V8 Supercars 2014 - Auckland - Race 3

Touring Car Classics by Tony Thompson

2 days ago

see more Racing on :
https://rebrand.ly/SpeedWorld

Transcript

00:00:00Welcome back to our coverage of the ITM 500 Auckland.

00:00:06We've loved our week here in Auckland.

00:00:07The boys went downtown during the week for a pit stop challenge.

00:00:10That was Frosty on the tools at Pepsi Max Ford Performance Racing.

00:00:14Meantime, the boys at Volvo are in the game together with Rick Kelly here at Nissan.

00:00:19It's scary when the drivers are on the tools, but Ford Performance Racing and Frosty got the job done.

00:00:24They grabbed the trophy and congratulations.

00:00:26Well, it's time now to have a look at Mark Scaife's top five here at Pukekohe.

00:00:31There's so much to choose from.

00:00:32We've been coming here for a number of years, Scaifey.

00:00:35We have.

00:00:35And one of the things that you and I have spoken about a lot is not just the character of the racetrack

00:00:39and the way that this has worked in terms of the layout and how fast it is,

00:00:43but some of the great traditions and some of the great rivalries of not just our sport,

00:00:47but New Zealand motorsport.

00:00:48You said earlier in the telecast, some of the great names that have driven here.

00:00:51And for me, some of the great rivalries that come out of that,

00:00:54the Greg Murphys, the Marcus Ambrose's, et cetera, Jimmy Richards.

00:00:58And I mentioned at the top of the telecast all those big international names

00:01:01that used to come here in the single-seater days as well.

00:01:03It is a fantastic place.

00:01:04This man's had two pole positions here and four wins.

00:01:07Look, there's a lot to get through, but let's start by having a look at 2004

00:01:10in the battle in the wet.

00:01:13Marcus Ambrose, the top ten shootout.

00:01:15This place was absolutely spooky back then when it was wet.

00:01:18And it's so wild.

00:01:20Look at that.

00:01:20The last corner.

00:01:21We come off there.

00:01:22Murphy was fastest at that stage.

00:01:24I was lucky enough to do a 4-7.

00:01:26And then we had to wait to see how Marcus Ambrose went.

00:01:30And it was raining.

00:01:31It was so treacherous.

00:01:33And the rivalry that we had going at that time,

00:01:36and when he crossed the line, I remember standing there saying,

00:01:39what's he going to do?

00:01:39What's he going to do?

00:01:40Look at that four thousandths of a second.

00:01:43Seeing lots of people there with different hair colour back in that era as well.

00:01:46You know that Larko and I are going to get stuck into you for having a slide night

00:01:49where you pick yourself in your first pick.

00:01:51But anyway, we'll come back to that.

00:01:52But it was amazing.

00:01:53When you see this place shine up like a mirror, it's spooky.

00:01:55I'm not going to give you a chance to respond here.

00:01:57Good, good.

00:01:57All right, the next one of these is pretty good as well,

00:01:59because last year the amount of passion involved in the battle

00:02:02between Jamie Wincup and Mark Winterbottom was special.

00:02:04Well, that's what I was saying about the rivalries.

00:02:07You know, there's been great rivalries in this sport,

00:02:08and we've got a modern one right now, Winterbottom and Wincup.

00:02:11And last year, the big dive that he had.

00:02:13Have a look at the dive now, but Wincup fires down the inside of Winterbottom.

00:02:18They just rubbed and bumped and seriously, all weekend that was on.

00:02:23And that has been something that we've really enjoyed, hasn't it?

00:02:26Yeah, and they traded exchanges not only on the racetrack,

00:02:28but there were words involved in that as well.

00:02:30And that's not new with those fellows.

00:02:31They've been doing it in junior categories for a long period of time.

00:02:34The next one, the king of Pukekohe, Greg Murphy.

00:02:36A couple of pole positions, nine race victories here.

00:02:39You need him to stamp your passport to get in the country the way things were going there at one stage.

00:02:43Well, and we also had great battles here.

00:02:46I was with Holden Racing Team.

00:02:47He was in our sister team.

00:02:49You can see there Jason Brighton on both sides.

00:02:51Marcus Ambrose in behind there.

00:02:53And there was a time I called him the bonnet jumper at that stage, actually.

00:02:56Proper.

00:02:57But it was funny.

00:02:58You could see there, obviously, a real level of respect.

00:03:02And he drove so well here.

00:03:04You know, the phrase king of Pukekohe is real.

00:03:07Nine wins is an unbelievable effort.

00:03:08And two places where his contribution has been outstanding.

00:03:11And he's still making great strides on this very day.

00:03:14So, Greg Murphy, very strong at Bathurst and very strong here.

00:03:17Fantastic stuff.

00:03:18Scotty McLaughlin, first win last year.

00:03:19We've covered this one once or twice over the weekend as well.

00:03:22I thought this was brilliant.

00:03:23I mean, 19 years of age and winning.

00:03:25Well, you and I thought at that stage the youngest ever winner of an Australian Touring Car Championship

00:03:30or V8 Supercar race.

00:03:31And to do it on home soil in front of your home crowd, what an incredible result for that young man.

00:03:36And we said straight away, you and I said, he is Lowndes-esque.

00:03:40And that was a performance that he will always remember.

00:03:43And last but not least, and this one was a real emotional moment for everybody in the industry.

00:03:48All of us, whether you were driving, observing, whatever.

00:03:50When Jason Bright in car number 18, BOC, wins the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy.

00:03:55We lost Jason Richards in December 2011.

00:03:59And for Jason Bright to grab the trophy with Charlotte and little Sienna there, I mean, none of us could speak.

00:04:04Oh, we were battling, weren't we?

00:04:05And that was not only for the industry after the Jason Richards drama.

00:04:11I mean, we all lived it.

00:04:12You lived it.

00:04:13You were very, very close to him.

00:04:14And then for Jason Bright and the same team with the same livery to come out and win that race,

00:04:19there wasn't a person in the industry who didn't have a tear in their eye.

00:04:22Fond memories of this racetrack.

00:04:24And we started coming here in the modern era in 2001.

00:04:26And there was a six-year gap at one point.

00:04:28We came back last year.

00:04:29This man was involved in the redesign of the back end of the circuit,

00:04:32which has generated some great passing opportunities.

00:04:34And one thing that never fails to occur here is you always get passing.

00:04:38You always get action.

00:04:40You certainly get action.

00:04:41And what about the body language of the cars?

00:04:43What we did when we did the redesign was leave the bumps and left the bumps.

00:04:46And is it fast?

00:04:47It is the wildest place that we race at.

00:04:49It's all this all the time.

00:04:51It's confidence, isn't it?

00:04:51Absolutely.

00:04:51It's absolutely fantastic.

00:04:53Well, we're going to take a break now.

00:04:54Thanks for that, Skatey.

00:04:54Very enjoyable.

00:04:55When we come back, we're going to have the V8 Super Tour is New Zealand style.

00:04:59Our very own Greg Murphy is the man that's leading that series.

00:05:02And Jonathan Webb will join Aaron Noonan.

00:05:04Looking forward to that one.

00:05:06So V8 Supercars will be on track again later on this afternoon.

00:05:09Race number 12.

00:05:10Stay with us.

00:05:11We've got more to come right here on 7.

00:05:13We've got more to come right here on 7.

00:05:15We've got more to come right here on 7.

00:05:16We've got more to come right here on 7.

00:05:17We've got more to come right here on 7.

00:05:18Take your cash, sir.

00:05:20Enormous number of people have come out to enjoy the V8 Supercars here at Pukukkowe Park

00:05:24just outside Auckland this weekend.

00:05:26And it's great to be able to spend some time with the Kiwi fans

00:05:28and all of their favourite drivers lined up early in the day

00:05:32to give their time, scribble on a few posters,

00:05:35a couple of, well, a little bit of brotherly love there as well,

00:05:38a couple of official programs, some clothing.

00:05:40It's fantastic.

00:05:41And there's been an enormous crowd build-up.

00:05:42There always is here.

00:05:43It's one of the reasons we love coming.

00:05:45There's a shared passion for motorsport between our two countries.

00:05:47Well, if there's one single word that matters around here, Larko,

00:05:51I reckon for your Penrite proper racing line, it's commitment.

00:05:55Well, you know, Neil, you've been here enough, mate.

00:05:57So if I say scape in, it does require it,

00:05:59particularly coming onto the main straight, perhaps more than anywhere.

00:06:02Now, we've seen a couple of incidents this weekend,

00:06:04including a couple yesterday,

00:06:05which really demonstrate what I'm talking about.

00:06:07But first I want to go to my little map.

00:06:09So here's the Turn 10 and Turn 11 coming around onto the main straight.

00:06:13So here's your racing line.

00:06:14You can see what we call our apex and our apex here.

00:06:17Now, remembering the cars at the slowest point of Turn 10

00:06:20are doing 215 kilometres an hour, generally in fourth gear.

00:06:23Some of them are plucking 15 here,

00:06:25and they're doing 190 kilometres an hour at the slowest point here.

00:06:29Now, the trick is it's about in this point here.

00:06:31So they're feathering their throttle here.

00:06:33It's about here.

00:06:34They crack a little bit of throttle on.

00:06:36But because there's a big hump here before you go onto the straight,

00:06:39you can't physically see.

00:06:40So what you do, though, you get the speed down the straight.

00:06:43You've got to commit to 100% throttle

00:06:45before you can actually see the exit of the corner.

00:06:47Now, have a look at these couple of incidents on my screen.

00:06:49Well, I want to see them from yesterday.

00:06:51So there was both... Look, here we go.

00:06:53Watch this.

00:06:53Craig Lowndes, off.

00:06:55Not because he's a dill.

00:06:56He knows what he's doing.

00:06:57Probably more so.

00:06:59Mark Whitterbottom, look at this.

00:07:03Unbelievable.

00:07:03Very, very lucky save.

00:07:06Now, why does that happen?

00:07:09Now, I'm going to throw you up a little bit of data

00:07:10that I happen to have got from Scotty McLaughlin's car.

00:07:13So here's what we call the throttle trace.

00:07:16So they come down the back there.

00:07:17This is 100% throttle.

00:07:18You can see the little 100 there.

00:07:19They back off, feather the throttle on.

00:07:22But when they get up here to 100% throttle

00:07:24coming onto the straight, here's our speed trace,

00:07:26it's not until right along here,

00:07:29about 70 metres after they've put their foot on full throttle,

00:07:33that they can actually see down the track.

00:07:36And that requires great commitment.

00:07:37If you look from in-car now,

00:07:39I've got a little bit of vision from inside the race car,

00:07:41and remembering the camera is higher than the driver's eye line.

00:07:45So as he comes through here,

00:07:46here's this apex we're talking about at turn 11.

00:07:49Right, so he's doing 190 kilometres an hour.

00:07:51He's about 100% throttle now.

00:07:53He cannot see the outside, this concrete apron here,

00:07:57on the external of that corner.

00:07:59And why it is that you see guys like Craig Lowndes

00:08:03and Mark Whitterbottom in the grass

00:08:05is because they're the guys showing the most Pukekohe commitment.

00:08:11Larko, I just wanted to update you

00:08:17with a couple of news items that are floating around pit lane.

00:08:19Let's start with some endurance signing.

00:08:21There's been a little bit going on.

