V8 Supercar League: Christchurch results

Samster · Post by **Samster** » 02 Jul 2013, 16:41

13th and 17th on the grid, now thats more like what I expect from our cars.

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 02 Jul 2013, 19:06

Pole and 28th, oh boy this might be cool.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 03 Jul 2013, 02:32

ITM Auckland 300 Race 1

The race may be the shortest of the three this weekend, but it certainly didn't lack in action as Russell Ingall led away from the start. By the time lap three came around though, he had lost the lead to James Courtney, who led the field to the first, and what turned out to be only, safety car of the afternoon. Jonathon Webb had made an appalling start from his 11th placed grid spot, before he got spun around at the hairpin, which leading to a massive concertina effect behind him and many damaged cars and debris. Unluckily for Michael Caruso, he also got turned around in the melee and ended up partially beached on the inside kerb, forcing Tim Schenken to put the safety car on track while he tried to free himself from the kerb. Caruso eventually managed to free himself but was now down at the back of the field as they came back to the green.

Courtney led the field away on the lap 6 restart, but was almost immediately passed by local hero Shane van Gisbergen, who led for a few laps before stablemate Garth Tander moved to the top spot. Behind him, trouble was brewing between Dean Canto and Tim Slade, which came to a head on lap 10 where Slade was spun around by Canto at the extremely fast turn 1. To say that chaos ensued would be an understatement, as by the end of the chaos that ensued in the field behind, Canto's car was significantly damaged and Slade was near the back of the field. From there, the race did quieten down slightly but behind Tander, there was a group of five cars consisting of Courtney, Gisbergen, the recovering Steven Johnson, Craig Lowndes and Fabian Coulthard that were constantly changing positions. Eventually, Courtney managed to clear the group and set chase after Tander, managing to catch up and get past with just a few laps to go when the West Australian got held up badly by David Thexton for the second time this afternoon, which incidentally was the tip of Thexton's mobile chicane antics that earned him a points penalty and Triple 8 Racing a $12 500 fine as a result.

Courtney held on for his second win on the trot ahead of Tander and Lowndes, Gisbergen, Johnson and Coulthard. Behind the leading group came Will Davison, ahead of Rick Kelly, polesitter Ingall and another local hero in the form of Greg Murphy. After an awful qualifying performance, Jason Bright was able to haul his Britek car all the way into a season-best 11th place, while on the other side of the coin, you had the likes of Jamie Whincup stranded in 17th and David Reynolds in an abysmal 25th place.

1. J. Courtney (Dick Johnson Racing): 39m 10.908
2. G. Tander (Holden Racing Team): +0.693
3. C. Lowndes (Triple 8 Race Engineering): +4.536
4. S. Van Gisbergen (Walkinshaw Performance): +7.433
5. S. Johnson (Dick Johnson Racing): +7.796
6. F. Coulthard (Stone Brothers Racing): +8.370
7. W. Davison (Holden Racing Team): +10.364
8. R. Kelly (Kelly Racing): +14.411
9. R. Ingall (Paul Morris Motorsport): +14.593
10. G. Murphy (Tasman Motorsport): +16.841
11. J. Bright (Britek Motorsport): +19.700
12. L. Holdsworth (Garry Rogers Motorsport): +20.248
13. J. Bargwanna (Tasman Motorsport): +21.209
14. S. Richards (Ford Performance Racing): +22.927
15. P. Dumbrell (Greg Murphy Racing): +23.694
16. J. Richards (Brad Jones Racing): +24.014
17. J. Whincup (Triple 8 Race Engineering): +24.917
18. M. Winterbottom (Perkins Motorsport): +25.406
19. T. D'Alberto (Rod Nash Racing): +25.791
20. T. Kelly (Kelly Racing): +27.028
21. A. Simonsen (Valvoline Cummins Racing): +27.894
22. A. Davison (Stone Brothers Racing): +28.978
23. M. Skaife (HSV Racing): +29.438
24. D. Canto (Ford Rising Stars): +29.974
25. D. Reynolds (Britek Motorsport): +30.294
26. J. Bergmeister (Ford Performance Racing): +31.264
27. J. Webb (Paul Weel Racing): +31.866
28. J. Thompson (Walkinshaw Performance): +33.071
29. T. Slade (Brad Jones Racing): +34.866
30. J. McIntyre (James Rosenberg Racing): +35.429
31. M. Caruso (Garry Rogers Motorsport): +35.991
32. D. Fiore (Triple F Racing): +37.555
33. R. Firman (Paul Morris Motorsport): +38.121
34. K. Scott (Paul Cruickshank Racing): +39.641
35. J. Perkins (Perkins Motorsport): +39.966
36. D. Thexton (Thexton Motor Sport): +2 LAPS

Fastest Lap: C. Lowndes (Triple 8 Race Engineering): 57.603
Leaders: R. Ingall: 1 (Total: 1)
J. Courtney: 2-5, 33-36 (Total: 8)
S. van Gisbergen: 6-8 (Total: 3)
G. Tander: 9-32 (Total: 24)

pi314159 · Post by **pi314159** » 03 Jul 2013, 07:31

Webb binned it again. Being a good qualifyer doesn't help if he's spinning and crashing all the time.

Samster · Post by **Samster** » 03 Jul 2013, 14:25

Bloody Canto, penalize him please. :evil:

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 04 Jul 2013, 04:30

ITM Auckland 300 Race 2

As the stewards deliberated over the Canto/Slade incident from yesterday, race 2 started with James Courtney leading the field away into the first lap for the first of two longer Sunday races. With the racing in the pack as aggressive as ever, it was only a matter of time before the safety car came out in the early going, but nobody could predict it would be for a lap 4 pileup on the mountain that involved nearly half the field. Dean Fiore, having made an incredible start, was spun around at the incredibly fast final corner and dumped into the outside wall, bouncing back onto the track into oncoming traffic. Many cars collected each other in the melee, with Kayne Scott, John McIntyre and David Thexton all collected race-ending damage. Many others such as Fiore came into the pits to inspect the damage, but most of them could do little more than trundle around miles off the pace and hope for a meaningful result. Because the safety car only came out after the leaders had already finished lap 4, they were allowed to race back to the green provided they slowed down at the accident zone. This was all the incentive Garth Tander needed to take the lead from Courtney heading into the hairpin.

The restart on lap 8 was a good one for third placed Craig Lowndes, who managed to immediately dispose of Courtney, before catching and passing Tander for the lead a few laps later. Lowndes would hold on to the lead up until the next safety car, which was called on lap 14 for championship leader Steven Johnson throwing his car into the tyre barrier at the chicane while solidly inside the top 10, which was the break Triple 8 had been praying for in the championship. As the field caught up to the safety car, another top 10 runner in the form of Fabian Coulthard was caught out by the rapid slowing down of the cars ahead, and ended up having an accident of his own under yellows. At the restart that came a few laps later, Lowndes was so caught up in the news of Johnson's retirement that he was caught napping by Will Davison, who took the lead with a brave move into turn 1.

