Repco Australia Superlastcar Championship: Electrical issue leaves Macauley Jones last at Taupō

Friday, 11 April 2025

Electrical issue leaves Macauley Jones last at Taupō

Credit:Pace Images by Ben Roehlen, edited by me

Macauley Jones picked up the 10th last-place finish of his career when his #96 Wendy’s Chevrolet retired with an electrical issue after 9 of the race’s 37 laps. The finish came at Jones’s 202nd race start.

The son of Brad Jones, Macauley Jones, is in his 7th full-time season. He spent his first two years with Tim Blanchard Racing before moving to Brad Jones Racing in 2021, where he would secure a last-place championship. However, until this race, Macauley Jones went 93 races without a last-place finish and all of 2023 without a single DNF. Despite this, Macca’s best finish remains 6th. Macca was 21st in Practice 1 and improved to 20th in Practice 2, where he stayed in Qualifying.

James Courtney (#7 Snowy River Caravans Ford) started at the back of the field, but overtook his teammate Aaron Cameron (#3 Cooldrive Distribution Ford) on the first turn. At turn 7, Cameron Hill (#4 Supaglass Chevrolet) bumped Cooper Murray (#99 TTG Chevrolet) off the road. The contact sent Murray to last. Officials penalised Hill 15 seconds.

Pit stops started Lap 8 with Nick Percat (#10 Bendix/Supaglass Chevrolet), dropping him to last.

Macauley Jones’s (#96 Wendy’s Chevrolet) electrical issue on lap 10 brought out the first safety car and secured last place.

Because of a second spin, Cooper Murray (#99 TTG Chevrolet) ended up in the Bottom 5. This spin was thanks to James Courtney (#7 Snowy River Caravans Ford). Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Ford) finishes 23rd after penalties. James Courtney (#7 Snowy River Caravans Ford) and Aaron Cameron (#3 Cooldrive Distribution Ford) round out the Bottom Five.

The Bottom Five

Macauley Jones	9 Laps	Electrical
Cooper Murray	37 Laps	Running
Thomas Randle	37 Laps	Running
James Courtney	37 Laps	Running
Aaron Cameron	37 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Pos	Driver	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Cooper Murray	1	4	4
2T	Richie Stanaway	1	2	3
2T	James Golding	1	2	3
4T	Aaron Love	1	2	2
4T	Cameron Crick	1	2	2
6	Jack LeBrocq	1	2	3
7	Macauley Jones	1	1	1
8T	David Reynolds	0	1	3
8T	Aaron Cameron	0	1	3
10T	Will Davison	0	1	2
10T	Kai Allen	0	1	2
10T	Thomas Randle	0	1	2
13T	Ryan Wood	0	1	1
13T	Bryce Fullwood	0	1	1
13T	Chaz Mostert	0	1	1
16T	Nick Percat	0	0	1
16T	Cameron Hill	0	0	1
16T	James Courtney	0	0	1

Team's Championship

Pos	Team	Drivers	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1T	Nulon Racing	2	2/2	4/2	6/2
1T	Erebus Motorsports	2	2/2	4/2	6/2
3	Blanchard Racing Team	3	1/3	3/3	5/3
4	Matt Stone Racing	3	1/3	2/3	4/3
5	Brad Jones Racing	4	1/4	1/4	2/4
6	Walkinshaw Andretti United	2	0	2/2	2/2
7	Team 18	2	0	1/2	3/2
8T	Dick Johnson Racing	2	0	1/2	2/2
8T	Grove Racing	2	0	1/2	2/2
8T	Tickford Racing	2	0	1/2	2/2

Manufacturer's Championship

Pos	Manufacturer	Drivers	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Chevrolet	15	6/15	13/15	17/15
2	Ford	11	1/11	8/11	13/11

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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.