Pye pissed after Turn 7 crash left him last at Adelaide Superloop 500

Original by Supercars/Fox Sports, Screenshot and Edited by me

Scott Pye picked up his 13th last-place finish of his career when his #2 - Holden was involved in a 2-car crash that ended his race after 25 of the race's 78 laps. The finish came in Pye's 191st start.

Scott Pye has settled in pretty good to Supercars after an extremely rough first couple of years in Supercars. Pye was 10th in Practice 1 but leapt to 4th in Practice 2. Pye fell to 10th in Practice 3, then fell to 15th in Qualifying. Pye then finished 6th in Practice 4.

Anton De Pasquale in the #99 Penrite Holden started the race in the rear after crashing early in qualifying, however, before the first race, Macauley Jones in the #21 Cooldrive Distribution Holden crashed heavily at turn 9 after Brake failure and was unable to compete in race 1, elevating Anton to Position 23.

Anton held last through the early stages, briefly trading last with Simona De Silvestro in the #78 - Nissan. In the first pitstop cycle on lap 10, Simona De Silvestro pitted, dropping to last, but passed Jack LeBrocq in the #19 Truck Assist Holden when Jack pitted on lap 15.

The last-place race heated up on lap 19 when Cameron Waters in the #6 Monster Energy Ford pulled into the garage with a cool suit failure, dropping him to last. Waters would lose 14 laps.

While Waters was in the garage, more specifically on lap 26 when Lee Holdsworth in the #5 Bottle-O Ford crashed into the tyre wall at turn 7, was collected Tim Slade in the #14 Freightliner Holden and Scott Pye in the #2 Mobil 1/Mega Bulk Fuels Holden, sending Holdsworth and Pye to the garage. Holdsworth lost 6 laps in repairs, but Pye's car was too damaged to continue. Pye dropped to last on lap 41. For Holdsworth, to add further insult to injury, he cut a left-rear tire on lap 60, dropping even further back.

Rounding out the bottom five was Jack LeBrocq in the #19 Truck Assist Holden, and Garry Jacobson in the #3 Rabble.club Nissan.

The Bottom Five

Scott Pye	25 Laps	Crash
Cameron Waters	64 Laps	Running
Lee Holdsworth	72 Laps	Running
Jack LeBrocq	77 Laps	Running
Garry Jacobson	77 Laps	Running

Driver’s Championship

Driver	Car #	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
Scott Pye	2	1	1	1
Cameron Waters	6	0	1	1
Lee Holdsworth	5	0	1	1
Jack LeBrocq	19	0	0	1
Garry Jacobson	3	0	0	1

2019 Supercars: Many Milestones! Some other stuff too.

So, this is going to be a combination of the fact-facts article on Supercars, as well as my thoughts about the upcoming 2019 season.

So first off, there are many milestones that will be reached by drivers and tracks in 2019.

Firstly, and most importantly, the fourth race at Albert Park will be the 1000th race in Supercars history.

Secondly, the Adelaide 500 will be hosting its 20th events.

Thirdly, the Auckland Supersprint will be holding its 15th event. (this will be #14 as a championship round).

And, provided they don't miss any races for whatever reason, the following drivers will reach race milestones.

At the 1st race at Newcastle, Chazz Mostert will celebrate his 200th race start.

At the 2nd race at Tailem Bend, Fabian Coulthard will celebrate his 400th race start.

At the 1st race at Winton, Scott Pye will celebrate his 200th race start.

At the 2nd race at Symmonds Plains, Scott McLaughlin will celebrate his 200th race start.

At the 2nd race of the Superloop 500, James Courtney will celebrate his 200th race start.

At the 1st race at Hidden Valley, Tim Slade will celebrate his 300th race start.

At the 2nd race at Queensland Raceway, David Reynolds will celebrate his 300th race start.

All 5 rookies will rack up 50 races this year, though due to past appearances they will reach that number at different times.