Davison held on to the lead for the next few laps, before Lowndes responded with a move into the hairpin on lap 21 to retake the lead. Davison ran out of road a lap later at the final corner, clouted the outside barrier and found himself stranded on the track, bringing the safety car out for a third time. However, it wasn't before the chaos that ensued behind took place, as Rick Kelly had a big accident of his own avoiding Davison, coming to rest just after the start/finish line having collected Shane van Gisbergen, Jason Bargwanna, Alex Davison and Jamie Whincup in the process. Gisbergen and Bargwanna pitted to check for damage, while Davison and Whincup trundled around until their eventual retirements a few laps later due to the damage caused.

When the safety car came in at the start of lap 26, Lowndes was much more awake than at the previous restart, as he set to work building a small gap to Tander. It didn't last long however, as within a few laps, the safety car was out yet again for Mark Winterbottom finding the wall at turn 4, continuing his poor form from Symmons Plains as his title hopes continue to slide away from him and his team. By this point, the chaos had promoted people like Jason Richards and Ralph Firman into the top 10, with drivers like Canto and Slade just outside it in what had been up to that point solid efforts.

The last restart of the race on lap 28 proved a cruical one, as both Lowndes and Tander were able to gap the field, which meant the battle for the win would come down to these two old rivals. A few laps after the restart on lap 31, Tander made a gutsy move into the hairpin, but had to yield to Lowndes as they made the run up the hill. The West Australian repeated the dose a lap later, and this time made it stick to take the lead for the second time that race. Lowndes fought back on lap 34 with a similar move, which led to the two running side-by-side over the hill and into turn 1, with Lowndes giving way before the two could make contact. The titanic scrap continued into the next lap, with Lowndes repeating the same move from before, this time successfully taking the lead on the run up into the final corner. Tander was having none of it, as on lap 36, he made his decisive move into the hairpin, and took a lead that he would never relinquish to score his first victory of the season.

Behind him, James Courtney finished a relatively quiet third ahead of the hometown hero Greg Murphy and the resurgent Steven Richards, in what was FPR's best result all year. Saturday polesitter Russell Ingall finished in 6th ahead of the ever-impressive Dean Canto, with Ingall's teammate Ralph Firman in a career-best 8th position. Jason Richards and David Reynolds rounded out the top 10 positions, while other good performances included Jack Perkins in 12th behind Mark Skaife, and Tim Slade continuing his much-improved form in 14th place.

1. G. Tander (Holden Racing Team): 1h 05m 16.097
2. C. Lowndes (Triple 8 Race Engineering): +0.469
3. J. Courtney (Dick Johnson Racing): +3.393
4. G. Murphy (Tasman Motorsport): +4.673
5. S. Richards (Ford Performance Racing): +7.460
6. R. Ingall (Paul Morris Motorsport): +11.683
7. D. Canto (Ford Rising Stars): +18.917
8. R. Firman (Paul Morris Motorsport): +18.938
9. J. Richards (Brad Jones Racing): +23.694
10. D. Reynolds (Britek Motorsport): +28.560
11. M. Skaife (HSV Racing): +28.771
12. J. Perkins (Perkins Motorsport): +30.547
13. J. Bergmeister (Ford Performance Racing): +38.940
14. T. Slade (Brad Jones Racing): +40.212
15. T. Kelly (Kelly Racing): +45.010
16. P. Dumbrell (Greg Murphy Racing): +46.630
17. S. Van Gisbergen (Walkinshaw Performance): +1 LAP
18. J. Bargwanna (Tasman Motorsport): +1 LAP
19. J. Thompson (Walkinshaw Performance): +2 LAPS
20. M. Caruso (Garry Rogers Motorsport): +2 LAPS
21. T. D'Alberto (Rod Nash Racing): +2 LAPS
22. J. Webb (Paul Weel Racing): +2 LAPS
23. J. Bright (Britek Motorsport): +2 LAPS
24. D. Fiore (Triple F Racing): +2 LAPS
25. A. Simonsen (Valvoline Cummins Racing): +2 LAPS
DNF. L. Holdsworth (Garry Rogers Motorsport): 33 LAPS (Engine)
DNF. M. Winterbottom (Perkins Motorsport): 27 LAPS (Accident)
DNF. J. Whincup (Triple 8 Race Engineering): 25 LAPS (Engine)
DNF. A. Davison (Stone Brothers Racing): 25 LAPS (Engine)
DNF. R. Kelly (Kelly Racing): 22 LAPS (Accident)
DNF. W. Davison (Holden Racing Team): 21 LAPS (Accident)
DNF. F. Coulthard (Stone Brothers Racing): 14 LAPS (Accident)
DNF. S. Johnson (Dick Johnson Racing): 13 LAPS (Accident)
DNF. D. Thexton (Thexton Motor Sport): 3 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. K. Scott (Paul Cruickshank Racing): 3 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. J. McIntyre (James Rosenberg Racing): 3 LAPS (Collision)

Fastest Lap: C. Lowndes (Triple 8 Race Engineering): 57.816
Leaders: J. Courtney: 1-4 (Total: 4)
G. Tander: 5-9, 32-34, 36-43 (Total: 16)
C. Lowndes: 10-15, 21-31, 35 (Total: 18)
W. Davison: 16-20 (Total: 5)

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 04 Jul 2013, 04:38

Race 3 Grid

1. G. Tander (Holden Racing Team)
2. C. Lowndes (Triple 8 Race Engineering)
3. J. Courtney (Dick Johnson Racing)
4. G. Murphy (Tasman Motorsport)
5. R. Ingall (Paul Morris Motorsport)
6. S. Richards (Ford Performance Racing)
7. S. Van Gisbergen (Walkinshaw Performance)
8. J. Richards (Brad Jones Racing)
9. D. Canto (Ford Rising Stars)
10. J. Bargwanna (Tasman Motorsport)
11. P. Dumbrell (Greg Murphy Racing)
12. M. Skaife (HSV Racing)
13. J. Bright (Britek Motorsport)
14. D. Reynolds (Britek Motorsport)
15. T. Kelly (Kelly Racing)
16. S. Johnson (Dick Johnson Racing)
17. F. Coulthard (Stone Brothers Racing)
18. J. Bergmeister (Ford Performance Racing)
19. W. Davison (Holden Racing Team)
20. T. D'Alberto (Rod Nash Racing)
21. R. Firman (Paul Morris Motorsport)
22. R. Kelly (Kelly Racing)
23. T. Slade (Brad Jones Racing)
24. L. Holdsworth (Garry Rogers Motorsport)
25. J. Perkins (Perkins Motorsport)
26. A. Simonsen (Valvoline Cummins Racing)
27. J. Thompson (Walkinshaw Performance)
28. J. Webb (Paul Weel Racing)
29. J. Whincup (Triple 8 Race Engineering)
30. M. Winterbottom (Perkins Motorsport)
31. M. Caruso (Garry Rogers Motorsport)
32. A. Davison (Stone Brothers Racing)
33. D. Fiore (Triple F Racing)
34. J. McIntyre (James Rosenberg Racing)
35. K. Scott (Paul Cruickshank Racing)
36. D. Thexton (Thexton Motor Sport)

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 04 Jul 2013, 15:47

Whatever happened to the gritty, opportunistic and aggressive Thommo from Adelaide?! He's gone all soft! He'll need to start delivering something close to Top 10s again to keep his seat safe, The Giz has really been showing him up lately.