00:08:22Norton Hornets, the Nissan boys have confirmed

00:08:24that they've signed up Dean Fiore

00:08:26and also Taz Douglas for the Enduros.

00:08:28Dean will be with Michael Caruso.

00:08:30Taz is back with James Moffat.

00:08:31We'll see Fiore back in action at the Dunlop Series

00:08:34in a couple of weeks' time at Barba Gallo in Perth on home soil.

00:08:37Since we saw you at Winton, Erebus have confirmed

00:08:39that Will and Alex Davison will team up in the number nine Merck.

00:08:42A couple of seats left.

00:08:43Jack Daniels, Nissans, Dale Woods,

00:08:45Karen Russell Ingle, all yet to be confirmed.

00:08:48Want to give a plug to our great mate Greg Murphy

00:08:49and his father Kevin for a great thing that they're doing

00:08:52here in New Zealand.

00:08:53Sunday, June 1 at Hampton Downs, the race circuit,

00:08:56they're holding a special charity auction.

00:08:58They're raising funds for the Spinal Cord Society of New Zealand.

00:09:01They're working into the vital cord blood stem cell research

00:09:04that is related to type 1 diabetes.

00:09:07Murph's put up some amazing stuff for auction.

00:09:10Bathurst winning Kmart race suits, race team memorabilia,

00:09:14original team apparel, there's some sensational stuff.

00:09:16Hot laps in a V8 supercar as well.

00:09:18Go to the website on screen to make sure you register for that one.

00:09:22I've dug out some old school vision too.

00:09:24Have a look at this stuff.

00:09:25This is Pukekohe 1986, the old Nissan Mobile 500.

00:09:30John Harvey and the Kiwi Neil Lowe winning

00:09:33for the Mobile Holden dealer team, for Peter Brock's team.

00:09:35How much has this place changed?

00:09:36The pits look tremendously different from back in the 1980s.

00:09:40Of course, that was when the Nissan Mobile 500

00:09:42was an important part of New Zealand and Australian racing.

00:09:45Of course, a new chapter being written this weekend,

00:09:46not far away from the final race of the day in the ITM 500.

00:09:51Thanks for the news update there, Noons.

00:09:53I wonder whether we can put a bid in for the Greg Murphy Pukekohe crown

00:09:57as he got the King's crown up for grabs.

00:10:00I reckon that would fetch a reasonable dollar.

00:10:02Aaron Noonan, with all the latest news there,

00:10:03we're counting down to V8 supercars race number 12.

00:10:06Scafie, I've been doing one or two little stats along the way.

00:10:08We've had seven different winners so far out of these 11 races.

00:10:11In terms of podiums, 12 of the 25 drivers in the field

00:10:14as a result of Chas Mostert getting up in that last one

00:10:17have been on the podium.

00:10:18Here's Rihanna.

00:10:19Yeah, guys, just down here with Scotty Piers

00:10:21is about to get in the car.

00:10:22Remember last year, Scott didn't compete here at Pukekohe Park

00:10:25because he had that massive crash at Tassie just the week before.

00:10:29So for Scott, aside from a bit of open wheeler stuff in 2009,

00:10:32this is the first time racing a V8 supercar.

00:10:35A good result in that race just before and starting from 13th for this one.

00:10:39Yeah, exactly.

00:10:40It was nice to be racing up there with Fabian,

00:10:42but quality for us in this one was a bit disappointing.

00:10:44We didn't actually get to run any green tyres.

00:10:46We just ran practice tyres because of that red flag.

00:10:48So, yeah, I think it would have been nice if they extended it.

00:10:50But, no, that first race, yeah, to get 11th, it's good points for the whole team.

00:10:54It's a bit of a shame for Dave.

00:10:55So, yeah, for the team, you know, it's a good result.

00:10:57And hopefully we can break into the 10 in this one.

00:11:00You've really been comfortable at DJR since you came across this year.

00:11:03It seems that the car suits you well.

00:11:04The results are certainly coming.

00:11:06Yeah, certainly.

00:11:07I mean, I'm starting to understand everything with my engineer a little bit better,

00:11:09and that's starting to show.

00:11:11The longer races have probably been our weakness,

00:11:13but qualifying has certainly been better.

00:11:15You know, we're averaging inside the top 15 almost every time,

00:11:17and, you know, quite a few top 10 results already,

00:11:19so hopefully we can get another one today.

00:11:21It's good to hear, Scott.

00:11:22Good luck.

00:11:22Cheers.

00:11:23Thanks very much.

00:11:24Scotty Pye having a chat there to Rhianna Crean,

00:11:26and, well, for race number 11, it was an 11th there for him.

00:11:29He'll start from 13th for our next one, race number 12, Scotty.

00:11:33I reckon he's a guy that we've got to watch.

00:11:34He's got a pedigree.

00:11:35We've seen the things he's done before.

00:11:37British Formula Ford champion had 14 wins in the 2010 season,

00:11:40and he had a rough time last year acclimatising to this whole V8 caper,

00:11:45but there's no question about the pedigree there.

00:11:47So, viewer vote question.

00:11:48Can Scott McLaughlin win from pole in this race number 12?

00:11:52Jump on the website, v8supercars.com.au,

00:11:54or if you've got an iPhone or an iPad, you can grab the 7 Sport app.

00:11:59If you're on Android, you can also go onto the website and vote as well.

00:12:03Larco?

00:12:03Down here with Rick Kelly, number 15, P15,

00:12:06and you know as well as I do, mate, that sucks,

00:12:08because I saw your lap, well, it does, I saw your lap.

00:12:11It was a ripping lap.

00:12:12You should be up near the front row if not on the front row, mate.

00:12:14Unfortunately, caught out by that red flag,

00:12:17and you didn't get going again.

00:12:18We should see some good pace here now.

00:12:20Yeah, the car's really good in qualifying in that one.

00:12:22Everything come together for us apart from actually keeping the lap,

00:12:25so we're really happy with that.

00:12:27We've just still got a little bit of work to do with the car as a race car.

00:12:30Like everyone here, we're just struggling for a little bit of turn at 4 and 8,

00:12:33and apart from that, like you say,

00:12:35where you qualify is almost where you stay in the race,

00:12:37so we've got to suck it up today

00:12:38and see if we can get out there tomorrow and replicate that lap,

00:12:41because it was okay.

00:12:41Mate, I saw it.

00:12:42It was a ripping lap.

00:12:43Well done, Rick.

00:12:43I appreciate that.

00:12:44Thanks.

00:12:44Here we go.

00:12:46Craig Lowndes, that was a really difficult race for you, that last one.

00:12:50This one starting from seventh position,

00:12:52I know you won't be happy with today,

00:12:54but you've still got another race to make it up.

00:12:56Yeah, I think we do.

00:12:57I think that's, yeah, we weren't too happy with that last one.

00:13:00You're never too happy when you sort of, you know,

00:13:01you know the car's not quite right,

00:13:03and you're sort of driving to its best,

00:13:05but you're sort of not there, but, yeah, we've made some changes.

00:13:07We'll see what happens.

00:13:08Today's obviously very important to get the car right for tomorrow.

00:13:11Tomorrow we've got a single longer race,

00:13:14so although we've lost some points,

00:13:16we still haven't lost the battle yet,

00:13:18so, you know, we still battle on,

00:13:19and we'll see what tomorrow brings.

00:13:20How difficult are days like today

00:13:22when you're basically on the run

00:13:23from that very first qualifying session,

00:13:25from the practice session, actually, this morning?

00:13:27You really don't have a lot of time

00:13:29to work with your engineer and get the car set up.

00:13:31No, we don't.

00:13:32And I think that's, you know, that's the thing.

00:13:34If you've got a good car, it's easy.

00:13:35When you're trying to find a set up and work with it

00:13:37and, you know, change a number of things,

00:13:40it obviously becomes a bit of a battle.

00:13:41You get behind the eight ball,

00:13:42and, of course, you're pushing it all the way.

00:13:43But JJ and I are working really hard.

00:13:45We're trying to stay calm

00:13:46and just obviously trying to go through the stages,

00:13:48trying to find that set up that works.

00:13:51Obviously, watching what Jamie does

00:13:52and see what those guys do,

00:13:53their car is a little bit better than ours at the moment,

00:13:55but they're still not happy either.

00:13:56So it's one of those things as a team, collectively,

00:13:58we're trying to make the cars better.

00:14:00No one's happy unless they're P1.

00:14:01Good luck, Craig.

00:14:02Yeah, right.

00:14:03Jack Perkins will be looking for something like that.

00:14:06Jack, that puncture in the last race

00:14:08just really blew your race.

00:14:10Yeah, it did, so to speak.

00:14:12It was a real shame

00:14:13because we just wanted to have a clean, tidy race,

00:14:15get some points for Team Jalwen,

00:14:16and unfortunately, you know, we got a little bit of damage,

00:14:19but my guys did a fantastic job.

00:14:21It's all repaired,

00:14:21and you wouldn't know that half the car blew off then.

00:14:24Now, Jack, how was your Easter?

00:14:25Good to be back in the car?

00:14:27Yeah, look, it was good to have four days off.

00:14:29Didn't get into too much chocolate,

00:14:31but, you know, really good for all the whole team

00:14:34to have a bit of time off.

00:14:35It's a good time of year, Easter,

00:14:36and, you know, it's good to recharge the batteries now.

00:14:39We've got a few long hauls.

00:14:40We're off to Perth and Darwin after here,

00:14:42so it'll be a pretty busy time for the whole team.

00:14:44Jack, what's your expectation from this race?

00:14:46Where would you see a good result for you?

00:14:49Yeah, well, I think it's hard.

00:14:51It's a hard track to pass.

00:14:52I mean, we've qualified down in 22nd,

00:14:54so it's not ideal.

00:14:55Well, if we could get inside the top 16, top 15,

00:14:58that'd be pretty good because that's, you know,

00:14:59six or seven cars we've passed.

00:15:01But just need to try.

00:15:02We've made a few big changes to the car now.

00:15:04Try and really focus on improving our qualifying tomorrow morning

00:15:07because it's double points tomorrow.

00:15:09Good luck, Jack.

00:15:10Good to see you, mate.

00:15:11Thank you very much.

00:15:11Jack Perkins driving the Gerald Wynn entry car number 18.

00:15:16We're counting down to race number 12,

00:15:18the V8 supercars, 100Ks this afternoon.

00:15:21There's 18 points margin between Lowndes and Winterbottom.

00:15:24It's game on in this championship.

00:15:26I think it's going to be a cracker this afternoon.

00:15:29Stay with us.

00:15:29ITM 500 from Auckland.

00:15:31Mark Scythe.

00:15:53We're back at Pukekohe Raceway just outside Auckland,

00:15:56about 40 kilometres to the south of New Zealand's largest city.

00:16:00It is the ITM 500 Auckland, our final race of today.

00:16:04We'll be back in action again tomorrow with more qualifying and more racing,

00:16:07but we'll double the distance to 200 kilometres tomorrow.

00:16:10That's all still to come right now.

00:16:12The focus is the next 35 laps and the 100Ks that it involves.

00:16:16To go for you, I've been thumbing through Macrae Lowndes' notes.

00:16:19This weekend, 226th event start.

00:16:22Ties him equal second with John Bowe in the all-time starter list,

00:16:26and we already know some of the numbers that are against his name.

00:16:29And you know one of the things that's weird?

