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| Original by Supercars, edited by me. |
Andre Heimgartner picked up the 11th last-place finish of his career, while Dale Wood picked up the 5th last-place finish of his career when their #8 R&J Batteries Holden retired with Engine failure after 68 of the race's 161 laps. The finish came in Heimgartner's 237th start and Wood's 179th start.
Andre Heimgartner is in his 8th full-time season, having started his full-time career with Super Black Racing in 2015, a New Zealand-based team that ran in the Supercars between 2014 and 2016 before selling their Racing Entitlements Contract to Tim Blanchard. Andre would move to Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport for 2016 before leaving the series for 2017, only running as co-driver for Brad Jones Racing. Andre would then move to Nissan Motorsport in 2018, then Kelly Racing in 2019, both years running Nissan. He would stay with Kelly Racing through the transition into Kelly Grove Racing but would depart for Brad Jones Racing in 2022 as Kelly Grove Racing became Grove Racing. In 2021, Andre would win his first-ever race at The Bend Motorsport Park. Andre has come close several times in 2023, finishing 2nd and 3rd 6 times and currently sits 6th in the points. Dale Wood, meanwhile, raced for 4 full-time seasons, two with Britek Motorsports, one with Nissan Motorsports and one with Erebus Motorsports, but except for a 3rd at Winton, never really made much of an impact unfortunately. He has shown he's good as a co-driver, getting 6th at Bathurst in 2021. They were 9th in Practice 1 but plummeted to 24th in Practice 2. They rocketed up to 10th in Practice 3 but slipped to 14th in Practice 4. Heimgartner steered the #8 to 13th in Qualifying and missed the Top 10 Shootout. Wood plunged to 21st in Practice 5, but the #8 rocketed to 8th in Practice 6.
Declan Fraser and Tyler Everingham in
the #56 Tradie Ford would've started the race in the rear. However, Cameron
Hill and Jaylyn Robotham in the #34 Truck Assist Chevrolet began from the pits,
technically starting last with a Clutch issue. Lap 9 saw Macauley Jones and
Jordan Boys in the #96 Pizza Hut Chevrolet pitted and fell to last, followed by
Nick Percat and Fabian Coulthard in the #2 NTI Ford.
The first car to hit trouble was Craig
Lowndes and Zane Goddard in the #888 SuperCheap Auto Chevrolet pulled into the
garage on Lap 18 with a broken Gear Lever Mount, losing 3 laps in repairs. They
would return to the Garage on Lap 33, losing another 2 laps.
Matt Payne and Kevin Estre in the #19
Penrite Ford went off at Turn 1, hitting the tires and getting stuck in the
same, triggering the first Safety car of the race and losing a lap while they
were retrieved.
Lap 38 saw Andre Heimgartner and Dale
Wood in the #8 R&J Batteries Holden gets turned around by Scott Pye and
Warren Luff in the #20 Toyota Forklifts Chevrolet at the final corner on Lap
39, triggering the second Safety Car of the race.
Jack Smith and Jaxon Evans in the #4 SCT
Logistics Chevrolet and Macauley Jones and Jordan Boys in the #96 Pizza Hut
Chevrolet collided, damaging the Front Suspension on car #96 and Rear
Suspension on car #4, sending both cars to the garage. Jones/Boys would drop to
last on Lap 48. Smith/Evans would lose 3 laps in repairs, slipping behind
Lowndes/Goddard, while Jones/Boys would lose 11 laps in repairs. They would
only stay out for one lap before returning to the garage, losing an additional
lap.
Lowndes and Goddard would remain last
until Lap 68 when within 2 laps, the bottom two would be determined. First,
Dale Wood, driving Andre Heimgartner's #8 R&J Batteries Chevrolet, retired
after the engine expired, causing a lot of smoke, oil and fire. Two laps later,
James Moffat, driving Cameron Waters' #6 Monster Energy Ford, hit the inside
wall and then the outside wall at the Dipper hard, destroying the right side of
the car. Moffat was able to almost drive the car back to the pits but got stuck
at the entrance to the pitlane and triggered a Safety Car.
For most of the race, the Bottom Five
would remain static, though Lowndes and Goddard would gradually slip behind
Smith and Jones as they continued to battle gear shifter issues, eventually
finishing 20 laps down. However, within the last 10 laps, Todd Hazelwood and
Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cooldrive Distribution Ford retired when the starter
motor failed with 15 to go, and they had to retire with 3 to go due to having
to take a pitstop. The final car out was Mark Winterbottom and Michael Caruso
in the #18 DeWalt Chevrolet, who ran out of fuel on the last lap.
Of major note is Richie Stanaway, who co-drove with Shane Van Gisbergen in the #97 Red Bull/Ampol Chevrolet to a comprehensive victory. These co-drives have served to help prove that Richie Stanaway is worthy of a main game seat and that the car was as much, if not more, of a problem at Tickford Racing and Garry Rodgers Motorsports as the driver. I hope Richie does well in 2024.
The Bottom Five
|
Andre Heimgartner/Dale Wood |
68 Laps |
Engine |
|
Cameron Waters/James Moffat |
70 Laps |
Crash |
|
Todd Hazelwood/Tim Blanchard |
156 Laps |
Starter Motor |
|
Mark Winterbottom/Michael Caruso |
160 Laps |
Out of Fuel |
|
Craig Lowndes/Zane Goddard |
141 Laps |
Running |
Driver
Championship
|
Pos |
Driver |
Last |
Bottom 3 |
Bottom 5 |
|
1 |
Cameron
Hill |
3 |
6 |
8 |
|
2 |
Declan Fraser |
2 |
7 |
11 |
|
3 |
Jack Smith |
2 |
5 |
8 |
|
4 |
David Reynolds |
2 |
4 |
5 |
|
5T |
Chaz Mostert |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
5T |
Broc Feeney |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
7T |
Nick Percat |
1 |
4 |
6 |
|
7T |
Thomas Randle |
1 |
4 |
6 |
|
7T |
Todd Hazelwood |
1 |
4 |
6 |
|
10 |
Tim Slade |
1 |
4 |
5 |
|
11 |
Cameron Waters |
1 |
3 |
4 |
|
12 |
Jack LeBrocq |
1 |
3 |
3 |
|
13 |
Mark Winterbottom |
1 |
2 |
4 |
|
14T |
Shane Van Gisbergen |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
14T |
Brodie Kostecki |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
16 |
Andre Heimgartner |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
17T |
Garth Tander |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
17T |
Dale Wood |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
18 |
James Courtney |
0 |
3 |
6 |
|
19 |
Macauley Jones |
0 |
2 |
7 |
|
20 |
Matthew Payne |
0 |
2 |
5 |
|
21 |
Will Brown |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
22T |
Anton De Pasquale |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
22T |
James Golding |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
22T |
Will Davison |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
25 |
Bryce Fullwood |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
26T |
Jaylyn Robotham |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
26T |
Garry Jacobson |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
26T |
James Moffat |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
26T |
Tim Blanchard |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
30T |
Scott Pye |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
30T |
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 |
4/4 |
11/4 |
12/4 |
|
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 |
Erebus Racing |
4 |
2/4 |
6/4 |
6/4 |
|
7 |
Brad Jones Racing |
8 |
4/8 |
10/8 |
20/8 |
|
8 |
Red Bull/Ampol Racing |
6 |
3/6 |
5/6 |
8/6 |
|
9 |
Premair Hire Racing |
4 |
1/4 |
5/4 |
7/4 |
|
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 |
Ford |
24 |
12/24 |
39/24 |
65/24 |
|
2 |
Chevrolet |
30 |
14/30 |
37/30 |
63/30 |
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