Repco Australia Superlastcar Championship

Sunday, 6 March 2016

Wet conditions leave rookie Russell last at Adelaide

Aaren Russell picked up his 1^st last-place finish of his career when his #4 Plus Fitness / Penrite Holden crashed into the turn 8 barrier during the warm-up lap of the shortened 48 laps of the third race of the season. The finish came in Russell's 4^th start.

The field contacted to 25 for the third race after Chris Pither and the #111 Ice Break Ford withdrew after a hard crash in the second race. James Moffat in the #34 Wilson Security/Valvoline Volvo started the race in the rear after a Power Steering failure during qualifying, however the rain came before the start, and Aaren Russell in the #4 Plus Fitness/Penrite Holden crashed into the turn 8 barrier on the warm-up lap, damaging his car and dropping him to the rear.

The rain also meant that the first six laps were completed under the Safety Car. Within a lap James Moffat in the #34 Wilson Security/Valvoline suffered Suspsension damage and pulled into the garage, dropping to 24th, 10 laps off the leaders, however with the high attrition of the race Moffat got to the last car in the bottom five.

Splitting Russell and Moffat was Chazz Mostert in the #55 Supercheap Auto Ford, crashing heavily on lap 28, Dale Wood in the #96 GB Galvinising/Advan Nissan who retired on lap 30 for unknown reasons. Rounding out the bottom five was James Courtney in the #22 SP Tools Holden on lap 34, crashing heavily in Turn 8 while leading, however with many cautions and a Red Flag meant that Courtney could get back out and be classified.

The Bottom Five

Aaren Russell	0 Laps	Crash
Chazz Mostert	27 Laps	Crash
Dale Wood	30 Laps	Unknown
James Moffat	38 Laps	Running
James Courtney	41 Laps	Running

2016 Australian V8 LASTCAR Standings

Driver's Championship

Tim Slade, Nick Percat, Aaren Russell: 1

Team's Championship

BOC Racing, Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports, Erebus Motorsports: 1

Manufacturer’s Championship

Holden: 3

Pre-Race Failure leaves Percat last at Adelaide.

Nick Percat picked up his 6th last-place finish of his career when Electrical issues prevented the #222 SP Tools/Torini Holden from starting the second race of the year. The finish came in Percat's 81st race start.

Nick Percat in the #222 SP Tools/Torini Holden suffered an Electrical issues before the race began, pulling off the track before the race began, retiring before the race began and finishing last.

Next to fall out was Chris Pither in the #111 Ice Break Ford when car #111 hit the wall at turn 8 on lap 2, first hitting the outside wall then slamming the inside wall, ending his weekend and triggering the first safety car of the race.

On lap 11 disaster struck for Garth Tander in the #2 SP Tools Holden, with a starter motor drama on lap 11, losing 4 laps. Coming back out onto the track, he was hit by Tim Blanchard in the #21 Cooldrive Holden, damaging the Radiator in car #21, with the debris from the collision triggered the second safety car of the race. Blanchard lost 6 laps and fell behind Tander in the standings. Aaren Russell in the #4 Plus Fitness/Penrite Holden rounded out the bottom five.

The Bottom Five

Nick Percat	0 Laps	Did Not Start
Chris Pither	1 Lap	Crash
Tim Blanchard	33 Laps	Running
Garth Tander	35 Laps	Running
Aaren Russell	39 Laps	Running

2016 Australian V8 LASTCAR Standings

Driver's Championship

Tim Slade, Nick Percat: 1

Team's Championship

BOC Racing, Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports: 1

Manufacturer’s Championship

Holden: 2

BOC Racing fuming after Slade finishes last at Adelaide.

Tim Slade picked up his 6th last-place finish of his career when his #14 Freightliner Holden stalled at the entrance of turn nine after 12 of the race's 39 laps. The finish came in Slade's 218th race start.

Aaren Russell started the race in the rear in the #4 Plus Fitness/Penrite Holden, and almost immediately Tim Blanchard in the #21 Cooldrive Distribution Holden fell to the rear, with Holdsworth in the #18 Preston Hire Holden got spun to last in turn 6. Holdsworth held it until lap 5 when last-place was shared by Chazz Mostert in the #55 Supercheap Auto Holden on lap 5, Jason Bright in the #8 BOC Holden on lap 6, then Nick Percat in the #222 SP Tools/Torini Holden on lap 10.

