Virgin Australia LASTCAR Championship: Why are Richie Stanaway and Todd Hazelwood struggling so badly in 2018?

Sunday 3 June 2018

Why are Richie Stanaway and Todd Hazelwood struggling so badly in 2018?

Original by speedcafe.com, edited by me.

A lot of people said that both Richie Stanaway and, to a lesser extent, Todd Hazelwood, were going to be contenders for ROTY in 2018, including me. Now, I was massively underestimating Anton de Pasquale, and Jack LeBrocq is going a bit better than I expected. James Golding’s being James Golding, doing about as well as I expected (IE, not well).

However, so far in 2018, both Richie Stanaway and Todd Hazelwood have struggled badly. Here are some stats to indicate the scale of the struggles for both.

Richie Stanaway

Points: 24th

Best finish: 9th

Average Start: 18.9

Average Finish: 21.3

DNF: 3

2018 LASTCAR Position: 3rd

Todd Hazelwood

Points: 23rd

Best Finish: 18th

Average Start: 23.8

Average Finish: 21.6

DNF: 1

2018 LASTCAR Position: 4th (Tied with Tim Blanchard)

So, why is this the case? In this article I’ll make the case as to why.

The first reason why Richie Stanaway and Todd Hazelwood are struggling? Both are in Fords.

Put simply, if you’re not DJR Team Penske in 2018, you’ve been struggling to one degree or another. This is especially true in Tickford’s case, as Mark Winterbottom, Cameron Waters and Chazz Mostert have struggled, relatively speaking, in 2018 as compared to 2017. And this is true for Richie Stanaway.

As for Todd Hazelwood, Matt Stone Racing went up to the main game along with Todd himself. And as a result, they’re basically back at square one. It was also a mistake (Though I cannot confirm this) for Matt Stone Racing to not at least TRY to ally themselves with DJR Team Penske in a similar manner to Tekno Autosports’ relationship with the Holden red Bull Racing Team. All they got was two cars, and that was it.

The team, however, is not as big of an issue as the second reason both are struggling.

Luck, or rather, the lack thereof for both.

Both Richie Stanaway and Todd Hazelwood have had some serious bad luck this year. Let’s go over all the hard luck stories both Richie Stanaway and Todd Hazelwood have experienced this year.

Adelaide Race 1:

Richie Stanaway and Todd Hazelwood were tangled with James Golding on the lap 57 crash, leaving Richie Stanaway in the tires and Todd Hazelwood with a broken rear Wishbone. Richie Stanaway would go on to suffer a Transaxle failure on the last lap, possibly due to his attempts to get out of the tires. In this instance, both Richie Stanaway and Todd Hazelwood were innocent victims of James Golding’s aggressive move.

Albert Park Race 2:

Richie Stanaway suffered an electrical issue that meant car #56's rear light wasn't staying on, and it took long enough to fix it that Richie Stanaway wasn't classified as a finisher, despite returning to the track and greeting the chequered flag.

For Todd Hazelwood, he was taken out in a collision with Garth Tander and Simona De Silvestro, damaging his steering. Todd Hazelwood would go on to crash out a couple of turns later, finishing last.

Launceston Race 3:

Richie Stanaway contacted Simona De Silvestro, damaging the steering on his car and leaving him 2nd last, 7 laps down.

Launceston Race 4:

Richie Stanaway suffered a Suspension failure (He would have been able to continue if it was just a puncture) on the opening lap, possibly due to contact with Simona de Silvestro and Todd Hazelwood, leaving Richie Stanaway last.

Perth Race 2:

Todd Hazelwood was, once again, an innocent victim of an incident between Garth Tander running into James Golding, not only pushing James Golding into Todd Hazelwood, and sending both cars into the dirt at turn 1. James Golding was stuck, but Todd Hazelwood managed to get out.

Winton Race 1:

Richie Stanaway and Todd Hazelwood hit trouble at the start of the race (Though they both recovered to 21st and 19th, respectively).

Richie Stanaway was spun out by Jack LeBrocq on the opening lap, damaging the left-rear tire. Todd Hazelwood would be spun later that same lap by a wounded David Reynolds.

Those two are majorly affecting both Richie Stanaway and Todd Hazelwood. There is one additional reason each why Richie Stanaway and Todd Hazelwood are struggling.

Richie Stanaway’s reason why he’s struggling? He’s not used to the car.

Richie Stanway has already admitted that his time in the FIA World Endurance Championship has meant he has to change his driving style for the Supercars he is now racing.

Todd Hazelwood’s reason why he’s struggling? His team went up to the main game with him.

Todd Hazelwood’s team, Matt Stone Racing, went up to the main game with Todd Hazelwood. As a result, the team is learning at each round. Especially, because of the tight schedule over the first 14 races, Matt Stone racing have not been able to test and develop the car much.

Conclusion:

Overall, for Richie Stanaway it's more bad luck and driver than the team, and for Todd Hazelwood it's more bad luck and a new team than the driver.

What do you think? Do you agree? Not agree? Let me know.

Juniorgeneric

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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.