Virgin Australia LASTCAR Championship: February 2024

Sunday 25 February 2024

Start Line Clash leaves Ryan Wood last, again, at Bathurst.

Ryan Wood picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his career when his #2 Mobil 1/Truck Assist Ford retired with damage from a first-lap crash after 8 of the race’s 40 laps. The finish came in Wood’s 2nd start. These two finishes mean Wood has a 100% last-place finish record. Neither of them was his fault.

Ryan Wood is a rookie in the Supercars series, with no race starts in the main game. Before he joined Supercars, he ran the Best Bars Toyota 86 Championship New Zealand, where he got six wins and six poles on his way to a 3rd place finish in 2021.

In 2022, Ryan Wood would race for Earl Bamber Motorsport in the Porsche Sprint Cup Series, getting six wins and four Poles and would finish 2nd to Thomas Sargent. Walkinshaw Andretti United would run Wood in the Super2 series, getting five wins and four poles on his way to a 3rd place finish.

In 2024, Ryan Wood would be elevated to the main game, replacing Nick Percat at Walkinshaw Andretti United.

Ryan Wood was 21st in Practice 1 and jumped to 11th in Practice 2, where he also Qualified.

Jaxon Evans in the #12 SCT Logistics Chevrolet started the race in the rear, but defending last-place champion Cameron Hill in the #4 Tyrepower Chevrolet was tangled in a start line crash alongside Ryan Wood in the #2 Mobil 1/Truck Assist Ford and Matt Payne in the #19 Penrite Oils Ford, damaging the cars of Wood and Hill. Hill would pull into the Garage at the end of the lap and lose six laps in repairs. Hill would lose three laps over the rest of the race but wouldn’t finish last.

Last-Place would go to Ryan Wood in the #2 Mobil 1/Truck Asisst Ford after he pulled into the Garage on Lap 5 and would drop to last on Lap 13. He would return to the track on Lap 21, 8 laps down, but would return to the Garage and retire shortly afterwards.

Rounding out the Bottom Five was Aaron Love in the #3 Cooldrive Distribution Ford after his third wall contact this weekend, losing 3 laps in repairs, Jaxon Evans in the #4 SCT Logistics Chevrolet after a last-lap crash, and Macauley Jones in the #96 Pizza Hut Chevrolet.

The Bottom Five

Ryan Wood	8 Laps	Crash
Cameron Hill	31 Laps	Running
Aaron Love	37 Laps	Running
Jaxon Evans	40 Laps	Running
Macauley Jones	40 Laps	Running

Driver’s Championship

Pos	Driver	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Ryan Wood	2	2	2
2	Aaron Love	0	2	2
3T	Cameron Waters	0	1	1
3T	Cameron Hill	0	1	1
5	Jaxon Evans	0	0	2
6T	Anton De Pasquale	0	0	1
6T	Macauley Jones	0	0	1

Team’s Championship

Pos	Team	Drivers	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Walkinshaw Andretti United	2	1	1	1
2T	Blanchard Racing Team	2	0	1	1
2T	Tickford Racing	2	0	½	½
4T	Matt Stone Racing	2	0	½	½
4T	Brad Jones Racing	4	0	0	½
	Shell V-Power Racing	2	0	0	½

Manufacturer’s Championship

Pos	Manufacturer	Drivers	Last	Bottom 3	bottom 5
1	Ford	10	2/10	5/10	6/10
2	Chevrolet	14	0	1/14	4/14

Friday 23 February 2024

Lap 1 Turn 1 clash leaves rookie Ryan Wood last at Bathurst

Ryan Wood picked up the 1st last-place finish of his career when his #2 Mobile 1/Truck Assist Ford was involved in a multi-car incident that ended his race without completing a single lap of the 40 laps of the Thrifty Bathurst 500. The finish came in his debut race.

In 2024, Ryan Wood would be elevated to the main game, replacing Nick Percat at Walkinshaw Andretti United.

Ryan Wood was 21st in Practice 1 and jumped to 11th in Practice 2. Initially, Ryan Wood qualified 8th, but due to a rules breach during Qualifying, Wood was relegated to outside the Top 10, preventing him from participating in the Top 10 Shootout.

James Golding in the #31 Nulon Chevrolet started the race in the rear after stalling on the grid in the formation lap. Into Turn 1, Thomas Randle in the #55 Castrol Ford pulled out of a move on Andre Heimgartner in the #8 R&J Batteries Chevrolet, Ryan Wood in the #2 NTI Ford and Tim Slade in the #23 Nulon Chevrolet. The incident broke the steering on Wood’s car, sending him off the road, out of the race, and down to last. Tim Slade in the #23 Nulon Chevrolet also went off but recovered.

The second-last-place race was far more interesting. Firstly, Jaxon Evans in the #12 SCT Logistics Chevrolet pitted Lap 4 and dropped to 23rd, and then Matt Payne in the #19 Penrite Oils Ford pitted Lap 6 and fell to 23rd. After his pitstop on Lap 12, James Golding was 23rd. Lap 15 saw Anton De Pasquale in the #11 Shell V-Power Ford pitted on his 2nd pitstop and fell to 23rd.

Lap 24 saw Aaron Love in the #3 Cooldrive Distribution Ford hit the fence at the Cutting, damaging the right-rear corner and losing four laps in repairs. Finally, Love would crash on Lap 38 at the same place, this time with both ends of the car, ending his race and leaving the race to finish under Safety Car.

At turn two on Lap 34, Cameron Waters in the #6 Monster Energy Ford lost a wheel, triggering a yellow flag to retrieve the wheel. Waters would retire from the race due to the damage and dropped to 2nd last on Lap 38, but after Love crashed out, Waters would get back out and pass Love for 22nd.

Rounding out the Bottom Five was Anton De Pasquale in the #11 Shell V-Power Ford and Jaxon Evans in the #12 SCT Logistics Chevrolet.

The Bottom Five

Ryan Wood	0 Laps	Crash
Aaron Love	33 Laps	Crash
Cameron Waters	35 Laps	Running
Anton De Pasquale	40 Laps	Running
Jaxon Evans	40 Laps	Running

Driver’s Championship

Pos	Driver	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Ryan Wood	1	1	1
2T	Aaron Love	0	1	1
2T	Cameron Waters	0	1	1
4T	Anton De Pasquale	0	0	1
4T	Jaxon Evans	0	0	1

Team’s Championship

Pos	Team	Drivers	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Walkinshaw Andretti United	2	½	½	½
2T	Blanchard Racing Team	2	0	½	½
2T	Tickford Racing	2	0	½	½
4T	Shell V-Power Racing	2	0	0	½
4T	Brad Jones Racing	2	0	0	½

Manufacturer’s Championship

Pos	Manufacturer	Drivers	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Ford	10	1/10	3/10	4/10
2	Chevrolet	14	0	0	1/14

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.