aaren Russell, Scott McLaughlin, Chris Pither, Fabian Coulthard, Michael Caruso, Cameron Waters, Kurt Kostecki, James Courtney, Will Davison, James Moffat, Karl Reindler,: 1

Team's Championship

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports, Charlie Schwerkolt Racing,: 4

DJR Team Penske, Erebus Motorsports: 3

Gary Rodgers Motorsport: 2

BOC Racing, Super Black Racing, Pepsi Max Racing, Nissan Motorsports, Holden Racing Team, Tekno Autosports: 1

Manufacturer’s Championship

Holden: 15

Ford: 5

Volvo: 2

Nissan: 1

Sunday 9 October 2016

Rocker Arm failure leaves Holdsworth and Reindler last at Bathurst

Lee Holdsworth picked up his 14^th last-place finish of his career, while Karl Reindler picked up his 6^th last-place finish of his career when their #18 Preston Hire/FUCHS Holden retired with a broken Rocker Arm after 2 of the race’s 161 laps. The finish came in Holdsworth’s 349^th start and Reindler’s 95^th race start.

Shae Davies and Chris Van der Drift in the #4 Ultra Air Holden started the race in the rear, however Tim Blanchard and Macauley Jones in the #21 Cooldrive Distribution Holden stalled at the start, immediately falling to the rear. On lap 2 Blanchard jumped past Lee Holdsworth and Karl Reindler in the #18 Preston Hire/FUCHS Holden broke a rocker arm on lap 2, dropping Holdsworth to the rear. Holdsworth went to the garage on lap 3, retiring officially on lap 18.

Next to fall out was Jason Bright and Andrew Jones in the #8 BOC Holden started having a gearbox sensor issue on lap 28, eventually going to the garage on lap 36, losing 1 lap. Then disaster strikes on lap 92, when Suspension failure caused car #8 to hit the wall at Reed Park, bringing out the first caution of the race. Bright fell behind Van der Drift on lap 94, then behind Richards on lap 95. Following Jones out of the race was James Moffat and James Golding in the #34 Wilson Security/Valvoline Volvo had an engine explosion on lap 108, causing the second caution of the race, dropping to 25^th on lap 121. On lap 113 Andre Heimgartner and Aaren Russell in the #3 Clipsal 500 Holden stalled heading into turn 3 with a Driveline failure, causing the third safety car of the race. He dropped into 24^th on lap 128.

Rounding out the bottom five was Mark Winterbottom and Dean Canto in the #1 Bottle-O Ford hit the wall at Forest Elbow on lap 132. Coming to the chase he suffered a right-rear Suspension failure, spearing him into the sand at the Chase, ending his race and dropping him to 23rd, behind Mostert, on lap 146.

The Bottom Five

Lee Holdsworth/Karl Reindler	2 Laps	Rocker Arm
Jason Bright/Andrew Jones	89 Laps	Crash
James Moffat/James Golding	108 Laps	Engine
Andre Heingartner/Aaren Russell	114 Laps	Driveline
Mark Winterbottom/Dean Canto	132 Laps	Spun Off

Driver's Championship

Nick Percat: 4

Lee Holdsworth: 3

Scott Pye: 2

Tim Slade, Aaren Russell, Scott McLaughlin, Chris Pither, Fabian Coulthard, Michael Caruso, Cameron Waters, Kurt Kostecki, James Courtney, Will Davison, James Moffat, David Reynolds, Craig Baird Karl Reindler,: 1

Team's Championship

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports, Charlie Schwerkolt Racing,: 4

DJR Team Penske: 3

Gary Rodgers Motorsport, Erebus Motorsports: 2

BOC Racing, Super Black Racing, Pepsi Max Racing, Nissan Motorsports, Holden Racing Team, Tekno Autosports: 1

Manufacturer’s Championship

Holden: 14

Ford: 5

Volvo: 2

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.