00:16:30He's never won a race here.

00:16:32It's unbelievable, isn't it?

00:16:32He's only one of five guys who's done all of the 25 races as we came into the weekend,

00:16:37notwithstanding what we did yesterday and today.

00:16:40But isn't it amazing?

00:16:40He's done so much everywhere, but he hasn't actually been able to nail that number.

00:16:44What about this for a viewer vote question?

00:16:46Can Scotty McLaughlin win from the pole position in today's final race?

00:16:50Sort of evenly split there at the moment.

00:16:51So if you want to shift those numbers, jump online.

00:16:54VHSupercars.com.au or the 7Sport app will get the job done.

00:16:58For Scott McLaughlin, the second career pole position.

00:17:02Big moment for him in 2013 when he cleaned up a victory here.

00:17:08Been a busy boy this weekend.

00:17:10The Kiwis have had a lot on the promotional treadmill.

00:17:13Their little legs have been blazing.

00:17:15The ducks on the pond and all these folks here are very passionate and eager to see one

00:17:21of the Kiwis getting up in this race.

00:17:23So Scotty McLaughlin will start from position number one.

00:17:26Shane Van Gisbergen will be from position number four.

00:17:29And Fabian Coulthard's a little further down the order than he would like in 12th.

00:17:32But he's holding on to that vital third spot at the moment.

00:17:35He's playing a smart game.

00:17:37He strings together nice numbers when he knows he doesn't have a car that can win Fabian Coulthard.

00:17:41It's very good work.

00:17:42Here's Rihanna.

00:17:42Yeah, Neil, thank you very much.

00:17:45He's just on the front of the grid having a chat with Dean Barker.

00:17:48He's a skipper of the Emirates New Zealand team in the America's Cup.

00:17:51Now, Dean, you were saying you're quite good friends with Greg Murphy.

00:17:54You've even been for a hot lap around Pukakoi.

00:17:56That must have been pretty cool.

00:17:57Oh, it was amazing, yeah.

00:17:58I've always loved motor racing and, yeah, not particularly good at it.

00:18:02But, yeah, to go for a run around here in a V8 was very, very cool.

00:18:06It's a bit of a debate for you this weekend.

00:18:08Obviously, you're here on behalf of Red Bull.

00:18:10But you obviously want to support your Kiwi bros as well.

00:18:13So who do you go for?

00:18:14Well, you know, it's good to see Shane.

00:18:15You know, he's having a good weekend so far.

00:18:17So it would be good if he can put together a good race in this one.

00:18:21You know, Scott McLaughlin, you know, he had a really good race.

00:18:25You know, and obviously, you know, he's world famous now for his Jandl quote.

00:18:29But, yeah, and Fabian as well, you know.

00:18:32So there's, yeah, it's great to see the Kiwi guys going well.

00:18:35So who's your hope to get for this race?

00:18:37Well, being here with Red Bull, it would be great to see Jamie get a win on this one.

00:18:41You know, obviously the season's very, very close, you know.

00:18:43And, you know, the Ford guys had a bit of a sort of a good one on their last one.

00:18:50But I think, you know, when we saw, you know, my heart sort of with the Holden team.

00:18:54So, yeah, good to see them do well.

00:18:56I'm sure all the fans will be cheering on.

00:18:58Enjoy the race.

00:18:59Thanks very much.

00:18:59James Moffat, qualified position 10, top 10 position, mate.

00:19:03Well done.

00:19:04You're sort of there or thereabouts.

00:19:05But four and a half tenths, mate, the top 20 cars.

00:19:08You don't have to be far away to be not right on the front.

00:19:09But you must be reasonably pleased.

00:19:11Yeah, look, we found that out in the first qualifying session for today.

00:19:14Larko, we missed it in qualifying by just a bit earlier in 20th.

00:19:18But I had a good battle with Lounsey.

00:19:21And I've got him in front of me again.

00:19:22So hopefully we can have another good, clean race.

00:19:24But I'm actually happier with my car in the race.

00:19:27And I am in qualifying.

00:19:28So hopefully that holds us in a good position.

00:19:31I'll go and tell him you're coming at him, mate.

00:19:32Good luck.

00:19:34There's a lot of people coming at this bloke.

00:19:35Jamie Wincup, who still currently battling away, climbing up the championship, mate.

00:19:39Good position to be in for this race right up the front here.

00:19:42You've got a nice, clean road ahead of you.

00:19:44Yeah, started here.

00:19:46Number two's got the whole shot the last couple of times.

00:19:48So it seems to be plenty of grip down.

00:19:50So no excuses.

00:19:51I'll try to get a good launch and lead away, fingers crossed.

00:19:55And we've made some massive changes for the race.

00:19:57So I'm not sure how it's going to go.

00:19:59Well, time will tell.

00:20:00Jamie, how's this track feeling to you?

00:20:02I mean, from a viewer's point of view, it looks exciting from where you guys sit.

00:20:05Yeah, it's a fast-flowing circuit with that crazy tight hairpin.

00:20:09It's a bit of an engineering nightmare, trying to get the car to handle around the quick corners

00:20:14and the slow and then the grippy and the not-so-grippy.

00:20:17So it's hard work.

00:20:19We've been chipping away.

00:20:20But hopefully the car's as good as it has been.

00:20:23All right.

00:20:23Good luck, Jamie.

00:20:24Thanks, mate.

00:20:24Thanks for it.

00:20:24Cheers.

00:20:25Hey, Todd Kelly, fifth row of the grid next to your Nissan teammate, James Moffat.

00:20:29Because there's four of you guys with Nissans, you seem to spend a lot of time battling

00:20:32with each other on the track.

00:20:34You're kind of the team boss.

00:20:35What's in the team agreement between the drivers?

00:20:37You just race?

00:20:39No, it's funny you mention that because we've had the odd battle this year.

00:20:42And we've really taken it all upon ourselves and had a good chat about it.

00:20:47And Rick and I completely take our team owner hats off and, you know, just work with the

00:20:52guys as four drivers.

00:20:53So we're all pretty happy with where it's at.

00:20:56And we've all agreed that we need to race hard but respect each other.

00:21:01And there's been a few incidents this year where it's gone a bit pear-shaped.

00:21:04But it always will.

00:21:05The cars are very close.

00:21:06And if we all do a good job, we're going to be basically next to each other like we

00:21:09are now.

00:21:10I admire you for having a crack, mate.

00:21:11And good luck today.

00:21:14Garth Tander, it's been a pretty wild weekend for you so far.

00:21:17That race earlier today, pretty eventful.

00:21:20It was at the start there.

00:21:21Slady and Bridie were boxing on for the first couple of laps.

00:21:24I was hoping that they didn't crash in front of me.

00:21:27So got past them.

00:21:29And then from then on, it was pretty uneventful.

00:21:31So we're moving forward every qualifying session.

00:21:33So we went from 16th yesterday, 11th, now 5th.

00:21:36So we're heading in the right direction.

00:21:37The car's getting better.

00:21:39I hope we've made a few changes for this one.

00:21:41So we'll see what we're like up the front here.

00:21:43Look forward to it.

00:21:43Good luck.

00:21:44Thanks.

00:21:45Hey, Dave Reynolds on the fourth rail of the grid.

00:21:47Dave, great spot to be in Lounsey beside you.

00:21:49That'll be an interesting start.

00:21:51Yeah, he's on the dirty side of the track.

00:21:52So hopefully I should get a better start.

00:21:55And I don't know.

00:21:56Last race, it didn't end up too well at the end.

00:21:58I was struggling for pace badly.

00:22:00But we've done some tweaks, and hopefully it's a bit better.

00:22:03All right, Dave.

00:22:03Good luck out there, mate.

00:22:04All the best.

00:22:04Thanks, man.

00:22:05Cheers.

00:22:09Davey Reynolds, Botlow Racing, Ford Performance Racing Falcon.

00:22:13And he'll start from position number eight there in that green car up near the top left of your screen.

00:22:19Brett's is on the hunt.

00:22:19You can see him wobbling around the middle of the grid there at the moment.

00:22:21Let's get back down with Rihanna.

00:22:23Scotty, I know this place is so important to you.

00:22:26It meant so much to you last year, sitting here on pole position for this next race.

00:22:29How are you feeling?

00:22:30Nervous?

00:22:31Yeah, I'm pretty nervous.

00:22:32But I think I'm only human.

00:22:34So, yeah, see how we can go.

00:22:36You know, try a good start, and we'll be all right.

00:22:38Good luck, mate.

00:22:40Cheers.

00:22:41Scotty McLaughlin, we've been asking the question of you about the viewer vote.

00:22:47Can he get this job done?

00:22:49There's a big chance from there, Neil.

00:22:51That's a very good performance late in that qualifying session to do that lap time.

00:22:55Let's have a look at the track, because this is a very wild and fast short lap.

00:23:03Only 2.91 kilometres just outside Auckland.

00:23:05Pukukui Park Raceway.

00:23:06Very famous, historic racetrack.

00:23:0911 turns.

00:23:102.91K, as I said.

00:23:12And just over half the lap.

00:23:13Full throttle.

00:23:14Lap record, Mark Winterbottom.

00:23:16A 13.76 from last year.

00:23:20Those are the sectors.

00:23:20We're not really worried about that.

00:23:21But if you look at the red section there, into Turn 5 and into Turn 8, they're the spots to pass.

00:23:27And that will be interesting in this race as we get away with race 12 of our championship.

00:23:34It's a wild racetrack.

00:23:36Just a little over 50%, 100% throttle all the time.

00:23:41So, you know, big premium on getting grunt, working well here.

00:23:44Here's the situation if we quarantine the race meeting in terms of the Jason Richards Trophy leaderboard as distinct from the championship points.

00:23:51And the man on screen at the moment, James Courtney, has got a three-point margin over Shane Van Gisbergen at the moment.

00:23:56And by virtue of climbing back through the field and such a wonderful performance in that last race,

00:24:01excuse me from being last, Jason Bright got a bunch of points and he's third on that tally.

00:24:05The fastest corner on this racetrack is Turn 10, 210 kilometres an hour.

00:24:10The slowest, 65 kilometres an hour down at Turn 8.

00:24:14Huge number of bumps and you've seen plenty of evidence of that.

00:24:19Pretty stressful for brakes as well.

00:24:21Let's take a look at the Fuso starting group.

00:24:29The complete field with Scott McLaughlin on pole position alongside the best qualifier normally, Jamie Winkup.

00:24:36Mark Winterbottom, the winner of race 11.

00:24:38Shane Van Gisbergen, the local hero in P4.

00:24:41Garth Tander, much better job in this one.

00:24:44In five versus his semi-teammate, Nick Perkatt.

00:24:47Craig Lowndes a long way further up than he was before in seventh.

00:24:51Alongside Dave Reynolds, also a better job for him.

00:24:53And the two Nissans, Todd Kelly and James Moffat in nine and ten.

00:24:57They need to make sure they don't get caught up.

00:24:59James Courtney did a great job in the last race.

00:25:00Fabian Coulthard, a little bit further back than we would expect.

00:25:04Scott Pye, quite a good job in 13 alongside Jason Bright, who's done a great job over the weekend.

00:25:10Yeah, so he sits third in that Joseph Richards Memorial Trophy challenge at the moment.

00:25:16And that's important.

00:25:17Can he get that job done before the weekend's out?

