Supercars Race Review - Rain or Shine in Queensland

No matter the weather, the Supercars Ipswich 440 was going to be a good one.

Race 23:

It was a memorable weekend for James Courtney, celebrating 600 races, Cam

Waters, celebrating 300 and Will Brown with 150 races. And with the unexpected

weather chaos, it was going to be interesting.

James Courtney celebrating a massive milestone of 600 races. (Source: EDGE photographics).

In addition to this, we also had two new wildcards for the weekend, with Supercheap Auto Racing having the young driver Zach Bates and Dormer HVAC Racing by MSR driven by Cameron Crick. It was a decent weekend for both drivers. 

Qualifying for races 23 and 24 was an interesting one, with rain causing chaos and then minutes later a dry track. This was an easy qualifying for Broc Feeney, with the weather causing him no issues. He took out pole for races 23, followed by teammate Will Brown, and race 24 alongside Ryan Wood. 

For race 23, Feeney was on pole, Brown P2 and Wood P3. Very early on, Brown was down 2 positions after a minor error, putting Kai Allen and Ryan Wood up 2 positions to P2 and P3

Broc Feeney leading Race 23 at the Ipswich 440. (Source: Supercars). 

Cam Waters was dropped to last after going off, a big mistake that put him towards the back of the grid (P22). By the end of the race, he was P17. Tickford Racing/ Monster Castrol Racing had a decent day with Thomas Randle in the top 10, finishing P10. 

Eventually, Will Davison was leading the race due to Feeney’s pit stop, although this did not last long. Will Davison did end up further down the field after a late pitstop, ending up P22, whilst Brodie Kostecki ended up P5. 

Mostert had a tough day, unfortunately, due to ending up in the gravel. He managed to get going again, but ended up P25 for driver number 25. David Reynolds also with a difficult day, which ultimately resulted in a Safety Car due to being beached in the gravel. He still managed to end up p24, just ahead of Mostert. 

In the end, it was Broc Feeney’s day finishing P1, followed by Kai Allen P2 and Ryan Wood P3. This was also one of the youngest podiums in supercar history. Broc Feeney also managed to take home the sprint cup with his 11^th win of the season.

Race 24:

Feeney was on top yet again for another race, alongside Ryan Wood and Will Brown. This was another short race with only 39 laps to be completed. After a 5-second penalty was brought upon Broc Feeney for a false start, It was Will Brown who would take the win, with Broc Feeney finishing P2 despite the penalty and Ryan Wood taking out P3. 

After a huge incident early on, which resulted in damage for Jack Le Brocq, Brodie Kostecki, Jaxon Evans and Aaron Cameron, it was a tough day. Despite the damage, Cameron and Le Brocq managed to continue, whilst Kostecki and Evans needed some repairs. Eventually, after returning to the track, Evans would be forced to take no further part, due to damage to his car. An unfortunate end to a decent day. Le Brocq would also face similar consequences, after not returning from the pit lane after going in to check the car. 

Big incident involving multiple drivers, including, Jack Le Brocq and Jaxon Evans. (Source: Supercars).

Brodie Kostecki pulled it together, still managing to finish the race and receive some points for the team. His teammate Will Davison finished P10. A tough day for the Shell V-Power Racing Team. Similarly, a mixed result for the Monster Castrol Racing, with Cam Waters managing to finish P5, whilst Thomas Randle only managed a P19 finish. 

It was a decent race for the two wildcards, with Zach Bates finishing P17 and Cameron Crick P21. Despite being mid-pack and having a decent set of fights on their hands, they both managed to hold their own. For Walkinshaw Andretti United, it was a good day, Wood finishing P3, and Chaz Mostert having a very relaxing race, finishing in P7. 

Race 25:

This was the most anticipated race of the weekend. The weather was not going to let it be easy for any of the drivers. 

Feeney had yet another pole position, a very impressive result over the weekend, followed by Ryan Wood and Will Brown. Rain was expected very early on, and when it arrived, it made its appearance well worth it, with drivers struggling across the entire field due to a lack of wet-weather tyres. Brown found it very slippery at one point, almost losing it on the straight. 

James Courtney was the first to pit, opting for the wet weather tyres given there was very little idea as to how long the rain was expected to last. It did not stick around for long through. 

Will Davison began the long list of penalties with a 5-second time penalty for a driving infringement. His teammate Brodie Kostecki made quick moves to make it up to P3, after Will Browns errors. 

Wildcard Zach Bates had a rather intense battle with Chaz Mostert. A good way to sum up his weekend of racing. The other wildcard, Cameron Crick, unfortunately, had a difficult day, going out into the gravel, which enabled a safety car and in the end being 7 laps down. Zach Bates ended up with a 5-second penalty, throwing a tough result his way.

A crazy race to end the weekend. (Source: Supercars).

Once the safety car was released and we were back to racing, it was chaos. We had battles through the entire pack, with about 7 cars trying for various spots at one point. Cam Waters had to keep the pack behind him, including Kai Allen and Andre Heimgartner at bay. 

Cam Hill and Zach Bates ended up in a scuffle, with Cam Hill receiving a pitlane penalty for a driving infringement. To make a day even worse for Matt Stone Racing, Nick Percat later received another penalty (15 seconds). 

Ryan Wood, having a good day, was also hit with a 15-second penalty for a driving infringement that involved an incident with him and Will Brown. Like MSR, Walkinshaw Andretti United (WAU) also had a bad day with a 5-second penalty for Chaz Mostert for a driving infringement. 

A tough weekend for WAU’s drivers (Source: RACE PROJECT).

Ultimately, it was Broc Feeney’s day yet again, taking another win for himself. Cam Waters joined him on the podium, finishing P2, and Kai Allen managed to finish P3. Feeney also qualified for the supercars final along with his teammate Will Brown and Matt Payne. 

We now make our return to ‘The Bend’ located in Adelaide for the AirTouch 500 at The Bend between September 12-14. This looks to be another easy result for the RedBull Ampol duo, but can someone rain on their parade?