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 04 Jul 2013, 18:20

Firman marches to an 8th place with Russell Ingall in 6th. Nice. 33rd one race and 8th the next. He's the Jimmy Kitchens of V8 Supercars (Kitchens got his only NASCAR top ten in 7th in a race with a 35 car crash at Talladega in 2002).

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 07 Jul 2013, 10:44

ITM Auckland 300 Race 3

While the rolling start wasn't as chaotic as first feared, the action throughout the field was still as intense as it was all weekend with Garth Tander leading the way from pole position. After a few laps however, the safety car was called out when several backmarkers got together at the hairpin, spewing bits of V8 Supercars all over the track. The safety car was bad news for Tander, as he had built up a small gap over the field by this point. The restart a few laps later was a slow one for Tander, allowing James Courtney to nab the lead at the chicane. That lead was short-lived however, as Tander got it back at the hairpin, just as the safety car was called out for a second time for a stranded Fabian Coulthard, who had just been taken out of the race at the chicane thanks to a collision with Jack Perkins and Ralph Firman, both of whom also had damage on their cars.

The mess was soon cleaned up and the race got back underway, with Tander leading a breakaway of nine cars at the front of the field. Which soon became 7 cars several laps later when Steven Johnson and Steven Richards collided while battling for a top 5 position, sending Richards down into 9th and Johnson tumbling into the midfield. All the battling for the minor places allowed Tander to skip away initially, but eventually, Shane van Gisbergen broke away from the battle to hunt down the West Australian. The Kiwi initially took the lead on lap 28 of 43, before Tander wrestled it back from him next time around. The Giz was having none of it though, as he fought back to take the lead on lap 31, which he would never relinquish to take his first V8 Supercar career win, and the first win for the Walkinshaw B-Team since Rick Kelly's Oran Park triumph the previous season.

Tander soon faded away to end up in P5, handing the round win to Craig Lowndes by just two points after the Team Vodafone driver finished 2nd yet again. Jason Bargwanna scored a surprise podium for Tasman Motorsport in 3rd place, just inches ahead of Russell Ingall, Tander and Bargwanna's teammate Greg Murphy. 7th meanwhile was all James Courtney could muster, ahead of the recovering Steven Johnson and the FPR duo of Steven Richards and Jorg Bergmeister.

1. S. Van Gisbergen (Walkinshaw Performance): 46m 04.945
2. C. Lowndes (Triple 8 Race Engineering): +5.852
3. J. Bargwanna (Tasman Motorsport): +7.301
4. R. Ingall (Paul Morris Motorsport): +7.336
5. G. Tander (Holden Racing Team): +8.020
6. G. Murphy (Tasman Motorsport): +8.566
7. J. Courtney (Dick Johnson Racing): +9.200
8. S. Johnson (Dick Johnson Racing): +15.644
9. S. Richards (Ford Performance Racing): +18.420
10. J. Bergmeister (Ford Performance Racing): +18.771
11. P. Dumbrell (Greg Murphy Racing): +21.313
12. M. Winterbottom (Perkins Motorsport): +22.586
13. D. Canto (Ford Rising Stars): +23.163
14. R. Kelly (Kelly Racing): +23.350
15. J. Richards (Brad Jones Racing): +23.760
16. M. Skaife (HSV Racing): +24.769
17. W. Davison (Holden Racing Team): +25.271
18. D. Fiore (Triple F Racing): +25.468
19. T. D'Alberto (Rod Nash Racing): +25.944
20. T. Kelly (Kelly Racing): +26.921
21. J. Whincup (Triple 8 Race Engineering): +27.580
22. D. Reynolds (Britek Motorsport): +27.791
23. A. Davison (Stone Brothers Racing): +28.599
24. J. Bright (Britek Motorsport): +29.173
25. L. Holdsworth (Garry Rogers Motorsport): +29.721
26. M. Caruso (Garry Rogers Motorsport): +30.502
27. J. McIntyre (James Rosenberg Racing): +35.120
28. J. Thompson (Walkinshaw Performance): +35.771
29. A. Simonsen (Valvoline Cummins Racing): +38.474
30. K. Scott (Paul Cruickshank Racing): +38.765
31. T. Slade (Brad Jones Racing): +39.063
32. J. Webb (Paul Weel Racing): +39.096
33. R. Firman (Paul Morris Motorsport): +46.165
34. J. Perkins (Perkins Motorsport): +1 LAP
35. D. Thexton (Thexton Motor Sport): +2 LAPS
DNF. F. Coulthard (Stone Brothers Racing): 10 LAPS (Collision)

Fastest Lap: C. Lowndes (Triple 8 Race Engineering): 57.816
Reject of the Weekend: Jamie Whincup - Spent all weekend doing absolutely nothing while his teammate wins the round again
Infinite Improbability Drive of the Weekend: Jason Bargwanna - Just for that race 3 podium alone
Leaders: G. Tander: 1-9, 11-27, 29-30 (Total: 28)
J. Courtney: 10 (Total: 1)
S. van Gisbergen: 28, 31-43 (Total: 14)

As ever, updated budgets and standings can be found here.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 07 Jul 2013, 11:29

YEAH! That's what I'm talkin' about! Well done Giz. Was only a matter of time.

Meanwhile, with Thommo derping around at the back while Giz is fighting for wins, he needs to get his act together again or risk being benched.

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 07 Jul 2013, 19:35

Firman proves his Jimmy Kitchens like talent with a 33rd and 34th with an 8th in between. Ingall on the other hand has been awesome and a championship contender if only for his Clint Bowyer like consistency.

Grovey · Post by **Grovey** » 23 Jul 2013, 08:45

Alan Gurr and James Moffat will be the SBR enduro drivers

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 23 Jul 2013, 09:09

Grovey wrote:Alan Gurr and James Moffat will be the SBR enduro drivers

They're both willing to drive for 30k each. And for eurobrun's reference, Owen Kelly will drive for HRT for the three enduros for 40k (No, I haven't forgotten. I specifically wrote it on a post-it note for my reference)

The reports for Raupuna will be up later this week, but in the meantime, if you're stuck for co-drivers, one can always trawl through here for some ideas. Or here if you fancy taking on a Kiwi.

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 23 Jul 2013, 09:26

Wizzie wrote:
Grovey wrote:Alan Gurr and James Moffat will be the SBR enduro drivers

They're both willing to drive for 30k each. And for eurobrun's reference, Owen Kelly will drive for HRT for the three enduros for 40k (No, I haven't forgotten. I specifically wrote it on a post-it note for my reference)

The reports for Raupuna will be up later this week, but in the meantime, if you're stuck for co-drivers, one can always trawl through here for some ideas. Or here if you fancy taking on a Kiwi.