Suddenly on lap 12 Tim Slade in the #14 Freightliner Holden stopped at the entrance of Turn 9, with the Gearbox unable to engage reverse gear, triggering the only Safety Car of the race and dropping Slade to the rear of the field.

Rounding out the bottom five was Aaren Russell in the #4 Plus Fitness/Penrite Holden, Tim Blanchard in the #21 Cooldrive Distribution Holden, Lee Holdsworth in the #18 Preston Hire Holden and Andre Heimgarnter in the #3 SP Tools/Torini Holden.

The Bottom Five

Tim Slade	12 Laps	Stalled
Aaren Russell	39 Laps	Running
Tim Blanchard	39 Laps	Running
Lee Holdsworth	39 Laps	Running
Andre Heimgartner	39 Laps	Running

2016 Australian V8 LASTCAR Standings

Driver's Championship

Tim Slade: 1

Team's Championship

BOC Racing: 1

Manufacturer’s Championship

Holden: 1

Tuesday, 9 February 2016

A Rant about the 2016 Australian V8 Super car and LASTCAR series

With the 2016 Australian V8 Supercars and 2016 Australian V8 LASTCAR championship less than a month away, I have decided to do a blog post on the rule changes for 2016.

Firstly I would like to take the new rules for 2016, applying to both the V8 Supercars and the V8 LASTCAR series. V8 LASTCAR first.

As you may know, I've decided to change the counter for how many rounds a driver has started to how many races a driver has started, This is two-fold. First, it's much easier to keep track of how many races a driver has started and secondly for race start milestones drivers reach. Next is one I didn't announce in the original article but I will talk about here.

So I have been looking for a way to make the team's and manufacturer's championship more balanced. I have decided that the formula for determinging the Team's championship will go back to the number of last-place finishes a team's drivers have divided by the number of entries the team has. This means that Red Bull Racing Australia, for example, will have the number of combined last place finishes Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes and Shane Van Gisbergen get divided by three. With Pepsi Max Crew it will be four, including Super Black Racing. I will do something similar with the manufacturer's championship, with all of the last-place finishes for a Manufacturer collated, then divided by the number of drivers who finished last while driving for that particular manufacturer. For example, if seven Holden drivers finished last 11 times during a season, then the average last-place finishes will be 11/7.

Now onto the rule changes for the 2016 Australian V8 Supercar championship.

The testing rules have been altered,with one testing day being added prior to the Clipsal 500, with, in addition to but with no compulsory two-day season launch this year, teams have one effective extra independent testing day. This is good, although the teams must test with the Dunlop Series counterpart, which I also don't mind. This also means that smaller teams can get a bit better, but it will be interesting to see how the testing days will be used.

Something else I like is the SuperSprint Saturdays, which will revert to just one 120km race, instead of 2 60km races, with one fifteen minute qualifying session instead of two ten minute qualifying sessions like they had last year. This is a great change, as the ten minute sessions were too short for good qualifying sessions, and this should make qualifying more interesting.

However, not everything I agree with. The only races this year that will run pure hard tyre races will be Pukekhoe, Bathurst and Philip Island. One race will be run on Saturday at the Adelaide street circuit on all soft tires. That is stupid, the heat of the track, combined with the fact that the track is quite abrasive, will destroy the soft tires. It will be chaos, mark my words. It gets worse for Adelaide though, as there are big kerbs, and it wasthe kerbing that destroyed the right-rear tire on Lowndes' car at Pukekhoe thatgave him his only last-place finish of 2015, and the fate of the Soft tire could go the way of the Soft tire on Lowndes' car at Pukekhoe.

Next up is the tire allocation, which has been increased for 2016 from 324 tires to 400. This is very good news, as there were a lot of uneventful races due to tire allocation issues during several rounds of the championship. I hope the racing will be better in 2016 than it was in 2015.

