V8 Supercars 2014 - Phillip Island - Race 3 - video Dailymotion

Touring Car Classics by Tony Thompson

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Transcript

00:00:00Here is Mark Larcombe with all the latest on how we get around this wonderful racetrack.

00:00:04Thanks very much, Neil, and it is a great racetrack, isn't it? Track facts for here,

00:00:07Phillip Island. 35 of 38, we're nearly there. 45 laps here today. Now, fuel tank capacity is 112

00:00:13litres, fuel tank range is 34 litres, but this is what makes this event really tricky. You've got to

00:00:19put 120 litres into the car somewhere in the race. Now, that's done to equalise out the field a

00:00:25little bit, because that stationary time in pit lane filling is what costs you. So if everyone's

00:00:30got to spend the same time doing that, that equalises it out, but it really complicates

00:00:34the strategy. Makes your critical lap number, remember, here's our race distance, here's our

00:00:38fuel, around lap 11. Now, what you're going to do here for this strategy is you're not going to start

00:00:43up here where we usually are with a full tank of fuel. You're going to be somewhere in here,

00:00:47I reckon somewhere around 35, 40, maybe 45 litres, right? And you've got to do that so you can fit

00:00:53that 120 litres in. It's going to be a two-stopper. You'll run out a little way, in you get, you'll

00:00:58probably put in say around 80 litres, run out a little further, 40 litres, there's your 120, bang,

00:01:04all the way home. Another quick alternative to that may be to come in really early, split your

00:01:09cars so you don't end up possibly double stacking them. But the problem with this, if you come along,

00:01:14put a little bit of fuel in once you get past your critical lap number, sure you can make it home,

00:01:19but look at that big long run on tyres, that's not good. I think you're going to see someone

00:01:23put a little more fuel in here, run out a little bit longer to split their tyre strategy. One, two,

00:01:29three. Why do they need to? Because so much of your lap here is spent turning the car, in fact

00:01:34over 80% of the lap. Now, quickly, yesterday I talked about aero balance and balancing the

00:01:39importance of it. Here's a car here, V8 supercar. So, at 200 kilometres an hour, 200, they'll create

00:01:46through downforce at the rear about 220 kilos and about 150 kilos at the front. 200 kilometres an

00:01:53hour is about the speed that they're coming onto the straight there. But right here today we're

00:01:57getting gusts of wind in this direction around the front of the car of around 50 to 60 kilometres an

00:02:04hour. That will have a profound effect on the balance, the way the car handles through that

00:02:08corner. Watch carefully, it's going to be a cracker. Love this racetrack. It's a beautiful racetrack,

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00:02:42obtain an eligible quote on your car, bike or home insurance. Okay, now we'll check with the

00:02:48current prices. Thanks to Tatsbet and have a look at Matt Hall in action here. Unbelievable.

00:02:58G'day, everyone. A very interesting session of qualifying at Phillip Island and we are set for

00:03:04a cracking final race of the weekend. So let's have a look at how the market is shaping up at

00:03:09this stage. There might still be four races left in the series, but Jamie Wincup has tied up a

00:03:15record sixth driver's championship and he isn't holding back. He's got pole for the 45 laps with

00:03:21race one winner Scott McLaughlin alongside him, but interestingly enough, behind Garth Tander in

00:03:26the betting. Craig Lowndes will start from 15th on the grid and has blown out the huge odds.

00:03:32Some putters have already jumped in. Following yesterday's sensational action, we here at

00:03:37Tatsbet have extended our money back special for today's finale. Place a winner bet on today's V8

00:03:44race and you'll get your money back if your driver comes in second. Remember, bets must be placed

00:03:50before the race starts to be eligible. To get amongst the action and have a little extra riding

00:03:55on the result, simply download the Tats app or visit Tatsbet.com. Don't forget, you can once

00:04:01again bet live throughout the race by calling 13 19 39. Good luck putters and remember,

00:04:08if you're going to have a crack in race 35 of the series, gamble responsibly.

00:04:20Beautiful images from Phillip Island as we welcome you back to our coverage on seven

00:04:24across the Tasman in New Zealand and all around the world. Race number 35, the V8 Supercars

00:04:29Championship for the Plus Fitness Phillip Island 400. Two great sprint races for us yesterday

00:04:35resulting in a couple of different winners. Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Wincup and Wincup

00:04:38champion elect for 2014 and we're preparing now for another 200k blast. Let's get in amongst it

00:04:44with Rhianna Crean. James Courtney, you came into this weekend seeking redemption. Yesterday wasn't

00:04:49so great for car 22, but today much better qualifying position. Yeah, that's right Rhianna.

00:04:54We had a shock in the last couple of rounds, so really looking forward to getting some points

00:04:59this weekend. Yesterday, qualifying really hurt us. The first race of the car was pretty bad,

00:05:03but it looks like we've got a good handle on it overnight. Just a little bit late in the weekend,

00:05:08but we've got a lot of points on off in the servo, so fingers crossed we have a good one. Good luck,

00:05:12Josie. Cheers guys. Jamie Wincup, what a weekend. You bagged pole position and the championship.

00:05:17I noticed just before you jumped in the car, you had a quick look around at the track surface

00:05:21around you. What were you looking for there? Yeah, just trying to line up on the grippiest

00:05:25part of the track when I finished the warm-up lap. Yeah, it's key to get off the line well,

00:05:31but in saying that, 200kms is a long way, so a couple of pit stops. We'll try to do our best

00:05:37and keep it clean and see how far up the front we can finish. Jamie, good luck. Stay fresh. Cheers,

00:05:42mate. Michael Caruso, Jamie Wincup, just talking about the strategy there. It is a difficult one,

00:05:46this one, quite complicated, but you have got this thing trucking around a fifth,

00:05:50a seventh yesterday, and now up here on the third row of the grid, mate, you're in good form.

00:05:54Thanks, Larco. Look, I think everybody knows you can really judge how good your weekend's

00:05:58going by the amount of times I get to speak to you. Once is good, twice, well, we're doing good

00:06:04at the moment, so if I could just stay up here and I speak to you after the race, I know I've

00:06:07done a good job. I hope we get to chat, mate, I really do. Hey, Mark Winterbottom, fighters on

00:06:13for placings in this championship. 44 points between you and Craig Lowndes. Do you keep one

00:06:17eye on him during this race? I want to win. I can't win the championship and gutted for that,

00:06:24but if you can't win, I don't really care about second, third, fourth, I'm just letting loose now

00:06:28and trying to win races. It is good to finish second, but I wouldn't walk away from the year

00:06:36saying I did a good job. I want to win three races now, four races to the end of the year,

00:06:41and just have a crack, so we'll see how we go. Go get them, let loose. Thanks, mate, cheers.

00:06:46Garth Tander had great pace in yesterday's race, didn't quite have the quality pace,

00:06:50but today, starting in a good spot. Yeah, a bit closer to the action for this one, so

00:06:55hopefully get a good start off the line and see what the race pace is like. Very different type

00:07:00of race today, so actually probably going to be shorter stints than what we had yesterday. So

00:07:04our strength was right at the very end, so we've had to tune her up a bit, make her a bit faster

00:07:08in the early part of the stint, so see what happens. Good luck, Garth. Cheers. Shane Van

00:07:12Gisbergen, it was a tough day at the office yesterday, bounce back today. I can see the

00:07:16start lights today. It's good to be back up the front. We had an unfortunate incident in qualifying

00:07:22and the car wasn't right for the rest of the day, so we sort of struggled, and I drove like an idiot

00:07:26in the first race, but the second race was much better, but the car wasn't right. So today we'll

00:07:31start up the front, just got to keep it together. Shane, have a great race. Cheers. Hey, Scotty

00:07:35McLaughlin, we had a chat last night. I was actually quite surprised when you got out of

00:07:39the car, because I know how fit you are. You said it was actually really tough on you, because the

00:07:43car wasn't perhaps as good as it should be. Now, I'm going to pay you a compliment, because I thought you

00:07:47drove that race beautifully yesterday, given the car wasn't as good as you'd like. Have you tuned

00:07:51it up for today, because it's a longer race, mate. Yeah, thank you, but I think it's a little bit

00:07:56shorter stints as well today, so it might work in our favour a bit more, but I think our car was a

00:08:00lot better in that second race, just unfortunately couldn't move forward. There's a lot of dirty air

00:08:06out there, so when you get right behind someone, you get a lot of push and it pushes off the track.

00:08:10Let me ask you, Scotty, I mean, now your expectations are very high. You're always up the front.

00:08:14You're a guy that come into this sport and you love racing. You just love driving race cars.

00:08:18Has that been tarnished at all with the pressure that's on you now, each week to week?

00:08:22Nah, mate, every time I put this helmet on, I sit on the grid here. It's the best feeling I could

00:08:26ever get, so I wouldn't take any other job. I just love what I do and I'll just keep loving it

00:08:32until I get sacked. Good on you, mate. Hopefully not. I don't think that's going to happen anytime

00:08:37soon. Good luck. He was the youngest ever V8 supercar race winner and he's the youngest bloke

00:08:46in the field, and this is one of the oldest racetracks in Australia, Mark Skaefen. It's an

00:08:50absolute scorcher. It certainly is, Krompo. It's one of our favourites. The best permanent racetrack

00:08:56in the country, 4.45 kilometres. It's a very, very fast place, as you can see there. 285k

00:09:02into turn one. Only 12 seconds of the whole lap is the car straight. It's extraordinary that

00:09:10on a place like this, Mark Larkham said before, over 80% of the lap you are turning, and we've

00:09:16got all the action covered for you today. We've got nine in-car cameras, and as you can see from

00:09:22the great chopper shot on your top left, Dave Reynolds, Scotty Pye, Rick Kelly with in-car

00:09:28cameras, and it's an amazing racetrack because it's so fast. The cars move around so much.

00:09:35As Larkham said, the breeze, the southerly direction breeze off the water is 50 to 60

00:09:41kilometres an hour, which makes huge difference to the approach speed into turn one, but also

00:09:46the other way. When you come down into turn four, you're exposed to the elements, and these are the

00:09:52others. Tim Slade, Will Davison, Scott McLachlan. It's a hard place to get off the line. Also,

00:09:57it's downhill. It's very fast and long gearing. Tires, in terms of temperature, you saw Jamie

00:10:03Winkup look at where you actually parked the car, and you want to park the car on where the rubber

00:10:08strips are, so the grip level is higher on that section than it is on the normal tar section.

00:10:15One of the hardest places in Australia to make the cars walk nicely, and the start will be very

00:10:21important for McLachlan. Look out for Tandor also. Very strong yesterday in yesterday's races,

00:10:27especially at the end of the longest stints. Garth Tandor in P4, Winterbottom right in behind

00:10:34Winkup battling for position two in the series. Let's have a look at the Fuso starting group.

