MOTORSPORT: Holden and Ford split the wins

When reigning champion, Scott McLaughlin, lifted the winner’s trophy at the finish of the Adelaide 500, the opening round of the 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship (VASC), it looked like a repeat of 2019 and a pointer to another easy season for the Ford Mustang racer.

Yet nothing could be further from the truth.

McLaughlin had to split the wins on the Adelaide street circuit with Jamie Whincup and it was only thanks to smart tactics in the DJR Team Penske garage and bad luck next door at Red Bull Holden Racing Team that he has a solid early lead in the championship.

Whincup’s teammate Shane van Gisbergen was the star of the weekend, taking a fighting third on Saturday. Then he literally drove his Commodore to a standstill on Sunday with broken suspension and before delighting the crowd when he hitched a ride back to the pits in Cam Waters’s Monster Energy Mustang.

Chaz Mostert showed he is re-energised by a switch from Ford to Holden, and Tickford Racing to Walkinshaw Andretti United, with strong finishes including second on Sunday to sit third on the point score.

Team 23’s Will Davison was pacy all weekend in his Mustang and Penrite Racing’s David Reynolds was quick in his Commodore despite punting his teammate Anton de Pasquale on Sunday.

Off-season technical changes mean the Ford and Holden racers are closer than ever before, there are more contenders at the sharp end of the field; and passing will be tougher in cars which are now more equal in aerodynamics, power and shock absorbers.

“All the little things this year are going to matter so much more,” says the global vice-president of Penske Racing, Tim Cindric, during a visit from the USA to monitor the start of the Supercars season.

The drivers enjoyed the stoush at the start of the season, although Whincup romped to an easy victory in the first of the 78-lap double-headers after taking pole position on the popular Adelaide street circuit.

It was good news for Holden after the miserable week following its closure announcement and confirmation that Whincup has made the right decision by extending his contract with the Triple Eight team until at least the end of 2021.

“If the win was going to be dedicated to anyone, it’s certainly the staff at Holden head office and all the dealers and salesman and everything like that. Hopefully it’s brought them a little bit of delight to have the lion win the first race of the year,” said Whincup, after leading McLaughlin and van Gisbergen to the flag.

The multi-times Supercars champion was only fifth on Sunday after a poor qualifying run, as the spotlight shifted to the two New Zealanders who are expected to battle for this year’s championship crown.

“Full credit to Shane and his team, they really should have won that race. They had the faster car,” said McLaughlin after the chequered flag on Sunday.

“I’ll take it. We’ll take the luck when we can. I just had to pull the socks up and have a crack.”

“A tough one. We’ve got a really fast car. A shame not to leave here with a bag of points,” said van Gisbergen.

Whincup, typically, was making no excuses.

“In all honesty, we just didn’t have the pace today. It just wasn’t our day today compared to yesterday. We got caught in traffic after the first pitstop which ruined any chance of getting back on the podium,” he said.

The season opener was a good one for Kelly Racing, which finally parked its uncompetitive Nissan Altimas to get Rick Kelly into the top 10 with a Mustang. Conversely, it was a disaster for Team Sydney as James Courtney battled all weekend in his Commodore and Chris Pither was at the back of the pack.

Newcomer to a full-time Supercars seat, Jack Smith, didn’t cover himself in glory as he missed the pre-season driver picture (earning him a $2000 fine), scored a penalty after holding-up faster cars on Saturday while he was being lapped, then crashed at the high-speed Turn Eight kink in Sunday qualifying.

The weather in Adelaide was cooler than in recent years but there were still complaints, as Mostert toasted his feet in his new Holden rig and almost everyone moaned about the new aero parity which makes it tougher for cars to run close enough to make a pass as they lose the downforce effort on the nose.

“It’s surprisingly hard to follow. I think the cars are closer than ever but that makes it harder than ever to pass,” said van Gisbergen.

“I got caught in the Bermuda Triangle of aero lift. It must have lifted the wheels off the ground,” said Courtney.

But Supercars officials are happy to have equalised the field, forced crews to work harder to get the best from the new standardised Pedders (really Supershock) dampers, and closed the gap among the top teams.

“Five red and five blue. That looks about right,” said technical chief, Adrian Burgess, after the Saturday finish.

“And if you look at the lap times, averaged over their ten best laps, the top 10 cars are all very, very close,” he added.

The championship position has six Mustangs and four Commodores in the top 10, but Mostert spoke for the Holden crews after the final wrap.

“I’m really excited about leading a team and moving forward. Hopefully we can keep the competition up,” he said.

Virgin Australia Supercars Championship points: 1. Scott McLaughlin, 288 points; 2. Jamie Whincup, 261; 3. Chaz Mostert, 234; 4. Cam Waters, 231; 5. Will Davison, 231; 6. David Reynolds, 210; 7. Lee Holdsworth, 171; 8. Mark Winterbottom, 162; 9. Fabian Coulthard, 162; Rick Kelly, 150.