He is signed now

AustralianStig · Post by **AustralianStig** » 23 Jul 2013, 12:47

Any news on David Besnard driving for Greg Murphy Racing in the enduros?

We're willing to pay him $20k now if that will help him decide quicker.

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 23 Jul 2013, 12:58

Suppose I could always offer Jacques Villeneuve a seat for the enduros of no-one else has. Just for teh lulz

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 23 Jul 2013, 20:42

Paul Morris Racing is offering the driving services of team owner Paul Morris for the low low price of 15K for the enduro races.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 26 Jul 2013, 07:14

Christchurch 300 Race 1 Qualifying

1. J. Courtney (Dick Johnson Racing): 1:21.290
2. S. Richards (Ford Performance Racing): +0.064
3. C. Lowndes (Triple 8 Race Engineering): +0.088
4. J. Whincup (Triple 8 Race Engineering): +0.133
5. S. Johnson (Dick Johnson Racing): +0.159
6. M. Skaife (HSV Racing): +0.206
7. J. Bright (Britek Motorsport): +0.248
8. J. Webb (Paul Weel Racing): +0.275
9. D. Reynolds (Britek Motorsport): +0.396
10. D. Canto (Speed FX Racing): +0.423
11. F. Coulthard (Stone Brothers Racing): +0.435
12. R. Kelly (Kelly Racing): +0.435
13. T. Slade (Brad Jones Racing): +0.455
14. M. Winterbottom (Perkins Motorsport): +0.489
15. J. Richards (Brad Jones Racing): +0.489
16. J. Bergmeister (Ford Performance Racing): +0.492
17. L. Holdsworth (Garry Rogers Motorsport): +0.494
18. R. Ingall (Paul Morris Motorsport): +0.534
19. A. Davison (Stone Brothers Racing): +0.545
20. A. Simonsen (Valvoline Cummins Racing): +0.576
21. G. Murphy (Tasman Motorsport): +0.587
22. J. Bargwanna (Tasman Motorsport): +0.606
23. T. Kelly (Kelly Racing): +0.618
24. G. Tander (Holden Racing Team): +0.657
25. R. Firman (Paul Morris Motorsport): +0.659
26. J. McIntyre (James Rosenberg Racing): +0.665
27. K. Scott (Paul Cruickshank Racing): +0.665
28. M. Caruso (Garry Rogers Motorsport): +0.704
29. S. Van Gisbergen (Walkinshaw Performance): +0.741
30. T. D'Alberto (Rod Nash Racing): +0.757
31. J. Thompson (Walkinshaw Performance): +0.766
32. P. Dumbrell (Greg Murphy Racing): +0.816
33. D. Fiore (Triple F Racing): +0.816
34. W. Davison (Holden Racing Team): +0.845
35. J. Perkins (Perkins Motorsport): +0.881
36. D. Thexton (Thexton Motor Sport): +3.748

The first ever qualifying session at Raupuna had high expectations riding on it, and it didn't fail to deliver. James Courtney led a Ford domination, as the blue oval took 8 of the top 10 shootout slots over the Generals' Men, with only part-timer Mark Skaife and PWR's Jonathon Webb able to make an impression on the Ford brigade. Among the 10 runners for the shootout later today will be the two DJR Falcons, both Triple 8 cars of Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup, the works FPR Falcon of Kiwi Steven Richards, both BriTek Falcons of Jason Bright and David Reynolds, and the Speed FX Ford Rising Stars car of Dean Canto, in what was yet another stunning performance from the former DVS champion.

On the flip side, you had both works HRTs of Garth Tander and Will Davison stranded in 24th (Tander) and 34th (Davison), championship contender Russell Ingall in the danger zone in 18th, and Paul Dumbrell, who has been one of the surprises this year up until now, blotting his copybook with a season-worst 32nd on the grid.

Christchurch 300 Top 10 Shootout

Dean Canto was the first driver to do his one and only shootout lap, by virtue of qualifying in 10th place. With his stocks rapidly rising in the paddock, Canto put in a blinder of a lap to put the older ex-FPR BF Falcon into provisional pole with a 1:21.449, having gone nearly three tenths quicker than his qualifying time. David Reynolds was next up, but unlike Canto, the rookie decided to take a slow and steady approach to his lap, and ended up with a 1:21.597 next to his name to go second behind Canto.

Jonathon Webb was the next car out on track, and was going punch-for-punch with Canto in the first sector. However, the New South Welshman locked a brake in the second sector, ran wide and ruined his lap, but the team were able to forgive him for the error as they had put in an admirable showing to make it into the top 10. Following Webb was the experienced veteran in Jason Bright, who blew caution to the wind and went for it on his shootout lap. It ended up paying off handsomely for the Victorian, as he managed to put the second Britek car into provisional pole on a 1:21.345.

The halfway mark of the shootout came with five time series champion and multiple-time Bathurst 1000 winner Mark Skaife wheeling out his HSV Racing Commodore for his first top 10 shootout run since announcing his retirement from full-time driving last season. His lap may not have been enough to match Bright, but it was still good enough for provisional third on the grid behind Canto. The lap of former championship leader Steven Johnson soon followed, as he looked to reassert his ascendency at the top of the timesheets in the face of the ever-growing threat from Triple 8. The Queenslander didn't fail to disappoint, as he managed to nail his shootout lap to go straight to the top of the timesheets with a 1:21.279, which incidentally just eclipsed teamamte James Courtney's lap record from the previous session.

Another big name in defending champion Jamie Whincup followed up, but for whatever reason, he simply couldn't match the blistering pace of Johnson, as he slipped to a provisional 3rd place after his lap, having just beaten Canto by 5 thousandths of a second. But that was nothing compared to the disappointing lap that teammate Craig Lowndes immediately followed up with, as he went to a provisional 5th place on the grid behind the Speed FX Falcon.

With just James Courtney left to run after him, FPR's Steven Richards took to the track for his one lap, and promptly blew it within the first few corners of the lap. Not that it deterred the New Zealander, as he went fastest in the second and third sectors to recover to a provisional 6th behind Lowndes, but ahead of Skaife. It was now down to the two DJR Falcons in the battle for pole, as James Courtney set about trying to topple his teammate from pole. The two teammates were neck-and-neck in the first two sectors, but a slight wobble in the final corner meant that Courtney had to settle for third place, giving Johnson his second pole position of the year.

1. S. Johnson (Dick Johnson Racing): 1:21.279
2. J. Bright (Britek Motorsport): +0.066
3. J. Courtney (Dick Johnson Racing): +0.123
4. J. Whincup (Triple 8 Race Engineering): +0.165
5. D. Canto (Speed FX Racing): +0.170
6. C. Lowndes (Triple 8 Race Engineering): +0.217
7. S. Richards (Ford Performance Racing): +0.234
8. M. Skaife (HSV Racing): +0.250
9. D. Reynolds (Britek Motorsport): +0.318
10. J. Webb (Paul Weel Racing): +0.475

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 26 Jul 2013, 14:20

Now, if only they can finish where they start... we might have a shot at reeling Lowndes in...

