Supercars CEO Vow for 2020. My response and thoughts.

Re: Supercars CEO Vow for 2020.

Original Article: https://www.speedcafe.com/2019/12/05/supercars-ceos-vow-for-2020/

So, I'm writing this article to respond to some statements made by the CEO of Supercars about 2019 and 2020. There are a few things I want to respond to.

Firstly, Sean Seamer said "I think that the disappointing thing for us is that this year has been a year that’s been dominated by a highly technical narrative which is made it very, very difficult for fans to follow,"

And it's OK that you think that, but for a lot of fans, they were able to follow fine. The Ford Mustangs, or more specifically a combo of the Mustang and Scott McLaughlin and, to a lesser degree, Fabian Coulthard and Chaz Mostert, was well ahead at the start of the year. By the end of the year, however, DJR Team Penske, Tickford Racing, Red Bull Holden Racing Team and Erebus Motorsports were competitive to varying degrees.

Part of Red Bull Holden's struggles was with the new springs, and it did take a few rounds for them to figure the springs out. Were some of the parity adjustments were done too early? Yes. Is Roland Dane a whiner? Arguable. (Though I would also say that Ryan Story and Tim Edwards are little better), does that mean that Supercars are in Dane's pocket? No, especially since Roger Penske has more money than the rest of the field combined. Does that mean that any other conspiracy theories are valid? Not really.

I do agree with one thing though, we do need to be front and centre/press/news for the right reasons, and not because of parity controversies, or Ford cultists and Holden cultists abusing drivers and team members

That was the main thing that I wanted to respond to. It is not all that I want to talk about. And that is a little bit about the Facebook algorithm and how Supercars get their views, comments, etc.

The comments from Ford and Holden cultists are what drive ratings on Facebook for some reason, the arguments are the normal stupidity from low IQ numbnuts.

Hopefully the racing product in 2020 will be a lot better than in 2019, where it took ages to get the parity right, and even then, I think it may have gone a tiny bit too far the other way, but oh well.

However, I am optimistic about the future of Supercars, that we will get a great and competitive championship in 2020 and further on, especially if BMW decides to join in 2021. I have another article coming for that.

2020 Silly Season in full swing!

So, a few big pieces of news these last few days have helped to crystalise the lineup for the grid in 2020.

Firstly, the least surprising change in 2020 was Chaz Mostert heading to Walkinshaw Andretti United to replace James Courtney. This was one that had been known for months, and it was even at the point where, after the last race when Tickford literally taped up Mostert and delivered him to Walkinshaw Andretti United.

Check it out here: https://www.supercars.com/videos/championship/trackside-mostert-delivered-to-new-home/?cat=default

Hot on the heels of that announcement came another not surprising reveal, as Todd Hazelwood is replacing Tim Slade in the #14 Alliance Truck Parts Holden for Brad Jones Racing in 2020.

This is a good move for Todd, and will further put Todd up on the grid, hoping for some more big races in 2020. Of course, it is a shame that Tim Slade isn't racing at this stage, but who knows, maybe it was a trade between Hazelwood and Slade like it was for Holdsworth and Winterbottom.

And we also have a change in the enduro lineup for 2020, as Luke Youlden retires from racing altogether. He's been a solid enduro driver, and has exactly 1 Bathurst and 1 Last-Place finish, interestingly in his last race.

In addition, Scott Pye is off to Team 18 to be a team-mate to Mark Winterbottom, confirming the second seat for Team 18, after leaving Walkinshaw Andretti United, likely to be replaced by Bryce Fulwood.

Update: Jack LeBrocq is going to Tickford Racing, replacing Chaz Mostert. This is also a good move for LeBrocq.

Update 2: The second Matt Stone Racing seat has been filled, as Jake Kostecki and Zane Goddard will share the seat for 2020.

This is interesting, and I do wish them luck. Also, they will team up for the Pirtek Enduro Cup.

The silly season is in full swing now.

Rookie Jacobson champion after De Pasquale last at Newcastle

Original by Repco, Fix Sports and Supercars, edited by me.

Anton De Pasquale picked up his 1st last-place finish of his career when his #99 Penrite Oils Holden was involved in a single-car crash after 22 of the race's 93 laps. The finish came in Anton's 62^nd start.

Anton De Pasquale is a protégé of Paul Morris, and has run quite well in both his rookie year and 2nd year. He was 7th in Practice 1, then dropped to 11th in Practice 2. However is recovered to 6th in Qualifying, and held 6th in the Top 10 Shootout.

