Sunday at Tailem Bend

 This is my Sunday report from Tailem Bend. My coverage will include the Warm-Up, other events, and also the race. The last-place report will be separate.

The big thing that happened during the Porsche Carrera Cup race was the tale of Indiran Padayachee. First, he hit the Seiko sign at the exit of pit-lane. His car surfed grassy expanses, then traversed across the track. Finally, his door came off on the pit straight. This caused a safety car.

Now we move toward the main event. The Supercars. And we start with the warm-up.

Also, happy 30th birthday to Anton De Pasquale, turning 30, and Nick Percat, who turns 36.

Before we start, however, Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1/Optus Ford) impeded Richie Stanaway (#62 Isuzu/Nulon Chevrolet) during qualifying. The stewards penalised him two grid positions for the race. This dropped Mostert from 8th to 10th.

Before the race, drivers practiced safety car procedures during warm-up.

While most teams got through the session unscathed, Grove Racing had issues with the right-front brake of the #19 Penrite Oils Ford. The #4 Supaglass Chevrolet also had door issues, while the #99 Erebus/Snap-On Chevrolet took the session easy.

The fastest driver was Ryan Wood (#2 Truck Assist/NTI Ford). Several drivers ran eight laps, while the #99 of Cooper Murray only ran two laps. The margin from 1st to 26th was 1.86 seconds.

Between the warm-up and the race, I asked a member of the Supercheap Auto Chevrolet about how they prepare their cars.

Initially, they placed the car inside the garage and built the surrounding garage. The inverse holds true at weekend’s close.

My Pa and I spotted three former drivers inside the hotel. Fabian Coulthard, Mark Skaife, and Steven Richards.

I got signatures from all 8 drivers at Brad Jones Racing, which was cool. The pictures of their autographs are below.

Andre Heimgartner and Declan Fraser

Macauley Jones and Jordan Boys

Bryce Fullwood and Brad Vaughn

Jaxon Evans and Jack Smith

Now we move on to the race, which was fun but a little underwhelming.

Don’t get me wrong, I love that Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood won the race. And it’s cool that the race went without a safety car, but it also meant the gaps between the cars grew larger with every lap.

I suspect it’s the atmosphere trackside that kept my interest, as I heard people saying the race was boring on the Discord server I’m on.

Overall, this was a fun few days, and I’m glad I got to share it with my Pa. We’re heading home tomorrow morning, and I can’t wait to talk other people’s ears off about it.

Thanks for reading, and coming soon will be my last-place report for the Tailem Bend 500.

Saturday at Tailem Bend

 This is my Saturday report from Tailem Bend. Once again, I’ll include photos from the track as I cover Practice, Qualifying, and the Top Ten Shootout.

I was again at the Rydger’s Pit Lane Hotel for the Supercar sessions.

Of course, I’ll start with the infamous teammate clash that happened in Practice 4. This session was for co-drivers.

Practice 4 began with another safety car exercise. During the safety car exercise, Scott Pye (#1 Red Bull/Ampol Chevrolet) slowed near Turn 4, as that was where the slow zone started.

His teammate Jamie Whincup (#88 Red Bull/Ampol Chevrolet) missed the slow zone and crashed right-front on left-rear into Pye. Whincup had tried to miss Pye, but failed.

The collision caused major left-rear suspension damage to Pye’s car. Pye limped it back to the pits, but their session was done.

Whincup avoided right-front steering damage and continued. He would finish the session 6th. Whincup would accept blame for the crash, and the stewards would penalise him money for the crash.

Pye wasn’t the only driver to have issues, as Lee Holdsworth (#20 Tradie Chevrolet) lost a chunk of time because of mechanical issues.

James Moffat (#55 Castrol Ford) would finish the session fastest. Jobe Stewart (#99 Erebus/Snap-On Chevrolet) and Dale Wood (#26 Penrite Oils Ford) would run the most laps, with 20 each.

Because of the crash, Scott Pye (#1 Red Bull/Ampol Chevrolet) would run the least laps, with 2.

The gap from first to 25th was 1.825 seconds.