00:10:43We've got cool, clear, but gusty weather out there today, and they line up in this order

00:10:48with Jamie Winkup. His 10th pole position of 2014. Will he knock off his 13 poles from last

00:10:55year? That's a question we might answer in Sydney. Next row of the grid involves Winterbottom,

00:11:00Mostert, Courtney, Van Gisbergen, Caruso, then Nick Perkatt and James Courtney. These guys have

00:11:06been sneaking up on it all weekend, as you heard them say earlier on. Jason Bright, who hasn't

00:11:11quite got the car to his satisfaction. There's Mostert there, I apologise. Met Mark Winterbottom

00:11:15a little earlier. David Reynolds next in the queue, followed by Will Davison. Lee Holdsworth,

00:11:20who's on the move from Erebus to Charley Schwerkholt Racing. Rick Kelly, who was in the USA last week,

00:11:25Jack Daniels Racing. Craig Lowndes, he's worst ever qualifying here at Phillip Island. Fabian

00:11:30Coulthard, some new colours coming on that car in a couple of weeks. Tim Slade, 17. Todd Kelly,

00:11:35season best result for him yesterday for Jack Daniels Racing. Robert Dahlgren,

00:11:39his car has been a pretty wild ride. Jack Perkins alongside him, unfortunately,

00:11:42loses that seat. Dale Wood, who's been quick on occasion so far this weekend. David Wall,

00:11:48then Scott Pye in the Wilson Security Cars. James Moffat, who, by the way, copped 25 points for an

00:11:52incident with Fabian Coulthard yesterday off camera. We didn't see that one. And Russell

00:11:57Ingle at the rear of this group. It's interesting, Scapey, to take a look at the year-to-date

00:12:05podiums. We've had 102 total podium positions so far this season. Jammie Wincup, combination first,

00:12:12second and third. He's had 19 of them. His teammate, Craig Lowndes, has had 15. Therefore,

00:12:17Red Bull Racing have had 34 podiums so far this year. And if you combine the fourth performance

00:12:22racing cars, Rod Nash Racing, Charlie Schwernkopf and the FPR cars, they've had 18. It just gives

00:12:28you a bit of an idea as to the sort of job they've done in the back half of the championship season.

00:12:32As you noted a little earlier, we've got nine cars carrying cameras for us this weekend and many

00:12:36angles within those cars. Witterbottom, Courtney, Wincup. Just a small selection there. We do make

00:12:42a noise about this racetrack and the reason is because we love it. It is so rewarding to drive

00:12:47a lap around here. It's extremely fast. It requires an enormous amount of commitment

00:12:51and supreme delicacy as well because you can't upset the car here. It's the polar opposite to

00:12:57what you need to do at the Gold Coast, where you fly the car over the kerbs, brush up against the

00:13:01concrete walls. Here, it's gentle steering inputs by comparison to the seesawing of the Gold Coast

00:13:06and trying to coax the car, not overloading the front right tyre, which when you see those chopper

00:13:12shots, explains vividly to you why the car is just forever turning around here. It's a little less

00:13:17than 50% of the lap is full throttle, but it's the amount of tyre stress in the story that will be a

00:13:23big part of how things are determined this afternoon. Neil, you hear it over and over again

00:13:27from the drivers how excited they are to be in Phillip Island. This is the sort of place,

00:13:31as a spectator, you come to and you cannot help but get butterflies. It's an exciting venue. Not

00:13:37only one of the jewels in Australian motorsport, it's one of the jewels in world motorsport. The

00:13:41crowd is pressed against the fence. They know they're going to see something special. Here we

00:13:45go, guys. It's going to be a great afternoon. Looking forward to it. Thank you, Barrettes.

00:13:50There's our chopper that's providing those wonderful images. And there is that shot from

00:13:56the south, looking up to the north, and the extreme rollercoaster ride that is the main

00:14:00straight of Phillip Island. Downhill, 285 kilometre an hour run into turn one, depending

00:14:05on the headwind. Field coming into position. It's a little over 700 metres from the control line to

00:14:11turn one. It's a good clean start so far this weekend. It's Wincup versus McLaughlin. It's

00:14:18a carbon copy of yesterday. McLaughlin gets a nice jump. He walked it away well. There wasn't

00:14:26too much wheel spin. And that beautiful thunderous sound in the background of the V8s on the run to

00:14:32one. Wincup down the inside. Scottie tries to round him up. That's going to be a difficult

00:14:36proposition. He stays with it, hangs in there, hangs in there, and forces the Volvo down the

00:14:42inside. Wincup's high and wide. Tandor will buy into this. Jamie fared poorly in that one. They

00:14:49played chicken. The Volvo popped out the other side as the master. How was that level of commitment?

00:14:54And Wincup ended up giving them a little bump. Scott McLaughlin, great job around the outside

00:15:00of turn one. And Tandor has been the benefactor. Down the outside, he goes for a run around the

00:15:04outside at turn four. We're on board now with Wincup. A little bump there with Tandor. He's

00:15:10gone from fourth to second. The tuck in there for Tandor was so close, but he came off the hairpin

00:15:16at four. Because if he had touched that front left bumper corner on the Red Bull car, it would

00:15:21have rotated the HRT car across the nose. That was a great start to the race. And how has Courtney

00:15:27crossed up through turn eight, the high shed? Cough tired, it's too much kerb. He had the right side

00:15:32of the car on the grass and it bucked on the kerb. Scottie plays the wise move. He covers.

00:15:38Tandor tried to actually jam it down the inside lane. This is a great first lap. McLaughlin,

00:15:45impressive performance for him at two. He hung tough and held his ground. Richard

00:15:51Holloway was very complimentary. He's engineering. Courtney's in,

00:15:55leading a train of them. This is strategic. It isn't a problem for these guys. They're making

00:16:00this call. And a nose to tail action in the middle of that pack as well. There's a lot of bumping

00:16:06going on. It's very hard to come off there so fast and get it slowed to 40K. Looks like Craig

00:16:12Lansing. In fact, a lot of cars are on their way into pit lane already. Yeah, so we've got that big

00:16:18line up. There's about eight, maybe 10 cars there. I'm just going to grab that. It's Courtney,

00:16:23Kelly, Coulthard, Holdsworth, Lowndes, Slade, Dahlgren, Moffat and Moore. It's like a roll call

00:16:29at school. And it's front and rear bumpers for table 17, please. Because there were a lot of them

00:16:38that all made contact on the run into pit lane there. It was an awful lot of pushing and shoving

00:16:43as they all tried to make ground because it's a place where you can make cheap time and easy time.

00:16:47They're looking to try and bond over each other in the lane. Meantime, McLaughlin's got control

00:16:52on the left side of your screen, the mega wall. Showing you just what's going on in the lane

00:16:57and also out on the race circuit. If anything, McLaughlin's opened a margin now.

00:17:02Now, remember Mark Warkham's race facts where he explained that they start with a lower fuel.

00:17:09They want to start to process getting the fuel on, but they can't get it all on in one hit because of

00:17:14the tank capacity. So there's a minimum of two stops in this race. And the reason that it's so

00:17:20important to get some of the cars serviced early is that you don't want to, because of the Phillip

00:17:25Island pit area, it's very, very confined. It's quite a compact pit area. So you don't want to

00:17:32get caught with double stacking if you can avoid it. So already Red Bull have chosen to differentiate

00:17:39those strategies between Lowndes and Wincup. Remember Lowndes qualified way back. Lowndes

00:17:45and Winnebottom are battling for second in the championship. There's 44 points between them.

00:17:50We're on board now with Jamie Wincup. What a wild first and second quarter with McLaughlin.

00:17:57And then Tanda was able to get up the inside from turn two, right here in fact. He was up the inside

00:18:03of Jamie. He got around the inside. He then went down the outside of McLaughlin right here

00:18:09and couldn't quite make it stick. So McLaughlin was able. This is this very even start. This is

00:18:15your Gillette Mach 3 replay. There's nothing in this off the line. The two guys blaze down in

00:18:20here around the outside. There's been a little bit of chatter on the radio also in the Red Bull

00:18:25camp about whether or not McLaughlin's leap from the line was legit. Looked okay from that angle,

00:18:31but that was willing down there wasn't it too. I thought that Jamie had him as they made the run

00:18:36towards two, but it was a brave move for both of them on cold tires to stay with that. And then

00:18:41Tanda was very well positioned here. So this is looking rearward from Jamie's car, from the pole.

00:18:47So great start from Tanda because he was able to move it straight over. And you can just see the

00:18:51glimpse of the Volvo there on your right. But then as he goes into turn one on the outside over there,

00:18:59there he is. Now check this out. He fires back down the inside and a little bump, bump, bump.

00:19:05And that allowed Tanda, because Winkup was then wide, that allowed Tanda to get up the inside.

00:19:12And this is now the high-speed run down to turn three. Winterbottom also buys in.

00:19:18That was a very willing first four corners. And now we're on board from the front shot.

00:19:25And this is the little bump. McLaughlin very clever then. He didn't let Tanda run around the

00:19:29outside because remember, if he let him get around the outside, Tanda would be on the inside for this

00:19:34corner, Siberia, turn five. So what a run. There's Roland Dane. I'm sure he held his grip on the way

00:19:41into turn two. When I saw that Gillette replay of Tanda just wiping across the nose of Winkup,

00:19:47it makes me gasp because that was seriously close to contact like it. I just wanted to add,

00:19:52if you're ever in any doubt as to why Scotty McLaughlin's going to be a future champion,

00:19:56there he's right there. I mean, we talk about it a lot, but that conviction he showed there when

00:20:00he was only halfway up Jamie's car, there's only two or three guys in this field that could do that,

00:20:05get away with. So being brave's one thing, but you've got to be brave and smart. That's another

00:20:09thing. Well done, Scotty McLaughlin. I'm going to wrap for that one. That was well done.

00:20:14A lot of it, Larko, is about car control. And the thing about turning into Southern Loop is

00:20:19you're trying to take the pace off the car, slide the car at the corner, and you've got

00:20:24to contain how wide it slides. So he did that. He stayed on the inside. He maintained his position

00:20:30and he was able to get around the inside of Winkup. What an unbelievable maneuver at turn two.

00:20:35We're going to take a break. We've got McLaughlin leading from Tandor, Winkup,

00:20:40Winterbottom, and Van Giersbergen. That's your top five. Stay with us.

00:20:48Beautiful slow-mo image of Scott McLaughlin, our race leader, who's got 1.7 seconds over Garth

00:20:53Tandor at the moment. The Valvoline Volvo, very strong in the first portion of this race. We'll

00:20:59go back to a Gillette replay now off the start from the second row of the grid. The point of

00:21:03view here is Mark Winterbottom. So that's Tandor just sneaking across into third, moving to the

00:21:07inside. Up the front, you've got Winkup at the apex and around the outside of him is McLaughlin.

00:21:14And they're all fanning their throttles and playing with the steering, trying to work out

00:21:17how you can do three wide at two. Then there's a bit of contact in the front row. Winkup did

00:21:23everything he could to hang in there because he knew that if he could stay right, he had the

00:21:27ideal line when they get to the hairpin. And all the time, it's profit for Garth Tandor.

00:21:33Listen to Winterbottom having to just fan the throttle there, because they don't have anything

00:21:38like the sort of grip you need when they're on cold tyres on lap one there as well. So they're

00:21:42not only battling for position, they're battling the behaviour of their cars. And they're doing 250

00:21:48kilometres an hour at that spot. So when they're all vying for position, this is turn three. So

00:21:53this is where we saw the action just then, braking for turn four. Turn four is about 75 kilometres

00:21:59an hour. Just looking down at Nick Perkatt, just in front is Caruso, just behind is Davison.

