Virgin Australia LASTCAR Championship: June 2019

Saturday 22 June 2019

Virgin Autsralia LASTCAR championship 2019 Half-Way Report.

So, we are now half-way through the season. And that means it's time to use precedent over the past five years to see if the current Virgin Australia LASTCAR Championship stats have historical precedent to hold heading throughout the second half of the season.

So, in 2019, at the moment, Garry Jacobson is leading the 2019 Virgin Australia LASTCAR championship by 1 Bottom-Three finish over fellow rookie Macauley Jones, 5-4. Other drivers with 2 last-place finishes include Richie Stanaway, Rick Kelly, James Courtney and Jamie Whincup.

So, over the last five years, the driver that had the most last-place finishes at the half-way mark of the season was,

2018: Cameron Waters

2017: Will Davison

2016: Nick Percat

2015: Scott McLaughlin

2014: Todd Kelly

So now we know that, are the driver's who were leading the Last-Place championship at the half-way stage the champions? The answer to that question is,

2018: James Courtney

2017: Taz Douglas

2016: Nick Percat

2015: Scott McLaughlin

2014: Scott Pye

Yes and No. It seems that sometimes, the driver that is last at the half-way point is so far ahead of the rest of the field that they hold on, other times, they're overtaken by others.

So, does this give us any indication as to who may win the 2019 Virgin Australia LASTCAR championship?

The simple answer is No, it doesn’t. We really don’t know, especially with so many drivers so close in the LASTCAR standings this year.

So, half-way through, let’s see what happens. I will continue to talk about it, though due to an event on the weekend of the Townsville round I won’t be too active, I’ll be sure to update you guys regularly.

Wednesday 19 June 2019

Mustang VS McLaughlin. Why is Scott McLaughlin so dominant in 2019?

So, is it the Mustang, or the Driver, that's the cause of Scotty Mac's 2019 domination?

So, I have decided to jump into this subject, and give my view on why Scott McLaughlin is dominating the Supercars in 2019.

So far, Scotty Mac has won all except four races this year, with one win going to Chazz Mostert and Shane Van Gisbergen each, as well as two races to Fabian Coulthard.

Now a lot of people would say it's just because of the Mustang, while others will say that it's just Scotty Mac.

I'm here to say, that, to a degree, both of you are correct.

Remember that Fabian Coulthard is 2nd in the points, and Chazz Mostert is also right up there with the big boys and is often running Top 5. This does indicate that the Mustang does play a role in Scotty Mac's domination.

However, also remember that the other three drivers, Cameron Waters, Lee Holdsworth and Will Davison, are farther back in the field, there are holdens beating those three regularly.

So, what is it that separates Scott McLaughlin especially, but also to a degree Fabian Coulthard and Chaz Mostert, from the other drivers?

Well, in Scotty Mac's case, it's also talent. Even before 2019, he was extremely competitive, winning races, and even won the championship in 2018. Quite the turnaround for the 2015 Last-Place champion, don't you think?

Anyway, McLaughlin is a prodigy driver, he has really done an incredible job. And apparently, he's building the enormous lead that he is so that he can go all-or-nothing with Bathurst, which doesn't really surprise me.

So, in my analysis? I believe it's a combination of both, though I would lead more in the direction of Scott McLaughlin immediately getting his head around the Mustang. It also helps that Red Bull Holden Racing have taken a BIG step backwards this year, allowing Erebus to sort-of become the best of the rest in a way, behind McLaughlin, and sometimes Coulthard and Mostert.

I guess we'll have to see what happens over the next rounds, to see if Red Bull can finally get their act together and step up like Scotty Mac did last year when the new Holden came out, and also, if the new Chevrolet Camaro comes out in 2020, how that will change things.

Shame it'll be American car VS American car.

Sunday 16 June 2019

Wildcard Jack Smith last at Hidden Valley.

Original by Auto Action, edited by me.

Jack Smith picked up his 1st last-place finish of his career when his #4 JGT Logistics Holden finished under power, 1 lap down in the 2nd race at Hidden Valley. The finish came in Smith's 6th start.

Jack Smith is running wildcard races for Brad Jones Racing. He was slowest in Practice 1, but rose to 24th in Practice He remained 24th in Practice 3 and was the slowest of the drivers who ran laps in Qualifying. He lined up 23rd.

