THE 2019 SUPERCARS championship ended much in the same way that the last few have; an arm wrestle between the Red Bull Holden Racing Team and the Shell V-Power Racing outfit for supremacy.
The only clincher is, it wasn’t like that for the full year – one that was something of a rout by Scott McLaughlin as he powered to his second-straight title.
In a year dominated by one team, and one driver in particular, there are often performances that go missing – so here’s a look through the entire field in an effort to cast a light on what everyone did well, shake our heads at the lower moments and raise a question mark to some of the stranger moments if indeed they existed.
DJR TEAM PENSKE
THE GOOD: McLaughlin broke the all-time record, held by Craig Lowndes, for most wins in a single season, Coulthard added two more to give the team 20 out of 32 for the year. Won Bathurst, which was a massive tick in the box for Roger Penske, and also sealed the team’s championship.
THE BAD: The team orders issues at Bathurst resulted in some of the largest penalties ever handed out in the sport, compounded a month later when at Sandown the news broke of their engine penalties and the loss of McLaughlin’s awesome Bathurst shootout lap. Lots of questions in a short space of time left a sour taste.
THE WHAT: A bright spot was the way the team turned a poor decision from the umpire – a fine for McLaughlin’s post-win Burnout in Queensland – into a positive via a fundraising draw for charity.
TRIPLE EIGHT RACE ENGINEERING
THE GOOD: BACK to their powerful best by the end of the season which is a testament to how good this team really is. Endurance campaign was mighty and won the Pirtek Endurance Cup and in the final four events were arguably the best in pit lane. They’ve been first or second in the championship every year since 2004.
THE BAD: Adelaide’s strong season-opener perhaps hid other issues with the team because for the first half of the year they were all over the place. Parity certainly had some role to play but clearly struggled with the pre-season rule changes to dampers as well.
THE WHAT: Garth Tander’s drive through the field at Sandown was the best of the season and the team was cruelly denied a crushing 1-2 in the ‘500.
TICKFORD RACING
THE GOOD: All four drivers in the top 10 of the championship; Mostert’s early season form was positive and in the end was the only other driver outside of the top two teams to win this year. Waters stepped up to become a true team leader while Will Davison was under the radar but consistently impressive all year with some really good podiums. Holdsworth got better as the year went on and P3 in the Enduro Cup was a fine result.
THE BAD: Aside from the fact they’ve got to stop crashing into each other, inconsistency hurt the team and after Pukekohe, Mostert had a shocker, too.
THE WHAT: Did we mention the Bathurst tear-up? Two cars that should have been contenders ousted for the third year in a row. Not great.
EREBUS MOTORSPORT
THE GOOD: DAVE Reynolds continued to prove his star power as one of the series’ best by racking up podiums and generally being a legend, while Anton de Pasquale grabbed two excellent podium finishes in a season that proved plenty. Both rewarded with new deals as a result.
THE BAD: Most thought they’d be the next-best Holden team this year after a strong run home in 2018, but they struggled hard in the early stages. Inconsistency still hurting this still-young team.
THE WHAT: Reynold’s 10 year contract was the biggest story of the year, after Parity. And Bathurst.
WALKINSHAW ANDRETTI UNITED
THE GOOD: MASSIVE turnaround in the second half of the year saw them lay on 13 top-10 finishes from the last 8 races, where the first 24 of the season only delivered 14 of them in total. Very strong endurance campaign, a Bathurst podium for Courtney and Perkins and a good rush home made up for the start of the season.
THE BAD: The start of the season! After such a promising 2018 we all thought this may be the year where WAU turned the corner, but it wasn’t to be and they were all-at-sea until Perth, at least.
THE WHAT: A clean-house means two new drivers in 2020 so it will be hard to judge progress made this year given a clean-slate next season.
