The brand new Newcastle street circuit will host two 95-lap races for the final round of the 2017 Australian Supercars Championship, the Coates Hire Newcastle 500. While Australian Jamie Whincup leads the series heading into the last round, two Kiwi drivers’ and team-mates, Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard have a real chance of winning the 2017 driver’s title.
History has shown that driver leading the standings into the last round has gone on to become champion for the last nine years in a row. Whincup, who along with Craig Lowndes, are the only drivers in the field who have finished in all 24 races this season, is aiming for an unprecedented seventh championship victory.
His Red Bull Holden Racing Team is aiming for its eighth-straight Supercars teams’ championship crown this year although it enters the weekend 105 points behind McLaughlin and Coulthard’s Shell V-Power Racing Team co-owned by Dick Johnson Racing and Team Penske.
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1. Jamie Whincup 2850
2. Fabian Coulthard 2820
3. Scott McLaughlin 2674
4. Chaz Mostert 2586
5. Shane van Gisbergen 2574
6. Craig Lowndes 2160
7. Cameron Waters 2071
8. Mark Winterbottom 2058
9. Garth Tander 2028
10. David Reynolds 1956
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1. Shell V-Power Racing Team 5529
2. Triple Eight Race Engineering (Whincup/Van Gisbergen) 5424
3. Prodrive Racing Australia (Winterbottom/Waters) 4164
4. Garry Rogers Motorsport 3504
5. Erebus Motorsport 3141
6. Walkinshaw Racing 3030
7. Nissan Motorsport (R. Kelly/T. Kelly) 2949
8. Brad Jones Racing 2850
9. Prodrive Racing Australia (Mostert) 2634
10. Nissan NISMO (Caruso/De Silvestro) 2586
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