see more Racing on :
https://rebrand.ly/SpeedWorld
https://rebrand.ly/SpeedWorld
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00In 2013, the V8 Supercar Championship has been centred around this brand new era.
00:13New cars, new manufacturers and even new formats.
00:18Fabian Coulthard wins the 60-60 race that Simmons plays.
00:23But in Tasmania last weekend, these guys showed that despite this new era, old habits die hard.
00:31Reynolds up on the wall. Oh, huge moment.
00:34Oh, massive crash.
00:36Oh, here we go. A little bit of dodging car work.
00:38Van Gisburgh and a Bums lounge.
00:40Turn around now for lounge.
00:41A bit angry, folks.
00:42This weekend, the V8 Supercars are back at the home of New Zealand motorsport, Hookahoe Park Raceway.
00:48It's a place that's produced some of the most famous moments in our sport.
00:53Three straight for Green Murphy.
00:56Dumb Rowan Band. This is going to be bad.
00:58This is huge.
00:59Oh, we've got a car on its roof. It's Paul Morris.
01:01Oh, wow. Huge.
01:03The current crop of young Kiwi drivers are now poised to make their own mark at this track known simply as Pookie,
01:10as it too begins a brand new era.
01:13There's a new kid in town. His name is Scott McLaughlin.
01:16Welcome to the ITM 400 Auckland.
01:19It's all live and free right here on Seven.
01:26It is a cracking day on the North Island of New Zealand.
01:30Auckland is absolutely shining.
01:32Such a beautiful harbour, a vibrant city centre.
01:35We've had great weather all weekend.
01:36The Kiwis love their motorsport.
01:38This is our venue, 40km south of Auckland, Hookahoe Park Raceway,
01:43celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
01:45And we're back here for the first time in six years.
01:49Hi, everyone. I'm Matt White.
01:50And welcome to the V8 Supercars on Seven.
01:52And day two of the ITM 400.
01:55Today, it is races eight and nine of the Championship.
01:58Two 100km sprint races.
02:00And what a start to the season we've had already.
02:03Six different race winners in our opening seven races.
02:07Alongside me, as always, Neil Crompton and Mark Scaife boys.
02:10What about this place?
02:11Perfect weather, big crowd, an awesome track.
02:14Does it get any better?
02:15No.
02:15I absolutely love this place, Matty.
02:17It's great to be back.
02:18As you said, it's got a great heritage.
02:20We've been coming here since 1963.
02:22It's a wild venue.
02:23It produces tremendous racing.
02:25And what about the images?
02:27Second to none.
02:27Some of the stuff that we saw yesterday was truly amazing.
02:30Over the years, as you know, there's been some real emotive moments.
02:33And Scaife, yesterday, we had another one.
02:35It was unbelievable for New Zealand Motorsport.
02:37To have a young guy win his first race was incredible.
02:41But to be back here, I'm totally with you.
02:42This is an unbelievable racetrack.
02:44Let's have a look at the highlights of race six.
02:46Because it was a very, very equal start.
02:48The two lead guys, Winkup and Winterbottom, got away perfectly.
02:53And they led by miles.
02:54There were three car lengths in front as they turned into turn one.
02:57But it was on immediately because the left-hand front tyre failed for Winkup.
03:03And off he goes.
03:03He had to come into the pits.
03:05A couple of laps later, look at the left rear damage for Mark Winterbottom.
03:09It's tore the back rear guard off the FPR Falcon.
03:12Had to come into the pits and repair that damage.
03:16So the two lead cars out.
03:18Winkup almost out properly because he was off the road at turn 11.
03:21A lot of cars doing the same thing.
03:23Alex Premmer was battling with Scott McLaughlin, who then led.
03:26And Premmer had a 100% stuck throttle late in the race.
03:30Nervous moments for Neil Crompton when he was saying Scott McLaughlin with the rear wheels locked at turn five.
03:36And a 19-year-old New Zealander for Gary Rogers Motorsport wins his first V8 supercar race.
03:43And how was the crowd reaction?
03:45Unbelievable, mate.
03:46And on the subject of first pole position in his V8 career for Faber-Coultar.
03:50But he messed up the start.
03:51Can you believe it?
03:51Had a clutch drummer.
03:52And Lee Holdsworth also with a clutch problem at the back of the field in the Mercedes.
03:56Here's the replay.
03:57Look, he's bolted.
03:58He had two car lengths.
03:59By the time he grabbed second gear, and that was wrong.
04:02And, of course, he had the 10-second penalty hanging over him as a result of that.
04:05Now, Winkup was very quick.
04:07Lowndes' car was oversteering.
04:09And here's Jamie marching through the field.
04:10Problem with the left rear suspension for Tim Slade's car.
04:14Pitched him off the road down there at turn one.
04:16Into the weeds.
04:16Triggered a safety car.
04:18Now, this was something that was discussed in detail last night.
04:21Because Winkup held back, and he was right on the margin of copping a penalty here.
04:25They must stay with the five car lengths.
04:27And the restart triggered a moment at turn one.
04:29It involved Van Gisbergen, Bright, Courtney, and the race six winner, McLaughlin.
04:34Can you believe these guys all popped out the other side and survived this one?
04:37Check them out.
04:38It's a 200-kilometer-an-hour ride through the green stuff.
04:42And they all hung on.
04:43Van Gisbergen and Bright need medals for that performance.
04:45They came out the other side.
04:46A rare mistake at turn five for Craig Lowndes.
04:48And an awkward rejoin for him at turn six.
04:51He got back on.
04:51He was really cranky with himself for that one.
04:54So, up the inside now is Jamie Winkup.
04:57Nicely done at turn eight.
