Virgin Australia LASTCAR Championship: November 2023

Saturday 25 November 2023

Declan Fraser Champion, overhauling Cameron Hill after Power Steering issues ended his race.

Declan Fraser picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his career when his #56 Tradie Ford was not classified as a finisger due to Power Steering issues, only completing 51 of the race's 78 laps. The finish came in Fraser's 31 start. The result means Declan Fraser overhauls Cameron Hill for the 2023 Repco Australia LASTCAR Championship.

One of three rookies in 2023, alongside Cameron Hill and Matt Payne, Declan Fraser contested the season in the 4^th Tickford Entry for 2023. He’s had 1 Top 10 this year. He was 17th in Practice 1 but plunged to be the slowest in Practice 2. He rocketed back to 15th in Practice 3, then slipped to 16th in Qualifying.

Cameron Hill in the #35 Truck Assist Chevrolet started the race in the rear after a heavy crash in Qualifying and held last for the first laps.

Lap 5 saw Jack LeBrocq in the #35 Truck Assist Chevrolet and Nick Percat in the #2 NTI Ford make contact, sending LeBrocq to the garage. Declan Fraser in the #56 Tradie Ford would pull into the Garage with Power Steering issues 2 laps later.

LeBrocq would return, but would return to the Garage the following lap, but would return to the track 8 laps down and overtake Fraser on Lap 17. He would eventually return, 12 laps down. Fraser would briefly return to the track, 17 laps down, but would drop another 9 laps in the Garage, ensuring he won't be classified.

Shane Van Gisbergen in the #97 Red Bull/Ampol Chevrolet pulled into the garage on Lap 47 after a loose wheel, losing 3 laps, then pulled back into the garage on Lap 52 with Gearbox issues, dropping another lap, the Lap 56, then retired Lap 62, falling behind LeBrocq on Lap 66, avoiding last place by 1 lap. Rounding out the Bottom 5 is Macauley Jones in the #96 Pizza Hut Chevrolet, who lost 2 laps after getting spun out by James Golding in the #31 Nulon Chevrolet in the pitlane.

Nick Percat in the #2 NTI Ford after a late-race incident that damaged his car.

The Bottom Five

Delcan Fraser (CHAMPION)	51 Laps	Power Steering
Shane Van Gisbergen	52 Laps	Gearbox
Jack LeBrocq	64 Laps	Running
Macualey Jones	76 Laps	Running
Nick Percat	77 Laps	Running

Driver Championship

Pos	Driver	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Declan Fraser (CHAMPION)	3	8	12
2	Cameron Hill	3	7	9
3	Jack Smith	2	6	9
4	Tim Slade	2	5	7
5	Jack LeBrocq	2	5	5
6	David Reynolds	2	4	5
7T	Chaz Mostert	2	2	2
7T	Broc Feeney	2	2	2
9	Nick Percat	1	4	7
10T	Thomas Randle	1	4	6
10T	Todd Hazelwood	1	4	6
12	Shane Van Gisbergen	1	4	4
13	Cameron Waters	1	3	4
13T	Will Brown	1	3	3
15	Mark Winterbottom	1	2	4
16	Brodie Kostecki	1	2	2
17T	Andre Heimgartner	1	1	3
17T	Garth Tander	1	1	1
18	Dale Wood	1	1	1
19	James Courtney	0	4	7
20	Macauley Jones	0	3	9
21	Matthew Payne	0	3	6
22	Anton De Pasquale	0	1	5
23	James Golding	0	1	3
24T	Will Davison	0	1	3
24T	Bryce Fullwood	0	1	3
26T	Jaylyn Robotham	0	1	1
26T	Garry Jacobson	0	1	1
26T	James Moffat	0	1	1
26T	Tim Blanchard	0	1	1
30	Scott Pye	0	0	3
31	Zane Goddard	0	0	2
32T	Aaron Love	0	0	1
32T	Jake Kostecki	0	0	1
32T	Fabian Coulthard	0	0	1
32T	Michael Caruso	0	0	1
32T	Craig Lowndes	0	0	1

Team Championship

Pos	Team	Cars	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Matt Stone Racing	4	6/4	15/4	16/4
2	Walkinshaw Andretti United	4	3/4	6/4	10/4
3	Tickford Racing	8	5/8	18/8	29/8
4	Tim Blanchard Racing	4	1/2	5/2	9/2
5	Penrite Racing	4	2/4	7/4	11/4
6	Premair Hire Racing	4	2/4	6/4	9/4
7	Erebus Racing	4	2/4	6/4	6/4
8	Brad Jones Racing	8	4/8	11/8	23/8
9	Red Bull/Ampol Racing	6	3/6	7/6	10/6
10	Team 18 Racing	4	1/4	2/4	6/4
11	Dick Johnson Racing	4	0	2/4	6/4

Manufacturer Championship

Pos	Manufacturer	Cars	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Chevrolet	30	17/30	46/30	78/30
2	Ford	24	13/24	42/24	70/24

Friday 24 November 2023

First Lap crash gives Brodie the Championship as teammate Brown crashes out.