Macauley Jones in the #21 Cooldrive Distribution Holden started the race in the rear after he and Nick Percat in the #8 Dunlop Holden crashed in Qualifying. By the end of lap 1, however, Jack Smith in the #4 JGT Logistics Holden had fallen to the rear.

On lap 3 Garry Jacobson in the #3 Rabble.club Nissan was spun due to contact involving Nick Percat in the #8 Dunlop Holden, who tried to pass Simona De Silvestro in the #78 LG/Harvey Norman Nissan when Simona tried to pass Jacobson at turn 5, causing Jacobson to spin to the rear.

Jacobson held last until lap 10 when Simona pitted and returned to last. Simona held last until Chris Pither in the #33 Boost Mobile Holden pitted on lap 17, dropping him to last. On lap 20 Macauley Jones in the #21 Cooldrive Distribution Holsen pitted and fell to last. By the end of the 1st pitstops, Jack Smith had fallen back to last. Soon, Jacobson returned to last.

On lap 35 Jamie Whincup in the #88 Holden Red Bull Holden pitted and fell to the rear. As pitstops cycled, Rick Kelly in the #15 Sengled Nissan firstly cycled to last, then Percat followed, then Scott Pye in the #2 MEGA Bulk Fuels Holden fell to the rear, then Sim

Starting on lap 35, the last-place race cycled between Jamie Whincup in the #88 Holden Red Bull Holden, Rick Kelly in the #15 Sengled Nissan, Nick Percat in the #8 Dunlop Holden, Scott Pye in the #2 MEGA Bulk Fuels Holden, Simon De Silvestro in the #78 LG/Harvey Norman Nissan, Garry Jacobson in the #3 Rabble.club Nissan, Jack LeBrocg in the #19 Truck Assist Holden, and finally Jack Smith in the #4 JGT Logistics Holden pitted and fell to the rear, that he held for the remainder of the race.

Rounding out the Bottom Five was Garry Jacobson in the #3 Rabble.club Nissan, Chris Pither in the #33 Boost Mobile Holden after battling Overheating issues, Macauley Jones in the #21 Cooldrive Distribution Holden and Jack LeBrocq in the #19 Truck Assist Holden.

The Bottom Five

Jack Smith	69 Laps	Running
Garry Jacobson	69 Laps	Running
Chris Pither	69 Laps	Running
Macauley Jones	69 Laps	Running
Jack LeBrocq	69 Laps	Running

Driver’s Championship

Driver	Car #	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
Garry Jacobson	3	2	5	8
Macauley Jones	21	2	4	8
Richie Stanaway	33	2	3	6
Rick Kelly	15	2	3	5
James Courtney	22	2	3	3
Jamie Whincup	88	2	2	2
Jack Smith	4	1	4	5
James Golding	34	1	3	3
Shane Van Gisbergen	97	1	2	3
Scott Pye	2	1	2	2
Chaz Mostert	55	1	1	1
Cameron Waters	6	0	3	3
Simona De Silvestro	78	0	2	5
Todd Hazelwood	35	0	2	2
Jack LeBrocq	19	0	2	11
Lee Holdsworth	5	0	1	2
Scott McLaughlin	17	0	1	1
Anton De Pasquale	99	0	1	1
Andre Heimgartner	7	0	1	1
Will Davison	23	0	1	1
Tim Slade	14	0	1	1
Chris Pither	33	0	1	1
Mark Winterbottom	18	0	0	2
Fabian Coulthard	12	0	0	1
Tim Blanchard	77	0	0	1

Team’s Championship

Team	# Cars	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
Walkinshaw Andretti United	2	3/2	5/2	5/2
Red Bull Holden Racing Team	2	3/2	4/2	5/2
Nissan Motorsports	4	4/4	10/4	16/4
Garry Rodgers Motorsports	3	3/3	5/3	9/3
Brad Jones Racing	5	3/5	8/5	14/5
Tickford Racing	4	1/4	3/4	4/4
Matt Stone Racing	1	0	2	2
Tekno Autosports	1	0	2	11
DJR Team Penske	2	0	1/2	2/2
Erebus Racing	2	0	½	½
IRWIN Racing	1	0	0	2

Manufacturer’s Championship

Manufacturer	# Cars	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
Nissan	4	4/4	11/4	18/4
Holden	14	10/14	29/14	47/14
Ford	6	2/6	5/6	8/6

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.