00:25:19There's Dale Wood.

00:25:20By the way, it was an Addy Rollbar that speared the tyre yesterday that saw him off the road.

00:25:25Lee Holdsworth, winner at Winton.

00:25:26Spoke to him on V8 extra early in the day.

00:25:28Jack Perkatt, what a wild ride for him down between turns one and two in that last race.

00:25:32Chas Mostert, boys, he got some work to do.

00:25:34It was the third for him in the last race, season best.

00:25:37It's been a winner before in V8 supercars.

00:25:39He'll have to produce some magic to be able to climb up in this one.

00:25:41And we've got ten in-car cameras covering the complete field.

00:25:47In fact, Will Davison's at the back.

00:25:49So we've got from the back to the front, because we've got the front row with McLaughlin and Winkup.

00:25:54We've got Slade.

00:25:55We've got Courtney.

00:26:00He did a great job in the last race.

00:26:02It was a very good performance.

00:26:03He couldn't quite catch Mark Winterbottom, but a very good second from James Courtney in the Factory Holden team.

00:26:10We've also got the Factory Nissan team with Rick Kelly on board.

00:26:13We've got his GoPro helmet on the right-hand side.

00:26:16Fabian Coulthard for Lockwood Racing.

00:26:19As I said, probably a little bit further back than he would like, but he's shown very good race pace,

00:26:22and he's got his championship hat on.

00:26:25Lest we forget, over the Anzac weekend, for Jamie Winkup on the front of his helmet.

00:26:30Neil Scaifey, I love Pukakoe.

00:26:32And it's partly what you were talking about earlier on, the history of V8 supercars here,

00:26:36but it's also what it offers the fan.

00:26:38Have a look straight up here beyond the grid at the wall of people that have joined us here this afternoon to watch this race.

00:26:45Now, that's just half the story.

00:26:46Come and take a look over this way, and this is the other grandstand.

00:26:50Half that grandstand, by the way, is the McLaughlin family.

00:26:53Mum Diane and Dad Wayne are up in the stand there as well.

00:26:55They'll be enjoying this race.

00:26:56Let's get it started, guys.

00:26:58Jamie Winkup off the front row.

00:27:00He's in search of win number 79.

00:27:03Scotty McLaughlin, he's had two career wins.

00:27:06He's in search of his third.

00:27:07His heart rate starts to rise.

00:27:10The track's cleared.

00:27:11He grabs first gear, double checks that it's selected.

00:27:14Staring at the lights.

00:27:15Great swag.

00:27:15The other side of the track is normally better.

00:27:22Watch for Winkup.

00:27:27Jamie got a nice leap.

00:27:28Somebody's had a bobbit in the middle.

00:27:30It was Todd Kelly.

00:27:31They're side by side into one.

00:27:33McLaughlin and Winkup.

00:27:34Jamie's going to try and make this one stick.

00:27:36Oh, and he does.

00:27:40Oh, Van Gisbergen.

00:27:42Big, bold move on the outside of Frosty.

00:27:46And there's a little touch on the exit.

00:27:47And into the wall goes Jason Bright.

00:27:50So Bright now is at the rear of the field with a lot of damage, as you can see.

00:27:54And it's still on at the front here, as McLaughlin argues the case.

00:28:00At turn five, watch Van Gisbergen.

00:28:03All of them try to pull up on cold tyres and brakes.

00:28:08So the safety car deployed.

00:28:15That was great racing.

00:28:17That was absolutely world-class driving.

00:28:20Those first couple of corners, guys alongside each other.

00:28:23Check this out.

00:28:24This is the reason for the safety car.

00:28:27Up in front there, you can see Winterbottom and Van Gisbergen and Bumpy.

00:28:30But that's Bright.

00:28:31The guy who's been right in this battle for the Jason Richards Trophy this weekend.

00:28:36And in the fence at turn four.

00:28:39Can't work out from that shot whether or not he was just wide

00:28:42and ended up out there on his own as a mistake.

00:28:46Or whether, in fact, he had a little bump, which actually sent him onto the dirty road.

00:28:49But look at the argument going on at the end of the back straight.

00:28:51Lap one.

00:28:51McLaughlin forcing the point.

00:28:53And gets up the inside here of Wincup.

00:28:57And Winterbottom was looking to go around the outside of Van Gisbergen,

00:29:00who himself was trying to make gain as well.

00:29:02So Brighty's got that thing mobile once again.

00:29:05It doesn't look healthy.

00:29:06I wouldn't be leaning on that tyre too much in these circumstances

00:29:10where you've got big high G loads on these tyres around here.

00:29:14They'll have a good look at that at Team BOC and work out what to do.

00:29:16But I think you'll end up with the...

00:29:19They'll bring him in and want that debris removed from the car.

00:29:27So the whole composite front left guard's been torn there.

00:29:30And by not coming in, look, it was a great start.

00:29:43You could see Todd Kelly stop there in the middle of the field.

00:29:46Wincup got a really good jump, but Scott McLaughlin held his ground.

00:29:49And then it got very willing at turn three.

00:29:53This is on board with Winterbottom looking forward.

00:29:57You can see here that there wasn't much road between the two cars

00:30:02when they finished this corner.

00:30:03But watch the two of them now.

00:30:05That was groovy.

00:30:06You see McLaughlin looking up on the outside.

00:30:09I spotted him there in all that and thought,

00:30:11how did he pull that off?

00:30:11Because it's filthy on that side of the racetrack.

00:30:13It was great.

00:30:14It was a great bit of driving.

00:30:15That was world-class driving with those two guys.

00:30:17And it was world-class driving, sorry, Neil, at turn five

00:30:21because they went in there three at rest.

00:30:23So Chrysler, Pedder's safety car, has control of the field.

00:30:27And Jason Bright will come in this lap

00:30:29and will have to remove that damaged front guard on his car.

00:30:32Here's Scott McLaughlin on board.

00:30:34He never got to the bottom of the loose wire on the back of the dash.

00:30:37There, yes, that might have been his phone charger.

00:30:40So here's Jason Bright in.

00:30:43Get the bonnet pushed down two, please.

00:30:45Bonnet pushed down.

00:30:46He should have come in straight away.

00:30:47That's actually, strategically, that's really hurting

00:30:49because he would have gone in, pulled the guard off

00:30:51and got on the back of the grid.

00:30:52They probably didn't see it at Team BAC

00:30:55and clearly Jason can't see it either.

00:31:01So it won't take long to have that removed.

00:31:03We'll jump you up.

00:31:05We're going to do this body work.

00:31:07Have a quick look at the damage and then we'll let you go.

00:31:09Voice of Chris Clark Barretts.

00:31:11Yeah, Bridie just made his way in now, boy.

00:31:13It's turned into a tough weekend for Team BAC.

00:31:15Brad Jones has been just instructing the boys on what they need to do.

00:31:18Obviously, that front left has got to be removed.

00:31:20That's gone now.

00:31:22And they're just working on the car at the moment,

00:31:24just tidying it up.

00:31:25Frank Adamson from V8 Supercars watching on

00:31:27just to make sure that everything is within regulation

00:31:29before Bridie is released.

00:31:31But they're just debating at the moment the status of that.

00:31:34They've dropped him.

00:31:34Bridie's going.

00:31:35I thought it was the front guard or the front air dam

00:31:39that's actually rubbing on the tyre.

00:31:41You can see the dark mark.

00:31:42See the dark mark on the outside of the tyre.

00:31:45This is the piece that we were referring to

00:31:46with Van Gisburgh and around the outside.

00:31:48And this is where Bright disappears off to the left.

00:31:52We don't know whether he was caught by another car on the inside

00:31:55or he just got wired by himself.

00:31:57But it'll be interesting to see whether the smoke still stays now, Neil,

00:32:00because it looks like the air dam still connects the tyre.

00:32:03Yeah, so there's a witness mark on the shoulder of the tyre

00:32:06that you're referring to.

00:32:07It's quite a dark band on it.

00:32:09And I'll be well advised to keep a close eye on that

00:32:11because if obviously there's a problem and it fails,

00:32:14you can end up in a wall at high speed.

00:32:15So Chrysler Petter's safety car is peeled off.

00:32:18Calls come on the race management channel.

00:32:20The leader has the control of the field.

00:32:22They're single file to the control line.

00:32:24Then they can pass.

00:32:24Scotty's made a good jump.

00:32:26And it's on.

00:32:27Van Gisburgh is very good at these restarts at the moment.

00:32:29He's all over the back of Winkup.

00:32:34That stuff that we saw on the replay from the start of McLachlan on cold tyres

00:32:38pinched on the inside and sliding the Volvo was wicked stuff.

00:32:44Gee, Van Gisburgh almost dived down the inside of Winkup then.

00:32:49That would have been a very bold manoeuvre.

00:32:52And it's not over because they're all close enough.

00:32:54So is Mark Winterbottom to the back of Van Gisburgh and down here.

00:32:57So Winkup covers.

00:32:59He doesn't cover far enough.

00:33:01Because Van Gisburgh gets down there.

00:33:02Great move.

00:33:04That was fantastic.

00:33:06He had absolutely no space at all on the right side of the road.

00:33:09Then Shane Van Gisburgh and he forced the issue.

00:33:12Now Winkup dives right and tries to make amends.

00:33:15But it's too late.

00:33:16He's let the cork out of the bottle and Van Gisburgh's away.

00:33:19It's a margin now.

00:33:20A small one between the two Kiwis.

00:33:22McLachlan versus Van Gisburgh.

00:33:28Someone was too wide there.

00:33:30It was Scotty Pyre hit on the outside and turned 10.

00:33:33Meantime, Tim Slade was in the pit as well.

00:33:36And he was talking about some damage on his car.

00:33:38James Moffat up the inside.

00:33:40On Craig Lowndes at one.

00:33:41Oh, and the Nissan Hornet.

00:33:43Well out of shape through there.

00:33:45Great pass, James Moffat.

00:33:47That's not normally a passing spot either.

00:33:49So he got a great run onto the straight.

00:33:51He actually passed Lowndes in the previous race in a similar way.

00:33:55This is wild stuff.

00:33:56I couldn't spit the words out quick enough there for James Moffat.

00:33:58It was all happening so fast.

00:34:00He had it all going on there.

00:34:01His elbows were busy.

00:34:02And look at Winterbottom having a look at the inside of Winkup.

00:34:06Shades of last year.

00:34:08Here's the replay of Van Gisbergen's pass on Winkup.

00:34:15This is a cracker.

00:34:17Gets down the inside.

00:34:18Jamie sees him.

00:34:19Gives him some space.

00:34:20And he was under assault also from Mark Winterbottom.

00:34:23Here it is again from the other angle.

00:34:25Nice job.

00:34:26And to control the speed, he had to use a pile of kerb to do it.

00:34:31Used seven-eighths of it.

00:34:33Didn't matter.

00:34:34Job was done.

00:34:35And look, he's clearing off from the Red Bull car at the moment.

00:34:39Van Gisbergen's racy.

00:34:40He's going to give McLaughlin a big headache in this one on these numbers.

00:34:44And in fact, he's just recorded the fastest lap of the race.

00:34:47He's the only guy out there in the threes.

00:34:49It's a 63.9 on the last lap for Shane.

00:34:53And there he is.

00:34:54An eyeful of the VIP Pet Foods Holden Commodore.

00:34:57Volvo.