Original by Auto Action, edited by me.

Will Brown picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his career when his #9 Coca-Cola Chevrolet was involved in a 3-car crash that ended his race without completing a single lap of the first race at the Adelaide Street Circuit. The finish came in Brown's 96th start.

Will Brown is in his 3rd full-time season, having run as co-driver or wildcard for three years beforehand. Every year up to this year, but not from next year, he's raced for Erebus Motorsports. He's had a very strong year and came into the Adelaide round 3rd in the Championship, though out of Championship contention. He was 4th in Practice 1 then rose to 3rd in Practice 2. He qualified 7th, then was fastest in Practice 3. Brown then came 5th in the Top 10 Shootout.

Jack Smith in the #4 SCT Logistics Chevrolet started the race in the rear, but Cameron Hill in the #35 Truck Assist Chevrolet failed to start the race initially. He would lose 2 laps.

However, Lap 1 Turn 4 Anton De Pasquale in the #11 Shell V-Power Ford fed Will Brown in the #9 Coca-Cola Chevrolet into the wall. Shane Van Gisbergen in the #97 Red Bull/Ampol Chevrolet had nowhere to go and crunched into Brown, ending both races. In the immediate aftermath, Matt Payne in the #19 Penrite Oils Ford also hit the fence hard, damaging the toe link, losing 6 laps in repairs. Anton De Pasquale also suffered rear suspension damage and would finish 21st, 2 laps down.

The Team Championship for 2023 goes to Matt Stone Racing while Chevrolet have taken out the Manufacturer’s Championship for 2023.

The Bottom Five

Will Brown	0 Laps	Crash
Shane Van Gisbergen	0 Laps	Crash
Matt Payne	73 Laps	Running
Cameron Hill	74 Laps	Running
Anton De Pasquale	76 Laps	Running

Driver Championship

Pos	Driver	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Cameron Hill	3	7	9
2	Declan Fraser	2	7	11
3	Jack Smith	2	6	9
4	Tim Slade	2	5	7
5	David Reynolds	2	4	5
6T	Jack LeBrocq	2	4	4
6T	Chaz Mostert	2	2	2
8T	Broc Feeney	2	2	2
8T	Nick Percat	1	4	6
8T	Thomas Randle	1	4	6
8T	Todd Hazelwood	1	4	6
12	Cameron Waters	1	3	4
13T	Shane Van Gisbergen	1	3	3
13T	Will Brown	1	3	3
15	Mark Winterbottom	1	2	4
16	Brodie Kostecki	1	2	2
17T	Andre Heimgartner	1	1	3
17T	Garth Tander	1	1	1
18	Dale Wood	1	1	1
19	James Courtney	0	4	7
20	Macauley Jones	0	3	8
21	Matthew Payne	0	3	6
22	Anton De Pasquale	0	1	5
23	James Golding	0	1	3
24T	Will Davison	0	1	3
24T	Bryce Fullwood	0	1	3
26T	Jaylyn Robotham	0	1	1
26T	Garry Jacobson	0	1	1
26T	James Moffat	0	1	1
26T	Tim Blanchard	0	1	1
30	Scott Pye	0	0	3
31	Zane Goddard	0	0	2
32T	Aaron Love	0	0	1
32T	Jake Kostecki	0	0	1
32T	Fabian Coulthard	0	0	1
32T	Michael Caruso	0	0	1
32T	Craig Lowndes	0	0	1

Team Championship

Pos	Team	Cars	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Matt Stone Racing	4	6/4	14/4	15/4
2	Walkinshaw Andretti United	4	3/4	6/4	9/4
3	Tickford Racing	8	4/8	17/8	28/8
4	Tim Blanchard Racing	4	1/2	5/2	9/2
5	Penrite Racing	4	2/4	7/4	11/4
6	Premair Hire Racing	4	2/4	6/4	9/4
7	Erebus Racing	4	2/4	6/4	6/4
8	Brad Jones Racing	8	4/8	11/8	22/8
9	Red Bull/Ampol Racing	6	3/6	6/6	9/6
10	Team 18 Racing	4	1/4	2/4	6/4
11	Dick Johnson Racing	4	0	2/4	6/4

Manufacturer Championship

Pos	Manufacturer	Cars	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Chevrolet	30	17/30	44/30	74/30
2	Ford	24	12/24	41/24	69/24

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.