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 27 Jul 2013, 07:49

Christchurch 300 Race 1

The Saturday afternoon race got off to an inconspicuous start, with James Courtney leading the way from teammate Steven Johnson and the Triple 8 duo of Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup, as the likes of Jason Bright and Dean Canto quickly got swallowed up by the chasing pack. While there was many chopping and changing of positions throughout the field, Courtney held onto the lead of the race until lap 6, when he ran wide in the first two corners, and lost track position to Johnson, the Triple 8 duo and Steven Richards in quick succession. Johnson himself only led for a few laps before being overtaken by the rampant Triple 8 machines of Lowndes and Whincup, who set about building up a gap before the first safety car came out on lap 10.

This first safety car was caused by Courtney, who had fallen to the bottom of the top 10, having a coming together with Mark Skaife heading into Kelford Camtech Corner. Skaife and JC managed to turn themselves around, and got collected by the charging Alex Davison and Jason Bright in the process. Skaife, JC and Davison were all out on the spot, while Bright managed to struggle to the pit lane before the team decided to retire the car. Several other drivers also came together in the melee, but none of them had any serious damage to report. The mess was soon cleaned up however, and the race went back to green flag conditions with the two Triple 8 drivers leading from the likes of Jason Richards, Garth Tander and Shane van Gisbergen, who had been the main benefactors of the accident.

The green flag running was short-lived however, as Jorg Bergmeister had a scary off at the Pothole while charging his way though the field. Having set the fastest lap up to that point, the German ace went off at high speed, and promptly beached in the gravel trap, necessitating the second safety car period of the afternoon to retrieve the second FPR machine. While the retrieval process wasn't anything too strenuous for the marshalls, the second safety car did have the effect of winding the field up, which came to a head on the restart with a 50/50 incident between David Reynolds and Steven Richards heading into turns 1 and 2, which took out Reynolds, both Steven and Jason Richards, Allan Simonsen and, eventually, Dean Canto as well when his engine blew up the very next lap due to severe radiator damage. Further back, John McIntyre and Dean Fiore got together, leading to considerable damage between the two, and yet more debris that needed to be cleaned up under the third safety car of the afternoon.

With the marshalls starting getting used to cleaning up bits of V8 Supercars from the track, the mess was soon cleaned up and the depleted field got ready for their third restart in less than 20 laps. Which predictably led to yet another incident when Greg Murphy, Russell Ingall and Fabian Coulthard all eliminated each other from podium contention on the restart, requiring yet another safety car to clean up the mess. Coupled with Will Davison's engine failure under the ensuing safety car, it suddenly threw the likes of Tim Slade, Ralph Firman, the struggling GRM duo of Lee Holdsworth and Michael Caruso, Kayne Scott and Tony D'Alberto all into contention for some monster results.

When the safety car came in for the fourth and final time that afternoon, the Triple 8 cars of Lowndes and Whincup skipped away to an easy 1-2 result, which was as far as the race for the win was concerned. Behind them however, a titanic battle was brewing between Johnson, Tander, Slade and Gisbergen for the final podium spot available. Johnson was third at the final restart, but he soon lost the position to Gisbergen. The two traded blows for a few laps, before taking each other off the road, opening the door for Tander and Slade to move into 3rd and 4th. The 2007 champion looked like he would score his fourth podium of the year and move himself further into title contention, until a minor error at the final corner with just three laps to go gave Slade all the incentive he needed to take the final podium spot from GT.

Slade bravely held on for the final two laps to take third place from Tander, with the Giz and Johnson finishing 5th and 6th behind them. Mark Winterbottom scored his best result since March in 7th, ahead of Ralph Firman and the two GRM cars of Caruso and Holdsworth. Kanye Scott scored a career-best 11th place while other notable performances include Paul Dumbrell continuing his remarkable consistency in 15th, and David Thexton surviving all the chaos to somehow score 22nd place, albeit as the last car running.

1. C. Lowndes (Triple 8 Race Engineering): 1h 03m 10.497
2. J. Whincup (Triple 8 Race Engineering): +1.778
3. T. Slade (Brad Jones Racing): +14.517
4. G. Tander (Holden Racing Team): +16.498
5. S. Van Gisbergen (Walkinshaw Performance): +20.216
6. S. Johnson (Dick Johnson Racing): +20.579
7. M. Winterbottom (Perkins Motorsport): +23.036
8. R. Firman (Paul Morris Motorsport): +24.002
9. M. Caruso (Garry Rogers Motorsport): +24.531
10. L. Holdsworth (Garry Rogers Motorsport): +24.934
11. K. Scott (Paul Cruickshank Racing): +24.966
12. J. Bargwanna (Tasman Motorsport): +27.403
13. T. D'Alberto (Rod Nash Racing): +28.677
14. J. Webb (Paul Weel Racing): +29.109
15. P. Dumbrell (Greg Murphy Racing): +30.277
16. R. Kelly (Kelly Racing): +33.088
17. J. Thompson (Walkinshaw Performance): +33.577
18. T. Kelly (Kelly Racing): +34.798
19. J. Perkins (Perkins Motorsport): +35.261
20. J. McIntyre (James Rosenberg Racing): +1:22.187
21. D. Fiore (Triple F Racing): +1 LAP
22. D. Thexton (Thexton Motor Sport): +1 LAP
DNF. W. Davison (Holden Racing Team): 20 LAPS (Engine)
DNF. F. Coulthard (Stone Brothers Racing): 19 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. R. Ingall (Paul Morris Motorsport): 18 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. G. Murphy (Tasman Motorsport): 18 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. D. Canto (Ford Rising Stars): 17 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. J. Richards (Brad Jones Racing): 16 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. A. Simonsen (Valvoline Cummins Racing): 16 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. S. Richards (Ford Performance Racing): 16 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. D. Reynolds (Britek Motorsport): 16 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. J. Bergmeister (Ford Performance Racing): 14 LAPS (Accident)
DNF. J. Bright (Britek Motorsport): 10 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. A. Davison (Stone Brothers Racing): 9 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. J. Courtney (Dick Johnson Racing): 9 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. M. Skaife (HSV Racing): 9 LAPS (Collision)

Fastest Lap: J. Bergmeister (Ford Performance Racing): 1:21.927
Leaders: J. Courtney: 1-5 (Total: 5)
S. Johnson: 6-7 (Total: 2)
C. Lowndes: 8-30 (Total: 23)

Post by **Londoner** » 27 Jul 2013, 09:56

Well that completely turned to shite for Britek, after such a great qualifying. Bloody Courtney and Skaifey.

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 27 Jul 2013, 10:03

Good News: Richard had an impressive qualifying and Bergmeister scored a fastest lap.

Bad News:Double DNF. Double. In a race with a possibility to score a podium...

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 27 Jul 2013, 14:52

Goddammit.