Sadly the Australian Formula One Australian Grand Prix support races still don't pay points in 2016. Here I issue an ultimatum to the V8 Supercar elite guys. Make Albert Park a Points-Paying round, or leave. Far too much equipment is being torn up, and at this stage there is no reason to race there. The only way there could be purpose to this round of the championship would be to make the Albert Park round pay points.

So, expect the first articles of 2016 to come up in the first weekend of March.

Monday, 7 December 2015

Hard crash leaves Slade last at Homebush

Tim Slade picked up his 5^th last-place finish of his career when his #47 Supercheap Auto Holden was involved in a hard single-car crash that ended his race after 8 of the race's 74 laps. The finish came in Slade's 105^th round start.

Steve Owen started the race in the rear in the #6 Pepsi Max Ford, however by the end of lap 1 Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cooldrive Holden had fallen to the rear after pitting on lap 1, where he stayed until calamity strikes on lap 11 when Tim Slade in the #47 Supercheap Auto Holden suffered a jammed throttle, slamming into the wall in the second-to-final corner, bringing out the first caution of the race.

Next to fall out was Steve Owen in the #6 Pepsi Max Ford after a turgid race, firstly tangling with Alex Davison in the #4 Wendy's Mercedes, then forced to the garage for the first time on lap 50 with electrical issues and although Owen got back out, multiple trips into the garage dropped Owen 13 laps down. Car #6 was eventually KO'ed by suspension failure on lap 68. The final car to retire from the race occurred with just 2 laps to go when Chris Pither in the unsponsored #111 Super Black Racing Ford tangled with David Wall in the #34 Wilson Security/Valvoline Volvo, James Moffat in the #99 Faresin Nissan and Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cooldrive Holden, destroying car #111. Rounding out the bottom five was Dale Wood in the #21 ADVAM/GB Galvanising Holden after a mid-race crash cost him five laps and Jack Perkins after late-race engine issues dropped him down five laps to the leaders.

The bottom five

Tim Slade	8 Laps	Crash
Steve Owen	52 Laps	Suspension
Chris Pither	72 Laps	Crash
Dale Wood	69 Laps	Running
Jack Perkins	69 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Scott McLaughlin: 6 (Driver's Champion)

Nick Percat: 4

Ashley Walsh, James Moffat: 3

Will Davison, Andre Heimgartner, Todd Kelly, Lee Holdsworth, David Wall: 2

Garth Tander, Chazz Mostert, Jason Bright, Chris Pither, Sebastien Bourdais, Jack LeBrocq, Craig Lowndes, David Reynolds, Tim Blanchard, Steve Owen, Tim Slade: 1

Team's Championship

Gary Rodgers Motorsports: 8 (Team's champion)

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports: 6

Erebus Motorsport: 5

Nissan Motorsports: 3

Super Black Racing, Brad Jones Racing, Jack Daniel's Racing, Charlie Schwerkolt Racing, Prodrive Racing Australia, Supercheap Auto Racing: 2

Holden Racing Team, Red Bull Racing Australia, Rod Nash Racing/Prodrive Racing Australia: 1

Manufacturer's Championship:

Holden: 11 (Manufacturer's champion)

Volvo: 8

Mercedes: 6

Nissan, Ford: 5

Quick announcement: I'm going to change the number of round starts a driver has to the number of race starts. It makes it much easier to keep track.

Engine sensor failure leaves Owen last at Homebush

Steve Owen picked up his 8th last-place finish of his career when his #6 Pepsi Max Ford retired with Engine failure after 8 of the race's 27 laps. The finish came in Owen's 98th round start.

Tim Slade in the #47 Supercheap Auto Holden started the race in the rear, however by lap 3 Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cooldrive Holden had fallen to the rear, which he held until lap 8 when Steve Owen in the #6 Pepsi Max Ford fell to the rear, with disaster befalling car #6 on lap 10, ? leaving the car stranded on the exit of turn 1 and triggering the first/only safety car of the race.

The only other retirement of the race was James Moffat in the #99 Faresin Nissan, who crashed over the kerbs in the 2-3-4 chicane on lap 18, tearing the right-front wheel out of car #99, knocking Moffat out of the race. Rounding out the bottom five was Jason Bright in the #8 BOC Holden, after losing 2 laps with rear suspension issues, Alex Davison in the #4 Wendy's Mercedes and Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cooldrive Holden.