At the 2nd race at Albert Park, Jack LeBrocq will celebrate his 50th race start.

At the 2nd race at Symmonds Plains, James Golding will celebrate his 50th race start.

At the 1st race at Winton, Richie Stanaway will celebrate his 50th race start.

At the 2nd race at Hidden Valley, Todd Hazelwood will celebrate his 50th race start.

Finally, at the 1st race at The Bend, Anton De Pasquale will celebrate his 50th race start.

At the 1st race at Philip Island, Andre Heimgartner will celebrate his 100th race start.

And finally, the 1st race at Auckland, Simona De Silvestro will celebrate her 100th race start.

Aside from the obvious rounds, I’m particularly looking forward to the Barbagallo night race. I’m., of course, a bit disappointed that Eastern Creek isn’t getting a night race, but I understand why, and I’m OK with it.

For several drivers, most notably Todd Hazelwood, Richie Stanaway, Fabian Coulthard and Lee Holdsworth, this season is make-or-break. Coulthard could be replaced by Chazz Mostert in the #12 if he doesn’t perform. This is also Stanaway’s chance, he must grab this chance by the horns and perform or he won’t get a third chance. Hazelwood must live up to expectations more this year and should be running around Jack LeBrocq for most of the year, as the teams they drive for are both satellite teams of Holden Red Bull Racing. Finally, Tickford has performance clauses in their contracts, so Holdsworth must perform.

This will be an interesting year, I will also be interested to see how the new Mustang performs, also, looking ahead to 2020, see how the Chevy Camaro will compete.

Overall, with this weekend being the first round, this is going to be intense, especially as it’s going to be VERY HOT (37-40 every day except Sunday, and even Sunday will be about 30), so we’ll see how everybody copes, and how many DNF due to the heat.

I will, of course, be tracking every last-place finish of this series, as well as a lot of other things related to this series. Please follow this blog, and share it with your friends who also enjoy Supercars.

2019 Supercars Entry List CONFIRMED! W/Garry Jacobson Confirmation

Entry list for the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars series.

This list is as much for me as it is for you readers.

Driver	No.	Team	Sponsor
Jamie Whincup	88	Red Bull Holden Racing Team	Holden/Red Bull
Shane Van Gisbergen	97	Red Bull Holden Racing Team	Holden/Red Bull
Jack LeBrocq	19	Tekno Autosports	Truck Assist
Scott McLaughlin	17	DJR Team Penske	Shell V-Power
Fabian Coulthard	12	DJR Team Penske	Shell V-Power
David Reynolds	9	Erebus Motorsports	Penrite Oils/Enviro Box
Anton De Pasquale/	99	Erebus Motorsports	Penrite Oils/Enviro Box
Rick Kelly	15	Kelly Racing	Castrol
Andre Heimgartner	7	Kelly Racing	Plus Fitness (NZ Livery)
Simona De Silvestro	78	Kelly Racing	Harvey Norman
Garry Jacobson	3	Kelly Racing	Rabble.club
Tim Slade	14	Brad Jones Racing	Freightliner Trucks
Nick Percat	8	Brad Jones Racing	Timken
Macauley Jones	21	Brad Jones Racing	Cooldrive Distribution
Lee Holdsworth	5	Tickford Racing	Bottle-O
Cameron Waters	6	Tickford Racing	Monster Energy
Chaz Mostert	55	Tickford Racing	Supercheap Auto
Will Davison	23	23Red Racing	Milwaukee Tools
Scott Pye	2	Walkinshaw Andretti United	Winning Appliances/Mobil 1
James Courtney	22	Walkinshaw Andretti United	Appliances Online/Mobil 1
Mark Winterbottom	18	Irwin Racing	Irwin Tools/Fuchs
Richie Stanaway	33	Garry Rodgers Motorsports	Boost Mobile
James Golding	34	Garry Rodgers Motorsports	Boost Mobile
Todd Hazelwood	35	Matt Stone Racing	SS Signs

Michael Caruso out, 2019 grid seemingly set.