04:59His car was looking very, very strong.
05:00There was a little glance side to side.
05:03Fabian tried to argue the point.
05:04But how about this for motor racing bravery?
05:06Winkup stays with it on the outside.
05:08It gave him the inside line in the final turn.
05:10He got the job done.
05:11Now, Winterbottom was very quick.
05:13Initially, he had a big battle with his teammate, Will Davison.
05:15But he scorched up the inside at turn five on Winkup.
05:19With a big lunge at the race lead.
05:21It didn't work.
05:22He locked the rear brakes.
05:23Despite the pace in that car, he couldn't put it to good use.
05:27And makes this little blue here.
05:28There's the replay.
05:29And I think everybody gave him marks for effort there.
05:32Meantime, this was a breakthrough win with a damaged car for Jamie Winkup.
05:36First win for 2013 for our reigning champion.
05:40His 65th career win.
05:41And as Matty said just a moment ago, we've had six winners in seven races.
05:45Unreal.
05:46Yeah, the podium for race seven was Winkup, Will Davison and Garth Tander.
05:49This is the championship picture.
05:51After those two races yesterday, Winkup still leads.
05:55So two top ten performances from Will Davison keeps him in second.
05:59Scott McLaughlin has moved up to fourth.
06:00Garth Tander up to sixth.
06:02Also after two top tens.
06:04And Jason Bright in tenth.
06:06188 points adrift.
06:07150 points still on the table for today.
06:10And emotions will be running high this afternoon when this is presented.
06:14It's the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy.
06:16Of course, we lost Jase back in December 2011.
06:19He was such a popular racer.
06:20Such a wonderful person.
06:22A proud Kiwi.
06:23Ten years in V8s.
06:24Three-time runner-up up at Bathurst.
06:27And the trophy will be given to the driver with the best combined points over the four races.
06:32Right now, that driver is Jason Bright.
06:34He's former teammate at Bradley Jones Racing.
06:36Weather, absolutely no dramas.
06:37Picture perfect, crystal clear yet again.
06:40We have back-to-back qualifying sessions coming our way along with two 100-kilometre races.
06:45It will be a fantastic day here at Pukekohe Park Raceway.
06:49It's wild.
06:49It's fast.
06:50Qualifying is next.
06:51This is our first international stop on the 2013 V8 supercar calendar at Pukekohe Park Raceway.
07:18Of course, we are going to Austin, Texas in mid-May.
07:22But New Zealand is our playground this weekend.
07:26The newly renovated pit lane complex.
07:30Track has been given almost $7 million worth of a makeover.
07:35And it certainly delivered yesterday.
07:38So, the Sunday program is about to come to life.
07:41Just give you a location factor here.
07:44On the North Island, as we say, 2.91 kilometres this circuit.
07:48Absolutely fast and furious.
07:50And talking about the upgrades, turn five and six is the major, major key component that's been added here.
07:56And the slowest corner there is at turn eight, 65 kilometres an hour.
08:00It's a 255-kilometre-an-hour run up that back straight.
08:04It's got a very high average speed of just under 170 kilometres an hour.
08:08And now, as we head into qualifying, we'll talk about these sector splits.
08:12And the first intermediate comes up on the exit of turn four.
08:15And the second reference point that we'll be using to gauge the performance on these laps
08:19will be just coming out of the hairpin at turn eight.
08:21So, two 15-minute qualifying sessions.
08:26This first one will determine the grid for race eight.
08:29And they'll quickly reset and do it all again to determine the grid for race nine.
08:34Later on this afternoon.
08:36Neil Crompton and Mark Scape joining me in the commentary box.
08:38We've got Mark Larkin and Mark Beretta patrolling pit lane, as always.
08:46And there is the Red Bull Racing Australia Commodore of Clay Lowndes.
08:51It's going to be a frantic session.
08:55Only 15 minutes.
08:58These 15-minute qualifying sessions have added even more pressure,
09:01as if it's not already a pressurised weekend, with four races,
09:05four qualifying sessions, plus a shootout incredibly busy,
09:08four practice sessions on Friday.
09:10It's great.
09:11We've seen lots of V8 supercar action.
09:13Great for the fans.
09:14They've responded.
09:15We've got a beautiful day and a fantastic crowd pouring in nice and early.
09:19Here's the 27-car field.
09:20Make the point that Scott Pye, who we spoke to yesterday on V8 Extra,
09:24he's OK.
09:25Fired off the road in Tasmania last weekend on Sunday.
09:28That car was damaged substantially.
09:30It's being repaired.
09:31It'll be back for our next event, the Chilled 360.
09:34So yesterday's pole sitters were Fabian Coulthard and this man, Jamie Winkup.
09:40And if Jamie can get one more pole position today,
09:43he will equal Mark Scaife on outright second or, sorry, all-time second with 41 poles.
09:50So yesterday was his 40th career pole position.
09:53One pole puts him equal with Scaife in second and still got a fair way to go to catch.
09:58Peter Brock, 57 poles in his career.
10:01His qualifying lap yesterday was just fantastic.
10:04The top 10 lap in particular was as good as I've ever seen him drive.
10:07And then the disappointment at the start of race six.
10:13And what a day.
10:13The first time that three of the four Nissans have finished in the top as their best finish.
10:19So Rick Kelly finished seventh.
10:21It was a great run for him.
10:23Michael Caruso and James Moffat were also right up there.
10:27So great day for the newbies in qualifying yesterday.
10:3112th and 13th for Nissan and Mercedes-Benz.
10:34And Lee Holdworth was very strong in qualifying.
10:37His performance was the best of the AMG E63s.