Rydger’s has proven to be a fairly popular place for past and present drivers. I saw Warren Luff, Jamie Whincup, Jaxon Evans, Dean Canto, Jack LeBrocq, Cooper Murray and Jack Smith.

Those two had been present twice during that weekend. Jack Smith, meanwhile, was there twice.

Now we move on to Practice 5, where more mechanical gremlins hit teams.

Matt Payne and Garth Tander (#19 Penrite Oils Ford) lost time early because the starter motor needed to be replaced.

Will Brown and Scott Pye (#1 Red Bull/Ampol Chevrolet) would continue to have suspension issues.

Richie Stanaway and Nash Morris (#62 Isuzu Trucks/Nulon Chevrolet) lost a sizeable chunk of the session because of steering issues.

Another odd incident saw Kai Allen and Dale Wood (#26 Penrite Oils Ford) have their door open as they moved down the pit-lane. Allen improvised a solution.

Ryan Wood (#2 Truck Assist/Mobil 1 Ford) was fastest. Craig Lowndes and Zach Bates (#888 Supercheap Auto Chevrolet) ran seventeen laps, the most of any team. Meanwhile, Matt Payne and Garth Tander (#19 Penrite Oils Ford) ran only 7 laps, the least of any team.

And now we move on to qualifying.

The only issue in qualifying was that the #17 Shell V-Power Ford lost its right-front wheel while on pit road. Will Davison was at the wheel.

Davison pulled the car up at pit exit, partially blocking the Red Bull pit. Because of that, the Red Bull pit crew would help the Dick Johnson Racing crew retrieve their car.

Nick Percat (#10 Bendix Chevrolet) would take the early lead. There was no safety car procedure test during the session.

David Reynolds (#20 Tradie Chevrolet) would snatch pole half-way through the session.

The provisional top 10 was:

Reynolds, Wood, Kostecki, Randle, De Pasquale, Waters, Percat, Reynolds, Mostert and LeBrocq.

This order would undergo major changes in the last few minutes, and Brodie Kostecki (#38 Shell V-Power Ford) would finish the session on provisional pole.

The top 10 heading into the top ten shootout was:

Kostecki, Feeney, Waters, Wood, Hill, Randle, Payne, Mostert, De Pasquale and Murray.

Kai Allen, Jaxon Evans, and Matt Payne would run 8 laps, the most of any team. Will Davison ran only 5 laps, the least.

The margin across the Top 10 was .35 seconds, while 1 second covered the entire field.

Now we move on to the top 10 shootout.

Ryan Wood would wind up 10th after making a mistake at Turn 10, losing 8 seconds.

Wood’s misfortune would benefit several drivers, including Cooper Murray. While Chaz Mostert would qualify slower than Anton De Pasquale. An excellent result for Cooper Murray, as he is a rookie. Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters have the most attempts at the top ten shootout, with 78 each.

One thing I noticed was that the track got faster as the shootout progressed. Cameron Hill and Broc Feeney would jump Kostecki in the shootout, with the latter taking his 14th pole of the season.

Post the shootout, stewards gave Chaz Mostert a 2-grid place penalty for impeding Richie Stanaway during qualifying. Mostert would drop to 10th. This would elevate his teammate Wood to 9th and Cooper Murray to 8th.

It was certainly tense watching the shootout, and my Pa loved watching the Touring Car Masters from his era race. While they’re not great to watch for me, I do like looking at the cars.

Especially Stsven Johnson’s silver-and-black mustang; it looks amazing. I also enjoyed watching the Porsche run. Though it had many mechanical issues over the weekend.

These cars aren’t exactly reliable.

The big race is tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to it.

Finally, I send my condolences to the family of the competitor who died at the track after a medical episode today.

Friday at Tailem Bend

 This is my Friday report at Tailem Bend. I’ve got pictures included, and I’ll cover the Practices for Supercars.

It may prove difficult to perceive, however, above live timing display shows the combined three sector times in a best time. I think it’s cool, and I noticed the fastest lap was consistently within a few tenths of a second of the best time.

I got my poster signed by Kai Allen, Matt Payne and Garth Tander. Dale Wood couldn’t make it because he was racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup.

Where was I during the practice sessions?

In Practice 1, I was on the observation deck while I was at Rydges’ Pit Lane Hotel.

