Virgin Australia LASTCAR Championship: November 2016

Sunday 6 November 2016

Chain-reaction crash leaves Heimgartner last at Pukekohe

Andre Heimgartner picked up his 3rd last-place finish of his career when his #3 Repair Management Australia Holden was involved in a chain-reaction crash that ended his race after 4 of the race's 39 laps. The finish came in Heimgartner's 58th start.

Andre Heimgartner in the #3 Repair Management Australia Holden started the race in the rear, however immediately David Reynolds in the #9 Loco Energy Drink / Davbridge Constructions Holden speared off the road at turn 1, taking out one of the signs, resulting in a flat tire on car #9, putting him a lap down on lap 2, losing a second lap on lap 15. Rick Kelly in the #15 Sengled Nissan finished 25th after suffering a flat rear tire on lap 2, also losing a lap.

David Reynolds held last until lap 3 when Andre Heimgartner in the #3 Repair Management Australia Holden was collected in a chain-reaction crash, eventually forcing car #3 to the garage on lap 5, falling to last on lap 6.

Rounding out the bottom five was Shae Davies in the #4 - Holden, who lost a lap late in the race on lap 33 and Chris Pither in the #111 Ice Break Ford.

The bottom five

Andre Heimgartner	4 Laps	Crash
David Reynolds	33 Laps	Running
Rick Kelly	34 Laps	Running
Shae Davies	34 Laps	Running
Chris Pither	35 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, Jason Bright, Shae Davies, Tim Blanchard, Andre Heimgartner: 1

Team's Championship

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports: 5

Charlie Schwerkolt Racing, Erebus Motorsports: 4

DJR Team Penske, BOC Racing: 3

Gary Rodgers Motorsport, Super Black Racing: 2

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

Manufacturer’s Championship

Holden: 20

Ford: 6

Volvo: 2

Nissan: 1

Whincup narrowly avoids last after drive-through penalties at Pukekohe

Tim Blanchard picked up his 3rd last-place finish of his career when his #21 Cooldrive Distribution Holden finished under power, 1 lap down in the third race at Pukekhoe raceway. The finish came in Blanchard's 106 start.

Andre Heimgartner in the #3 Repair Management Australia Holden started the race in the rear, however by turn 4 Tim Blanchard in the #21 Cooldrive Distribution Holden, then Shae Davies in the #4 Loco Energy Drink / Davbridge Constructions Holden fell to the rear. By the end of lap 2 Chris Pither in the #111 Ice Break Ford had fallen to the rear after contact in Turn 8, possibly with Davies, dropping over 20 seconds by lap 5 and nearly 26 seconds back by lap 10.

Pither held last until lap 13 James Whincup in the #88 Red Bull Racing Holden spun out Shane Van Gisbergen in the #97 Red Bull Racing Australia Holden, and the Drive Through penalty on lap 16, dropping to last. Whincup lost a lap on lap 24. Whincup held last until lap 29 when a Drive-Through penalty was given to Tim Blanchard in the #21 Cooldrive Distribution Holden for 3 shortcuts of the circuits, dropping behind Whincup on lap 31.

Rounding out the bottom five was Shae Davies in the #4 Loco Energy Drink / Davbridge Constructions Holden, Chris Pither in the #111 Ice Break Ford after contact, possibly with Shae, and Andre Heimgartner in the #3 Repair Management Australia Holden.

The Bottom Five

Tim Blanchard	34 Laps	Running
Jamie Whincup	34 Laps	Running
Shae Davies	35 Laps	Running
Chris Pither	35 Laps	Running
Andre Heimgartner	35 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Nick Percat: 4

Lee Holdsworth: 3

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

Team's Championship

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports, Charlie Schwerkolt Racing, Erebus Motorsports: 4

DJR Team Penske, BOC Racing: 3

Gary Rodgers Motorsport, Super Black Racing: 2

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

Manufacturer’s Championship

Holden: 19

Ford: 6

Volvo: 2

Nissan: 1

Lack of pace leaves Shae Davies last at Pukekohe

Shae Davies picked up his 1st last-place finish of his career when his #4 Loco Energy Drink / Davbridge Constructions Holden finished under power, on the lead lap in the second race at Pukekhoe raceway. The finish came in Davies' 7th start.

The field contracted to 25 after Bright’s withdrawal from race 25. Tim Slade started the race in the rear in the #14 Freightliner Holden after missing the second qualifying session due to damage sustained in the first qualifying session.

Almost immediately Shae Davies in the #4 Loco Energy Drink / Davbridge Constructions Holden fell to the rear. Davies was 11 seconds behind by lap 5, 17.5 seconds behind by lap 10, 24 seconds behind by lap 15. 32 seconds behind by lap 20, 40.5 seconds behind by lap 25, 47 seconds behind by lap 30 and 53 seconds behind by the end of the race.

Rounding out the bottom five was Chris Pither in the #111 Ice Break Ford, Tim Slade in the #14 Freightliner Holden, Andre Heimgartner in the #3 Repair Management Australia Holden and Dale Wood in the #96 ADVAM Holden.

The Bottom Five

Shae Davies	35 Laps	Running
Chris Pither	35 Laps	Running
Tim Slade	35 Laps	Running
Andre Heimgartner	35 Laps	Running
Dale Wood	35 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Nick Percat: 4

Lee Holdsworth: 3

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

Team's Championship

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports, Charlie Schwerkolt Racing, Erebus Motorsports: 4

DJR Team Penske: 3

Gary Rodgers Motorsport, Super Black Racing, BOC Racing: 2

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

Manufacturer’s Championship

Holden: 18

Ford: 6

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.