10:40As a reference guide, the fastest time in qualifying yesterday that we saw over the two qualifying sessions
10:47was set by Jamie Winkup.
10:48He did a one minute 2.55.
10:50It was a very, very good lap.
10:52Very fast.
10:53When he initially did it, he had a half second margin over his nearest rival.
10:58He's got the headlights on here.
10:59So he's got a wall of traffic.
11:01So that's just not going to work for him at all.
11:02He wants to start his lap here.
11:04Winkup.
11:05But he's going to find it when he's come in.
11:08That was placed.
11:10Well, that's interesting too.
11:11As you saw, they're the first guys out of pit lane.
11:13And they normally take advantage of that track position straight up.
11:17But it just couldn't engineer it this time.
11:19I love these 15 minute sessions.
11:21It's just rip, tear and bust.
11:23Every tyre that you've got in these two qualifying sessions, every tyre that's left in the garage gets thrown on the cars.
11:29And you use that to the best advantage.
11:33And there'll be a lot of difference, Neil, between teams with what tyre quality they've got as they've managed the tyres through the weekend.
11:39And they've started with seven sets of tyres, 28 tyres.
11:43They have a draw from that bank of tyres from the minute practice began on Friday right through to the end of racing today.
11:49Two green boxes for Winterbottom and drops the left rear off ever so slightly.
11:52The Davison on screen followed there by...
11:57Neil, you made a good point earlier on in a quick scan along the pit lane.
12:00There is a real mixture of tyres.
12:02And this is going to be really hard to read this session until right at the death.
12:05Because both Lowndes and Winkup have both come in, pulled off used tyres and put used tyres back on.
12:10So I think we have to wait till the end.
12:13Yes, I was just going to expand on that.
12:14The way that the day unfolded yesterday, I think more people were more prone to throwing tyres at their problems to try and get a second lap if traffic affected them.
12:24Or the driver made a little mistake.
12:25That drew down from the bank of seven sets of tyres.
12:29So I think today, I think this particular session we're looking at at the moment, they'll be all OK.
12:34I'm curious to see what happens in the next one as to how they go, if there's anybody that's still got some nice fresh tyres available.
12:40But it's going to be a big part of the story today.
12:42Lots of fun.
12:44So Winterbottom, Tanda, Reynolds, Kelly as in Rick, James Courtney, Todd Kelly, James Moffat, Will Davison, Murrow Engel and Russell Engel are the top ten as we speak.
12:54This will change dramatically, especially in the last four or five minutes, as Mark Larkin just said.
12:59Garth Tanner on the fastest first sector.
13:02Will Davison now up into second.
13:04Dave Reynolds, good job, obviously, sitting there in third.
13:06That was his best result yesterday.
13:08And they changed the engine overnight in the Bottlow entry car, 55.
13:12So he was down in straight line performance relative to the other team cars at Ford Performance Racing.
13:17So they yanked the engine last night.
13:20And given his performance yesterday, if he finds a little bit,
13:23and that's what they hope the engine will do for them, then that'll put him in good shape.
13:27So he's fifth at the moment.
13:30Top of the list is Garth Tanda.
13:32Hull City here in 2006.
13:35Dual race winner.
13:38Here's Michael Caruso.
13:39He follows his teammate, James Moffat, across the line.
13:41Moffat into seventh, Caruso into sixth.
13:44Rick Kelly also in the top ten.
13:46After, as Mark said, that breakthrough top ten race position yesterday for Nissan Motorsport and the Altima.
13:55This car looks very fast, doesn't it?
13:57Winterbottom now should go to the top.
13:58And he does with a 3-1-4.
14:00Good job.
14:01He was very fast.
14:02I felt sorry for him yesterday.
14:03He should have had a better result in race seven.
14:06Jason Bright, BJR, they were also, he and Fabian Coulthard, very competitive all weekend.
14:15Bright will be very close here.
14:17So Winterbottom, Tanda, Van Gisburgh and Lowndes.
14:20Bright goes into P2 with a 3-3-5.
14:23And Winterbottom's going on with it.
14:25On the back of the fastest lap so far in this session, he has a green box at sector one.
14:30Lowndes is also quick.
14:31Lots of work into the night last night for all of the teams, and especially the key runners, trying to refine performance.
14:40Trying to get an understanding of mapping the car behaviour across these bumps here is a big challenge.
14:46These cars look good today.
14:48It looks to me as though they may have made a little improvement.
14:50Very stable.
14:52Two green boxes here for Frosty.
14:54So Winterbottom's the fast man as the reference at the moment at 1 minute 3.1.
14:59He's got two-tenths of a second margin.
15:02He was only just a fractionally slower on that lap than he was the previous.
15:06Bartney, Jeremy, Winkup.
15:091.03.07.
15:11And Fabian Coulthard is also trucking along nicely.
15:15So he's faster to the second sector.
15:18And this could put him to the top.
15:20Coulthard goes there with a 1.02.9.
15:24Yeah, you're ahead of Winkup.
15:26That's everyone pretty much spent there.
15:27First one for the twos.
15:28Bill Key.
15:30Well done, mate.
15:31Brad Jones in behind.
15:32Phil Key.
15:34Talking to Fabian Coulthard.
15:35That's a very good job.
15:36First car into the twos.
15:38Alex Prama.
15:40Also very strong yesterday.
15:42Had a throttle sticking open, which is one of the worst things you can have for a big fast place like this.
15:46The cars have been very good and this team have been punching above their weight.
15:50We say all the time Gary Rogers has done a tremendous job with these cars and Prama goes up to eighth with a 3.42.
15:57So remember, no top 10 shootout today.
16:00It's flat out to the end of this 15-minute session.