00:34:58Holden.

00:34:59Holden.

00:34:59Forward.

00:35:00That's your top four.

00:35:01That was the voice of Richard Holway, engineer for Scott McLaughlin.

00:35:05That heart rate's gone up from 150.

00:35:09All of our heart rates went up in those first few laps.

00:35:12Tim Slade's gone to the back of the field with a flat tyre.

00:35:15He had to come to the pits.

00:35:17Yeah, I heard him complaining on the radio.

00:35:19I mentioned that a few moments ago.

00:35:20So Van Gisbergen with speed.

00:35:22The man on the right of screen is Richard Holway, engineer for McLaughlin.

00:35:26Van Gisbergen's got pace at the moment.

00:35:28They've calmed that car down.

00:35:29We've seen several of the last meetings, including this one,

00:35:32where the car's been a little bit unstable at the rear

00:35:34and it's hurt its tyres over the distance.

00:35:36He has had one or two anti-roll bar problems, I think,

00:35:39with breakages earlier in the season as well.

00:35:42But look at the pace he's got going at the moment.

00:35:44A new fastest lap for Van Gisbergen.

00:35:45He's only 0.3 behind.

00:35:47How's the lap time?

00:35:50Four hundredths of a second between McLaughlin and Van Gisbergen.

00:35:54The two New Zealanders battle at the front of the field

00:35:56and then the two factory cars behind them

00:35:58with Winkup from Winterbottom, from Tander, from Reynolds,

00:36:02from Perkatt, Moffitt, Lowndes and Coulthard.

00:36:05That's your top ten.

00:36:06James Courtney, who was second in the last race, is currently 11th.

00:36:10Van Gisbergen's got better brake stability at the moment

00:36:13than the Volvo.

00:36:13Did you see how strong it looked at five?

00:36:15He's positioning the car where he needs to, Van Gisbergen,

00:36:19and he is going to make a real race at this.

00:36:22Faster in the first sector by one-tenth of a second than the Volvo.

00:36:26And a little mistake when he didn't need it.

00:36:28Got a little bit higher than he wanted to,

00:36:30but look at the drive that it's got off there as well

00:36:32out of turn eight and a half in first gear.

00:36:36And they do that corner differently, Combo.

00:36:37They actually make the apex later for Van Gisbergen versus McLaughlin.

00:36:41He comes out of the corner very straight.

00:36:43He's got a great run here.

00:36:44We've actually seen him have a little dive between turn three and turn four.

00:36:49Let's just see what they do through one.

00:36:51Because if he gets a run, he'll have a lunge.

00:36:54The other thing that was noticeable then was bump control between both cars

00:36:57and the front of the Volvo floating around a little bit more than the VIP car.

00:37:02So the margin officially is just over 0.2 of a second.

00:37:05It's McLaughlin, Van Gisbergen.

00:37:07And then a little gap to Jamie Winkup.

00:37:09He's got his elbows up at the moment with Winterbottom behind.

00:37:12Winterbottom's only 0.2 of a second.

00:37:14You can see in the background, Winterbottom putting a huge amount of pressure.

00:37:17Remember last year, the rivalry that we saw.

00:37:20The battle between Winkup and Winterbottom was on for young and old all weekend.

00:37:24And he's got to run this time because, remember, Winkup speared down the inside.

00:37:28Now Van Gisbergen.

00:37:29A move to the lead and he gives him a little bump on the way.

00:37:33But Van Gisbergen up the inside.

00:37:35But he's on the wrong side of the road here for 10.

00:37:37He's got a couple of extra metres in hand and he gets to close down.

00:37:41It's an awkward entry at turn 11, though.

00:37:44A lot of sliding going on.

00:37:46And it's a big exchange between the Kiwis.

00:37:49The crowd is loving it.

00:37:51He's got to run down the inside.

00:37:53This is fantastic motor speed.

00:37:55Oh, it's serious.

00:37:58Massive oversteer slide.

00:38:00200 kilometres an hour through turn one.

00:38:03And Van Gisbergen assertively grabs the lead.

00:38:06T-motor bottom right of screen.

00:38:08It's Jonathan Webb.

00:38:09There's his dad, Robert.

00:38:11Gary Rogers up the top.

00:38:12He doesn't look quite as thrilled.

00:38:14But what's done is it's caught Winkup and Winterbottom into it.

00:38:18They're right up in behind this battle now.

00:38:20Tander in fifth is right up there also.

00:38:241.3 seconds separates the top five cars.

00:38:29Too much over.

00:38:29Stephen Winkup.

00:38:30He's got the run.

00:38:31He'll have to block him.

00:38:33He does.

00:38:34He moves to the inside.

00:38:36Bump.

00:38:37It's not done.

00:38:39The top three were then jammed nose to tail.

00:38:42They were all connected.

00:38:43There was a little static charge.

00:38:44Went between one, two and three.

00:38:47So it's Van Gisbergen.

00:38:49McLaughlin.

00:38:49Winkup.

00:38:50Winkup.

00:38:50Don't write Frosty off.

00:38:52It's a Holden.

00:38:54A Volvo.

00:38:55A Holden.

00:38:56A Ford.

00:38:56Garth Panda's in as well.

00:38:58He's just 1.4 seconds away from the lead of the race, the Holden Racing Team man.

00:39:02He needs to take a break.

00:39:06He needs to have a little lie down.

00:39:07This is an unbelievably great race.

00:39:10And at the moment, it's 0.4 of a second between Van Gisbergen and McLaughlin.

00:39:15A breather here in Auckland.

00:39:16We're back with more in just a tick.

00:39:25Super Sprint Racing at its best here in Auckland.

00:39:29Kukakoe Park Raceway.

00:39:30ITM 500.

00:39:32And our viewer vote question, can Scotty McLaughlin win from Pole Race 12?

00:39:36He's got his hands full at the moment.

00:39:38You're saying yes.

00:39:39We'd like to encourage your point of view on this one.

00:39:4366%.

00:39:44What a race, boys.

00:39:47This is incredible, isn't it?

00:39:48So, Van Gisbergen with 0.4 of a second at the moment over Scotty McLaughlin.

00:39:52I don't think it's done yet at the moment.

00:39:54I noticed while we were in the break that Wincup's car still got this little instability

00:39:58that the Red Bull car's been showing under brakes, particularly at Turn 5.

00:40:02Let's get an update on what's going on in the lane with Larko.

00:40:04Well, it was an update about what's going on in the comms box.

00:40:06I mean, are you OK?

00:40:07Did you have a little lie down?

00:40:08I see.

00:40:09You guys need to check your passport.

00:40:10You sound like a couple of Kiwi farmers at a cheap sheep's house.

00:40:14But all jokes aside, we talked earlier about Shane Van Gisbergen's magnificent car control.

00:40:20And I meant it.

00:40:20I mean, just go back there, Neil.

00:40:21You're talking about the little dive he had at Jamie Winkup Turn 4.

00:40:24Pull it out of the way.

00:40:25And then the move he pulled on Jamie later.

00:40:27He has this remarkable ability to get the car loaded up.

00:40:30You know, we talk about the dampers take the load.

00:40:32The springs take the load.

00:40:33Then the ball transfers into the tyre.

00:40:35There's nothing left.

00:40:36But then he seems to be able to still manoeuvre the car at that point.

00:40:39I just find him incredible to watch the guys seriously gifted in car control there.

00:40:44Yeah, you're exactly right, Larko.

00:40:45I'm just with Jono Webb from Techno Autosports.

00:40:48And if there's a bloke who needs a lie down, it's probably Jono right now.

00:40:50Are you OK?

00:40:51I think I'm all right.

00:40:51I reckon my heart rate's higher than what's going on on the track at the moment.

00:40:54Larko was just saying how gifted and how talented Shane is.

00:40:58You see that day to day.

00:40:59Yeah, absolutely.

00:41:00You know, we were very fortunate to have him as part of the team last year.

00:41:03It was a bit of an ease-in for him.

00:41:04We were comfortable with us and what we're about.

00:41:06But, you know, this year he's just done everything right.

00:41:08And, you know, we're starting to win some races, which is fantastic.

00:41:11Now, this is tough up the front.

00:41:12How long can he keep this up for?

00:41:14Look, I think based on the way we've been the last couple of races,

00:41:16I think we should be able to stay there.

00:41:18He knows the car's quicker than what Scotty was based on the last couple.

00:41:21Just that Volvo, it's quick and a straight line.

00:41:23So now we've got a little bit of a gap.

00:41:25I think we'll be able to stay there to the end.

00:41:27All right.

00:41:27Good luck, Jono.

00:41:27Take a deep breath.

00:41:28Will do.

00:41:29Thanks.

00:41:30It's three-quarters of a second the margin between Van Gisbergen and Scotty McLaughlin.

00:41:35You know, Scafie, if he can get this done in the Volvo, you know,

00:41:38it's 28 years and one day since Robbie Frantzvic last won a race

00:41:42in the Australian Touring Car Championship.

00:41:44And if Shane continues to do that sort of stuff,

00:41:47he'll hand it to him on a silver platter.

00:41:48Well, that's why I did the big old.

00:41:49Because as Jonathan Webb was talking,

00:41:52Van Gisbergen made the dirt at over 200 kilometres an hour.

00:41:55Lucky he got away with that one.

00:41:56We've seen so many cars off the road there this weekend.

00:41:59Craig Lowndes, Mark Winterbottom in the fence yesterday.

00:42:02We see Scott Pye now sneak down the inside of James Courtney.

00:42:06A bit of bump and grind on the way out.

00:42:08Courtney will hold the inside for the next left.

00:42:11This is a debate for 11th place at the moment.

00:42:15Oh, Courtney had to literally sprint car it through there.

00:42:18Great driving.

00:42:18Scott, he's got up the inside.

00:42:19Check the wheel work out.

00:42:21So Pye absolutely had to have a huge catch there in the middle of the corner.

00:42:26Big throttle position reset.

00:42:28And Caruso's in here as well.

00:42:29That car's got better after the engine change.

00:42:32So the question for me here is, can Van Gisbergen turn this into a win,

00:42:36which makes it career five?

00:42:38The last one for Shane was in Sydney 2013, remember, of Sydney Olympic Park.

00:42:44He's got a one-second margin at the moment.

00:42:46He's just eking it out ever so slightly,

00:42:48but he can't afford to get into the grass.

00:42:51Watch this on replay.

00:42:52Watch the wheel work.

00:42:54So Pye side by side with Courtney.

00:42:56Focus on his hands.

00:42:57Top of the wheel.

00:42:58It breaks away from him.

00:42:59Big oversteer catch.

00:43:01That's 200 kilometres an hour.

00:43:04And off the other side.

00:43:05That was really high-level driving.

00:43:09Sensational car control from both guys.

00:43:11New viewer vote question for you, folks.

00:43:12Can the Aussies climb over the Kiwis?

00:43:15Well, get voted.

00:43:16No.

00:43:1760%.

00:43:18Come on, Aussies.

00:43:19On your feet.

00:43:19We've got a battle going on here.

00:43:21So go to v8supercars.com.au

00:43:24or the 7 Sport app and have your say.

00:43:27This guy is the smoky in the field.

00:43:30Winterbottom was very strong in the previous race.

00:43:32We saw him win race 11.

00:43:35And his consistency and flow looks very good.

00:43:38There's the times versus Winkup.