Garry Jacobson in the #3 Rabble.club Nissan started the race in the rear, however at turn 1 Scott Pye in the #2 Winning Appliances/Mobil 1 Holden bumped David Reynolds in the #9 Penrite Oils Holden, who was collected by Tim Slade in the #14 Freightliner Holden and Lee Holdsworth in the #5 Bottle-O Ford, severely damaging Holdsworth's and Reynolds' cars, initially Reynolds fell to last, but Holdsworth lost 3 laps in repairs, and dropped to last the following lap.

Then, Holdsworth went to the garage on lap 16 after a Mechanical Black flag for a damaged undertray, dropping 5 more laps. Holdsworth would eventually finish 10 laps down.

Suddenly, on lap 23, as Anton De Pasquale in the #99 Penrite Oils Holden left the pit-lane, he collided with James Courtney in the #22 Appliances Online/Mobil 1 Holden, sending De Pasquale into the wall firstly at Turn 3, then into the wall at Turn 6, triggering the first Safety Car of the race. De Pasquale dropped to last on lap 30.

Rounding out the bottom five was Garry Jacobson in the #3 Rabble.club Nissan, Macauley Jones in the #21 Cooldrive Distribution Holden and James Golding in the #34 Boost Mobile Holden after going into the tires at Turn 2 at Lap 68, but managed to get going again.

With Anton finishing last, Garry Jacobson takes out the 2019 Virgin Australia LASTCAR championship.

The Bottom Five

Anton De Pasquale	22 Laps	Crash
Lee Holdsworth	83 Laps	Running
Garry Jacobson (CHAMPION)	92 Laps	Running
Macauley Jones	92 Laps	Running
James Golding	92 Laps	Running

mpionship

Driver	Car #	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
Garry Jacobson (CHAMPION)	3	4	10	16
Macauley Jones	21	3	6	12
Jamie Whincup	88	3	3	3
Jack Smith	4/35	2	7	9
Richie Stanaway	33	2	5	8
James Golding	34	2	5	8
Rick Kelly	15	2	3	6
Shane Van Gisbergen	97	2	3	4
James Courtney	22	2	3	3
Jack LeBrocq	19	1	8	17
Todd Hazelwood	35	1	4	5
Tim Slade	14	1	3	4
Andre Heimgartner	7	1	3	4
Scott Pye	2	1	3	5
Anton De Pasquale	99	1	3	4
David Reynolds	9	1	2	4
Bryce Fullwood	7	1	2	3
Ashley Walsh	14	1	2	2
Luke Youlden	9	1	2	2
Richard Muscat	34	1	1	1
Chaz Mostert	55	1	1	1
James Moffat	55	1	1	1
Simona De Silvestro	78	0	4	8
Cameron Waters	6	0	3	5
Will Davison	23	0	2	3
Lee Holdsworth	5	0	2	3
Chris Pither	33	0	2	2
Mark Winterbottom	18	0	1	6
Jake Kostecki	56	0	1	3
Michael Caruso	33	0	1	3
Brodie Kostecki	56	0	1	2
Scott McLaughlin	17	0	1	1
Dean Fiore	3	0	1	1
Alex Rullo	78	0	1	1
Steve Richards	18	0	0	2
Will Brown	99	0	0	1
Fabian Coulthard	12	0	0	1
Tim Blanchard	77	0	0	1
Dean Canto	21	0	0	1
Dale Wood	15	0	0	1

Team’s Championship

Team	Drivers	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
Red Bull Holden Racing Team	4	5/4	6/4	7/4
Nissan Motorsports	8	8/8	23/8	37/8
Garry Rodgers Motorsports	6	5/6	13/6	19/6
Walkinshaw Andretti United	5	3/5	6/5	7/5
Matt Stone Racing	2	1/2	6/2	8/2
Brad Jones Racing	8	5/8	13/8	23/8
Tickford Racing	8	2/8	6/8	11/8
Tekno Autosports	2	1/2	8/2	17/2
Erebus Racing	4	1/4	6/4	9/4
IRWIN Racing	2	0	1/2	7/2
DJR Team Penske	4	0	1/4	2/4
Kostecki Brothers Racing	2	0	0	5/2

Manufacturer’s Championship

Manufacturer	Drivers	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
Nissan	8	8/8	23/8	37/8
Holden	32	25/32	59/32	102/32
Ford	12	2/12	7/12	13/12