*****Virgin Australia Supercars Championship 2019*****

[Psymonkee]

That would be epic. It's only a 24 car field this year so a few wildcard entries would be nice!

Also guess who forgot to make their picks for races 5 & 6? This guy right here!

 

[timmeh]

That would be epic. It's only a 24 car field this year so a few wildcard entries would be nice!

Also guess who forgot to make their picks for races 5 & 6? This guy right here!

I don't think it'd be a wildcard, he'd be a co-driver. Zak Brown part-owns one of the teams so he could potentially co-drive with Scott Pye or James Courtney.

I completely forgot to make my picks too :facepalm:

 

[Psymonkee]

Spoiler: Race 5

Well **** me sideways! What a lot of drama in Race 5 - an entire front row of the grid missing due to an outlap collision!? Stanaway being a dick? SVG loses a wheel?! All in 25 laps - mental!

 

[Psymonkee]

Tyrepower Tasmania Supersprint:


Race Format: Supersprint
Length: 1 x 120km (50 laps), 1 x 200km (84 laps)
2018 Winner: Craig Lowndes (Overall)
Qualifying Record: 50.9676s - Jamie Whincup
Race Record: 51.4370s - Jamie Whincup

A bunch of news for this weekend again! Centre of Gravity testing carried out on the cars and the Mustangs and some Holdens now have had to put extra ballast into the roof of their cars. Current guess work seems to suggest somewhere around 25kg ballast so some possible changes to performance coming this weekend?

Erebus have a new front upright ready for this weekend which is likely to give them a boost.

F1 style knockout qualifying this weekend to try and ease congestion on the track given it's freaking tiny!

Finally some soft Parc Ferme rules are being tested this weekend but what exactly they restrict still isn't all that clear. It seems like cars nearer the back will be able to tweak their cars more than those upfront? Find out soon enough!


Lastly: If you have inherited the powers of Nostradamus go ahead and make your tipping predicitons for this weekend too!

 

[timmeh]

Im interested to see what impact the CoG changes have. Apparently it was David Reynolds that complained about the Mustang's performance. Something needed to change but hopefully it hasn't reversed it and put the Holdens way out in front now.

Glad to have it back, it feels like it's been forever since Melbourne!

 

[Psymonkee]

I've only just got around to watching the Tasmania round and there's more racing this weekend! Relatively uneventful action this weekend so not much to go over - On to the next!

WD40 Philip Island Supersprint:

Race Format: Supersprint
Length: 1 x 120km (27 laps), 1 x 200km (45 laps)
2018 Winner: Scott McLaughlin (Overall)
Qualifying Record: 1:29.0621 - Scott McLaughlin (2017)
Race Record: 1:31.2142 - Scott McLaughlin (2017)

Got pit lane closures under Safety Car to stop double stacking and I think continuation of Parc Ferme rules too!

Good fast track with some great overtaking opportunites at turns 1, 4 and 10. Obviously the main straight too if you get a good run off the last corner.

If anyone is still bothering with the tipping contest you have until midnight Friday into Saturday. I think. It's confusing!

 

[SoliD]

More shell domination. Some good racing throughout the field though. Loved the got intro for Phillip Island!

Needed a late sc in that race as slade would have been good to watch with the fresh tyre.

 

[Psymonkee]

Yeah but the Shell domination is all about to change!

New aero modifications to slow them down as despite passing testing at the end of last year it seems they forgot to check the aero in the corners

 

[timmeh]

I'm hoping it brings them closer together. It's been a little boring having the Mustangs driving off into the distance.

 

[Psymonkee]

Hopefully so but also how about doing something to bring the Nissan's up to the pointy end? They show up and win 1 race a year by random luck which sucks. I can see why Nissan pulled out!

 

[Psymonkee]

Been massively sidetracked due to work/housework and nearly forgot to post this rounds track map etc.

Pirtek Perth SuperNight


Race Format: Supersprint
Length: 1 x 120km (50 laps), 1 x 200km (83 laps)
2018 Winner: Scott McLaughlin (Overall)
Lap Record: 0:55.9440 - Jason Bright (2004)

Biggest news for this weekend is the surface was relaid very recently and is now nice and smooth and far less abrasive to the tyres so this weekend the teams are going in somewhat blind! You might also notice the lap record goes all the way back to 2004(!) so with an extra grippy surface expect this time to be demolished!

Aero changes have happened with the endplates and rear wing seemingly being altered on the Mustangs at the very least (I've not read up fully yet!) so yet more unknowns for them this weekend.

Qualifying format is the F1 style due to the very short track and the difficulty finding space given the dive down the hill into the last corner.

Best news of all? Race 1 is on Friday morning (11.45am!) and Race 2 the same time on Saturday! We can actually watch it live if we want without being up at stupid o'clock!

Oh and don't forget your tipping entries!

 

[timmeh]

5:45am for me but I’ll probably be awake anyway

I’m hoping the aero changes have mixed it up a bit, the racing has definitely taken a hit this year with the Mustangs dominating.

 

[Entai]

Personally it is completely wrong to penalise a team who have forward thinking and ingenuity.

Its up to the other teams to catch up, NOT the organisers to penalise a team that has done nothing illegal.

I certainly hope that the mustangs continue to dominate totally.

 

[timmeh]

True, I just want to see some close racing

I wonder why they didn’t give the same assistance to Merc and Nissan

 

[Psymonkee]

That's the thing entirely - if they want to cripple the Mustangs they've got to give the Nissans a boost at the same time since they flat out suck. I'd really like to see how Simona performs with a decent car under her and see if she's really got what it takes to hang in this series!

I've made my picks for race 1 based on practice 1 results so I'm probably wrong!

 

[SoliD]

Couple of good races, especially the second with the few SC interventions, looks like RB might be coming back nearer but the Mustang still appears to be the car to be in.

As above, it's a shame that they crippled the Mustang but haven't helped the Altimas (recently) to bring them closer to the front.

 

[Psymonkee]

Truck Assist Winton SuperSprint


Yeah it's early but I keep forgetting until the last minute so ner!

Race Format: Supersprint
Length: 1 x 120km (40 laps), 1 x 200km (67 laps)
2018 Winner: Fabian Coulthard (Overall)
Lap Record: 1:19.7092 - Fabian Coulthard (2016)

My least favourite track on the tour. Can be a bit processional through the middle section of the track but has great passing at turns 1, 2, 3, 10 & 11. Last year tyres seemed to last for ages and turned on even later into a stint which Shane Van Gisbergen made excellent use of!

Not much else to report on going into the racing. First practice isn't until Saturday either!

Discuss things below!

 

[SoliD]

Races were pretty dull throughout apart from the late SC in race 2. Shell Vpower go marching on to the championship but at least it seems to be a bit more emotionally charged after race one!

 

[SoliD]

Up a little early so watching the first race now! Absolute carnage opening!

 

[Psymonkee]

Completely forgot to make a thread for it!

I'll get watching when I get home!