Well, Michael Caruso's out of his ride at Nissan Motorsports in 2019. He's been at Kelly Motorsports for six years but hasn't made much in the win column. 2 wins in 11 years.

Kelly Racing confirms that Michael Caruso will not be returning with the team in 2019. Michael joined the team ahead of the 2013 season alongside the Nissan Supercar program. Since 2013, Michael has been an outstanding ambassador of the team and his on-track success delivered the team's second victory during the Nissan Motorsport era with a win at Darwin in 2016. Kelly Racing thanks Michael for his contribution over the last six seasons and we wish him the best with his future endeavors.

Well, for poor Michael Caruso, there isn't really much in the way of "future endeavors", like Tander before him, his full-time career is (most likely) over. Caruso had a tough 2018 season, finishing 3rd in the 2018 Last-Place championship with 3 Last-Place Finishes, 6 Bottom 3 finishes and 8 Bottom 5 appearances just in 2018.

His first last-place finish was race 2 at Barbagallo Raceway with Wheel Hub dramas, while both of his other 2 last-place finishes cam at Townsville. Race 1's last-place finish was due to Electrical dramas, while the Race 2 last-place finish after he collided with Anton De Pasquale on lap 60, sending him hard into the tires.

So, who will replace Caruso? Well, there really is only one candidate, and it's an obvious one.

Garry Jacobson.

It makes sense, he's a former Super2 Championship winner, and he's got talent and sponsorship. We'll have to wait and see how he goes in the main game.

Disappointing for Michael Caruso, but a big opportunity for Garry Jacobson to show what he can do.

So, Rookie of the Year will be contested by Macauley Jones in the #21 for Brad Jones Racing, and Garry Jacobson, possibly in the #23 for Kelly Racing. We'll see over the next two weeks.

Why do drivers from outside Australia and New Zealand (almost) always struggle in Supercars

So. With 2 years down, Simona De Silvestro has, a top 10, but not much else to show.

Some idiots are claiming that this because she's a woman. This is not true.

There is actually a better reason why Simona's struggling. Well, there are multiple reasons, but the main reason why Simona's struggling is a similar reason to why Maro Engel, Robert Dahlgren, and many others have struggled in the Supercars series.

Put simply, in my view, it's because they're not from Australia or New Zealand. Let me explain. But before I do, let me note the few exceptions to this.

Firstly and most obviously. Allan Moffat. He's from Canada, and he got four wins at Bathurst and four Championships.

The other notable "exception" is Alex Premat.

I will note Alex Premat because he has only tasted success as a co-driver to Scott McLaughlin. He struggled badly as a full-time driver and only started doing well as an endurance driver.

So, those are the most notable exceptions to the rule.

Also, to note, Simona De Silvestro is covered by this rule, as she's from Switzerland.

Now, onto the main reason why people not from Australia or New Zealand struggle in the Supercars. And there's one very good reason why. It's because they're not used to the Supercars.

Let me explain.

If you work your way up to the Supercars series in either Australia or New Zealand, and particularly if you're racing in Super 3 or Super 2, you will be racing cars that are similar, though older, to the main game cars. This gives you experience in those cars, so you (theoretically) have an idea of how they work.

However, if you are not from Australia or New Zealand, then its unlikely you'll have encountered these Supercars. And they're unique cars so it can be very hard for someone not used to the cars to adjust.

This is also why so many drivers from outside the US, again, with very few exceptions, struggle with NASCAR. Juan Paublo Montoya and Marcos Ambrose being the two big examples of very successful drivers from other motorsport series (IndyCar and Supercars respectively) not making that bigger splash in NASCAR.

(Of note: Both of them did impress on the Road Courses).