And while I was there during the afternoon, I saw four drivers spend time inside the hotel.

Jack LeBrocq, Cooper Murray, Bryce Fullwood and co-driver Jack Smith.

It was cool to see drivers there. Yes, Jack Smith’s awesome hair is still there.

Now onto the practice sessions.

The first practice session saw Jamie Whincup go fastest with a 1:50.5675. The #1 of Jamie Whincup and Scott Pye ran the most laps with 14, while several duos only ran ten laps. There were 2.1 seconds covering the entire field.

Practice 1 was uneventful.

The same was true of Practice 2, except that live timing took 2 minutes to switch Jaxon Evans and Macauley Jones to their co-drivers.

Jamie Whincup again ran fastest, but unfortunately I didn’t note down the numbers for this session.

In Practice 3 was when the mechanical issues struck for several cars. The #20 of David Reynolds and Lee Holdsworth missed most of the session with electrical issues.

The #38 of Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood lost the last two-thirds of the session with a steering issue.

Also hitting trouble was the #3 of Aaron Cameron and Zak Best, losing the last third of the session with an unknown mechanical issue.

There were also two pit-road incidents during the session.

These two were very close inside the pit-lane.

Then there was the big incident where Will Brown had to navigate around Bryce Fullwood and Ryan Wood.

Will Brown finally got a reprimand for crossing the blend line at the exit of the pit-lane.

Will Brown would go fastest with a 1:48.9, and 2.58 seconds separated the field.

All the other sessions with the support series were great, and I had lots of fun with my Pa.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

Off-road excursion and lengthy retrieval leaves Cameron Crick last at Ipswich

Original by V8 Slueth, cropped by me.

Cameron Crick (#35 Dormer Chevrolet) finished last, 8 laps down in the last race at Ipswich. The finish came in Crick’s 8th start, and the 2nd last-place finish in 2025 for Cameron Crick.

 

Cameron Crick is an up-and-coming driver in motorsport, having had some solid results in Toyota 86s and SuperUtes. He is the son of six-time Australian Truck Racing Champion Rodney Crick and has run two seasons in Super2. He scored his first Top 10 in the Supercars last year driving alongside Cameron Hill at Matt Stone Racing during the Bathurst 1000. This year Crick is running a wildcard campaign for Matt Stone Racing, piloting the #35. He was 4th in Practice 1 then plunged to 20th in Practice 2. He would qualify last.

 

Cameron Crick (#35 Dormer HVAC Chevrolet) started the race in last. Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Chevrolet) briefly fell to last on the opening lap before passing Crick.

 

Rain started on Lap 2, and thinking it’ll get worse, James Courtney (#600 Snowy River Caravans Ford) pitted at the end of Lap 3.

This strategy would backfire, and Courtney would lose a Lap by Lap 11, losing that lap with a second pit stop to switch back to dry tires.

Courtney would hold last until Lap 30 when Cameron Crick (#35 Dormer Chevrolet) went off and triggered the first Safety Car of the race. The crane sent to retrieve Cameron Crick pulled his car across the entire sand trap at Turn 6. When combined with time spent in the pits afterwards, cost Crick 8 laps.

The rest of the Bottom Five would come because of penalties. The two full-time Matt Stone Racing cars, Cameron Hill (#4 Sinopec/Supaglass Chevrolet) and Nick Percat (#10 Bendix Chevrolet), collided with Zach Bates. First, Cameron Hill ran Bates off the road on the front straight, then Percat ran Bates off the road at Turn 2.

Hill would cop a pit-lane penalty while Percat would cop a 15 second penalty, leaving them 23rd and 24th.

Ryan Wood (#2 Truck Assist Ford) would spin out Will Brown (#1 Red Bull/Ampol Chevrolet) at Turn 3 and cop 15 seconds for it, leaving him 22nd. Ryan Wood, however, would escape the Bottom 5 because Will Brown would cop a 15-second time penalty for spinning wheels in the pits.

 

Cameron Crick (#35 Dormer Chevrolet) finished last, 8 laps down in the last race at Ipswich. The finish came in Crick’s 8th start, and the 2nd last-place finish in 2025 for Cameron Crick.