00:22:06I made the remark a little earlier in this race, just at the front side of it,

00:22:11about the shape of the track and why it punishes the right side of the car, the front right,

00:22:15the working tyre and the drive tyre on the right rear mark. And here, if the balance is not quite

00:22:20right, Mark Blancombe discussed a little bit of this earlier in the day, you can really exaggerate

00:22:25your problems. So you can see how much work the right side of the car does here. That's one of the

00:22:30rare bits of relief. 70 kilometres an hour at the slowest point in that right-hander,

00:22:34down in the bottom of the gully there at turn 10, call it MG, and then starting more of this whole

00:22:40turn left, turn left, turn left process. And the last turn, when your car isn't behaving,

00:22:45just goes on and on and on like a very slow day. And again, because it's so fast, when the car

00:22:52starts to slide around, it's 190 kilometres an hour there, and they accelerate all the way

00:22:57to roughly 285km just here. This is just a classic shot from our coach Hired Chopper of the layout

00:23:03and how the long corner profiles are so different to most of the tracks that we see around Australia.

00:23:09Isn't turn one a ripper though, because it's downhill. As the cars and the tyres have improved

00:23:14over the years, they're getting further into that corner and they're getting the help today of a

00:23:17little bit of headwind too. And then the actual camber of the road is positive, which means you

00:23:21can tuck the inside of the car in there, sit it just on the edge of the kerb, and it's quite a

00:23:25rush. So the reason why the drivers jump out and speak with enthusiasm about this racetrack is that

00:23:30it gives so much back. Rear bumper cam here of David Reynolds. Todd Kelly's the one that's

00:23:35harassing him at the moment at the Jack Daniels entry. I saw one of the record cars run wide back

00:23:40there before, I think it was the wind cup as well at turn four, because I think Frosty got a bit

00:23:44closer. This is Dale Wood, right hand side of the screen. So the car that's actually best placed

00:23:51of those that have stopped is James Courtney. Remember there was a rash of cars came in to

00:23:57grab their first bit of the 120 litres of fuel that they have to drop. Reminded that the reason

00:24:01that's got to be broken into two is that the maximum capacity of the tank and the fuel lines

00:24:06is 112 litres. Usable fuel is about 109, 110 litres. So you can't get it all in in one hit.

00:24:13So you've got to decide how you break it up. There's one of the Red Bull cars in,

00:24:16as is Nick Perkett. I think that was the wind cup. Tandor in front and wind cup.

00:24:23Yes, wind cup just comes down a bit later. I mean, I think this is fascinating. We've got

00:24:26two distinct groups of cars on two distinctly different strategies for the reasons you boys

00:24:31just explained. And what's going to be interesting is as we get into the race,

00:24:35those guys that stopped early. Now let's just propose there's a safety car after a critical

00:24:39lap number 11, lap 12, 13, 14, 15. And they come in, that is going to change the dynamic

00:24:45of the race completely. So this one's going to go down to the wire and be hugely interesting.

00:24:52Safety car is only a medium chance of showing at this racetrack, roughly 50% odds.

00:25:00HRT process now, wind cup. We see how they fare relative to the first in the stopping queue,

00:25:05which is Courtney. They should come out in front because they had track position initially.

00:25:09But Courtney did fare well from his stop. Garth Tandor in the foreground, then Jamie, wind cup.

00:25:16Not much in that. I reckon, in fact, HRT may have just snuck away a little bit,

00:25:20but here comes Courtney. Courtney, and he's got Rick Kelly right behind.

00:25:25Remember, they've got warm tyres and they're at pace. So Nick Perkett sidesteps,

00:25:30Rick Kelly slides through. That was smart. Well done, Nick Perkett. He didn't move it straight

00:25:36across when there's such a big speed differential. They're very, very dangerous. We've seen a couple

00:25:41of massive moments there over the last few years. And Perkett, although he moved it over, he's got

00:25:47good tyres. It'll take just a little while for those tyres to build up some temperature and

00:25:51some pressure. But Courtney and Rick Kelly straight by. So the top 10 cars are getting

00:25:57stopped, led by, I was going to say McLaughlin. There he is. He just ruined that party. So

00:26:02McLaughlin and Winterbottom are now in. Van Gisbergen is the leader.

00:26:08Now, they don't want to be undercut. That's the reason why they've responded.

00:26:11And the other way, I was about to say, sometimes it works the other way here,

00:26:14because if your lap speed is slightly better than the in-lap of your competitor, a lap after

00:26:21is often the good thing to do here, because it's so hard on tyres. You don't get the benefit from

00:26:25the undercut. So if you follow my logic, the tyres are hurt. If you do any more laps, you're

00:26:36slightly slower, but your opening lap is always slower. So the thing that's critical, let's just

00:26:42look at this. This is Tander, who was second. And this is McLaughlin. So let's just see what

00:26:48happens. This is going to be very close. He's got him. And it's going to take a little while

00:26:53for tyre pressures to normalise for McLaughlin. So that's critical. So 14 seconds of fuel,

00:26:59a little over 50 litres, and 3.7 litres per second on the refill for the United E85.

00:27:06So in about half a lap to a lap from now, McLaughlin's car will begin to feel a little

00:27:09normal again on those tyres. Van Gisbergen is still the race leader. Davis and Mostert,

00:27:16Reynolds and Ingle are yet to stop. Tander looks strong now, doesn't he?

00:27:22He did yesterday too. And at the back end of race 33, probably, well not probably,

00:27:27he did have the fastest car. But then it's a question of trying to figure out how to use it.

00:27:31He was very, very strong. But you heard him say in the interview pre-race that they needed to

00:27:37really shift that window a little bit so that he was stronger earlier. That's about making

00:27:41minute tweaks on the car and maybe tweaking pressures. And look at Percat on Kelly. Good

00:27:46move. He raised your blood pressure. It'll go back the other way here now. So watch this. When

00:27:52you're on the outside at turn eight, you need to hold your breath. And Nick Percat just has

00:27:56to fan the throttle. And in fact, being out there, because he's got to come out of the throttle so

00:28:01much, he's actually given a couple of car lengths away now. So they'll need to resume that little

00:28:04battle. Good over the top of the hill, Nick. He's got Craig Lowndes right behind, who's kind of

00:28:10been fumbled a little bit by traffic in this early stint. Percat tries to run the outside now.

00:28:18We had a chat to him yesterday in the coverage. Oh, he might get up the inside here. He's close

00:28:21to doing it. He's done it. He's done it. That's actually quite a bold move. He's not actually done

00:28:26with yet. But he's got it there. He's placed a ton and a half in the right spot. That quickly

00:28:30turns into being a problem on the other side of the road. They will be three wide into one.

00:28:35And have a go at Lowndes. He's almost motor crossing down there. He's rounded up on the

00:28:39outside, got better corner exit speed. And there's a lesson. Craig Lowndes pops out the other side.

00:28:46What great racing. What absolutely fantastic racing. And they slowed each other up. So it

00:28:51wasn't a horsepower battle, because Tanner and Kelly compromised their line coming onto the

00:28:56straight. They were both slower. Craig got the tow, moved out, rounded them both up on the outside,

00:29:02and gained two spots. A very experienced, nice move. Perkett again up the inside of Rick Kelly.

00:29:11One of the reasons also why McLaughlin is behind Garth Kander is they took a little more fuel on

00:29:16Mark by about three seconds. Roughly by our calculations, around about 10 litres of fuel.

00:29:25Slightly imperfect math when we try to reverse engineer it from in here. But that'll actually

00:29:30resolve itself a little further down the road as Van Gisbergen comes in now to give it to

00:29:33Bill Davison and Russell Ingle. How's all the action at eight? End up cross-eyed,

00:29:38trying to pick up everything here at the moment. It's all happening down the order.

00:29:47So what Neil was explaining is that it doesn't make a lot of sense with the gap from Tanner

00:29:52to McLaughlin, given they're only really a lap apart. But what happened as a consequence,

00:29:57putting more fuel in then will mean that he stops for less time at the next stop.

00:30:03So until they've made their final stop in this race,

00:30:07we won't really be able to work out for you what that proximity is.

00:30:15What you've got to hope there is that you can get it stopped, turned and tucked back in,

00:30:19because if he stayed up too long, too high in the grey, he'd be in trouble.

00:30:23This was a terrific exchange between Nick Perkatt, Rick Kelly and Craig Lowndes,

00:30:28who got the perfect corner exit. And as a result of that, he had about another eight to ten

00:30:32kilometres an hour, blew by. And the Gillette replay tells the story. But at one point there,

00:30:38Lowndes looked like he was about to drop the left side of it into the grass.

00:30:42And that was quite a rush. And he still got it tucked back down at the apex of the corner at

00:30:46turn one. So just think about that, folks. It's 285 kilometres an hour. They're three abreast.

00:30:53The cars are moving around. They buffered around in the breeze and Lowndes just able to get across

00:30:59and fire it in there. And the same thing applied the following lap with Van Gisbergen, because

00:31:03Shane had come out of the pits. He moved it over to the right and Lowndes had to be very bold to

00:31:07get into turn one and get across the front of Shane's Commodore. So Boston now leaving only

00:31:15David Reynolds to stop. He's the leader of the race, Davey.

00:31:18Out of the way, Johnny. You've got about five seconds to go, mate. You'll be clear to go when

00:31:24it drops. Clear to go when it drops. Go, go, go, go, go. A little over 50 litres on the United

00:31:31fuel flow meter there for us. Bottom left hand corner of screen. This is David Reynolds,

00:31:35the race leader. He hasn't stopped. The first in the queue that has is Garth Tander. He's got a

00:31:41well balanced quick car at the moment and he's just got a nice little margin over Scotty McLaughlin.

00:31:47Back at Phillip Island. It is the Plus Fitness. Phillip Island at 400. Day two of racing action

00:31:58for V8 Supercars down here in southeastern Victoria. And we've got a beautiful day down

00:32:04here at the moment. Clear skies, a little bit of cloud around here and there, but not much.

00:32:08Very, very windy. And you can see that we've got a cupboard from every angle. It's been

00:32:13relatively quiet at Cairns Race Control, thankfully, for those fellows.

00:32:17And we've got an interesting race going on at the moment because Garth Tander

00:32:21has got a 2.3 second lead over Scotty McLaughlin. And the Mega Wall, as you can see there a few

00:32:26moments ago, we've got all various angles covered around the racetrack as well, including this one.

00:32:31And David Wall has found the wall, unfortunately.

00:32:33Sorry, you're OK. Just noticed you're there.

00:32:42Just when I said it had been quiet at race control. And unfortunate because he's been

00:32:47able to find reverse and it's at the final corner there for David.

00:32:56That's an interesting spot. That's the final corner there. We saw Greg Murphy have a really

00:33:00big accident there many years ago. And it popped a tyre when that happened for Greg Murphy.

00:33:06But it looks like David Wall has gone straight ahead there. There's got to be a mechanical

00:33:10failure. That is fast. Look how fast that car's gone off. It's gone right through the

00:33:16kitty litter and just bumped the fence. So that has retarded the car enough. Check that out.

00:33:24Well, it's north of 200 kilometres an hour as he commences the turn in there through that left

00:33:28hander in the final turn. So because the safety car has now been deployed, you can see how many

00:33:33people are laying up and reacting to this because this potentially gets them through the second

00:33:37mandatory part of their stop. So they're all coming in. This is going to be manic. A couple

00:33:43of them are in a discussion about it, though. So Tanda's going to lead them here. And who doesn't

00:33:50react to it is going to be the interesting thing here. I think they're all going to do it. Well,

00:33:54yeah, that means that someone's going to lose in terms of double stacking.