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 27 Jul 2013, 16:56

The good news? Ralph got another top ten. The bad news? There's a smashed up car of Russell Ingall in the garage.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 28 Jul 2013, 00:33

AustralianStig wrote:Any news on David Besnard driving for Greg Murphy Racing in the enduros?

We're willing to pay him $20k now if that will help him decide quicker.

Sorry for missing this earlier. Besnard has been signed as the enduro driver for GMR.

takagi_for_the_win wrote:Suppose I could always offer Jacques Villeneuve a seat for the enduros of no-one else has. Just for teh lulz

Because Villeneuve has an ego the size of a small galaxy, he's demanding $75k in order to make the trip down to Australia. Of course, it's up to you to decide whether he's worth your time or not. But as far as enduro drivers go, as long as he or she is a racing driver that won't be hilariously rejectful (we already have Thexton covering that quota

), it's fair game.

HawkAussie · Post by **HawkAussie** » 28 Jul 2013, 01:31

Team IntaRacing would like to compete part time with Mark McNally in a Ford BF Falcon with Chris Alajajian competing with Mark in the enduros.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 28 Jul 2013, 01:39

Matt121 wrote:Team IntaRacing would like to compete part time with Mark McNally in a Ford BF Falcon with Chris Alajajian competing with Mark in the enduros.

Welcome. By default, they'll be entered for all races with at least 36 grid spots and the enduros, unless stated otherwise.

EDIT: Before I forget, McNally will cost $45k, while Alajajian will cost $15k. You can have Marcus Marshall for free instead if you want, as he owns and runs the team.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 28 Jul 2013, 05:29

Anyway, back to buisness.

Christchurch 300 Race 2

The longer 200km race at Ruapuna saw the return of mandatory pitstops for the first time since the Clipsal 500 in March, which presented another opportunity for yet more madness to crop up. The madness started early, with Jamie Whincup bogging down at the start and getting swamped by the pack behind him. Teammate Craig Lowndes meanwhile had no such trouble, as he skipped away to an early lead from the fast-starting Shane van Gisbergen and Tim Slade. The comfortable lead was short-lived however, as the first safety car of the day was called out on lap 8 for a collision between Steven Johnson, Lee Holdsworth and Fabian Coulthard in the midfield. Johnson and Holdsworth were both eliminated on the spot, while Coulthard soldiered on with major damage on the car.

This was all the incentive Gisbergen needed, as on the restart, the young Kiwi nabbed the lead from Lowndes, and held off the three-time champion until the second safety car, which was brought out for the engine in Todd Kelly's car self-destructing and spewing bits of Chevrolet Aurora powerplant all over the track, necessitating another cleanup job from the marshalls. By this point, James Courtney had put in a storming drive from 35th on the grid to be in the top 20, while Jonathon Webb was also putting in a stellar performance just outside the top 5. At the restart on lap 14, Lowndes dived down the inside of the Giz into the first hairpin, retook the lead and set about building a gap at a rate of almost a second a lap to the drivers behind him.

Behind the rampaging Lowndes, Gisbergen was valiantly holding off the likes of Garth Tander, Slade, the recovering Whincup and Webb in the battle for the remaining podium positions. Further back, James Courtney continued to motor his way through the field, only to find his progress halted once he got into the outer fringes of the top 10 by the likes of Kayne Scott, Ralph Firman and Michael Caruso. In what turned out to be the longest green-flag stint all weekend, Webb managed to get past Slade and Tander to put himself into 4th behind the Giz and Whincup, as Lonwdes continued to streak away from the field.

And then, on lap 34, with a lead of almost 15 seconds, Lowndes came into the pits for an unscheduled stop to the mystery of the guys behind him. The case was soon solved however when it turned out that engine had dropped a cylinder the previous lap, fatally wounding the lead Triple 8 car and ending his afternoon early. This gave the lead back to van Gisbergen, who was now defending heavily from Whincup and Tander, who had gotten back ahead of Webb in the meantime. Despite the Lowndes failure, the green-flag running continued. For another 8 laps, in fact, despite Greg Murphy's engine also blowing up on lap 39 in the interval while the Kiwi ace was battling for a top 10 spot.

Like all good things however, the green-flag running had to come to an end, and it was all thanks to Garth Tander throwing away the opportunity to be joint-leader in the championship by flying off the road at the first two corners, and ended up beached backwards in the nearby gravel trap. The resulting safety car opened the floodgates for the insanity that followed. As the safety car came to pick up the field, the order was Gisbergen from Webb, Whincup, Slade, Dean Canto who had managed to march his way up the order, Courtney and Mark Skaife. Courtney soon eliminated himself from the race with one of the most embarrassing accidents in recent memory, as he stuffed his DJR Falcon into the pit entry wall, blocking the pitlane entry just as the pitstop phase was supposed to begin.

As the safety car stayed out to allow the marshalls to retrieve the stranded Tander and the sheepish Courtney, mass-confusion ensued as many teams had to recalculate whether they could stay out with the trapped Courtney blocking pit lane. Tragically for Paul Weel Racing, the answer was no as Webb ran out of fuel just before the restart while running in second. The restart was an absolute mess, as Paul Dumbrell and Michael Caruso among others decided to punt each other off the road, with predictable results. Which lead to more chaos as the field raced back to the yellow, as both David Thexton and Allan Simonsen, who had made his way into the top 10 through attrition, ran out of fuel before making it to the pits. They were soon joined by both Canto and Skaife, who ran out of fuel under yellow the next lap, while Rick Kelly came into the pits to retire with an engine problem and Mark Winterbottom had an embarrassing incident with Whincup in the pit lane, putting the Hi-Tech Oils/Red Rooster car out of the race and, crucially, delaying Whincup's progress.

Jason Bargwanna joined the ever-growing list of retirements the next lap when his engine also gave up the ghost at the hairpin, while James Thompson threw the car into the pit wall just as the field was coming to the green, after losing the back end at the exit of the final corner, bringing out the safety car yet again. Gisbergen took the opportunity to pit next time around, which gave the lead to Jason Richards, who was leading a BJR 1-2 mostly through sheer dumb luck alone. However, he and Slade weren't 1 and 2 in the queue, as there were several lapped cars mixed up in all that. During the safety car, Jason Bright become yet another victim of the obscene attrition rate with a gearbox failure in the second BriTek car.

A few laps later, Richards led the field on what would be the final restart of the day, as Dean Fiore soon pulled into the pits after yet another Holden engine failure in his TKR Commodore. JDub meanwhile was a man on a mission, as from his restart position of 6th, he managed to mow down the traffic in front of him, and set off after Richards. Behind him, Slade was holding off the likes of the Giz, Will Davison and Tony D'Alberto for the final podium position, and while his defensive driving was near-faultless, it wasn't enough to keep them behind him for his second podium in two days.

Gisbergen was initially the first to put his hand up for that third place, but soon came under threat from Tony D'Alberto. With three laps to go, Gisbergen and D'Alberto came together, allowing Davison back into third and Slade into fourth. While Davison skipped away from the pursing pack, Slade, D'Alberto and Gisbergen had an almighty scrap for 4th, which the Bottle'O driver eventually came out on top of. Ahead of them meanwhile, Whincup had managed to close the gap to Richards, and spent the final few laps hounding the Kiwi looking for a way past.

