Virgin Australia LASTCAR Championship: February 2018

Friday 16 February 2018

2018 Supercars Rookie Report.

There are five drivers making their full-time debut in the Virgin Australia Supercar championship. This is going to be very interesting year, so I’m going to briefly summarise who the rookies are, and who I think are contenders, dark horse(s) and pretenders in the race for the 2018 Rookie of the Year.

#1: Richie Stanaway

Original by Supercars, edited by me

The first rookie we're going to talk about is Richie Stanaway. A driver from New Zealand, he will be driving the #56 Ford FG X Falcon for Tickford Racing, replacing the retired Jason Bright. Stanaway is 26 years old and has experience in other motorsports including 24 hours of Le Mans, Grand-Am Sports Cars and Weathertech Sports Cars.

Stanaway has been VERY impressive in the rain, and while racing for Tickford he's going to be a definite challenge for Rookie of the Year in 2018.

That is, if the next two don't have anything to say about it.

#2: Todd Hazelwood

Original by Supercars, edited by me.

The second rookie we're going to talk about is Todd Hazelwood. A driver from Adelaide, South Australia, Hazelwood is 22 years old, and has had to get to the main game the dark way with the factory team. In 2018, he will run the #35 Ford FG X Falcon for Matt Stone Racing, who's also going up to the main game using the retired Jason Bright's Racing Entitlements Contract.

Todd Hazelwood is the 2017 Super2 champion, has no wins in the main game and no last place finishes. However, Hazelwood is known for the almighty crash he had in the 1st Sprint for the grid at Sandown in 2017 after contact with Jonothan Webb.

Hazelwood is fast and talented, and a very hard worker. He will be a challenger for the Rookie of the Year title in 2018.

#3: Jack LeBrocq

Original by Supercars, edited by me.#3: Jack LeBrocq

The third rookie that will be competing is a real dark horse in this championship in 2018, Jack LeBrocq. LeBrocq is a Victorian race car driver, is 25 years old, and will run the #19 Holden ZB Commodore for Tekno Autosports, replacing Will Davison.

Jack LeBrocq has the most main-game racing experience, and this could serve him well, and therefore I consider him a dark horse for the rookie of the year in 2018.

Now those are the three rookies that will be either contenders or a dark horse for the Rookie of the Year crown in 2018. I will now explain why the two remaining rookies are not likely contenders for the Rookie of the Year title in 2018.

#4: James Golding

Original by Shannon's Supercar Showdown, edited by me

The fourth rookie is James Golding. Golding is a Victorian driver, 22 years old, and will drive the #34 Holden ZB Commodore for Gary Rodgers Motorsports, replacing James Moffat.

So why don't I think that James Golding will be much of a contender? Well it's a mix of factors. Firstly, Golding didn't run much during 2016, so he's going to be a bit rusty. Secondly, he doesn't seem to have the raw talent of LeBrocq, Hazelwood and Stanaway. Thirdly, Gary Rodgers Motorsport haven't tended to be contenders in the main game, so Golding likely won't have the raw pace of Hazelwood, Stanaway and LeBrocq.

#5: Anton De Pasquale

Original by Supercars, edited by me.

The final rookie entered in 2018 is Anton De Pasquale, he's a 22-year-old Victorian driver who will be running #99 Holden ZB Commodore for Erebus Motorsports, replacing Dale Wood.

So why don't I think that Anton De Pasquale will be much of a contender? Unlike James Golding, Anton De Pasquale does appear to have the raw talent to compete. He also has the car, as Erebus Motorsports are more competitive than Gary Rodgers Motorsports. However, the problem is Anton's experience, or rather, lack thereof. Anton De Pasquale is, long story short, an inexperienced racer, and that will bite him at some point.

So those are the rookies of 2018 in the Supercars series. Do you agree? Or not.

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.