00:34:02So Tanda, McLaughlin, Wincup, Winterbottom, Davison, basically everybody from one through

00:34:0716 so far. Perkins, 17, 18. So so far to Mark's point, it's all.

00:34:16I can't remember having double stacked here at all. So this is going to be ugly.

00:34:20And you can see now that Lowndes, I don't know what he's going to do with it because

00:34:23he's going to stop the FPR car coming out. Oh, he's got in there far enough. That's good. I

00:34:29thought he was going to stop the FPR car. So there's Tanda, your leader. There's McLaughlin.

00:34:34So that actually hasn't changed too much. But Winterbottom has definitely jumped Wincup.

00:34:39So that's a jump. And this is hurting Lowndes. You've heard that sentence before.

00:34:48Are you kidding me? So Jack Perkins can't get in and everybody behind him now is blocked. It's

00:34:53a narrow pit lane. Oh, contact in the lane. So there'll be a penalty there as well. Reynolds

00:34:58and Bright have made contact. There just isn't enough room, unfortunately, there for everybody

00:35:03to manoeuvre. So those seconds there, for example, for James Courtney and for Chas Mostert double

00:35:09stacking and for Lowndes, it's absolutely thrashed them. So this is huge in terms of

00:35:15championship implications because Winterbottom was able to get by Wincup. So a good move there.

00:35:22And this is the contact with Reynolds and Bright. That'll be an unsafe release. So David Reynolds

00:35:27will end up having to tour the lane. But Lowndes way back now. So this is huge.

00:35:34So the Pettis safety car is out. While it's out and there's no racing,

00:35:38we'll take a quick break and come back.

00:35:39Gorgeous image from the Coatshire chopper looking back across the turn five, six area of this

00:35:45Phillip Island Grand Prix course with Garth Tanda leading. We're under control of the Pettis safety

00:35:49car here at the moment. And here's the double stacking scenario involving Red Bull Racing

00:35:54Australia, Wincup being serviced and Lowndes having to wait. Let's go down to the pit lane

00:35:59and find out more about it. Yeah, just watching it with Mark Dutton and the Red Bull Racing

00:36:02Australia team. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:36:06great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:36:10great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:36:13great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:36:16great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:36:20great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:36:23great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:36:26great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:36:30great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:36:34great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:36:38great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:36:43great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:36:47great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:36:51great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:36:55great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:36:59great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:37:04great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:37:08great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:37:14great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:37:18great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:37:23great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:37:28great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:37:33great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:37:39great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:37:45great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:37:51great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:37:57great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:38:03great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:38:09great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:38:15great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:38:21great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:38:25great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:38:31great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:38:37great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:38:43great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a great day. It's been a

00:38:49the gelt when entry is operated by them as well.

00:38:52Ooh, someone very wide.

00:38:53That was Kelly, Rick.

00:38:54Ooh, very wide.

00:38:55He turned in there.

00:38:56He just got wide.

00:38:57You said they were battling there with Courtney, turned it in and got wide, got out into the

00:39:00grey, was right out sideways, gathered it up, but only just.

00:39:04That was unfortunate for Dave Reynolds.

00:39:05He was six when he come in.

00:39:06We're on board now with Rick Kelly looking back at Scott Pye.

00:39:10And on our numbers, and clearly you can't work the whole field out highly accurately

00:39:15as quickly as this just after the stop.

00:39:18Few, if any, got all their mandatory fuel on in our view.

00:39:23Scott Pye just also struggling there with Craig Lowndes right behind in car number 8888.

00:39:30There may be a couple that we think may have got the rest of their 120 litres of fuel on.

00:39:35We'll try and get you some accurate maths on that for the key runners at the front of

00:39:39the field, Tanner McLaughlin, Winterbottom, Wincup and so forth, but it sets up the tantalising

00:39:44prospect as we've seen several times this year where they may not quite have the fuel

00:39:47to get there at the moment, and they've got to get that 120 litres on, otherwise there's

00:39:51penalties.

00:39:52You can't just suddenly decide to not make the grade in that regard.

00:39:55So Moffat and Mostat through the yaw point, they actually came back in and put fuel in

00:39:59on the following lap to get to that number.

00:40:02So interestingly, that may serve them well.

00:40:06Although they're way down the field, they're in 22nd and 23rd, if the other guys have got

00:40:11to come in under green, they will benefit.

00:40:14And we think that there may be a few others that are in that gang that got it in, in that

00:40:20second stop, Skatey, without having to come in for the little splash after, but I'll try

00:40:24and get those refreshed for you and understand it better.

00:40:28Here's Mostat, he was hurt, double stacking, the Bathurst champion, car number six, Pepsi

00:40:34Max sports performance racing, he's got just a giant solid metal wall of colourful V8 supercars

00:40:40in front of him at the moment.

00:40:43That's a big job.

00:40:45That is, a very big job.

00:40:47Mostat, who drove so well at Bathurst, started last, broke the lap record, didn't lead a

00:40:54lap of the race, except for the last 500 metres, good enough to win Australia's biggest race.

00:40:59The bit that mattered.

00:41:00Yeah, exactly.

00:41:02Incidentally, Jack Perkins, I believe, is under investigation, car number 18, job when

00:41:08for cropping in the pit lane there, but I don't know that he had much choice.

00:41:12Let's go to Riata.

00:41:13David Wall, that looked very strange, that off for you.

00:41:16Just tell us what happened.

00:41:17Yeah, basically turned in like normal.

00:41:19I was struggling with the power steering shuttering a fair bit, and there it looked like it's failed

00:41:24at the last corner, which is always nice.

00:41:26So yeah, we skidded off through the paddock there and managed to make the braking zone

00:41:30as long as possible, but that was about all I could do, a passenger, unfortunately.

00:41:33Boys are working frantically to get you back out there.

00:41:35Good luck.

00:41:35Yeah, thank you.

00:41:36Cheers.

00:41:37I've got to say also that the preparation of this race facility down here is absolutely

00:41:42five star, and that gravel track did exactly what it was intended to do.

00:41:46It took all the speed off the car as they're talking to us.

00:41:49No damage on the car, speed arrested, spectators safe.

00:41:53So to everybody that works hard here at Phillip Island to make that a reality, thank you.

00:41:57Yeah, well, that's an interesting outcome, boys, from all that strategy stuff going on.

00:42:01Gee, look at that.

00:42:01That's busy down there.

00:42:02Lock up down into turn four.

00:42:04Jack Perkins.

00:42:05Yep.

00:42:05Um, now we said, uh, had they taken that safety car and it came right on cue?

00:42:10Funny how that works out, isn't it?

00:42:11But, uh, sure as it would be, it appears everyone has got their fuel in just.

00:42:15I looked at some of the, there's a little marker I can show you on the back of the fuel

00:42:18receptacles, and I can tell you they're down to the millimetre.

00:42:21So I assume some cars must have started a little bit lower than normal.

00:42:25And those first round of stops, remember, some of them went awkward slow.

00:42:28I reckon they put a bit more fuel in there and they've just squeezed in.

00:42:31In fact, Russell Ingle, I think is the only guy that hasn't.

00:42:33So this is a race to the end.

00:42:35Oh, that's good intel.

00:42:35Thanks, Larko.

00:42:36There's nothing like eyeballing those fuel tanks down there.

00:42:40It makes our job a bit easy because we've got the chalk and the abacus and the calculators

00:42:44and the smouldering brains here at the moment, trying to do it based on theory.

00:42:47I'll go with your view.

00:42:52You've got to work out the difference between the in lap, the out lap and the stationary

00:42:56time, and then extrapolate what you think might be how much fuel they get on.

00:43:00Fuel rate.

00:43:00Or you can go and have a look at the gauge.

00:43:02That's right.

00:43:03Thanks, mate.

00:43:03Cheers to the Larko method.

00:43:04Larko method is very good.

00:43:070.9 of a second is the gap between Garth Tander and Scott McLaughlin.

00:43:10Robert Dahlgren running a little wide there for Tim Slade, gifting him a position.

00:43:14We'll come back to Phillip Island in just a tick.

00:43:24We're back at Phillip Island and that's the great view from the Coats High Chopper.

00:43:27Don't forget the Sydney NRMA 500.

00:43:30The finale is coming up on 7 and 7, mate, on the 6th of December, 12.30 Australian Eastern

00:43:36Daylight Time.

00:43:36It'll be a beauty where we'll officially crown our champion of 2014.

00:43:40And word from Cams Race Control, no further action in relation to car number 18, Jack

00:43:45Perkins, for the pit stop.

00:43:46I don't think Jack had any choice but to prop.

00:43:48He needed to be somewhere and he couldn't make it vanish.

00:43:51Now, while we're away in the break, Chas Mostert, the Bathurst champion, and James Moffat, both

00:43:56guys on the podium at Mount Panorama.

00:43:58They're in a world championship arm wrestle to the death for 21st and 22nd at the moment.

00:44:03And it just underscores how much commitment and hard work is involved everywhere up and

00:44:09down this field at the moment, because it's stressful, isn't it?

00:44:13And look at this.

00:44:13It went on and on and on, down at Turn 4, down at Siberia, and then again at Turn 8.

00:44:19And Chas had the huge slide.

00:44:21Everyone closed or covered their eyes.

00:44:24And the Mosterts were, well, in the end, impressed.

00:44:27But prior to that, terrified.

00:44:29Exactly.

00:44:29And if you're wondering why Chas Mostert is actually back in the pack there, battling

00:44:33a little bit, he was the unlucky one in that whole safety car outcome.

00:44:37He came in, they filled it up.

00:44:39He had to go back out, use up a little bit of fuel, come back in.

00:44:41They put the last couple of litres in.

00:44:43So he had to come back through the lane.

00:44:44And once you come back through the lane when there's a safety car already deployed and

00:44:47they're lined up behind him, you are gone.

00:44:49Yeah, that's what we weren't certain of.

00:44:51We thought he must have done that because he didn't get enough fuel on board.

00:44:55And that may have been different to the rest of the field.

00:44:57So now that you've been able to check for us whether the majority of the field got enough

00:45:03fuel, that is really going to hurt Mostert, as you said.

00:45:06Yeah, and sometimes it works, doesn't it, mate?

00:45:08It was that strategy, exact same thing that Winterbottom did at Bathurst, which could

00:45:11have worked fantastically for them, but it wasn't to be.

00:45:13But I just want you blokes to know I've been down here on the pit lane for quite some time

00:45:17now here at your service.

00:45:18So don't hesitate in asking again, eh?

00:45:21Oh, thank you.

00:45:22Yeah, oh, good.

00:45:23When did you start being nice?

00:45:24Yeah, just dial 1-800-LARCO for a dudding.

00:45:29Position 5, car 97, Shane Van Gisbergen.

00:45:34He's done a nice job.

00:45:35It's been a good recovery for him, considering yesterday was just a complete checkout horror

00:45:39story for him.

00:45:41His words, not mine.

00:45:42He said he drove like an idiot in that first race.