Despite being the significantly quicker of the two, Whincup was unable to find a way past Richards, who held on for his first win since 2006, and the first win for Brad Jones Racing in a V8 Supercar championship event. Davison was a comfortable third with D'Alberto in 4th ahead of Slade and Gisbergen. Jack Perkins in the second Perkins car put in a quiet but solid drive to finish in 7th, ahead of Jorg Bergmeister and Kayne Scott, the last of the runners on the lead lap. John McIntyre was another who managed to survive the chaos to finish in the top 10, ahead of Alex Davison, the two Paul Morris cars of Ralph Firman and Russell Ingall, David Reynolds and Fabian Coulthard.

1. J. Richards (Brad Jones Racing): 1h 46m 27.532
2. J. Whincup (Triple 8 Race Engineering): +1.262
3. W. Davison (Holden Racing Team): +22.193
4. T. D'Alberto (Rod Nash Racing): +30.819
5. T. Slade (Brad Jones Racing): +31.342
6. S. Van Gisbergen (Walkinshaw Performance): +31.730
7. J. Perkins (Perkins Motorsport): +33.478
8. J. Bergmeister (Ford Performance Racing): +35.389
9. K. Scott (Paul Cruickshank Racing): +44.475
10. J. McIntyre (James Rosenberg Racing): +1 LAP
11. A. Davison (Stone Brothers Racing): +1 LAP
12. R. Firman (Paul Morris Motorsport): +1 LAP
13. R. Ingall (Paul Morris Motorsport): +1 LAP
14. D. Reynolds (Britek Motorsport): +1 LAP
15. F. Coulthard (Stone Brothers Racing): +2 LAPS
DNF. D. Fiore (Triple F Racing): 50 LAPS (Engine)
DNF. J. Bright (Britek Motorsport): 48 LAPS (Gearbox)
DNF. J. Thompson (Walkinshaw Performance): 47 LAPS (Accident)
DNF. J. Bargwanna (Tasman Motorsport): 47 LAPS (Engine)
DNF. M. Winterbottom (Perkins Motorsport): 46 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. R. Kelly (Kelly Racing): 46 LAPS (Engine)
DNF. M. Skaife (HSV Racing): 46 LAPS (Fuel)
DNF. D. Canto (Ford Rising Stars): 46 LAPS (Fuel)
DNF. D. Thexton (Thexton Motor Sport): 45 LAPS (Fuel)
DNF. A. Simonsen (Valvoline Cummins Racing): 45 LAPS (Fuel)
DNF. P. Dumbrell (Greg Murphy Racing): 45 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. M. Caruso (Garry Rogers Motorsport): 45 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. J. Webb (Paul Weel Racing): 44 LAPS (Fuel)
DNF. J. Courtney (Dick Johnson Racing): 42 LAPS (Accident)
DNF. G. Tander (Holden Racing Team): 41 LAPS (Accident)
DNF. G. Murphy (Tasman Motorsport): 38 LAPS (Engine)
DNF. C. Lowndes (Triple 8 Race Engineering): 33 LAPS (Engine)
DNF. T. Kelly (Kelly Racing): 12 LAPS (Engine)
DNF. S. Richards (Ford Performance Racing): 8 LAPS (Engine)
DNF. L. Holdsworth (Garry Rogers Motorsport): 7 LAPS (Collision)
DNF. S. Johnson (Dick Johnson Racing): 7 LAPS (Collision)

Fastest Lap: J. Whincup (Triple 8 Race Engineering): 1:21.426
Reject of the Weekend: Everyone except Whincup, Slade and Gisbergen - It was just one of those weekends
Infinite Improbability Drive of the Weekend: Slade - Again, it was just one of those weekends
Leaders: C. Lowndes: 1-9, 15-33 (Total: 28)
S. Van Gisbergen: 10-14, 34-44, 47 (Total: 17)
J. Whincup: 45-46 (Total: 2)
J. Richards: 48-60 (Total: 13)

As ever, updated standings and budgets can be found here. Teams are now able to upgrade their cars and conduct testing, as long as it follows the rules stipulated here. There will be more on upgrades coming later today however, so watch this space.

RealRacingRoots · Post by **RealRacingRoots** » 28 Jul 2013, 05:31

Posting this right now, the second race at Christchurch may be one of the PMMF races of the year. So epic.

HawkAussie · Post by **HawkAussie** » 28 Jul 2013, 06:42

Wizzie wrote:
Matt121 wrote:Team IntaRacing would like to compete part time with Mark McNally in a Ford BF Falcon with Chris Alajajian competing with Mark in the enduros.

Welcome. By default, they'll be entered for all races with at least 36 grid spots and the enduros, unless stated otherwise.

EDIT: Before I forget, McNally will cost $45k, while Alajajian will cost $15k. You can have Marcus Marshall for free instead if you want, as he owns and runs the team.

I will switch Marcus with Alajajian then

AustralianStig · Post by **AustralianStig** » 28 Jul 2013, 11:57

Despite his retirement in the last race (his first since Round 1!) Paul Dumbrell is producing some very consistent results, meaning he is only a few points behind team boss Greg Murphy, who is driving for far-superior Tasman Motorsport. I wonder if there's any way of trying to lure him back to the team

(only joking...kinda!)

Greg Murphy Racing will be running a 2 day test at Phillip Island - the first day featuring just Paul Dumbrell and the second with Paul running half the day and David Besnard the second half. First day will focus on quali pace and the second on race pace.

In addition to this testing GMR will be improving power by 3BHP, Torque by 2NM, Fuel consumption by .04 and car mass by 3kg. That should equal $150k if my maths are correct, the max we can spend as we are a single car outfit.

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 28 Jul 2013, 17:42

Another good race for Paul Morris Racing... we must invest in fuel consumption by .20 as to win fuel mileage races. Power and what not are useless seeing how many ran out of fuel today.

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 29 Jul 2013, 14:47

Wizzie wrote:
takagi_for_the_win wrote:Suppose I could always offer Jacques Villeneuve a seat for the enduros of no-one else has. Just for teh lulz

Because Villeneuve has an ego the size of a small galaxy, he's demanding $75k in order to make the trip down to Australia. Of course, it's up to you to decide whether he's worth your time or not. But as far as enduro drivers go, as long as he or she is a racing driver that won't be hilariously rejectful (we already have Thexton covering that quota ), it's fair game.

Hmmm, if I promise to buy one of his CD's, could I get it down to $60k?

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 02 Aug 2013, 09:11

Just noticed a problem, I don't think Zanardi will be able to compete in the enduros as he can't really get in and out of the car quickly due to his injury. Nevermind his car would have to be quite modified.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 04 Aug 2013, 01:44

Three bits of important news for you all. Firstly, the grid for the Townsville 400 and Phillip Island 300 has been expanded from 32 to 36 cars, while the grid for the Oran Park finale has been bumped up from 36 to 40 cars, and the grid for the three enduros (Sandown, Bathurst and the GC) have been increased from 40 to 46 cars for teh lulz. Secondly, the upgrade system has gone through a bit of a transformation in order to adopt Samster's BTCC car ownership system, which I'm particularly fond of.