00:43:40He can't really show his car speed at the moment

00:43:42because he's being held up by Jamie.

00:43:45Russell Ingle doing a good job in 14th there.

00:43:47Right in front of Rick Kelly and Lee Holdsworth.

00:43:51Lee Holdsworth is the front-running Mercedes-Benz E63 at the moment.

00:43:56It's 16th.

00:43:57So they'll be disappointed with that.

00:43:59They've shown much better speed to the course of the weekend

00:44:01than qualified Pauling for this one.

00:44:04On board now with Rick Kelly.

00:44:06This is helmet cam.

00:44:07And if you've got any vertigo drama,

00:44:10you'll certainly have some after this.

00:44:14This terrific shot gives you an idea of the sort of load

00:44:16that gets into the car.

00:44:19Jason Bright still circling around, by the way.

00:44:21He's 23rd at the moment.

00:44:23Remember, we saw Jamie Winkup get points yesterday

00:44:25just by being at the back of the field.

00:44:27And 23rd is going to yield you 12 points.

00:44:30They could be valuable at the back end of the championship.

00:44:32Final corner here over the right shoulder of Rick Kelly.

00:44:38Let's just suck it up.

00:44:39Let's just have a look at this

00:44:40and a listen to a wild lap around Pukakoe.

00:44:43Let's go.

00:44:56Let's go.

00:45:02Let's go.

00:45:10Let's go.

00:46:12He's got to run him again.

00:46:13He's going to have to have a dive.

00:46:14Get down there.

00:46:15And he does.

00:46:16Very good move, Mark Witterbottom.

00:46:18Great job.

00:46:19Good presence of mind also for Jamie.

00:46:21He just sidestepped it.

00:46:23He knows he doesn't quite have the firepower.

00:46:25No point getting involved in an accident.

00:46:28Better to grab some points than none.

00:46:29This will raise the stakes with the Aussies and the New Zealanders because this is the fastest Aussie in the field at the moment.

00:46:35And he is going to do everything he can to get to the back of McLaughlin and Van Gisbergen.

00:46:42This absolutely lights up the championship battle as if it needed any encouragement.

00:46:47It's going to be on provision at the moment.

00:46:49A three-point margin between Winterbottom and Lowndes if they stay as they are at the moment.

00:46:55But it's a long way from over.

00:46:57Frosty may even be able to continue the march forward.

00:47:00We go on board with Jamie.

00:47:01Has a glimpse in the mirror.

00:47:03Sixth gear briefly.

00:47:05The curvature of the back straight.

00:47:06Picking a braking reference.

00:47:11It's 255 on the approach.

00:47:13Back to second gear and 90km at turn five.

00:47:17We've got to try and square off the drive off turn six and get it nicely up into this hairpin.

00:47:21And you've got to know when to battle and not.

00:47:24Compo, he gave that away there.

00:47:26He knew that Winterbottom had better pace.

00:47:27And you've got to know in the championship battle at the end of the year that you don't need to get put out by that.

00:47:33Last year we saw Winkup and Winterbottom exchanging panel work, running into each other.

00:47:38Our last break.

00:47:39And when we come back, we'll wrap up this race number 12 from here at Pukakoe.

00:47:42It's a ripper.

00:47:47This battle has electrified.

00:47:52They're just over two seconds from the lead of the race.

00:47:54McLaughlin and Winterbottom.

00:47:56And Frosty is on the march.

00:47:58Can the Aussies climb over the Kiwis is the question.

00:48:01And the answer at the moment is in favour of yes.

00:48:04Sitting at about 55%.

00:48:06Now Winterbottom has got a sniff.

00:48:08He's chasing.

00:48:09He's haunting.

00:48:10He's hunting McLaughlin at the moment.

00:48:12A little roll bar adjustment on the front.

00:48:13And he starts to think about whether he can put a move on on the break approach to five scapey.

00:48:19And the place has got to be back down at the hairpin where he was able to get by Winkup.

00:48:24He's got to get himself out of this left-hander now.

00:48:26Tanner, he's actually the second time he's been through.

00:48:29He went through last time also a couple of laps ago.

00:48:32So he's got to go and find his spot in the field again, which is between Winkup and Reynolds.

00:48:40So that's the spot.

00:48:41If he can get down there, Neil, he should be able to come out the left and fire down the inside again.

00:48:47I think that's the area.

00:48:49And just in the last several laps, McLaughlin's looking like a guy who's battling some oversteer.

00:48:53The back of the car's beginning to slide just a bit.

00:48:56That's haunting him.

00:48:57He can't touch the throttle early enough to defend.

00:48:59And that's the view that Mark Winterbottom's got.

00:49:02And every time he sees the back of that Volvo have a slide, his grin will widen

00:49:07because he knows that puts him in a great position to be able to attack.

00:49:10He's thinking about it now on the exit of turn four.

00:49:13His drive, his exit is square.

00:49:15No wheel spin.

00:49:16He'll get right under the rear wing, look for an extra 50 reds,

00:49:20and then faint either left or right to try and blindside McLaughlin.

00:49:24He's got his heart rates up.

00:49:25Our heart rates up.

00:49:26And Winterbottom is calmly and coolly just trying to slide on by.

00:49:31It's not done yet.

00:49:35Listen to the throttle application.

00:49:37You'll hear the wheel spin.

00:49:39And there's the dive.

00:49:41Won't get down there far enough this time.

00:49:43Just got to keep that pressure on.

00:49:46You can hear the wheel spin before with Scott coming out of the left-hander.

00:49:50At turn six.

00:49:51Got a little margin there at the far section of 10 to 11.

00:49:55How's the body language of the cars through that zone there?

00:49:58It's one of the best spots to watch police cars anywhere in the world.

00:50:02It's hard to take your eyes from this, but there's plenty going on behind as well.

00:50:06You've got Winkup fourth, Tanda, who's been given a bad sportsmanship flag for sailing off down at turn five on a couple of occasions.

00:50:13Then Reynolds is sixth per cat's seventh.

00:50:16He's having a ripper weekend.

00:50:17Well done, young Nick.

00:50:18Here they are.

00:50:19James Moffat followed by Craig Lowndes ninth.

00:50:22Then Scotty Pye tenth.

00:50:23Fabian Kultar, James Courtney, Michael Caruso.

00:50:26This battle here for 14.

00:50:27Russell Ingle, Rick Kelly, Lee Holdsworth, Chas Mostert, Will Davison.

00:50:30But back at the sharp end.

00:50:33And it's off for second place at the moment.

00:50:34The back of the Volvo just not settled at all under brakes.

00:50:39And McLaughlin coolly at the moment just dealing with enormous pressure from Winterbottom.

00:50:44Now at the hairpin, Frosty looks.

00:50:47Can't get it done.

00:50:50Straight driving by both these guys at the moment.

00:50:53It's extreme pressure in both those cockpits and in the bunkers.

00:50:57Grant McPherson, engineer on the left.

00:51:00Tim Edwards to his right and then above them, Volvo engineer.

00:51:03Richard Holloway, who's seen all this before and just has a wry smile on his face.

00:51:07He used to go through.

00:51:08All that grey hair is from the days when he worked with Mark Skape, I might mention.

00:51:13Turn one.

00:51:15Very different lines, both the boys through there.

00:51:18They have.

00:51:19The apex that Frosty's able to make late keeps him on the right-hand side of the road.

00:51:25And you watch pretty much everywhere that Mark Winterbottom at the moment can use less road.

00:51:29So he's got better tyre quality, less oversteer.

00:51:32And he can just get himself free of this.

00:51:35He's probably got the best car pace.

00:51:37Van Gisbergen, meanwhile, has got a 3.7 second lead.

00:51:41He's done some very good laps in the last three or four laps to make sure he's got this gap.

00:51:47Scotty just skated that thing on the rear brake all the way into five.

00:51:50Now, once again, Frosty has a look at turn eight at the hairpin.

00:51:55He just can't get it done.

00:51:56He just does not have enough pace.

00:51:57What's going on here?

00:51:59It's Craig Lowndes mowing at turn 11.

00:52:01And nails the foam ITM sign.

00:52:04Lucky he didn't find the concrete.

00:52:05And off again.

00:52:09That'll be to do with the jump that's in the front of the car.

00:52:11It's gone under the front tyres and taken him off.

00:52:13That's carted him down the order.

00:52:14This will have championship implications as well.

00:52:16With Lowndes drifting through the field.

00:52:18Tough chance to yield the championship lead to Mark Winterbottom.

00:52:23We'll get the Abacus out and work it out for you pretty quickly.

00:52:26Currently one point in it at the moment, as I understand it.

00:52:29Fast work on the Abacus.

00:52:30Thanks, Oscar.

00:52:32So back straight here.

00:52:33And Mark Winterbottom right in the draft of McLaughlin.

00:52:37Can he make this stick in the dying stages of race number 12?

00:52:42And look how much McLaughlin's slowing them up.

00:52:44Because Winkup has just forged his way up behind the Falcon now.

00:52:49So it may not be done here yet.

00:52:50Because if Winkup gets a little opportunity,

00:52:53we've seen him do it before.

00:52:54He might be up there far enough now.

00:52:56Winterbottom does it.

00:52:57Great move.

00:52:59Constant pressure.

00:53:00Constant pressure from Mark Winterbottom has been able to finally yield second position.

00:53:06Great job.

00:53:08And also a great job with Scott because he was in lots of trouble for the last four or five laps.

00:53:12And such a beautiful move.

00:53:14Yield's a great outcome for him because he now provisionally leads the championship as a result of that.

00:53:20So going up the inside.

00:53:22He braked it nice and square.

00:53:23Here it is again in replay.

00:53:24Out of turn six.

00:53:25He's in second gear.

00:53:26Tiny whisker of oversteer.

00:53:28Nice shift to third, to fourth.

00:53:30And then he jams it up the inside.

00:53:31Brakes squarely.

00:53:33Slows it right down.

00:53:35Slows everybody up.

00:53:36And arrows out the other side.

00:53:38McLaughlin had the big wheel spin trying to recover out of it.

00:53:41But that was fantastic work.

00:53:43Come on.

00:53:46Pepsi Max Ford Performance Racing appreciating that one in the bunker.

00:53:50Here it is again from outside.

00:53:51That was a beautiful job.

00:53:52No lockups.

00:53:53Nice and clean.

00:53:54No pain exchange.

00:53:56Well done.

00:53:56That gives Bergen meantime.

00:54:004.3 seconds is his margin over Mark Winterbottom.

00:54:04There they are.

00:54:05Winkup might have a piece of this as well.

00:54:07He's having a big go here at the moment on McLaughlin who's really struggling with the rear of this car.

00:54:13Here comes the reigning champion.

00:54:14He's in search of title number six.

00:54:17If he can do it this year, it's four in a row for Jamie Winkup.

00:54:21He's working very hard.

00:54:24Grab sixth on the way down to turn one here.

00:54:26Great shot at the back of the Volvo.

00:54:29Watch it slide.

00:54:34Across the top of that kerb.

00:54:35Scotty's doing everything he can to manhandle that thing.

00:54:38Scott has got the tiger by the tail at the moment, hasn't he?

00:54:41The rear of the car has lost a lot of grip.

00:54:44You can see it under brakes.

00:54:45You can see it in the fast up.

00:54:47You can see it in the slow corner exit track.