00:45:44I mean, it all just popped sideways on him in qualifying when he got together with Fabian

00:45:48Kiltard.

00:45:49But he's back in the game here now, getting some points.

00:45:52They're valuable points.

00:45:53Fabian Kiltard, who's also in that mix, he's down in 15th at the moment.

00:45:58Remember that we're far from resolved on second, third, fourth and fifth in the championship.

00:46:03Mark Winterbottom's trundling along nicely here at the moment, also in third spot.

00:46:08And the guy that we haven't picked up really well yet is Will Davis, and what a good job

00:46:12he's done.

00:46:12He started 12th, he's currently 7th.

00:46:15He's in this pack with Bright and Caruso.

00:46:18He's done a great job.

00:46:19Just to quickly interject, it looks like for some reason they've got the passenger's window

00:46:23popped out of that car.

00:46:24I didn't notice that before, if there's been any conversation about it.

00:46:26But on a big, fast aero track like this, that'll create a lot of drag disturbance inside the

00:46:31cabin of the car.

00:46:32Mind you, it'll make it nice and cool.

00:46:33But is it my imagination or is it missing?

00:46:35I think it's missing.

00:46:36Yeah, I think so.

00:46:37It's a good pickup.

00:46:38So good battle there.

00:46:40Bright's done a good job.

00:46:41Also three positions.

00:46:42Scott Pyke, great job.

00:46:4410 positions.

00:46:44And Russell Engle, as we said, because he's serviced in the pit with a single bay, was

00:46:49a big beneficiary of the stacking in pit lane.

00:46:52And he's also up 10 positions.

00:46:55Mercedes sports car.

00:46:58Yeah.

00:47:01He's done a bit of open wheel work, Will, so he understands that feeling.

00:47:06Radio traffic there.

00:47:16That's an impressive shot, isn't it?

00:47:18Track looks great.

00:47:19The cars look good.

00:47:20Pace is hot.

00:47:23We're a bit surprised about the weather earlier in the week.

00:47:26Talking about full-on wet weather conditions yesterday and today.

00:47:29That hasn't happened.

00:47:30Here we are, super cheap auto.

00:47:32Tim Slade, an onboard ride with him.

00:47:33One of nine cars in the field carrying our cameras.

00:47:36He's tucked right in behind Dale Wood, who had a little moment just there at turn two.

00:47:40Let's enjoy the ride with Tim.

00:48:33Good job, mate.

00:48:51We're going for the rock back down before.

00:48:52There is 19 to go.

00:48:5419 to go.

00:48:56Conserve the tyres and drive it smart, please.

00:48:58We were doing a bit of virtual race driving in the cabin when they went over the top of

00:49:05the hill there.

00:49:06And Slade had a big shot at Dale Wood.

00:49:09Got it done.

00:49:11But it did stop our hearts momentarily.

00:49:15Craig Lowndes here behind Rick Kelly.

00:49:17Remember, they had the monumental battle for the championship at this location in 2006

00:49:21and a bit of controversy surrounding that one.

00:49:23Another quick break here from Phillip Island.

00:49:26It's got a margin of just under one second at the moment from Scotty McLaughlin and then

00:49:30Mark Winterbottom, Jamie Wintkup and Shane Van Isbergen.

00:49:39That's a magical image of the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit looking across to the northwest

00:49:47and the west.

00:49:49Port Phillip Bay, Western Port Bay, the Southern Ocean surrounding this whole area.

00:49:54And it's just beautiful at this time of the year.

00:49:56There's a bit of green grass around.

00:49:58We're seeing some wild motor racing this afternoon because Craig Lowndes, full sprint

00:50:02car action for him through Turn 8.

00:50:03He's in a huge battle here with Rick Kelly.

00:50:07They're old rivals and Gillette Replay just shows you how much Lowndes is pushing on here

00:50:12at the moment.

00:50:13These fellas, by the way, are battling for 11th and 12th position.

00:50:17Back with live pictures now and they're still battling.

00:50:19Meantime, at the front of the field, Tanda and McLaughlin continue to trade very quick

00:50:23laps as well.

00:50:24They're pretty much in a zone of their own for pace, although they just said to Wintkup

00:50:27a moment ago, they will come back to you, mate.

00:50:30So be patient.

00:50:31So they're playing a strategy where they're trying to make sure they look after the rubber

00:50:34on car number one.

00:50:35Here we are.

00:50:35There's the leaders, Tanda, McLaughlin, then the gap back to Winterbottom in the Falcon.

00:50:41There he is.

00:50:43Check these gaps for you.

00:50:47So that little margin that you can see between Tanda and McLaughlin, that's pretty much one

00:50:51second and it's been that way for a while.

00:50:53We'll sit with these guys.

00:50:54Then it's Winterbottom.

00:50:55There's Wintkup, then Gisbergen, then a breath of fresh air back to Jason Bright.

00:51:00Nice job for Will Davison based on his qualifying.

00:51:02Michael Caruso, Percat, Courtney, Rick Kelly, Lowndes, Pye, Holdsworth,

00:51:09and Todd Kelly, Fabian Coulthard, then Tim Slade.

00:51:12We rode with him.

00:51:13Chas Mostert, James Moffat, Dale Wood, Robert Dahlgren, Jack Perkins.

00:51:19That gets us back to 20 seconds.

00:51:21So the only fellas behind that lot include David Reynolds and Russell Ingle because David

00:51:26Wall sadly had some problems.

00:51:27Went off the road at the final turn.

00:51:28He's in the pit lane with a power steering issue with that car.

00:51:31And David Reynolds served the pit lane drive-through penalty for the unsafe pit release.

00:51:35And what a great battle.

00:51:36That was a great shot of where they are in terms of proximity from Tanda to McLaughlin,

00:51:42but also the gap back to Winterbottom and Wintkup.

00:51:44And as you said before, Neil, they're coaxing Wintkup because they think their tyre life

00:51:49is the best in the field.

00:51:50And they showed it yesterday afternoon.

00:51:52So he'll probably come forward as this race closes in.

00:51:56But what about also the Blasters down the inside goes Lowndes.

00:52:00Oh, gee, that was close.

00:52:03That was so close to making contact.

00:52:05That would have turned Rick Kelly straight around at MG there.

00:52:08And he was down the hill.

00:52:09He had the wheel locked, battling to get there.

00:52:12And I was about to make the point that this is the fastest circuit and hardest circuit

00:52:17on tyres in the country.

00:52:19The most aero-sensitive circuit of the lot.

00:52:22And we've got five manufacturers in the top eight.

00:52:25All five manufacturers down to Caruso is the lead Nissan in eighth position.

00:52:31Eric Pender was on the radio encouraging Rick Kelly.

00:52:35Craig Lowndes bought himself a first-class ticket to almost an accident over the top

00:52:39of the hill there before.

00:52:40He's sitting right on the edge of it.

00:52:41He wrestled it over the top of the hill, locked the rear brakes, and he skated all the way

00:52:45down the hill into turn 10 and only just managed to wrestle it out the other side.

00:52:50That was wild.

00:52:52Gut hand of the leader.

00:52:53It's still jammed on just under one second this margin.

00:52:56It's a fascinating battle.

00:53:05This is an illustration of how important it is to qualify very well and not have a single

00:53:10interruption during your race.

00:53:11Because we're watching Craig Lowndes, who yesterday in our first race, if you watched

00:53:15our coverage of race 33, he pressured Scott McLaughlin all the way to the flag for a second.

00:53:21Today, didn't get away as well as he wanted to.

00:53:24Didn't qualify quite where he needed to.

00:53:26Got held up in the pit lane.

00:53:27Now he finds himself in a monumental battle with this man.

00:53:29We're carrying onboard cameras here with Rick Kelly, Jack Daniels racing.

00:53:33They're in a monster battle at the moment for 11th and 12th.

00:53:37And in this field, the way it is at the moment, if you aren't able to be positioned ideally

00:53:41at the front, it's near impossible to be able to just magically pick yourself up and

00:53:45jump to the front.

00:53:47So this is down at turn six.

00:53:48It's called Siberia.

00:53:50It's out in the middle of nowhere.

00:53:53I'm not wrong about that.

00:53:54If you go off, you're in Siberia.

00:53:56That's the dash there.

00:53:57It's a weird shot, this one, because it's very active.

00:54:01It's the steering or the dash display is on the steering.

00:54:05So you can just see that weird movement and the way that you're trying to concentrate

00:54:10on knowing what the number is for the gear change and also what that rev limiter does,

00:54:17because that comes up on the stalk just up in top on your right there, just in front of Rick.

00:54:23The numbers are, so there's the lap speed.

00:54:25So there are 34 is what it's forecasting.

00:54:28It's two, it's two point, sorry, 3.09 away from what they were putting in as their datum lap.

00:54:35The top is the brake bias and the bottom of the front and rear anti-roll bar setting.

00:54:41The big number on the left, obviously, is the gear.

00:54:43That's sixth gear back to fifth for turn one.

00:54:46And it was interesting.

00:54:48Rick was tilting down at the precise point you needed to see the data.

00:54:51And the reason is because he needs to see the data as well.

00:54:54So he's looking at all that information.

00:54:56He's thinking that's when you hear the radio calls.

00:54:57Think about your bias.

00:54:59Think about your bars.

00:55:00That's what that's all about, because they know that both those things,

00:55:03the brake percentage front to rear and the control of the anti-roll bars is something

00:55:07that you phase and change as the race progresses.

00:55:09Let's keep an eye on Scotty McLachlan and Garth Tandon with Adrian Burgess.

00:55:12Adrian, great run by Garth.

00:55:14Can he hold Scott out?

00:55:16Yeah, of course we can.

00:55:17At the moment, we're just looking after the car, looking after the tyres.

00:55:19But our young Scotty's having a push, which we knew he would do.

00:55:23But hopefully at the moment, we're under control.

00:55:25Good work, Adrian.

00:55:26Thanks.

00:55:28Well, that's the correct answer when you're inside the Holden Racing Team bunker.

00:55:34But the reality is that right at the moment inside Adrian Burgess's mind,

00:55:37he's thinking, holy hell, we don't need this pressure at the moment,

00:55:40because that margin's closed quite a lot.

00:55:43Almost half what it's been in the recent past.

00:55:48So a bit of brinkmanship here at the moment.

00:55:51Do they have anything in reserve at the Holden Racing Team?

00:55:55McLachlan really got a wriggle on here and is able to actually change things.

00:55:58Look at the battle back here involving Bright, Perkatt, Caruso.

00:56:03The young guys side by side for the final corner.

00:56:06Not much space.

00:56:07James will be a beneficiary because of the better corner exit speed.

00:56:10He's going to push his teammate Perkatt all the way down there.

00:56:13And by being nose to tail, he's displaced Caruso.

00:56:17And that'll be upsetting the back of Perkatt's car.

00:56:19And it did, because he's so close to the rear wing.

00:56:21Oh, and off the road for Rick Kelly at one.

00:56:24So Lowndes makes that spot.

00:56:26When you're that close to the rear wing,

00:56:28it changes the way the cars work in terms of aero.

00:56:30They wriggle in the rear and you can actually see the cars moving around down there.

00:56:34So Perkatt's car was moving.

00:56:36Caruso didn't strike.

00:56:38Courtney's grabbed him.

00:56:39It's all going on.

