Virgin Australia LASTCAR Championship: January 2020

Monday 20 January 2020

CONFIRMED: Bryce Fullwood to Walkinshaw Andretti United in 2020.

It has been confirmed today that Bryce Fullwood will join the Walkinshaw Andretti United team in 2020, replacing Scott Pye in the #2.

With Bryce Fullwood coming into the main game, I think this is a good career move for him, and it will be interesting to see both how he adapts to the main game and how he interacts with teammate @chazmozzie in the #22.

As it turns out, no Jack LeBrocq after all, so I correct that from an earlier blog post, which has now been corrected, as he's off to Tickford Racing, replacing Chaz Mostert.

That leaves just one seat left to be confirmed for the 2020 season.

And that is the new Western Sydney Team that was Tekno Autosports. James Courtney is running one seat, but we don't know if it'll be a 1 car organisation or a 2 car organisation, nor do we know who the 2nd driver is.

Overall I am happy that Bryce Fullwood is going to the main game, and I am happy for Walkinshaw Andretti United who have taken him on as a driver in 2020.

Sunday 12 January 2020

BREAKING: Pukekohe dropped for Hampton Downs in 2020

So Auckland's council has decided that no car racing can take place during Anzac Day, so Supercars have been forced to change the track they're racing at in 2020 from Pukekohe to Hampton Downs.

This is the piece of legislation that triggered the change.
Clause I434.6(1) of the Auckland Unitary Plan states that “There must not be any use of the track by motor vehicles, except for vehicles undertaking maintenance in all of the following circumstances,” with subsection (b) specifically stating “Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Anzac Day“.

Since the Anzac weekend has been used for the 2020 season, the location had to be changed, despite precedent from 2014.

I've heard that Auckland Council is Anti-Car, but having seen the nightmarish traffic jams that can happen in and out of Auckland when my family visited New Zealand a couple of years ago, it's pretty bad.

Apparently, ATEED and Supercars had both not been informed somehow about the changes until Christmas, which forced the switch.

Well, in my view, this is an interesting development. I've seen a bit of racing at Hampton Downs years back, so I'll be interested to see what's changed about the track in the time since I saw it.

The international track is also being used, which is cool.

So, I think this is going to be cool, and I am interested to watch the race there. It sounds like there is a bit of work that needs to be done around the stands, but I hope it'll all be ready for the race.

Wednesday 1 January 2020

Happy 2020 Everyone! 2020 Grid CONFIRMED!

Happy New Year. 2020 Supercars lineup, now that we're back racing IRL.

Scott McLaughlin	#17	DJR Team Penske	Shell V-Power
Fabian Coulthard	#12	DJR Team Penske	Shell V-Power
Jamie Whincup	#88	Red Bull Holden Racing	Red Bull/Holden
Shane Van Gisbergen	#97	Red Bull Holden Racing	Red Bull/Holden
Jack LeBrocq	#55	Tickford Racing	Supercheap Auto
Cameron Waters	#6	Tickford Racing	Monster Energy
Lee Holdsworth	#5	Tickford Racing	Truck Assist
James Courtney	#44	Tickford Racing	Boost Mobile
Andre Heimgartner	#7	Kelly Racing	NED
Rick Kelly	#15	Kelly Racing	Castrol
Nick Percat	#8	Brad Jones Racing	RT Batteries
Todd Hazelwood	#14	Brad Jones Racing	TRG Transport Solutions
Jack Smith	#4	Brad Jones Racing	SCT Logistics
Macauley Jones	#3	Tim Blanchard Racing	Cooldrive Distribution
David Reynolds	#9	Erebus Motorsports	Penrite Oils
Anton De Pasquale	#99	Erebus Motorsports	Penrite Oils
Mark Winterbottom	#18	Team 18 Racing	Irwin Tools
Scott Pye	#20	Team 18 Racing	DeWalt
Jake Kostecki	#34	Matt Stone Racing	UNIT
Garry Jacobson	#35	Matt Stone Racing	Yellow Cover
Alex Davison	#19	Western Sydney Team	Local Legends Jerky Biltong
Chris Pither	#22	Western Sydney Team	Coca Cola
Chaz Mostert	#25	Walkinshaw Andretti United	Appliances Online/Mobil 1
Bryce Fullwood	#2	Walkinshaw Andretti United	Middy's Electrical

So, we'll see what the 2020 season will hold, and how both championships will unfold.

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.