BRAD JONES RACING
THE GOOD: After McLaughlin, Nick Percat was about the most consistent bloke this year and rattled off 20 top-10 finishes and an outstanding top-10 finish in the overall championship. Slade scored two podiums for the team and for the first half of the year they were in the lead of the ‘best Holden team other than Triple Eight’ rankings.
THE BAD: Slade’s mid-season slump was hard to watch and from Barbagallo in April failed to make even the top-10 until the Gold Coast in October. A typical rookie season from Macauley Jones also meant some machinery was torn up.
THE WHAT: Speaking of torn-up, this team’s damage bill must’ve been big this year, notably so at Darwin where their two cars ended up in the same gravel trap, at the same time, early in the weekend. Ugh.
KELLY RACING
THE GOOD: WHEN Andre Heimgartner has a car capable of delivering he is as good as anyone in the field, and KR re-signing him for next year’s Mustang ride is smart, indeed. Rick proved on occasion that he still has what it takes to compete and the minor aero tweeks throughout the year did seem to help the ageing Altima.
THE BAD: Didn’t help them enough though. Out-classes for much of the season this was a tough one for the Kelly’s with the team, for whatever reason, often only getting one car of the four fast at any given time.
THE WHAT: Perhaps the biggest shame is that Simona de Silvestro never had the chance to show what she was capable of in good machinery.
GARRY ROGERS MOTORSPORT
THE GOOD: NOT a year with lots of it, but some of James Golding’s performances this year were super, even if they weren’t really recognised by many. Perhaps most of all, the way the team was recognised by all and sundry following confirmation that they wouldn’t be back in 2020 was a sign of how well-respected the Garry Rogers-led squad is.
THE NOT: The Richie Stanaway saga was one thing, but having their own sponsor bashing down the door looked horrible too. That, and the cars were just not fast, despite all efforts.
WHAT: That the sport is in a place where even one of the most storied outfits in the paddock has to depart will hopefully lead to some introspection and changes ahead.
CHARLIE SCHWERKHOLT RACING
THE GOOD: POLE position in Tasmania, surely! A super lap from Mark Winterbottom delivered Team 18 their first pole and showed that the pieces were slowly coming together for this squad. Several strong finishes deep inside the 10 proved the potential.
THE BAD: Inconsistent, as expected for a single-car team with a new driver this season. 4th and 6th at Symmons Plains were backed up by 21st and 17th at Phillip Island a fortnight later and that’s the kind of stuff they need to change.
THE WHAT: Impressive plans announced to expand to two cars and adding Scott Pye to the roster added proof that this team is one to watch next year.
MATT STONE RACING
THE GOOD: AS FAST as anyone on their day with a couple of Top-10 shootout results from Todd Hazelwood particularly impressive and clear highlights. 12th and 10th in Adelaide were good, 5th in the crazy Pukekohe race impressive but perhaps the fighting 10th on raw speed and strategy in Newcastle’s finale proof of the team’s evolution.
THE BAD: Like Team 18, all over the shop at times as a single car squad. A rough endurance campaign didn’t help the cause, either.
THE WHAT: Telling Todd Hazelwood he should look elsewhere for a drive in 2020 was one of the more curious stories of the season, and one yet to deliver a meaningful answer to the question ‘Why?’.
TEKNO AUTOSPORT
THE GOOD: Jack LeBrocq is a super talented young bloke with lots of personality and a bright future. That he was able to continue to showcase that this year, despite the circumstances, was impressive. Major sponsor Truck Assist actually stepped up their involvement in the sport, too.
THE BAD: Where do you start? A shadow of it’s former self, Tekno was in struggle-street this year, blaming their driver rather than a now five-year-old front end in their Commodore for their ills. Almost came to a head before Tasmania where LeBrocq nearly left the team, but patched up their differences to see the year out, but the car was slow and the team just cast the impression of not caring.
THE WHAT: The shift to Sydney has all the makings of a non-starter, despite everyone trying to say otherwise. If it doesn’t come off, James Courtney is going to have a rough 2020.
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