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.
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