16:03And Scotty McLaughlin, yesterday's race winner, the 19-year-old Kiwi, has bought into the picture.
16:09He's in fifth.
16:10So Jason Bright decides to give up on that lap and head into pit lane.
16:19So around the halfway mark, most of the field in pit lane will grab a break.
16:25Fabian Coulthard, 102.95.
16:27He started yesterday's second race on pole position.
16:30Had no luck.
16:31Is today the day?
16:33But Fab, back in just a second, pit, hook and go in.
16:41The qualifying continues here for race eight of the championship.
16:47The first of two back-to-back qualifying sessions.
16:50Fabian Coulthard, the Kiwi, leads the way.
16:52He's in pit lane.
16:53In fact, Jamie Winkup is the only one in the top 10 to be out on the circuit.
16:57In fact, there are only three cars out on the track right now.
17:01Make that two because Winkup has headed back into pit lane.
17:05So we'll zero in on Todd Kelly.
17:07And this is an ultimate car number seven in 19th.
17:12Todd's been quite good at this circuit over the years.
17:16The time that he's on at the moment will be close to the top 10.
17:21Cars look very good.
17:22They ride the bumps nicely.
17:24Neil Compton and I thought that into term one when we watched right next to the circuit on Friday
17:29that they were the best cars over the bumps in this next section of road.
17:34And Todd Kelly goes to 11th with a 3-5-0.
17:39And he's one of only five of the senior drivers to have contested all of the championship races for V8s here.
17:45Todd Kelly, runner-up to Murphy in 2002.
17:49Pretty good run for him yesterday.
17:50He's had some troubles at the start of the season.
17:52Jack Daniels, this and Ultima.
17:54Here's David Wall.
17:54It was a 17th and an 18th for Todd yesterday.
17:57David's had some great form this weekend as well.
17:59He's clicked with the racetrack.
18:00And this is the third car in the stable prepared by Brad Jones Racing, the Wilson Security Holden Commodore.
18:09Former Australian GT champion.
18:11He's done a lot of production car racing successfully and also a career a cup.
18:15Sadly, we lost his dad late last year who was also a great racer.
18:19Spent a lot of time successfully in sports sedan racing.
18:22So, the racing bug runs in the family.
18:27And I was impressed with his run yesterday.
18:29He's really still, in the early days of his V8 supercar career, he ended up with a 17th in the second of the two races yesterday.
18:40And he qualified top 15 for that race.
18:43So, most of the cars back out on the circuit with under four minutes remaining.
18:47What have we got?
18:48Famine Coulthard on top.
18:49He's still biding his time in pit lane.
18:51Let's ride with Davey Reynolds as they'll take you through the top ten.
18:54He's up to turn four here.
18:56It's a real handful around this part of the circuit.
18:58Out on the saw two, curbing on the left to release yourself on the back straight.
19:03Up to 250 k's on approach to turn five.
19:07Reynolds is just outside the top ten.
19:10He only just got it stopped for turn four, Matt.
19:17He just knew correctly said he got the curve on the inside of turn three.
19:20Just made it.
19:21He was sideways.
19:22As soon as he turned the wheel, all these cars will be affecting him for sure.
19:25When you can't use the racing line right out to the outside.
19:28So, now Reynolds may be able to get another lap now.
19:34You've got to use your brain.
19:35Make sure you come onto the straight properly.
19:37This is this massive bump.
19:38That's a big moment there for Dave Reynolds between turn ten and turn eleven.
19:43That's as wild as it gets it.
19:44Throws you in the fence on the left.
19:46And Dave Reynolds pops up to P6.
19:50Alex Davison was right behind him and he went up to P4.
19:53That was a heavily compromised lap.
19:56He was, you could see even from our viewpoint,
19:59what it does to your braking reference going up into turn five
20:02when there's all those cars just in the way.
20:04And then it happened to him again, only they were on the race line at turn eight.
20:07So, his approach into the hairpin was shallow.
20:10So, he'll go for another lap, but he may have lost the green benefit.
20:13Shane Van Gisbergen up to the front row, provisionally.
20:16We're watching Garth Tander on the right-hand side of your screen.
20:19You can see Mark Winterbottom, sector times.
20:22He's lighting up the scoreboard again,
20:24as he always does at the end of a session.
20:26Jamie Winkup, too.
20:28Huge moment for Tander.
20:32And he goes up to fifth, but the times are coming.
20:35James Moffat's done the best sector at the end of the first intermediate.
20:38His two green boxes for Winkup.
20:41Lower left of frame as well.
20:43Winkup to the top on a one-minute 2.9.
20:45Winkup will eclipse this for sure.
20:48Yes, he does.
20:49A 102.7.
20:51So, it's Winkup to the top.
20:53Minute and a half to go.
20:54Courtney into third with a 2.93.
20:57And the image we saw of Tander's car a moment ago, Mark,
21:00looked like they tidied up the ride in those cars overnight
21:02because they looked pretty loose yesterday across some of those bumps.
21:05Exactly.
21:06Will Davison in to fifth.
21:08Winterbottom has continued with it.
21:11He was fastest to the first sector.
21:15So, it's Winkup leading Winterbottom.
21:17James Courtney, Fabian Coulthard, Will Davison,
21:20Shane Van Gisberg, and then Scotty McLaughlin.
21:22Alex Davison.
21:23The gel went forward inside the top ten
21:25with Davey Reynolds and Jason Bright.
21:27Moffat went to 11th.
21:28He's just been knocked out of there now.
21:30So, that's a very good job, James Moffat.
21:32And his first sector split, I remarked on a few moments ago,
21:35was the pick of the field.
21:35He was the fastest man to the first intermediate.