The Bottom Five

Steve Owen	8 Laps	Engine
James Moffat	17 Laps	Suspension
Jason Bright	35 Laps	Running
Alex Davison	37 Laps	Running
Tim Blanchard	37 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Scott McLaughlin: 6 (Driver's Champion)

Nick Percat: 4

Ashley Walsh, James Moffat: 3

Will Davison, Andre Heimgartner, Todd Kelly, Lee Holdsworth, David Wall: 2

Garth Tander, Chazz Mostert, Jason Bright, Chris Pither, Sebastien Bourdais, Jack LeBrocq, Craig Lowndes, David Reynolds, Tim Blanchard, Steve Owen: 1

Team's Championship

Gary Rodgers Motorsports: 8 (Team's champion)

Erebus Motorsport, Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports: 5

Nissan Motorsports: 3

Super Black Racing, Brad Jones Racing, Jack Daniel's Racing, Charlie Schwerkolt Racing, Prodrive Racing Australia: 2

Holden Racing Team, Red Bull Racing Australia, Rod Nash Racing/Prodrive Racing Australia: 1

Manufacturer's Championship:

Holden: 10 (Manufacturer's champion)

Volvo: 8

Mercedes: 6

Nissan, Ford: 5

McLaughlin seals title after Blanchard finishes last at Homebush

Tim Blanchard picked up his 2^nd last-place finish of his career when his #3 Cooldrive Holden finished under power, 5 laps down in the first race at Homebush at Sydney. The finish came in Blanchard's 36^th race start.

Craig Lowndes started the race in the rear after a qualifying crash in the #888 Red Bull Racing Australia Holden, however contact on the first corner of the first lap put James Mofatt in the #99 Faresin Nissan collided with Jamie Whincup in the #1 Red Bull Racing Australia Holden, damaging the steering on Moffat's car and sending car #99 to the rear, 2 laps down.

Moffat stayed in last until lap 19 when Tim Blanchard in the #3 Cooldrive Holden headed to the garage with engine issues on lap 19, dropping to the rear on lap 22. Blanchard returned to the track in lap 24, 4 laps down.

Rounding out the bottom five was Chris Pither in the unsponsored #111 Super Black Racing Holden, who dropped a lap late in the race, Garth Tander in the #2 - Holden pitted a second time on lap 9 with a right-rear wheel nut failure and Alex Davison in the #4 Wendy's Mercedes.

Statistics

With Nick Percat not participating in the final round, Scott Mclaughlin has taken out the 2015 Australian V8 LASTCAR Driver's Championship. Additionally, Gary Rodgers Motorsport has taken out the 2015 Australian V8 LASTCAR Team's Championship, with McLaughlin on 6 last-place finishes and David Wall on 2 last-place finishes.

The Bottom Five

Tim Blanchard	32 Laps	Running
James Moffat	34 Laps	Running
Chris Pither	36 Laps	Running
Garth Tander	37 Laps	Running
Alex Davison	37 Laps	Running

Driver's Championship

Scott McLaughlin: 6 (Driver's Champion)

Nick Percat: 4

Ashley Walsh, James Moffat: 3

Will Davison, Andre Heimgartner, Todd Kelly, Lee Holdsworth, David Wall: 2

Garth Tander, Chazz Mostert, Jason Bright, Chris Pither, Sebastien Bourdais, Jack LeBrocq, Craig Lowndes, David Reynolds, Tim Blanchard: 1

Team's Championship

Gary Rodgers Motorsports: 8 (Team's champion)

Erebus Motorsport: 5

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports: 4

Nissan Motorsports: 3

Super Black Racing, Brad Jones Racing, Jack Daniel's Racing, Charlie Schwerkolt Racing: 2

Holden Racing Team, Prodrive Racing Australia, Red Bull Racing Australia, Rod Nash Racing/Prodrive Racing Australia: 1

Manufacturer's Championship:

Holden: 10 (Manufacturer's champion)

Volvo: 8

Mercedes: 6

Nissan: 5

Ford: 4

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.