00:56:42I thought that Courtney was going to do a Craig Lowndes,

00:56:44but Caruso now almost back down the inside of Courtney.

00:56:49That was so close to contact and turn in for turn four.

00:56:53This is the start of it.

00:56:54So Davison down the inside of Bright.

00:56:56This is what fumbled everybody.

00:56:58They all slowed down.

00:57:00Caruso had to go around the outside.

00:57:02So this is the crisscross.

00:57:03Bang down the inside.

00:57:04Good move.

00:57:04And it started with Jason Bright wide over the top of the hill,

00:57:07and he couldn't gather it back up to get back on the line.

00:57:10Dropped it off the edge a little bit,

00:57:11and that hurt his corner exit speed here through the second last corner through 11.

00:57:15And then that created a bit of congestion through the final turn.

00:57:18And the subsequent actions to that went all the way down to turn two and three.

00:57:25And the result was that when Courtney was going to do a Lowndes and pop out,

00:57:29instead of popping out towards the left, which is this spot,

00:57:32he actually bump drafts him, pushes him through, and both guys made it through.

00:57:36Focus on the rear of Perkatt's car.

00:57:38See it just shift right there?

00:57:40That's because of the aero disturbance at the back of it.

00:57:42It happens a lot when you're at Bathurst going down over the humps.

00:57:47Someone's right behind you.

00:57:48The car walks all over the road.

00:57:50You've got to chase it with the steering.

00:57:51And here's Courtney and Caruso.

00:57:52Little bump there.

00:57:54And Caruso just getting shoved a little wide there.

00:58:00Okay, back live.

00:58:00This is the real gap between Garth Tander and Scotty McLachlan.

00:58:04And Garth has lost the margin, and the car's sliding around at the moment.

00:58:08So despite what Adrian says, they've got a real battle on their hands here.

00:58:13That dive you see from McLachlan.

00:58:17That's the gray hair of Richard Holway going, don't do that, mate.

00:58:21Please don't do that.

00:58:22I've seen it all before.

00:58:24He had to do it with the man to my right here, Mark Scaife.

00:58:26He had to do it with Craig Lowndes as well.

00:58:28He's very impressed with his young charger,

00:58:30but he wants him to be very careful when he does this stuff.

00:58:33So what Scott does is he just angles the car straight to the apex

00:58:37in a couple of key spots around here, like here.

00:58:40Craig Lowndes typifies that as well.

00:58:43Where Tander, much more traditional in the way

00:58:46that he starts with a wider arc from the turning point,

00:58:50and then tries to lengthen the straight on the exit portion of the corner.

00:58:55And the cars have got their own strengths and weaknesses.

00:58:56So all of a sudden, there's a gap back here again.

00:59:00Let's see what the computer says.

00:59:02It's checking the ventilation,

00:59:03which means that Scott is feeling it a bit out there at the moment.

00:59:05It's exactly 0.48 of a second between Tander and McLachlan.

00:59:16How good is this?

00:59:17We've got a great battle here for the concluding stages of this.

00:59:21Plus 500 with Garth Tander just narrowly hanging on.

00:59:26And Scott, he's having a big run.

00:59:28He's in the draft. He's got the legs.

00:59:29He looks to have a bit of extra grip at the moment, but can he use it?

00:59:33Tander's been around.

00:59:34He's done all this before.

00:59:36He knows how to play the game.

00:59:38He held his elbows up, but can he resist sufficiently?

00:59:42I haven't got the answer to that at the moment,

00:59:44and I don't think either of them quite know how this will play.

00:59:47And at this end of the circuit, McLachlan is mega.

00:59:49But at the other end, Tander's got it over him at the moment

00:59:52at the top end of the hill.

00:59:54And then down off the other side of that

00:59:56and through the last two corners,

00:59:58Blake Smith, Omdata at the Holton Racing Team,

01:00:01Adrian Burgess, Rob Starr's over there as well.

01:00:04Meantime down at Volvo, Richard Holloway's watching very carefully,

01:00:08taking notes, writing down lap times,

01:00:12giving him a bit of counsel on the radio.

01:00:13They're more active on their radio than I've heard Garth Tander.

01:00:16Garth's not saying much at the moment.

01:00:17He's got his hands full.

01:00:19Now, from this point on,

01:00:21Tander's been able to just resist the pressure,

01:00:24but he's right on the grip edge.

01:00:27It's from this point here where Tander's been able

01:00:29to take a bit of the heat out.

01:00:30What's it look like this lap?

01:00:33Scotty's been having a bit of strife over the top of the hill.

01:00:36He's maintained on this lap.

01:00:37He's right there.

01:00:41But look, Garth's very good to drive at the rear of the car

01:00:45out of the hole there in second gear.

01:00:46That gives him the breather he needs into the last corner,

01:00:49because if McLaughlin was closer through the last corner,

01:00:52he'd get savaged at the bottom of the straight.

01:00:54So the drive out of the right-hander at turn 10 at MG Corner

01:00:58is what's saving Garth Tander at the moment.

01:01:00Exactly.

01:01:01And that's the cat and mouse game.

01:01:03You've got to position the car.

01:01:05Garth, he makes a little mistake out of 10 to 11.

01:01:08That will give McLaughlin the chance to dive down the inside at one.

01:01:12He's had a couple half goes.

01:01:14He's been almost there a couple of times.

01:01:17But you can see McLaughlin, what he does is he turns in early.

01:01:20It's the classic case of two different styles.

01:01:24Tander turning much later.

01:01:25Much later apex tends to straighten the exit of the corner up.

01:01:29Young Scott does a Craig Lowndes technique of turning it in early.

01:01:33This is the technique, especially at this next corner.

01:01:36Out of four, you go through a little kick at five and into six at Siberia.

01:01:40Check this out, because you just watch Garth.

01:01:42He's out wide.

01:01:44The other guy, Scott McLaughlin on the inside.

01:01:47My radio broke up at a critical point, but I'm joining the dots.

01:01:51Crusty Richard Holloway gave Scott McLaughlin a bit of timing information.

01:01:55He gave him the gap to Mark Winterbottom.

01:01:56He came back and said, I don't care about that bloke.

01:01:58I'm after the one in front.

01:01:59And he will and truly is at the moment.

01:02:01So that was a don't worry me about the gaps.

01:02:03I've got missile lock going at the moment on Garth Tander.

01:02:07But remember that Garth's vastly experienced.

01:02:10More than 500 V8 supercar races.

01:02:14He's a Bathurst champion.

01:02:15He's a series champion, and he's done a lot of it.

01:02:18The bloke behind, he's still learning the ropes,

01:02:20but he's been very effective very quickly as well.

01:02:22This is a great game of experience versus youth, Mark.

01:02:26Yeah, well, if he's going to have to pounce, Neil,

01:02:27he's going to have to make a good job of it,

01:02:29because those two different lines you talk about,

01:02:31when Scotty turns in early there,

01:02:35Garth will be seeing that he's mirror lap on lap.

01:02:38But if he gets it done, or he's going to get a toe in,

01:02:41when he puts it in there,

01:02:42he's going to absolutely have to put it all the way up there.

01:02:44And as you know, Garth will continue to shut that door down.

01:02:48That's the way he drives the car.

01:02:49But yesterday in the race where Scotty had Craig Lowndes

01:02:52right behind him,

01:02:53he was wise enough to give the car a little bit of a breather.

01:02:56And I just wonder if that's what he's done

01:02:58this last lap or two.

01:02:59He did the tyres a little rest,

01:03:01so for the last two or three,

01:03:02he can have a real crack at him.

01:03:04Yeah, that's exactly right, Lacho.

01:03:05That's 100% your read is right.

01:03:08Oh, Tander almost missed the turn in then.

01:03:11And it's one of the dangers of Phillip Byron

01:03:13in terms of technique,

01:03:14because if you use the late turn in technique,

01:03:17a little mistake holds you wide forever.

01:03:19That's just this different line that we're talking about.

01:03:22And when you do the Craig Lowndes or Scott McLaughlin style,

01:03:26you tend to give yourself, it's less risk.

01:03:28You give yourself more road.

01:03:30Now, sometimes it's slower

01:03:32because you do compromise the exit of the corner.

01:03:34You have to tighten the line.

01:03:36It's not the perfect race line.

01:03:38But what they're doing

01:03:39and what McLaughlin has been doing the whole race

01:03:42is what I call driving it on the front tyre.

01:03:44So when he turns the car in,

01:03:46he keeps the momentum up by keeping the front tyre loaded.

01:03:50And this is it.

01:03:51So when you're wide,

01:03:52great shot here on our Gillette replay

01:03:55because he just misses.

01:03:57Tander just misses the turn in.

01:04:00Battles to retard the car.

01:04:01Remember, you're going from 250K to 75K.

01:04:06If you can't get it turned, you run slightly wide.

01:04:10And almost, that was almost the mistake

01:04:12that McLaughlin was looking for.

01:04:13This is going to happen.

01:04:16It's going to happen because Scott gets a run on him

01:04:18out of the final turn.

01:04:20And he isn't quite there yet, but it's brewing.

01:04:22So if he can just keep on needling Garth

01:04:25to use more of that rear tyre,

01:04:26because at the moment Garth's got a drive advantage

01:04:28in second gear in one spot, maybe two.

01:04:31So low speed traction for him in second gear

01:04:35out of this next turn.

01:04:36Turn four is helping Garth.

01:04:38Mind you, the car's pretty good everywhere.

01:04:39So I'm zoning in on one thing that's critical.

01:04:42Garth slows it up a bit more,

01:04:43turns it in from a more traditional angle,

01:04:46fires off here.

01:04:47Bang, he's got a tiny breather.

01:04:49That just gives him enough relief

01:04:50to get through this next sequence at six and seven

01:04:53and then eight.

01:04:54Scott does the lounge.

01:04:56He gets very close on turning

01:04:57because he rushes the corner.

01:04:58He loads the right front corner of the car

01:05:01more than Garth does.

01:05:03Garth's shedding the load across the car a bit more.

01:05:05Now he's vulnerable here again, but what happens?

01:05:08He's got blue in the rear vision mirror

01:05:10everywhere over the top of Lukey Heights.

01:05:13It looks like he's going to be attacked,

01:05:14but that he's focusing very, very carefully

01:05:17on the drive here in second.

01:05:19Watch this.

01:05:20Bam, straightens it.

01:05:22Make sure the car drives equally

01:05:23on both rear tires out the other side,

01:05:25but it's getting worse every lap.

01:05:27Every lap, that little advantage that he had earlier

01:05:30is eking away.

01:05:31So what McLaughlin's looking for here

01:05:33is the opportunity to be closer at this point.

01:05:36That little slide.

01:05:37That little slide for Tander is the telltale.

01:05:40This is it.

01:05:41He's on him.

01:05:42He's going to be all over him at the bottom of the straight.

01:05:44Those couple of Ks make a difference.

01:05:45And here goes McLaughlin down the inside.

01:05:48Gate closed.

01:05:50285 Ks and Tander's offline.

01:05:53It's disturbing the rear of the car

01:05:54and Garth's now going out of that comfort zone.

01:05:57Now this will happen as repeat cycle.

01:05:59So it'll happen again down here at four.

01:06:02Look for it again up at eight and nine

01:06:04and then 10 in that right-hander.

01:06:06But Tander's now being mega pressured.