00:54:51That was Richard Holway saying, good job, mate.

00:54:55He knows that with Winkup and Tanda and Reynolds right behind,

00:55:00that if he loses this spot to Winkup, he might lose three or four spots

00:55:04if he gets outside the freight train of cars that are following.

00:55:08There's a little blockage occurring here now.

00:55:11Bit of rub here.

00:55:12Remember, it was spirited racing in Adelaide between these two, McLaughlin and Winkup.

00:55:16Tanda's into the mix.

00:55:17So is David Reynolds.

00:55:19Dick Perkett's not far behind.

00:55:20This is continuing to build.

00:55:233.9 seconds, the gap between Van Gisbergen and Winterbottom.

00:55:25Our focus is third place at the moment.

00:55:27Winkup just drifts wide.

00:55:29Drops the left rear off on the concrete and turn 11.

00:55:31Here comes Tanda.

00:55:34Last lap there.

00:55:34Gisbergen at a 4.9.

00:55:36Winterbottom a 4.6.

00:55:38So Winterbottom has got better pace than the leader.

00:55:41May not have enough laps,

00:55:42but Winterbottom's pace is very strong.

00:55:45On board with Dave Reynolds.

00:55:46It's right up behind Tanda as they come out of turn four.

00:55:52This is a bump.

00:55:54Winkup on McLaughlin.

00:55:57It's a little rat-a-tat-tat to say hi.

00:55:59I'm here.

00:55:59Do not make a mistake.

00:56:00I'm impressed with the way McLaughlin deals with the pressure.

00:56:05There's lots of it.

00:56:06It's coming from the heavyweights.

00:56:07It's coming from Winterbottom.

00:56:08It's coming from Winkup.

00:56:09Remember, he's very, very young,

00:56:11but he's racing like an old head at the moment.

00:56:13He doesn't quite have the firepower, McLaughlin,

00:56:16but he's very wisely dealing with all this.

00:56:18Well done.

00:56:20And he's worked out, Neil,

00:56:21the two spots where he's vulnerable.

00:56:23He's vulnerable out of turn four,

00:56:24so his exits have been good.

00:56:26And he's vulnerable out of turn eight,

00:56:28where the drive traction is bad.

00:56:30He knows he's OK all through here,

00:56:32although it hurts the rear tyre.

00:56:34He still gets through there nicely,

00:56:35but he's worked out, very mature young man.

00:56:38He's worked out where he needs to make the exit straight.

00:56:43Turn one of this racetrack.

00:56:45Such a joy to watch.

00:56:47Cars are going quickly.

00:56:49They're leaping all over the place.

00:56:50The drivers have got to be fully committed.

00:56:52Mark Larkin made the point earlier about commitment

00:56:55and how hard you have to work to make a number around here.

00:56:58And you not only have to try and make a lap time,

00:57:01you've got to do it consistently for 35 near-perfect laps.

00:57:04And you're seeing a wonderful display here

00:57:06between the masters of the business at the moment

00:57:08who are pushing extremely hard.

00:57:10These fellas are only seconds away

00:57:13from second placing to fifth placing,

00:57:17or sixth, I should say.

00:57:19It's just a tiny margin.

00:57:20So any one of them makes a slip

00:57:21and they'll drop out of this mix.

00:57:23But at the moment, no-one's blinking.

00:57:25And Winterbottom on that last lap

00:57:26was six-tenths per second faster

00:57:28than being Isbergen.

00:57:30We'll check the time for you again

00:57:32because they're about to just come over the strike.

00:57:34So being Isbergen leading,

00:57:36he's got a 4-9

00:57:37and a 4-5 from Winterbottom.

00:57:39That's one second in two laps.

00:57:42Gap back to 2.8.

00:57:43This goes to the viewer vote question, doesn't it?

00:57:48Can the Aussies get this job done?

00:57:50There's the gap.

00:57:51The overhead shot gives a very clear picture

00:57:53of what we're dealing with here.

00:57:55First to second, there it is.

00:57:56Car 97 to car 5.

00:57:58Then another gap back to Scott McLaughlin.

00:58:01And then this angry pack thereafter.

00:58:03One slip-up and all this will shift.

00:58:05There's the numbers as they stand at the moment.

00:58:0756 plays 44.

00:58:09Ever-evolving.

00:58:10Can the Aussies climb over the Kiwis?

00:58:13We're running out of laps.

00:58:15But at the moment,

00:58:16Winterbottom is precisely 2.6 seconds behind.

00:58:20And it just seems as though Van Gisbergen

00:58:22has lost a little bit of that edge.

00:58:24There it is.

00:58:25It was a much bigger margin before.

00:58:27It was out to almost four seconds.

00:58:29Garth Dander's got a battle here as well

00:58:30because David Reynolds is ranging up to have a crack.

00:58:33There's been a little bit of spirit between those on occasion

00:58:36in recent years too.

00:58:39Have a look at this.

00:58:40It is so fast and so wild.

00:58:43Mark Larkin's shown us before why that exit of the final corner

00:58:47is so difficult.

00:58:48We're seeing some of the best drivers in the world

00:58:50in these sorts of cars off the road on the left-hand side.

00:58:54As Neil just explained, turn one.

00:58:56What a fantastic corner.

00:58:59One of the fastest in Australia as in Australia racing in our tour

00:59:03and one of the places that the drivers love

00:59:06in terms of the character and the bumps

00:59:08and the method that you've got to use

00:59:10to get the maximum out of the car

00:59:12to get the car in the right spot for the next corner.

00:59:16It's just a magnificent racetrack.

00:59:192.3 seconds.

00:59:21There it is.

00:59:22Marge and Van Gisbergen plays Winderbottom.

00:59:24Similar gap then back to Scotty McLaughlin.

00:59:28Some terrific drives in the minor positions here as well.

00:59:32We need to make mention of them.

00:59:33David Reynolds doing a great job.

00:59:34So is Nick Percat and also James Moffat in the Nissan.

00:59:38The Northern Nissans in this game.

00:59:40Scotty Pye's inside the top ten.

00:59:42Craig Lowndes is still just gathering points there at the moment.

00:59:45It's important for his championship.

00:59:46He is tenth.

00:59:47Fabian Cooftard's behind him.

00:59:49They're guys that know when they don't have the firepower,

00:59:51you've just got to keep strolling along and they're doing that.

00:59:54Having a quiet race now,

00:59:56they'll need to tune them up for tomorrow's 200k race.

01:00:00There's Moffat.

01:00:02You got a nice result yesterday.

01:00:03He pushes very hard, very determined driver, James Moffat.

01:00:08Son of racing legend, Alan.

01:00:12And these guys are continuing the development on the Nissan Altimas

01:00:14and they've been doing a wonderful job.

01:00:17He's ten seconds away from the lead of the race.

01:00:20Meantime, back here in this battle for fourth and fifth and sixth.

01:00:25It's on.

01:00:26What about the lead?

01:00:27It's gone from 2.8 last time I recorded to 1.8

01:00:31between Van Gisbergen and Winterbottom.

01:00:32You can see the margin.

01:00:34He just continues to close it down by almost half a second a lap.

01:00:39If he just got by McLaughlin a little earlier,

01:00:41that was the battle that he needed to be able to make that bold move down the inside.

01:00:47Three or four laps earlier,

01:00:48things could look a lot different for Shane right now.

01:00:51Scotty High had a peak of turn eight then on James Moffat.

01:00:55Didn't quite get it done, but he was very close.

01:01:00There it is.

01:01:01So that's a 5.06 to a 4.54.

01:01:06So again, 0.5 of a second taken from the leader.

01:01:11Winterbottom is definitely the fastest car in this field at the moment.

01:01:16He was in the previous race.

01:01:18Only a couple to go now.

01:01:19So he may not quite get there, but 1.3 seconds.

01:01:23What a drive.

01:01:24And this is against the backdrop.

01:01:26Coming off the top of the road at the hill there yesterday.

01:01:29Turn 11, Mark Winterbottom in qualifying.

01:01:30Running down the grass, hitting the concrete wall,

01:01:33and then not managing to fire at the inside wall.

01:01:37He battled on through the afternoon and got some points with a bruised car.

01:01:41How he got away from all that is amazing.

01:01:43And then just jumped out today and been very competitive.

01:01:46They've really changed and improved that car.

01:01:49He's got a win on the board already.

01:01:51And he's got the hunt well and truly going here.

01:01:53It's 0.9 of a second last lap.

01:01:56In fact, it's just come down as they went across the control line.

01:01:59It's 0.6 of a second.

01:02:01You don't need the numbers.

01:02:02You can see it.

01:02:03Look how close it is.

01:02:07Oh, he's run wide.

01:02:09He ran wide badly then.

01:02:10He missed the apex by at least a car width.

01:02:15And Winterbottom now gets himself into a zone

01:02:17where he can almost have a dive

01:02:19if he gets through this next complex well.

01:02:23So Shane must have used a fair bit of these hard Dunlop tyres

01:02:27in the middle section of the race,

01:02:29and it's now just starting to hurt him a little bit.

01:02:32But I think by his fingernails he will hang on.

01:02:36But this has been a terrific race.

01:02:38Very different line entry into the hairpin for Van Gisbergen.

01:02:44The local crowd is going to love this one.

01:02:47What a heck of a battle going on for third place at the moment as well

01:02:50between McLaughlin and Winkup.

01:02:53Listen.

01:02:58Fantastic performance, Shane Van Gisbergen.

01:03:02Well done.

01:03:06Winner on home turf and getting home in third.

01:03:10Fellow Kiwis, Scotty McLaughlin, the sandwich.

01:03:16First and third, the Kiwis, Van Gisbergen and McLaughlin.

01:03:19What is going on here?

01:03:21Gizzy's done a little donut, has he?

01:03:22Or what?

01:03:25No way.

01:03:26The word is that he's had a little crack at playing the drifting game,

01:03:29and this time it didn't work.

01:03:33Wow.

01:03:34So Shane Van Gisbergen and Scotty McLaughlin, the Kiwis,

01:03:38first and third, they're the sandwich.

01:03:39And the meat in the sandwich is Mark Winterbottom second

01:03:41and have a go at this drifting lunatic.

01:03:44Shane Van Gisbergen's lit the thing up.

01:03:47Second kick, come out of turn four,

01:03:49and ooh, hang on, we're out of steering lock.

01:03:52Oh, dear.

01:03:55That's right up there with Wind Cup crashing when he was talking to him.

01:03:58In the Vodafone Ford Falcon at Simmons Plains.

01:04:01Check this out.

01:04:02I know, it's crazy.

01:04:04Well, that aside, everything else was fantastic today,

01:04:07Shane Van Gisbergen.

01:04:08Well done.

01:04:08Those rear tyres are going to be auctioned off.

01:04:10Very cheap at the end of the day.

01:04:12Five career wins now for Shane Van Gisbergen.

01:04:15And you've also got to say,

01:04:16what a great job Scott McLaughlin did.

01:04:18He was wounded.

01:04:19The car was not good enough.

01:04:20The rear tyres were going away.

01:04:23He had maximum pressure applied to him for a long time

01:04:25with Mark Winterbottom.

01:04:26And then for a long time,

01:04:29the series champion win cut right behind him.

01:04:31And look at the reaction from the locals

01:04:32with two of their superstars.

01:04:38And Van Gisbergen becomes the eighth different winner

01:04:41for 2014.

