Fabian Coulthard has retaken the overall points lead in the 2017 Virgin Australian Supercars Championship after a podium finish in the 2017 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 over the weekend. Along with his Shell V-Power Racing Team co-driver Tonay D’Alberto, the pairing finished third with David Renolds/Luke Youlden winning the epic race held in very wet conditions.
“If you’d told me before the start of this weekend that I’d leave with my first Bathurst podium, the Championship lead and the lead of the Pirtek Enduro Cup I probably wouldn’t have believed you,” commented Coulthard! “It’s been a great day for me, a real shame for Scott and Alex, they were super quick all weekend so seeing them go out like that wasn’t good at all. Good for the team though to still get a result today. Tony was fantastic, he did such a great job in that rain to keep the car in one piece where many others didn’t. All round, an awesome day.”
Coulthard and D’Alberto’s day started from 7th on the grid, with Coulthard driving the first stint in extremely wet conditions. It was tough going, with Car 12 offering massive understeer on the extremely damp track. Coulthard drove as well as he could, keeping the car straight until he handed over to D’Alberto on lap 15. The rain varied in density across the opening 100-odd laps, before a dry line began to appear and the change to slicks was made.
Coulthard was back in the car to run to the flag on lap 105 as the track began to dry. They both struggled with balance in the wet, but as the track continued to dry the car improved and the pace came. As others made errors, Coulthard kept the car on the track and was able to capitalise on mistakes to take his first Bathurst podium, assuming both the Championship points lead and the lead of the Pirtek Enduro Cup. Coulthard leads by 91, with Scott McLaughlin third 97 behind. The team continues to lead the Teams’ points, 328 in front of Triple 8.
It was both cruel race for McLaughlin and c-driver Alea Premat delivering a DNF for the Car 17 crew. McLaughlin started the No. 17 Shell V-Power Ford, and held the lead across the opening lap, before making a minor error at Turn 1 on Lap 2 in the extremely slippery conditions to drop back to sixth. He then settled in for a long race, before handing the car to Premat on Lap 25.
An engine issue began to appear in car 17 around lap 45, which the team believed initially to be an electrical problem. A recycle of the power was attempted to rectify the issue, and then a new map was loaded into the ECU at a pit stop. Unfortunately the problem proved to be terminal, with Car 17 coming to a stop on track on Lap 75, with McLaughlin and Premat marked a DNF.
“It hurts to go out of the race like that, something that’s not really within our control,” commented McLaughlin. “I was getting ready to get into the car when the engine went, and Alex had to pull over on the side of the track. It doesn’t take away what we did yesterday, knowing we were the fastest car around Mount Panorama, but that’s how it goes. It’s a tough old race to win, and now we have to move on.”
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1. Fabian Coulthard 2431
2. Jamie Whincup 2340
3. Scott McLaughlin 2334
4. Chaz Mostert 2208
5. Shane van Gisbergen 2142
6. David Reynolds 1803
7. Craig Lowndes 1734
8. Garth Tander 1710
9. Cameron Waters 1678
10. Mark Winterbottom 1671
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1. Shell V-Power Racing Team 4800
2. Triple Eight Race Engineering (Whincup/Van Gisbergen) 4482
3. Prodrive Racing Australia (Winterbottom/Waters) 3384
4. Garry Rogers Motorsport 2937
5. Erebu Motorsport 2808
6. Walkinshaw Racing 2556
7. Nissan Motorsport (R. Kelly/T. Kelly) 2478
8. Brad Jones Racing 2280
9. Prodrive Racing Australia (Mostert) 2208
10. Nissan NISMO (Caruso/De Silvestro) 2139
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