01:06:08He's beginning to get outside the comfort of the balance

01:06:11of this car and the tyre behaviour.

01:06:13McLaughlin again down the inside.

01:06:15Can't get it done there.

01:06:16Garth is very, very good under brakes.

01:06:20In fact, I went for a ride with him on a drive day once

01:06:22and I said, just show me what you do.

01:06:24I want to actually witness it from the left-hand seat.

01:06:26And I watched his braking.

01:06:28It was very special.

01:06:29Now a little bit of a gap's opened up here.

01:06:30Is there a drama?

01:06:32Was that a drama?

01:06:33Why?

01:06:34He made a mistake.

01:06:35We saw the slide, but why?

01:06:37Why? What happened there?

01:06:39So now he's got to try and reconnect.

01:06:43That's taking a bit of the pressure off.

01:06:45Just a great battle, isn't it?

01:06:46I love watching this stuff.

01:06:48Now, what happened here?

01:06:49Why?

01:06:50He actually fired it in so hard it lit the rears up.

01:06:54Big slide.

01:06:55Got away with it.

01:06:56And Garth's looking for the same thing.

01:07:01There's no evidence of brake chatter,

01:07:03but we saw on that previous Gillette replay

01:07:06that as he threw the nose in,

01:07:07which is one of the problems with that technique,

01:07:09because you transfer weight so aggressively to the front.

01:07:12In this case, right-hand corner of the car rotates the rear.

01:07:15So it's going to go through the whole process again.

01:07:17The problem is that every millimeter,

01:07:20every tiny little bit of ground that you make,

01:07:22you've got to sneak it back.

01:07:23It's like pulling in a rope.

01:07:25Look at that one.

01:07:26How's the loss on that last lap?

01:07:28Half a second.

01:07:30So two greens, two reds.

01:07:32I love these battles.

01:07:33And these are very enjoyable from the driver's seat.

01:07:36So both drivers are relishing this.

01:07:38They're right.

01:07:39They're maximizing everything they've got.

01:07:41They're maximizing everything.

01:07:43They can feel every crack in the road,

01:07:45every vibration in the car.

01:07:46They understand innately what the tires are doing,

01:07:49how the engine's behaving,

01:07:51how much mid-corner grip it's got.

01:07:53Fascinating contest.

01:07:54And there's another one going here for third and fourth

01:07:56between Winterbottom and Wincup.

01:07:59And you know what Garth's done?

01:08:00That little mistake, the McLaughlin.

01:08:02Garth has put his head down.

01:08:04Said, I'm going to drive this car as hard as I can possibly drive it

01:08:08so that the blue car does not catch me.

01:08:10So he is, I want to escape.

01:08:12I want to take the pressure off myself.

01:08:13But I'm going to do it by doing qualifying laps.

01:08:16I'm going to use every sack of tire grip,

01:08:19every little millimeter of road

01:08:21to make sure that I maintain this gap.

01:08:24And I make it hard for Scott McLaughlin to get back at me.

01:08:27There's only a lap and a half to go.

01:08:29Scott dropped off that half a second.

01:08:32And now he's got to make sure he's back to 0.8 of a second out of turn 11.

01:08:37He will do everything also, young Scott,

01:08:39to get back at the HRT Commodore.

01:08:42I reckon he broke the thread, Scopey.

01:08:44I reckon that little moment down there at Siberia

01:08:48was the telling moment.

01:08:51Are you talking about fuel?

01:08:52Fuel, they're all talking about fuel.

01:08:54Everyone is.

01:08:55Says, oh, there's four guys.

01:08:57Four guys.

01:09:00Yeah, so on our early maths before Larco confirmed

01:09:04what he could see on the sight tubes on the side of the tanks,

01:09:06we knew it was going to be tight.

01:09:08But I don't know that McLaughlin is going to get this one back.

01:09:11Now, remember the tandem was a race winner in Townsville earlier this year.

01:09:15This will be a welcome relief for him

01:09:16because it would have been gut-wrenching

01:09:18what happened to him at Mount Panorama

01:09:21with he and Warren Lough and the damage to the car.

01:09:23And McLaughlin's got back again.

01:09:24But it's a little artificial

01:09:26because the dive and just the natural seesaw

01:09:31as the cars arrive and depart the corner

01:09:32means that the gap looks to change.

01:09:34But once they stabilise on the other side of the straight,

01:09:36it settles down again.

01:09:38I don't know that Scottie can get him,

01:09:39but he's put up a very, very good performance

01:09:41to try and lay a punch.

01:09:43Enjoyed the battle.

01:09:45And hasn't tandem been rock solid.

01:09:47He has not blinked.

01:09:49He looked like he was going to, but he hasn't blinked.

01:09:53Well, that little slide coming onto the straight

01:09:54was the only little murmur.

01:09:56We just saw a little mistake.

01:09:59And it was only because he was just pressing on

01:10:01as hard as he possibly could.

01:10:03Scott couldn't capitalise.

01:10:05And what a great battle it's been with these two guys.

01:10:07The experienced man

01:10:09with an unbelievable young operator at Crumbo.

01:10:14So final turn now.

01:10:15Car number two, Garth Tander.

01:10:18Bathurst champion of years gone by.

01:10:20Oh, he's in trouble.

01:10:20He's run out of fuel.

01:10:22He's run out of fuel.

01:10:24He's sitting up to talk about Tander.

01:10:27And the opposite has applied.

01:10:30Scott McLaughlin has won this race.

01:10:33Scott McLaughlin and Van Gogh snatched it.

01:10:36They snatched it with 100 metres to go.

01:10:38They gave it to the home racing team.

01:10:41I was setting up to talk about a victory for Tander.

01:10:44And so were they.

01:10:46And all of a sudden it coughed.

01:10:48And this man, the youngest man in the field

01:10:51has done it for the second day running.

01:10:54Scott McLaughlin, Valvoline, Volvo, Polestar.

01:10:57Get the job done.

01:11:01Unbelievable.

01:11:03We thought it was done.

01:11:04All of a sudden, bam.

01:11:06Down the inside comes Scotty McLaughlin.

01:11:09It's his fourth victory of 2014.

01:11:11The second day running he's picked up a victory.

01:11:17Here's the replay from onboard Scott.

01:11:19And he must have thought that Santa arrived in November.

01:11:23And you could see Garth trying to slosh fuel around in the collector,

01:11:27trying to get fuel picked up.

01:11:30It's never over till it's over.

01:11:31That is unbelievable.

01:11:33Look at the reaction.

01:11:35Check him out.

01:11:36The fist pumping.

01:11:38I mean, you just could not read that.

01:11:40That was, we all thought that was going to be close

01:11:43in terms of fuel consumption.

01:11:45But what great shots now from the Valvoline Volvo S60.

01:11:50And another win for McLaughlin this year.

01:11:54Sensational job.

01:11:55And that's the replay.

01:11:56Garth was a little, there's a bit of gamesmanship in the move over.

01:12:00But he knew if he moved that over any further, he would have got hit.

01:12:02And look at all the boys.

01:12:04Adrian Raskin and all the guys looking down there.

01:12:08They cannot believe they've been robbed with 100 metres to go.

01:12:12Well, that caught the entire pit lane by surprise.

01:12:14They're gutted at the Holden Racing Team.

01:12:17One man's losses, another's gain for Scott McLaughlin.

01:12:20It's a victory.

01:12:22Maximum points.

01:12:27And I did not think that was going to happen.

01:12:28We knew fuel was tight.

01:12:30We didn't realise it was quite that tight.

01:12:33He'll have a grin from ear to ear, this young man.

01:12:36He did a beautiful job yesterday.

01:12:38It was the, it was the pressure of the drive yesterday that impressed everybody.

01:12:42And this is the Holden Racing Team duo with Garth Tander giving his,

01:12:47getting a bit of a hand from his old mate, James Courtney.

01:12:50Well, one of the professional race driver code of ethics is never walk home.

01:12:55That's right.

01:12:55So that's a push.

01:12:57And James Courtney's just resting car 22 against car two to push the factory car home.

01:13:06I won a race last week when the other dude ran out of fuel.

01:13:08So that's probably even throughout.

01:13:11So what Garth's talking about there is the Highlands 101.

01:13:13Last week, he drove an Aston Martin with Tony Quinn, VIP Pet Foods entry.

01:13:18And it was the other way around.

01:13:20The Erebus Benz ran out of gas and then they won.

01:13:23So it just goes to show the seesaw fortunes of Australasian motorsport.

01:13:28That was across in New Zealand, just outside Queenstown.

01:13:31So Garth's pretty philosophical about it.

01:13:32But it was a beautiful drive by both those men this afternoon.

01:13:35Both Garth Tander and Scott McLaughlin did an outstanding job

01:13:38of high pressure, high quality motorsport.

01:13:41In the end, Scott McLaughlin prevails from Garth Tander,

01:13:43Mark Winterbottom home in third.

01:13:45But we didn't see a lot of that because of the incredible excitement

01:13:48of what went on here with this man in particular.

01:13:50I just was blown away that I started looking at bits of paper going,

01:13:53oh, Garth Tander's done this and he's done well.

01:13:55He's actually lost the race.

01:13:58Whoops.

01:13:59It was a good battle at the back of that race also.

01:14:02Wig Cup got right to the back of Winterbottom.

01:14:04Van Gisburg had a good bounce back.

01:14:05Will Davison, great job to be sixth.

01:14:08Bright, Perkatt, Caruso, Caruso, Knight.

01:14:11So all five manufacturers in the top nine.

01:14:14The young Scott McLaughlin for Volvo as the factory team.

01:14:17What a great first year in V8 supercars.

01:14:22That's awesome.

01:14:23You're a bloody ripper.

01:14:26Of course he said that.

01:14:27Yeah, we agree, Scotty.

01:14:29And I'm sure everybody at home does too.

01:14:30It's an infectious enthusiasm.

01:14:32And I'm sure there was a round of applause all around Australia

01:14:34for Australian motorsport fans on that one.

01:14:36He's a likable character.

01:14:38He's doing a brilliant job at the moment.

01:14:39And he lights up the Valvoline Volvo down there at turn four in celebration.

01:14:44He pulls maximum points.

01:14:46150 of them today.

01:14:48That helps his cause no end in the championship battle.

01:14:50He's still in there as well for the minors.

01:14:52Let's get amongst it with Baretts.

01:14:55Well, Scotty McLaughlin, you just never know how you're going to win

01:14:58the celebration with dad.

01:15:00Scott, congratulations.

01:15:02That was a tremendous duel between you and Garth Tander.

01:15:04And you snatched it at the end.

01:15:06Look, I feel it's hard.

01:15:09I'm so pumped right now.

01:15:10But I feel for Garth.

01:15:11He drove an awesome race.

01:15:12That's all I had.

01:15:13And if it wasn't for that, he would have won the race.

01:15:15So I've seen it happen before.

01:15:17I never, ever thought that would happen to me.

01:15:18But I'm so glad and so happy for everyone at Valvoline Racing GRM.

01:15:21Volvo Polestar.

01:15:22And this is awesome.

01:15:24Got some more good news.

01:15:25You skipped up to fifth in the championship.

01:15:27Well, that's our aim.

01:15:28We're just going to keep pushing on.

01:15:30Not winning championships for that.

01:15:31It's a big effort for our little team down in Long South.