Basically, instead of team owners doing car-specific upgrades for a driver, they do it for an individual car, each of which comes with its' own identification number, depending on who built the car and what car in the production sequence it is. The full list of cars on the grid right now is shown below:

Triple-8 Built Cars
888-012 - Ford BF Falcon, Team IntaRacing (Mark McNally), Built 2008
888-012A - Ford BF Falcon, Sonic Motor Racing Services (Christian Klien), Built 2008
888-014 - Ford BF Falcon, Thexton Motor Sport (David Thexton), Built 2008
888-015 - Ford FG Falcon, Triple 8 Race Engineering (Craig Lowndes), Built 2009
888-016 - Ford FG Falcon, Dick Johnson Racing (Steven Johnson), Built 2009
888-017 - Ford FG Falcon, Paul Cruickshank Racing (Kayne Scott), Built 2009
888-018 - Ford FG Falcon, Dick Johnson Racing (James Courtney), Built 2009
888-019 - Ford FG Falcon, Triple 8 Race Engineering (Jamie Whincup), Built 2009

Walkinshaw Built Cars
WR 001 - Holden VEII Commodore, Rod Nash Racing (Tony D'Alberto), Built 2008, Upgraded 2009
WR 002 - Holden VE Commodore, HSV Racing (Mark Skaife), Built 2008
WR 003 - Holden VEII Commodore, Brad Jones Racing (Jason Richards), Built 2008, Upgraded 2009
WR 005 - Holden VE Commodore, Brad Jones Racing (Tim Slade), Built 2008
WR 006 - Holden VEII Commodore, Holden Racing Team (Will Davison), Built 2009
WR 007 - Holden VEII Commodore, Holden Racing Team (Garth Tander), Built 2009
WR 008 - Holden VEII Commodore, Walkinshaw Performance (Shane van Gisbergen), Built 2009
WR 009 - Holden VEII Commodore, Walkinshaw Performance (James Thompson), Built 2009

FPR Built Cars
FPR 604 - Ford BF Falcon, Seiders Racing Team (TBA), Built 2008
FPR 705 - Ford BF Falcon, Speed FX Racing (Dean Canto), Built 2008
FPR 806 - Ford FG Falcon, Ford Performance Racing (Steven Richards), Built 2009
FPR 807 - Ford FG Falcon, Ford Performance Racing (Jorg Bergmeister), Built 2009

Stone Brothers Built Cars
SBR BF05 - Ford BF Falcon, James Rosenberg Racing (John McIntyre), Built 2008
SBR BF06 - Ford BF Falcon, Britek Motorsport (Jason Bright), Built 2008
SBR FG01 - Ford FG Falcon, Stone Brothers Racing (Fabian Coulthard), Built 2009
SBR FG02 - Ford FG Falcon, Britek Motorsport (David Reynolds), Built 2009
SBR FG03 - Ford FG Falcon, Stone Brothers Racing (Alex Davison), Built 2009

Paul Morris Built Cars
Hercules - Holden VE Commodore, Paul Morris Motorsport (Paul Morris), Built 2008
Indian - Holden VEII Commodore, Triple F Racing (Dean Fiore), Built 2009
Janson - Holden VEII Commodore, Paul Morris Motorsport (Ralph Firman), Built 2009
Kulwicki - Holden VEII Commodore, Paul Morris Motorsport (Russell Ingall), Built 2009

Tasman/Paris Acott Built Cars
ARC 027 - Holden VEII Commodore, Greg Murphy Racing (Paul Dumbrell), Built 2009
TMS 001 - Holden VEII Commodore, Tasman Motorsport (Greg Murphy), Built 2009
TMS 002 - Holden VEII Commodore, Tasman Motorsport (Jason Bargwanna), Built 2009

Perkins/Kelly Built Cars
PE 046 - Holden VEII Commodore, Perkins Engineering (Jack Perkins), Built 2009
PE 047 - Holden VEII Commodore, Perkins Engineering (Mark Winterbottom), Built 2009
PE 048 - Holden VEII Commodore, Kelly Racing (Rick Kelly), Built 2009
PE 049 - Holden VEII Commodore, Kelly Racing (Todd Kelly), Built 2009

Garry Rogers Built Cars
GRM VE09 - Holden VE Commodore, Valvoline Cummins Racing (Allan Simonsen), Built 2008
GRM VE10 - Holden VEII Commodore, Garry Rogers Motorsport (Lee Holdsworth), Built 2009
GRM VE11 - Holden VEII Commodore, Garry Rogers Motorsport (Michael Caruso), Built 2009

Paul Weel Built Cars
PWR 01-55 - Holden VE Commodore, Paul Weel Racing (Jonathon Webb), Built 2008

Britek Built Cars
BM 003 - Ford BF Falcon, MW Motorsport (TBA), Built 2008

Firstly, this allows both myself and team owners to better keep track of what car upgrades are put on each car (engine upgrades aren't affected, as by default they're applied to all cars in the team). And secondly, it allows me to make a car market based on the system Samster uses in the BTCC, which will be expanded on at enduro time, but what I can tell you now is there will be some car aging, car building and dodgy Walkinshaw customer car deals involved in there somewhere.

Finally, Sonic Motor Sport, MW Motorsport and Sieders Racing Team have all been added as part-time entries that users that currently don't have an entry can use. Other Fujitsu Series Teams meanwhile are eligible for wildcard entries at the enduros, while full-time teams can also enter a second or third car for the three enduros.

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 04 Aug 2013, 04:40

This permits a third Paul Morris Entry #72 to compete in the three enduro races with Paul Morris and Colin Corkery from in house in the Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series given the lack of offers for Morris as an enduro driver.

Peteroli34 · Post by **Peteroli34** » 04 Aug 2013, 18:26

Wizzie wrote:Finally, Sonic Motor Sport, MW Motorsport and Sieders Racing Team have all been added as part-time entries that users that currently don't have an entry can use.

Does that mean i could take one of those teams and join the series

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 04 Aug 2013, 19:21

Wizzie wrote:but what I can tell you now is there will be some car aging, car building and dodgy Walkinshaw customer car deals involved in there somewhere.

Balls

Without wishing to sound like a total wazzock, I can upgrade my own car right? I don't have to wait for Walkinshaws approval or anything?

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 04 Aug 2013, 20:48

takagi_for_the_win wrote:
Wizzie wrote:but what I can tell you now is there will be some car aging, car building and dodgy Walkinshaw customer car deals involved in there somewhere.

Balls

Without wishing to sound like a total wazzock, I can upgrade my own car right? I don't have to wait for Walkinshaws approval or anything?

Upgrades? Please. Walkinshaw aren't going to supply you parts unless you offer to pay double! Half for the organisers, half for us