 

Cameron Crick is an up-and-coming driver in motorsport, having had some solid results in Toyota 86s and SuperUtes. He is the son of six-time Australian Truck Racing Champion Rodney Crick and has run two seasons in Super2. He scored his first Top 10 in the Supercars last year driving alongside Cameron Hill at Matt Stone Racing during the Bathurst 1000. This year Crick is running a wildcard campaign for Matt Stone Racing, piloting the #35. He was 4th in Practice 1 then plunged to 20th in Practice 2. He would qualify last.

 

Cameron Crick (#35 Dormer HVAC Chevrolet) started the race in last. Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Chevrolet) briefly fell to last on the opening lap before passing Crick.

 

Rain started on Lap 2, and thinking it’ll get worse, James Courtney (#600 Snowy River Caravans Ford) pitted at the end of Lap 3.

This strategy would backfire, and Courtney would lose a Lap by Lap 11, losing that lap with a second pit stop to switch back to dry tires.

Courtney would hold last until Lap 30 when Cameron Crick (#35 Dormer Chevrolet) went off and triggered the first Safety Car of the race. The crane sent to retrieve Cameron Crick pulled his car across the entire sand trap at Turn 6. When combined with time spent in the pits afterwards, cost Crick 8 laps.

The rest of the Bottom Five would come because of penalties. The two full-time Matt Stone Racing cars, Cameron Hill (#4 Sinopec/Supaglass Chevrolet) and Nick Percat (#10 Bendix Chevrolet), collided with Zach Bates. First, Cameron Hill ran Bates off the road on the front straight, then Percat ran Bates off the road at Turn 2.

Hill would cop a pit-lane penalty while Percat would cop a 15 second penalty, leaving them 23rd and 24th.

Ryan Wood (#2 Truck Assist Ford) would spin out Will Brown (#1 Red Bull/Ampol Chevrolet) at Turn 3 and cop 15 seconds for it, leaving him 22nd. However, Percat and 

 

The Bottom 5

Cameron Crick	55 Laps	Running
James Courtney	62 Laps	Running
Cameron Hill	63 Laps	Running
Will Brown	63 Laps	Running
Nick Percat	63 Laps	Running

 

Driver’s Championship

Pos	Driver	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Aaron Cameron	3	6	11
2	Jaxon Evans	3	5	5
3	Richie Stanaway	2	4	6
4T	Jack LeBrocq	2	3	5
4T	James Golding	2	3	4
6	Macauley Jones	2	3	4
7	Cameron Crick	2	3	3
8T	Cooper Murray	1	6	9
8T	Will Davison	1	4	8
10T	Cameron Hill	1	3	4
10T	Bryce Fullwood	1	2	4
12T	Kai Allen	1	2	3
12T	Aaron Love	1	2	2
14	Cameron Waters	1	1	2
15	David Reynolds	0	3	7
16	James Courtney	0	2	7
17	Thomas Randle	0	2	4
18	Nick Percat	0	2	4
19	Chaz Mostert	0	2	2
20	Brodie Kostecki	0	2	2
21T	Anton De Pasquale	0	1	2
21T	Ryan Wood	0	1	2
23	Rylan Gray	0	0	2
24	Will Brown	0	0	1

 

Team’s Championship

Pos	Team	Drivers	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Nulon Racing	2	4/2	7/2	11/2
2	Brad Jones Racing	4	6/4	10/4	13/4
3	Erebus Motorsports	2	3/2	8/2	14/2
4	Blanchard Racing Team	3	3/3	11/3	18/3
5	Matt Stone Racing	3	3/3	9/3	12/3
6	Dick Johnson Racing	2	1/2	7/2	11/2
7	Grove Racing	2	1/2	2/2	3/2
8	Tickford Racing	5	1/5	3/5	8/5
9	Team 18	2	0	4/2	9/2
10	Walkinshaw Andretti United	2	0	4/2	5/2
11	Red Bull Racing	3	0	0	1/3

 

Constructor’s Championship

Pos	Manufacturer	Drivers	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Chevrolet	15	16/15	38/15	61/15
2	Ford	14	5/14	25/14	44/14