21:38So, here's Winterbottom now.
21:39One corner remaining.
21:40He's position two.
21:42He's only two-tenths of a second away from Winkup.
21:44Does he close the gap on Winkup?
21:45How was Engel?
21:47How was the slide?
21:48He was right out sideways at Turn 11.
21:51Winkup, Coulthard, and McLaughlin have all gone off.
21:53Winkup and Winterbottom.
21:57One minute, 2.7 apiece.
21:59And Alex Premath has gone up into fifth.
22:02So, both GRM Fujitsu cars inside the top ten right now.
22:08That was a massive moment for Engel.
22:10He was right out sideways like a speedway car
22:13at over 200 kilometres an hour.
22:15Lowndes in the tenth.
22:16Red Bull.
22:17Out of it, out of it.
22:18Book ending the top ten.
22:21Will's done with that one.
22:23Margin first to second's crazy.
22:27So, that's Grant McPherson on the radio.
22:29Here's Van Gisbergen, car number 90, 77th at the moment.
22:33He's got to find a little bit of time.
22:34He's about three-tenths off the provisional pole time at the moment.
22:38Winkup's gone back into the garage.
22:40So, it's .09 Winkup to Winterbottom.
22:43And that lap that we saw Frosty complete did narrow the margin,
22:47but it wasn't enough to grab the pole.
22:49Winterbottom's come in now as well.
22:50He's peeled off to the right there.
22:52Courtney's in.
22:54McLaughlin, one corner remaining.
22:56Young Scott is in eighth at the moment.
22:58Race six winner from yesterday.
23:00And he moves up one position.
23:05Coulthard's just gone to position three.
23:06He's bumped Courtney back.
23:08Winkup, Winterbottom, Coulthard.
23:09That's the order at the moment.
23:11Lowndes will be close here.
23:12He's in tenth at the moment.
23:14He just goes up one spot.
23:17And that knocks Davey Reynolds out of the top ten.
23:20It's just ever so fractionally slower today than the same session yesterday.
23:26Only by a tenth.
23:27That's a good point because a little bit of track grip change when it's big and fast and flowing like this,
23:32it certainly makes a difference.
23:33James Courtney, very good job.
23:35First of the HRT cars in fourth position.
23:37Jamie Winkup out of the car, just watching the final few moments of this session.
23:42Well done, J-Dub.
23:42That was nice.
23:43Yeah, thank you.
23:44I'm not sure if it's over or not yet.
23:46Don't want to get too carried away too soon.
23:48But the car was good.
23:50Surprised we went quicker than yesterday, actually.
23:53No one was quicker.
23:54So I was a bit concerned when I only did a 1.027.
24:00But obviously, relatively, the car is very, very good.
24:02And hopefully we can have a nice clean run today.
24:05A couple of little moments there.
24:06You were pushing pretty hard.
24:08Yeah, it wasn't the cleanest lap.
24:09But I don't think anyone got the cleanest lap.
24:11Cars, believe it or not, radically different than it was yesterday
24:14as we're still learning and still trying to improve.
24:16So all in all, having fun.
24:19Sun's out again today.
24:20So, yeah, I'm sure it's going to be a couple of fun races.
24:24Enjoy it.
24:25Thanks, Jamie.
24:25So that is Jamie's 41st career pole position.
24:28He equals Mark Scaife in all-time second in terms of career poles.
24:33Winterbottom will start on the front row.
24:35So that rivalry just continues and goes on.
24:38James Moffat, well, he had a real dig at getting into the top ten
24:41in the Nissan Ultimate.
24:42He will start from 14th.
24:43There's Tony Dalberto in 21st.
24:45Tim Blanchard, pretty good weekend, but he'll be starting from 22nd.
24:50So clear skies, perfect conditions.
24:52The pace is on again.
24:52And another qualifying session coming our way.
25:03Well, there's no messing about.
25:04Hardly any time at all to reset, tinker with the car,
25:09and then send it back out on its way for another qualifying session.
25:15So the armour all check goes to Jamie Winkup yet again.
25:18It's the third time this season that Jamie has pole position.
25:23And it's an interesting one, too, because between 2001 and 2007 here,
25:27only one pole was awarded per weekend.
25:30And now with the multiple races,
25:32that means that Jamie's the first man at Pukekohe Park Raceway
25:35in the V8 Supercar era to score back-to-back poles.
25:41So our ninth qualifying session of the championship season coming up.
25:45Eight ticked off.
25:45Five different guys have sat on the pole.
25:48And there's the beautiful artwork of the helmet.
25:52James Courtney and the Holden Racing Team commemorating Anzac Day
25:55coming up on the 25th of April.
25:58We might get a chance to look at that over the course of the day
26:00in our broadcast.
26:01The amount of work that's gone into the detail in that helmet
26:05is quite amazing.
26:05I had a look at it last night.
26:07So this will be interesting.
26:08Winkup is back in form.
26:10He's made a lot of changes.
26:11He's sent to us just a moment ago with a car overnight.
26:14They were a little bit slower in that previous qualifying
26:17relative to yesterday, but it was only fractionally.
26:20The big question for me now in this particular session,
26:23who's got what in terms of tyres?
26:26They started with 28 at the beginning of the weekend.
26:29They've been feeding tyres at them through qualifying
26:31and through the races.
26:33And the careful management of that could put you in a position
26:36in this session where if you've got a set or two available to you,
26:39you might just jump up on somebody that you've been competing with
26:42in the past.
26:42This is Mauro Engel in the Mercedes-AMG E63 Erebus Motorsport.
26:48Entry.
26:50Turn four.
26:53Russell Engel joining the queue behind him
27:02and Russell continues this run of finishing every single race
27:05that's been held here for V8 Supercars.