01:15:33So to everyone at home and all my supporters, thank you very much.

01:15:37This is amazing.

01:15:37Great work, Scott.

01:15:38Well done.

01:15:39Thanks, everyone.

01:15:41Well, as you said, Neil, one man's misfortune is another man's victory.

01:15:45You were on the wrong side of it this time, Garth Tander.

01:15:47That's heartbreaking.

01:15:48Oh, that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes for us.

01:15:51But I can't thank our guys enough.

01:15:52They did a fantastic job.

01:15:54This wasn't really thinking it was going to be one of our strong tracks this year.

01:15:58But guys did an awesome job in the lead up.

01:16:00The car was fantastic yesterday.

01:16:01And about 100 metres, come up 100 metres short.

01:16:04But thanks very much to all our guys, to all our supporters.

01:16:07Looking forward to Sydney.

01:16:08We all enjoyed that great duel.

01:16:09We'll see you in Sydney.

01:16:10Well done, GT.

01:16:10Thanks.

01:16:11Mark Winterbottom, good news for you.

01:16:13Championship-wise, from 44 points, you've widened that gap to 95 points.

01:16:16That's the positive of the weekend.

01:16:17I know on the start line, too, you wanted to make a point.

01:16:20You wanted to bounce back and get back on the podium today.

01:16:22So well done.

01:16:22Yeah, it's good for the boys and the girls at the workshop.

01:16:25I'm pretty happy with that.

01:16:28You know, that's all we've got.

01:16:29And when you can get the best result out of all you've got, that's what you've got to

01:16:32be happy with.

01:16:33But pretty epic battle.

01:16:34I wondered why McLaughlin was doing donuts and Tan to come in.

01:16:37But yeah, good race, good way to finish.

01:16:39And we'll go to Sydney.

01:16:40But hey, Rene, the boys went home.

01:16:42They got out of here early.

01:16:44So I'm bringing home a trophy.

01:16:45That little kiss Oliver gave me at work.

01:16:47Thanks, buddy.

01:16:48Good work.

01:16:48Let's go and grab that trophy.

01:16:49Thanks, mate.

01:16:50Cheers.

01:16:51Hey, Will Davison, it's nice to come and talk to you on a positive note, mate.

01:16:53At the back end of the year, position six is a very tough earn today.

01:16:58And we did earn it as well.

01:17:00We definitely didn't luck into that.

01:17:01We got a ripping start from 12th into ninth.

01:17:05Stayed out.

01:17:07Everything was running so smoothly.

01:17:08I jumped a lot of cars in the first stop.

01:17:10And then I was actually catching Frosty and Jamie.

01:17:12I was like, geez, I'm actually going to have a go at these guys.

01:17:15And then that safety car came out.

01:17:17And then I got jammed in the pit lane here.

01:17:18And I lost about four positions.

01:17:20So I was pretty shattered with that.

01:17:22But we had a quick car.

01:17:23And just a credit to the guys, we rolled out a really difficult car Friday morning.

01:17:28And to end up with a car that handled as good as it did then.

01:17:30We know what our deficiencies still are.

01:17:32But the car was bang on.

01:17:34I was running the pace of the leaders.

01:17:35And credit to the guys.

01:17:37Really proud of them.

01:17:37Mate, I just wonder, though.

01:17:39I see this is a really unusual thing.

01:17:40The window's fallen out.

01:17:42And you say that was quite weird inside, buffeting around inside, hey?

01:17:44Well, the actual the windshield, the windscreen was massive buffeting.

01:17:50I didn't actually know it was caused by this.

01:17:51And I kept saying it feels like I've got a parachute out the back of the car.

01:17:54Because it was really slow in the straight.

01:17:56And Bridie's just come up to me and said, when your window flew off, it ripped his mirror off.

01:18:00So I wasn't aware till the end.

01:18:01But that'll explain the parachute effect I was talking about.

01:18:04So anyway, I'm really happy.

01:18:07Rock on, Sydney, mate.

01:18:08You're doing a good job.

01:18:08Appreciate it.

01:18:09Thanks.

01:18:09Cheers.

01:18:11He did a great job, Will Davison.

01:18:13And we made that observation in the call earlier on.

01:18:15That when that window pops out, they buff it and carry on badly in the cabin.

01:18:18So Scotty McLaughlin got it done by just a little under half a second in the final analysis.

01:18:23Caught everybody by surprise.

01:18:25But it was intense.

01:18:26And it was great to see so many brands up there doing well,

01:18:29battling in the top 10 at the end of the race.

01:18:31The podium is set.

01:18:32Let's get to barrettes.

01:18:34The Fitness Plus Phillip Island 400 introducing our winning drivers for race 35 of the year.

01:18:40In first place for Valvoline Racing GRM, Scott McLaughlin.

01:18:46In second place for the Holden Racing Team, Garth Tanda.

01:18:50And in third place for Ford Pepsi Max Crew, Mark Witterbottom.

01:18:56Representing the winning team, Valvoline Racing GRM is Jacob Rayner.

01:19:03Making the presentation of our third place trophy is Samra Tripodi,

01:19:08Chief Financial Officer from our Naming Rights sponsor, Plus Fitness.

01:19:14Presenting the second place is the National Fleet Sales Manager, Kenworth Trucks, Stephen May.

01:19:20Making the presentation to our winning team is the General Manager of Plus Fitness, Amy Dorey.

01:19:34And presenting the first place trophy from our major sponsor this weekend,

01:19:38Plus Fitness Chief Executive Officer, John Fuller.

01:19:44Ladies and gentlemen, the 2014 V8 Supercars Plus Fitness

01:19:48Phillip Island 400 race 35 winners.

01:19:56Well done to the boys.

01:19:58There's a bit of champagne, a bit of bubbly being spread around down there at the moment.

01:20:02We'll get our focus back and look at the champ points though,

01:20:05because it's 4.52 margin at the moment, wind cup and winter bottom.

01:20:08And then Craig Lowndes hanging on in third spot there at the moment,

01:20:11Shane Van Gisbergen in fourth place.

01:20:13And of course, there's been a bit of movement behind that as well,

01:20:15because Scotty McLaughlin has moved up.

01:20:17He looks pretty strong.

01:20:18So it's been another wonderful battle here at Phillip Island this weekend.

01:20:27Well, Scopey, I thoroughly enjoyed that.

01:20:29I love intense pressure motor races of that nature.

01:20:32They were pushing so hard at the back end of that one.

01:20:34It was a great, great race.

01:20:36And I didn't see that coming in the last 100 meters.

01:20:38Oh, not at all, Neil.

01:20:39But it was a really good battle with a young guy who took his stocks up the whole time.

01:20:44He's a really good young operator.

01:20:46He was very brave at the start of this race.

01:20:48Check this vision out.

01:20:49Scott McLaughlin around the outside of wind cup at turn one.

01:20:53You cannot believe when they run out of road on the exit,

01:20:56how he got away with staying there.

01:20:59We're on board now with Mark Winterbottom.

01:21:01He's down the inside.

01:21:02He bumps, he slides, he runs into wind cup.

01:21:04He pushes him wide.

01:21:05Tandor then pounces on wind cup to get down the inside on the run down into turn three.

01:21:12Now, as all this buffeting is going on, remember, it's really windy out there today.

01:21:16The cars are doing 250 kilometers an hour.

01:21:18And check the braking out.

01:21:20You've been saying through the weekend about Tandor's braking.

01:21:22That's the best example on cold tires for Garth Tandor.

01:21:26Then after the stops, Tandor gets out.

01:21:28Now, we were worried at that stage.

01:21:30We actually made the point, could they make it home with fuel?

01:21:34What about this one?

01:21:35Lowndes finds two spots in the one maneuver.

01:21:38And a great battle there.

01:21:39And a big, big moment for David Wall.

01:21:41That was close to going in.

01:21:43Great job from Philip Ireland with that sand trap.

01:21:47Double stacking.

01:21:48Safety car.

01:21:49That really hurt Lowndes.

01:21:50It hurt a lot of other guys.

01:21:51You see Jack Perkins.

01:21:52Then there was a bump there with Dave Reynolds and Jason Bright.

01:21:56Unsafe release.

01:21:56Reynolds had to come through the pit lane after that maneuver.

01:22:00Then the restart.

01:22:01Very good restart for the two front guys.

01:22:03Van Giersbergen put pressure on wind cup.

01:22:05This is the penalty for Reynolds.

01:22:08And then what a battle in the closing stages.

01:22:10A big slide there at turn six.

01:22:13McLaughlin almost went off the road.

01:22:14That cost him.

01:22:15And then running out of fuel with 100 meters to go.

01:22:19Garth Tander gets pounced on by the Volvo.

01:22:22The HRT guys cannot believe it.

01:22:23Look at it.

01:22:24Look at their face.

01:22:25And look at the elation.

01:22:27What a drive.

01:22:28As you said, what a great battle with one of the most experienced guys versus this young man.

01:22:34It's great watching a new champion coming on strong in the business.

01:22:37Scotty McLaughlin's doing an awesome job.

01:22:38And that's going to continue.

01:22:39Let's get back into the lane now with Larco.

01:22:42Hey, just down here with Jamie Wingcup, mate.

01:22:44Position four.

01:22:45But I want to just wrap on the weekend, mate.

01:22:46You've grabbed another championship.

01:22:48How are you leaving this weekend as we go and approach Sydney?

01:22:51Oh, it's certainly been a memorable weekend.

01:22:53One I'll remember for a long time.

01:22:55Clenching the driver's title.

01:22:57And then I think we've just secured the team's championship as well.

01:23:00So in that particular case, didn't quite have enough pace.

01:23:03We detuned the car overnight, which is what the game's all about.

01:23:06But all in all, fantastic Phillip Island 2014.

01:23:09So as we approach Sydney, mate, Marcus Ambrose there,

01:23:11who to me is a very similar character to yourself.

01:23:13Very applied to what he's done.

01:23:14But I think you need to show him who's king of the kids, eh?

01:23:16Oh, yeah.

01:23:17No, I don't know about that.

01:23:19The competition's so deep, you know what I mean?

01:23:21There's going to be a lot of cars there.

01:23:22And the champs is much bigger than just myself and Marcus, you know.

01:23:26Although that rivalry is getting punched up in the media.

01:23:29But he'll do a fantastic job.

01:23:30Anyone that thinks that he's not going to be on the pace and be firing next year is

01:23:34kidding themselves.

01:23:34He's done probably four times more driving over the last 10 years than any of us are here.

01:23:40Now, he'll be strong.

01:23:40He'll be a good competitor the next year.

01:23:41Looking forward to it.

01:23:42I'm with you, mate.

01:23:43You're a true sportsman.

01:23:43Well done.

01:23:44Thanks, Marko.

01:23:45Cheers.

01:23:45Yes, well done, Jamie Wincup.

01:23:47And well done today to Scotty McLachlan.

01:23:49Thank you to Mark Scaife.

01:23:50Thank you for watching us at home.

01:23:51Hope you've enjoyed it.

01:23:52On behalf of everybody at Seven Sport and V8 Supercars,

01:23:55we'll look forward to your company in Sydney in a few weeks' time

01:23:58to wrap up the 2014 championship.

01:24:01Bye for now.

V8 Supercars 2014 - Phillip Island - Race 3

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