Australia Supercars are unique machines, and the field today is ultra-competitive, so if you're not in sync with the car and the track, you're down the back, and it doesn't matter if you're Tim Blanchard or Jamie Whincup.

So, to put it succinctly, the reason why racers not from Australia or New Zealand tend to struggle in the Supercars series is that they're not used to the unique cars we race.

As for Simona specifically, it at least in part because the team isn't that great. Sure, Rick Kelly can wheel his car around really well, but the rest, not so much.

I'll be returning to Last-Place finishes soon, as well as doing potential other hot takes in the future, so please follow me on Twitter and this Blog.

Garth Tander Co-Driver to Shane Van Gisbergen. A follow-up to Garth Tander's full-time career is over. Why?

So, It's time I did a follow-up to my announcement that Garth Tander is being shunted by Garry Rodgers Motosrsports, by discussing what is going to be the second most powerful Enduro Pair in this field.

Shane Van Gisbergen/Garth Tander.

With Garth Tander turfed out of GRM to make way for Richie Stanaway and Boost Mobile, he's now part of Holden Red Bull Racing Team as a co-driver of Shane Van Gisbergen at Bathurst, Gold Coast and Sandown.

So this is going to be an incredible pairing, and these two, who have been racing each other since Shane Van Gisbergen joined the Supercars at Oran Park in 2007, are going to be tough to beat.

Well, if it wasn't for probably the greatest pairing in the modern era, a pairing so strong that the rules had to be changed to split them up.

Of course, I'm talking about the re-uniting of Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes as the other pairing.

This is also a big opportunity for Craig Lowndes to see if he can reach the 9 Bathurst wins of the legendary Peter Brock. Considering that Craig Lowndes already has 7 Bathurst wins, 9 is not out of the question.

The worst part of Garth Tander being turfed out of GRM, is that 2019 was going to be Tander's final full-time year, he ahd basically already announced it.

Anyway, there are several very strong pairings heading into the 2019 Pirtek Enduro cup, and it'll be very interesting to see who wins.

Tune in next week when I explain why, with only two exceptions (Allan Moffat and, as a Co-Driver, Alex Premat), drivers coming to the Supercars from outside AUstralia or New Zealand have struggled.

Garth Tander's full-time career is over. Why?

So, Garth Tander’s been pushed into retirement.

Yes, you read that correct. Garth Tander’s full-time Supercars career is over. I was nearly correct with my prediction that, after Craig Lowndes announced his retirement that Garth Tander would be next (Though that as scuttled by Blanchard).

And all evidence points to Tander being pushed by Garry Rodgers, who wanted to “future proof” his team, by having 2 2^nd-year drivers in his team, Richie Stanaway and James Golding.

Now, it should be made abundantly clear that Garth Tander was contracted through to the end of 2019. Was there a clause in the contract, like with Stanaway? It seems so. Especially since Stanaway has brought a sponsor with him, Boost Mobile.

As I have hinted earlier, the main reason why Tander's out and Stanaway's in is sponsorship. With Wilson Security out, Garth Tander would have needed another sponsor, while Stanaway had one.

Now despite this, I disagree with GRM’s decision. I understand where they’re coming from, but Tander should have been given the kind of send-off that Craig Lowndes got last year, not treated like this.

Will Garth continue as a co-driver? Likely. Garth Tander/Shane Van Gisbergen would be a killer Co-Driver/Main Gamer Drive combo on par with Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup that was announced recently.

To be honest, this decision could, and there’s a good chance it will, come back to bite GRM, as Stanaway has had a very rough first season, as I’ve documented multiple times. And the move to GRM, as well as replacing Garth Tander, means Stanaway is going to have to show some of the brilliance he showed in Super 2 to really fill Tander’s massive shoes.

So, in summary, Tander out with his full-time career done, Stanaway in, and he has BIG shoes to fill. Stanaway has a sponsor, but Tander should have been given a similar send-off to what Lowndes got in 2017.