27:08You mentioned, I mean, five drivers have competed in every event.
27:13Russell, Craig Lowndes, Jason Bright, Todd Kelly and Garth.
27:15The horse is the only one to register a finish with every single one.
27:23So bent steering for this car yesterday.
27:27Couldn't get it turned.
27:32So Wink come out of turn 10.
27:33The car was on the slide.
27:34Didn't really settle after the bump.
27:36Turned the wheel for turn 11.
27:38And look at Lowndes.
27:41He had a monster moment there yesterday.
27:44And that's another one.
27:45One yesterday.
27:46He was right out against the fence.
27:48You can still see the wheel tracks in the grass there from yesterday.
27:50Ooh, a little final exit moment for Winterbottom
27:56who goes to the top with a 3-1-5.
27:59Davison, Wink up.
28:01Now Van Gisburgh has come up into second.
28:02Very, very fast corner.
28:07One of the most committed corners.
28:09And when you have committed to the throttle,
28:12as you approach turn 11,
28:14you've got full throttle on.
28:16And as you go over the rise, the car's getting light.
28:19This is the section I'm talking about now.
28:20This is turn 10, over the bump.
28:22And then where they arrive on the exit,
28:25and you see a little bit of ride,
28:27you see Tander right out there.
28:28He's just wrecked that lap.
28:30That would have cost him 4 or 5 tenths of a second.
28:32He still went to P5, amazingly enough.
28:35And he did a 1 minute 3.4,
28:37so your point's right.
28:39At least half a second hurt there.
28:44And Wink's going on with it,
28:45and his second sector split means
28:47that we'll probably see an improvement
28:48for Winterbottom on this lap.
28:49So he's provisional pole at the moment, Reynolds.
28:53Well, James Moffat was pushing hard,
28:56so he's over on the grass down there at turn 4,
29:00so 103.07 for Winterbottom.
29:02Yeah, that was an improvement
29:03by a couple of tenths for Frosty there.
29:05There's his teammate, Will Davison,
29:06at the moment is fourth.
29:08And his brother Alex is slotted into fifth.
29:12This is close.
29:13Young Scott McLaughlin right on the cusp
29:16of beating Winterbottom.
29:17Now, we just saw time of a 2.7 for Winkup in the previous session.
29:23There shouldn't be much difference in the lap time,
29:26but it will depend on what tyres they've got.
29:28And it goes to the top with a 3.05.
29:31So McLaughlin, Winterbottom, Reynolds, Van Giesbergen,
29:34Will Davison, Alex Davison, Michael Caruso,
29:36great job.
29:37P7, Dalberto, then Moffat, then Tander.
29:40If you look really carefully at this car,
29:42and we just saw it again there at turn 4,
29:43but in the high-speed run through turns 10 and 11,
29:46fifth gear in these cars.
29:48McLaughlin, as he turned it into 10,
29:50he actually caught it straight away.
29:51It actually had a little bit of what we call turn-in oversteer,
29:54which is where the back of the car begins to slide,
29:56and he just sat it there nicely,
29:58and it did the same thing at turn 11.
30:00They've got the car trimmed for qualifying
30:01so that it's very responsive in the medium-high speed
30:04as Dalberto locks that inside front
30:06so that it's very pointy,
30:08very responsive to the front of the car.
30:10That's the way you have to set them for qualifying.
30:12It makes for a very nervous car to drive.
30:14You can only do it for a couple of laps.
30:16Red button on, please. Red button on.
30:19Joe Sasso, engineer for Tony Dalberto.
30:25And the team high-flex car
30:27betted his qualifying efforts for both races yesterday.
30:31So he's eighth at the moment.
30:32He had power steering drama early in the weekend on Friday
30:35and then again getting into yesterday.
30:38He's going to talk about it last night.
30:39He thinks they're now on top of it,
30:40but they've had some problems.
30:42Fabian now chasing down Courtney.
30:44He's a tenth and a half faster than Courtney on the first sector.
30:48But you always get a little trail.
30:50You've got the guy like James Courtney
30:51who was very competitive in the previous session
30:53and Fabian Korthart trying to reduce that margin.
30:57A little incentive all the time
30:58when you've got someone just in front.
31:01And Scafie, Fabian Korthart's going to need
31:03a superhuman effort in this qualifying session.
31:05Quick scan of the northern end of the pit lane.
31:07All the key runners at the moment
31:08have all got a set of green tyres.
31:11You should have seen that like a...
31:13Superhuman.
31:14Superhuman.
31:15He was absolutely out of control
31:17from the left-hander at Turn 10.
31:18And it was right out sideways.
31:22He comes up into P2, a 3.07,
31:24with that big moment.
31:26That was as close as it ever gets.
31:28Watch this.
31:29It basically stays buried on its loaded front right.
31:33Drops the right rear.
31:34He actually triggered it from the curving on the left, didn't he?
31:37And Scafie, sorry, mate, just to finish,
31:38that's going to be his best shot.
31:39He doesn't actually have a set of green tyres to put on the car.
31:42Yeah, so I knew you were heading to that point, Larko,
31:44and that's interesting for me.
31:45No-one's actually got in the twos just yet.
31:47There's his boss, Brad Jones.
31:50So they have used, in many cases,
31:53their best tyres prior to this moment.
31:56That'll craft and shape this particular session.
32:00They were just watching the same replay that you saw.
32:04A hairy moment for Fabian Coulthard.
32:06Russell Ingalls jumped into the top ten,
32:08which is being led by the local superstar from yesterday,
32:12Scott McLaughlin.
32:14Welcome back.