01:04:50They're applauding a smokescreen.

01:04:54Yeah.

01:05:0024 years of age.

01:05:0358 supercar victory.

01:05:10A popular win at Pukakoe.

01:05:12And he got there by 0.2 of a second.

01:05:15Inside the car.

01:05:17No wonder he ran into the sign.

01:05:23Ah, Shane.

01:05:24He is flamboyant.

01:05:25He's a great racing driver.

01:05:27He learned that from Greg Murphy.

01:05:36Scott McLaughlin

01:05:37comes up to congratulate from third position.

01:05:41He hung on at the end.

01:05:42Super slow-mo replay.

01:05:44Check it out.

01:05:45Two wheels and the poise

01:05:47and little corrections mid-corner

01:05:49just to catch the slide.

01:05:50That was a masterful drive

01:05:52from Shane Van Gisbergen.

01:05:54Maximum points.

01:05:55Sets him up beautifully tomorrow.

01:05:57Gee, they've improved that car this weekend

01:05:58as it's progressed.

01:06:00Well done.

01:06:00Let's get down to Barrettes.

01:06:02Hey, Shane Van Gisbergen.

01:06:04What a celebration.

01:06:05Congratulations on your first win here at Pukakoe.

01:06:07Well done.

01:06:07Oh, that was awesome.

01:06:08I had to get pretty aggressive at the start.

01:06:10Scotty's spaceship is just so quick down the straight.

01:06:12So we had to get him.

01:06:13But Mark was coming at the end.

01:06:15But just so stoked for everyone here

01:06:17at VIP Lucas Oil

01:06:18for coming on board this weekend.

01:06:20And just a great result.

01:06:21Thanks so much.

01:06:21And thanks again for everyone coming out.

01:06:23The crowd support is fantastic.

01:06:25And there's so many of you.

01:06:26Thanks a lot.

01:06:27I reckon you'll have fun on the podium.

01:06:28Enjoy it, Shane.

01:06:29Well done.

01:06:30I want to do more spins.

01:06:31Fair enough.

01:06:32Mark Winterbottom, wow.

01:06:33You were closing that gap there

01:06:35towards the tail end of that race.

01:06:36Well done.

01:06:36You're hot at the moment.

01:06:38Yeah, the car was really good then.

01:06:40And it's so hard to pass.

01:06:42And especially passing the Kiwi on home soil,

01:06:44it's even harder to pass, I can tell you.

01:06:46So that was good.

01:06:47Really good car.

01:06:49A win in the first race, second there.

01:06:50Yeah, we're going all right.

01:06:52So I can't wait for tomorrow.

01:06:54You're going great.

01:06:54You're the new championship leader too.

01:06:56Congratulations.

01:06:56It sounds good.

01:06:57I'm happy with that.

01:06:58So as long as we can keep it,

01:06:59but it sounds good.

01:07:01All right.

01:07:01Good on you, Frosty.

01:07:02And Scott McLaughlin.

01:07:03Wow.

01:07:03What a great performance, Scotty.

01:07:04They're all gunning for you in that race.

01:07:06And you held your own to get up on the podium.

01:07:08Well done.

01:07:08Yeah, if anyone could win and be a Kiwi,

01:07:10I'm so happy for Shane.

01:07:11I mean, all these fans come here for us to win.

01:07:13So, yeah, thanks for coming again.

01:07:15And it's so good to put on a good show.

01:07:17Good on you, mate.

01:07:17Enjoy the podium.

01:07:18We'll see you tomorrow.

01:07:18Yeah, thank you.

01:07:19Thanks, everyone.

01:07:20Wanted to catch up with Craig Lowndes.

01:07:22Now, I know it hasn't been a good day, mate.

01:07:23We spoke early.

01:07:24Mark Winter, but I'm now 10 points ahead of you in the championship.

01:07:26However, let's focus on tomorrow.

01:07:29Jeremy Moore, great engineer, mate.

01:07:30I know he's a good guy.

01:07:32There's some positives from today.

01:07:33There's stuff you've learned.

01:07:34You can sort of, we like him when you're leading the championship, mate.

01:07:36Can you get back there tomorrow?

01:07:37Oh, I think so.

01:07:38I think that's, you know, we learned a lot today.

01:07:39I think that you're right.

01:07:40We changed a number of things.

01:07:41That last race, the car was much better.

01:07:43So, really positive the steps we're going.

01:07:45Now, we want to go more in that direction.

01:07:47So, there's obviously things that we'll do overnight.

01:07:49Now, look, you know, Frosty had a great run today.

01:07:51I think there's no doubt that, you know, he had a strong car.

01:07:53He was able to pass cars around here,

01:07:55which is obviously an indication that he got a good car.

01:07:56So, you know, for us,

01:07:57we've just got to work a little bit harder tonight.

01:07:59But as I said, we've got a really positive outcome today.

01:08:02Craig, I did a little piece at the start of the race there,

01:08:04talking about coming up onto the straight and the commitment required.

01:08:07Now, I've seen you put in the grass there more than anywhere this weekend.

01:08:10But, no, seriously, I see that as a sign of great commitment

01:08:12because you are a guy that gives it your all.

01:08:14And we know it's 200 kilometres an hour through there, mate.

01:08:17Tell us about the little rides you've been having on the grass.

01:08:19Yeah, a little rollercoaster ride.

01:08:20It had little bumps and dips.

01:08:21But, look, yeah, it gets a little bit of an aero understeer

01:08:24with obviously following Moffat there.

01:08:26We've just got that front left off it.

01:08:28And, of course, as soon as you get a tyre off at that speed,

01:08:30it just sucks the whole car out.

01:08:31And, of course, when you're on the grass,

01:08:32all you want to do is keep it dead straight.

01:08:33You don't want to do anything rational or irrational.

01:08:36You just want to keep it nice and straight,

01:08:38made a few bumps, a few bumps.

01:08:39I mean, it threw a couple of signs.

01:08:40Sorry about that.

01:08:41And then got it back on track.

01:08:42So it was one of those things that was unfortunate.

01:08:45We lost the spot.

01:08:45But, again, we've got very good indication

01:08:47of where we want to go tomorrow.

01:08:48100% commitment, mate.

01:08:49Love it.

01:08:49Well done.

01:08:50Cheers.

01:08:50Thanks.

01:08:51Never any doubt about Craig Lowne's commitment.

01:08:54Tenth in that race, as you can see.

01:08:55It was 0.2 of a second in the end

01:08:57between Shane Van Gisbergen and Mark Winterbottom.

01:09:00It was an extraordinary race.

01:09:01So much pressure in all directions up and down this field.

01:09:04Fabian Coulthard, again,

01:09:05getting very important points there in 11th place.

01:09:08Chas Mostert, a nice job.

01:09:09He qualified down the order.

01:09:10Remember, he climbed back up to 16th.

01:09:13Will Davison, Todd Kelly, et cetera.

01:09:15Robert Dahlgren and Tim Slate

01:09:16had some dramas very early in the race.

01:09:18The podium's set.

01:09:18Let's get to Barrettes.

01:09:19The ITM 500 Auckland race 12 of our year.

01:09:23And would you please congratulate our winner,

01:09:25Shane Van Gisbergen, Team Techno VIP Pet Foods.

01:09:29In second place for Ford Pepsi Max crew, Mark Winterbottom.

01:09:34And in third place for Valvoline Racing GRM, Scott McLaughlin.

01:09:39Representing the winning team, Team Techno VIP Pet Foods,

01:09:43is Jeff Slater.

01:09:46Making the presentation of the third place trophy

01:09:48is Ross Tebbs, Company Director for ITM.

01:09:54Presenting to second place is Rodney Wolfe,

01:09:57Director, Building Connections Group, Nelson ITM.

01:10:03Presenting to the winning team is Andy Baker,

01:10:06Franklin Local Board Chair.

01:10:08And making the presentation of the first place trophy

01:10:15is Councillor Bill Cashmore.

01:10:21Ladies and gentlemen,

01:10:23the 2014 ITM 500 Auckland race 12 winners.

01:10:32And Shane Van Gisbergen becoming our eighth race winner of 2014.

01:10:37His first win this season, the fifth of his career.

01:10:41And there is the unofficial situation with the points.

01:10:43Frosty, Mark Winterbottom, has now got a two-point margin

01:10:46over Craig Lowndes, Fabian Coulthard, James Courtney,

01:10:49then Jamie Wincup in fifth position.

01:10:52Wow, what a fantastic day.

01:11:01Well, the boys are going to enjoy that one.

01:11:03That would have been a pleasurable drive

01:11:04for those guys that managed to get onto the podium.

01:11:07Then they gave it their all.

01:11:09It was great entertainment.

01:11:10And it was especially good when Gizzy went crazy at the end.

01:11:13Here's Rihanna.

01:11:15Just get dressed, would you, Jamie Wincup?

01:11:17Now, you had a battle on your hand for that entire race.

01:11:20You couldn't slow down or relax for any minute of the race.

01:11:24No, Kiwis everywhere.

01:11:26I got a good start and led away, but I was just easy meat, really.

01:11:32Like, they're very fast down the back straight.

01:11:36So, yeah, I pushed as hard as I could,

01:11:38but we're only good for fourth today.

01:11:40It has been an interesting year for you.

01:11:42The car has been up and down.

01:11:44What can you put your finger on to say,

01:11:46this is what we need to work on, this is what's our problem?

01:11:49Well, the competition's awesome, you know.

01:11:51It's so strong.

01:11:53You just don't quite get it right, and you're back in the pack.

01:11:55You get it right, and, you know, you're up the front.

01:11:58So, three wins this year.

01:12:00So, it hasn't been a disaster,

01:12:01but certainly not the start of the year we're used to.

01:12:03But we'll keep our head high.

01:12:05We're still smiling.

01:12:06We'll just keep chipping away,

01:12:07and hopefully we can keep improving the car and move forward.

01:12:10Tomorrow is a longer race.

01:12:11It's worth 150 crucial championship points.

01:12:15It's a different strategy from today.

01:12:17Yeah, today, obviously, no pit stops.

01:12:19It's a full-blown sprint race,

01:12:21but now we've all got to think about trying to get the strategy right.

01:12:25And, you know, I like pit stops.

01:12:27I think they're a good thing.

01:12:28So, tomorrow's another day.

01:12:29It's weird, because we race Friday.

01:12:30It feels like it's Sunday night, you know,

01:12:32but here we go again for tomorrow, so it should be all good.

01:12:35No, you can't relax and have a drink yet.

01:12:36You've got another race to go.

01:12:37Good luck tomorrow.

01:12:38Thank you, Jeff.

01:12:40Jamie's right.

01:12:40There's more work to come.

01:12:42Race number 13 tomorrow.

01:12:43We'll have qualifying tomorrow.

01:12:44Then we've got 200 Ks, 12.30 Eastern, 7 and 7 made our coverage.

01:12:49There'll be pit stops.

01:12:50They'll be taking on the United E85 for fuel.

01:12:53Also, Dunlop tyres.

01:12:55A bit of strategy to play.

01:12:56It's been a great day.

01:12:58Hope you've enjoyed our coverage on behalf of the entire team.

01:13:01We look forward to your company tomorrow for the ITM 500 Auckland.

01:13:07Bye for now.

V8 Supercars 2014 - Auckland - Race 3

Category

Transcript

Recommended