32:18It's effectively a half-time break
32:21that they've managed to work into these little qualifying sessions.
32:25Around this time, most of the field dives into pit lane
32:28for one final crack at it.
32:30Tyres will be the absolute issue here.
32:33Who's got the best set of boots
32:34as Johnny Reid completes his lap for Wilson Security Racing?
32:38He's in 22nd, 104 flat.
32:40So we know that Scotty McLaughlin leads with a 103-0,
32:44and as they all come back out,
32:46we can also tell you that Scott,
32:47the car you can see right there,
32:49has some shiny rubber on.
32:51And he's going to make full advantage of that.
32:54Lowndes had actually started a lap,
32:55and he's going to find himself in all this traffic,
32:57so he's had to cycle back into it again.
32:59There was a moment there literally 30 seconds ago
33:01where there were only three or four cars on the track.
33:03Now the big story with just over four minutes remaining
33:06is actually going to be trying to find a gap.
33:08It's going to be near impossible.
33:09So some have got brand-new tyres, some haven't.
33:14You've got to find 60-odd seconds of clear road
33:18where your tyre temperatures and pressures are just right.
33:22He's on the fastest first sector.
33:23Wink up.
33:24Fastest first sector,
33:25but he's about to catch that gaggle of cars that we saw
33:28going through the complex.
33:29He told us before they didn't have new tyres for Car 14,
33:32but that was a brand-new tyre set sitting there.
33:34So Brad Jones,
33:35probably telling you a little fib there, Larko.
33:36Yeah, and did you see Larko in the garage?
33:40Sorry, mate.
33:41Sorry, mate.
33:41Keep going.
33:42He just had a big moment.
33:42Yeah, no, you're right.
33:43Did you see Larko in the garage?
33:44Just arguing with Chris Clark.
33:45I said, mate, you've done it with me before.
33:46He said, no.
33:47He said, I meant that he wasn't on green tyres,
33:49not that he didn't have any left.
33:50So my apologies.
33:51And he's the last one to exit pit lane.
33:53So now watch for Fabian Kiltard.
33:55And Winkup got balked then by that traffic in Turn 8,
33:57and it included his team-mate, Craig Lowndes.
34:00This will probably put him to the top.
34:01It does.
34:02That's a very good lap, given the traffic.
34:04A one-minute 2.6 is only a tenth away
34:06from the best time he achieved
34:07in qualifying for race six yesterday
34:09before the shootout.
34:11Here's the response from Tander.
34:12Back of that car sliding a little bit at Turn 11.
34:15It's Winkup, McLaughlin, Coulthard,
34:17Winterbottom, Bright, Reynolds.
34:18That's the top six at the moment.
34:19Tander now to P2.
34:21A 1.028 for Garth Tander.
34:25Van Gisbergen's on a quick one.
34:27Down to Turn 5.
34:37Coming up to the second intermediate here
34:38for Van Gisbergen.
34:40That car didn't look nice through the 5.6 complex.
34:42It was flat sliding.
34:43You could hear the cold tearing of the tyres.
34:46Another reference comes up,
34:48and you can see the time,
34:50the clumsiness of it in that little complex of corners.
34:52The new complex has slowed him off
34:54to nearly three-tenths of a second
34:55compared to the reference.
34:56Big push, understeered,
34:58not responding to where the driver wants the car to go.
35:01It should lift him higher than eighth.
35:03It does up to sixth.
35:05He won't be happy with that, though.
35:06Lowndes just went to position three.
35:09Winkup's come into the lane on that time.
35:12Tander Courtney now to position three.
35:14So it's HRT, the Holden Racing team,
35:16in second and third.
35:18Winterbottom up to fourth.
35:19Davison fifth on that lap.
35:20Ingle just punched in a time good enough for seventh.
35:23He's found something.
35:26Bright's done the best time we've seen thus far.
35:30A one minute 2.6 for the Team VOC entry.
35:35Less than two minutes in the session.
35:37This is Will Davison.
35:39Will's sixth at the moment.
35:400.03 is the margin.
35:45So will Winkup respond?
35:47Has he got anything left?
35:48Or is that it for the reigning champion?
35:52Here's Winterbottom.
35:52He's fifth on a 62.9.
35:55He's complaining about his teammate there
35:57as Will Davison in front.
35:59Sorry, Alex Davison in front.
36:00Will Davison now coming up behind.
36:03He'll have to move out of the way.
36:05And he's going to start another lap.
36:06He's going to start another lap.
36:08So Jamie is out of the car, I understand.
36:11So he will not respond.
36:12It's Bright on provisional pole at the moment.
36:15Minute to go.
36:16Oh, that's a massive moment.
36:19That has cost Will Davison
36:21a chunk of time at the end of that lap.
36:25Alex Davison in front of his brother.
36:27And Jason Bright is also headed into pit lane.
36:29So here comes Scotty McLaughlin with the tyres.
36:31As those tyres are coming good for him,
36:33he moves up into fifth.
36:35So Winterbottom down in sixth.
36:37Here's Coulthard.
36:37Remember the brand new tyre set.
36:39He's 11th at the moment.
36:40He's done a one minute three flat.
36:43Someone's had the big lock-up
36:44in the braking area at turn five.
36:48Pitches it into turn five.
36:49Carries a lot of speed through there.
36:52A little bit of oversteer in second gear on the exit.
36:5730 seconds remaining in this session.
36:59This will be the last time past the flag for the Kiwi.
37:03He got a pole yesterday.
37:04It all went wrong at the start.
37:07Brighton, his teammate,
37:09has the provisional pole at the moment.
37:11That looks tidier than when we last saw the car through turn 10.
37:14So Fabian Coulthard,
37:19he'll get another crack at this too.
37:21And he moves up to the second rail of the grid.
37:23He did get across the control line, didn't he?
37:25Just before the clock struck zero.
37:28So keep an eye on Coulthard.
37:29There may be another lap in this.
37:31Is he going to press on with it?
37:32And is the traffic clear in front?
37:34There's a lot of dirt on the road down there at turn four.
37:36That could be an influencing factor.
37:40Alex Davison now pulling out of the way.
37:42He's done a great job.
37:43He's eighth.
37:44He's in front of Will Davison.
37:45He's backed out of it.
37:47So that means Jason Bright will be on pole position
37:50for the final race of the ITM 400 Auckland.
37:53It's the first time he's had pole at this circuit.
37:57And remember that the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy
38:00is on offer this afternoon
38:02and currently in terms of combined points for the weekend.
38:06His former teammate at Brad Jones Racing,
38:09Jason Bright leads the way.
38:10So it's Brighton Wink up on the front row.
38:12Coulthard and Tander behind them.
38:14Russell Ingle just outside the top 10.
38:17Shane Van Gisbergen will start from 13th.
38:20Todd Kelly with Lee Holdsworth.
38:23David Wall, Blanchard, Slade, Engel and Reid.
38:25So two qualifying sessions done.
38:27Now it's time to go racing.
38:36Well, TBOC's Jason Bright will start
38:38the final race of the weekend from pole position.
38:41So his first pole at this circuit,
38:43the second of the season
38:45after also getting the cash
38:47at Simmons Plains in Tasmania.
38:50But the real story of what's been going on
38:54is this at Ford Performance Racing Garages.
38:58Frosty Mark Winterbottom is absolutely furious
39:01with Alex Davison.
39:03Now straight after he's jumped out of the car
39:04and gone in search of Alex,
39:07accusing him of blocking him on that last flying lap.
39:10So he had no choice.
39:11And Alex was trying to defend himself,
39:13but it was pretty heated.
39:15In fact, it was very heated.
39:16Larko's there.
39:18Frosty position six,
39:20mate, after position two in the first qualifying.
39:22Clearly agitated, mate.
39:23Tell us what happened there.
39:25Yeah, it's one of those things, you know.
39:27But, yeah, I was on a good lap,
39:30so obviously the car's good.
39:31But, you know, Alex slowed down
39:33and then accelerates.
39:34So I had no last sector on the first lap,
39:37no lap on the second lap.
39:39So by lap three, tyres are gone
39:40and you're trying to do the best you can.
39:42So I'm frustrated, definitely frustrated
39:44that you don't get a clear lap
39:45when we've got all this radio communication.
39:48But, you know, it is what it is.
39:49And what did Alex say, mate?
39:51You know what drivers are like.
39:52It's always the other bloke's fault.
39:53So we'll sit down and talk about it
39:56and make sure it doesn't happen again
39:57because you don't want to screw anyone over,
40:00let alone your own cars,
40:00that have a chance to get in poles.
40:02So, yeah, disappointing.
40:04All right, good luck for today, mate.
40:05Thanks, mate.
40:07Well, Jason Bright, boy, what a day.
40:09First session, you were 12th.
40:10You blasted back in that qualifying session.
40:12Yeah, mate, I made a mess of the first one.
40:14You know, I didn't even improve on my green tyres.
40:16So, you know, ended up 12th.
40:18Really, really disappointed.
40:19You know, we're trying to win this trophy for JR
40:20and, you know, I had to pull something out of the bag
40:23for that second one.
40:23You know, I wasn't quite happy with the car
40:25as what I was yesterday.
40:27So, you know, we decided just to leave it
40:29and, you know, just try and pull a lap out of it.
40:31And, you know, halfway around,
40:32I knew it was a pretty good lap.
40:33I just had to finish it.
40:35And, yeah, we ended up quicker.
40:36So, you know, really, really happy.
40:38You know, it puts us in pretty good shape for today.
40:40Just got to keep out of trouble from 12th.
40:42Stick out to Brightie.
40:42All the best.
40:43Cheers, mate.
40:43So Bright first and Fabian Coulthard third.
40:46But this scenario down here at FPR, boys,
40:48what do you make of all this?
40:50Well, you know, to me, you don't want to have the team drama
40:52because what Frosty actually said is right.
40:54You don't want to have someone in your own team
40:57hurt your performance.
40:58But at the same time, if I was Alex Davison
41:00and he bowled in telling me that,
41:02he's nine hundredths of a second slower.
41:04I would have ripped it into him.
41:05Yeah, I'm very surprised at the behaviour
41:07between the two teammates.
41:09And, you know, Alex responded to the fire with water.
41:13If it would have been me,
41:14I would have gone double fire.
41:15He'd have got it back twofold.
41:17So the net result is that Mark Winterbottom
41:19qualifies in sixth position
41:21and Alex Davison in eighth position.
41:24And Alex's brother, Will,
41:25is tucked in behind them in ninth.
41:27So it could be a pretty interesting start
41:28to the final race of the ITM 400 Auckland.
41:32A fascinating qualifying session that we've had.
41:35So just to sum it up for you,
41:36Jason Bright getting the last pole position
41:38and qualifying for race eight went to Jamie Winkup.
41:42So for our New South Wales and Queensland viewers,
41:44get ready to continue watching your V8 Supercar Championship.
41:48Just switch over to seven
41:50and you can join us over there
41:52as we get ready for the two 100 kilometre races
41:55this afternoon at Pukekohe Park Raceway,
41:58where the heat is on.
41:59I can lead by example,
42:13be a fighter of crime.
42:17It's the best for you, I don't get nowhere at all.