With the title race over, after Jamie Whincup won his 6th championship yesterday, every driver has nothing to lose as they chase down a win in the final three races of the season. Join The Roar for a live blog of qualifying and race 35 of the V8 Supercar championship from 12:25pm (AEDT).
Jamie Whincup put his name in the record books yesterday by winning his 6th title with a win in Race 34 of the championship.
It gave him a lead of 461 points over Winterbottom, which was enough to give him the title, with only 450 points available for the rest of the season.
With that over, each driver will now be chasing a victory, in the final three races of the series.
It starts today with a 200 kilometre race around Phillip Island, which could be a wet and windy affair.
The forecast doesn’t look good for today’s race. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Phillip Island has a “very high chance of rain, most likely in the morning with heavy falls over 40mm possible.”
The winds are also expected to increase over the day which will cause havoc to the teams and the drivers.
If these conditions eventuate then Shane Van Gisbergen will become an immediate favourite for the race.
After yesterday’s racing, Van Gisbergen will be praying for rain. An incident in qualifying ruined the day for both Van Gisbergen and Coulthard who had to start at the back of the grid in race 33 and 34.
Things didn’t get better during the races with Van Gisbergen finishing last in race 33, and 18th in race 34.
He moved from 3rd in the championship to 4th after all the drama. If it rains today then Van Gisbergen becomes a big chance to win.
You just have to look at what he did at the Sydney Motorsport Park when it was wet during races 26 and 27.
He won both races and streaked the field in the wet conditions. He would be favoured to do the same if it is wet today.
If it is dry then look out for those who were strong yesterday. Once again, at the Island, Red Bull Racing is strong.
With Whincup’s win yesterday, Red Bull has won five of the last ten races at the Island.
His team-mate, Craig Lowndes, finished second in both races and is every chance of winning today at a place he rates as his favourite.
If he does win today, he will have won the most races at Phillip Island, with 10 victories.
Others to look out for include Garth Tander, Scott McLaughlin, and Mark Winterbottom. All have chances to win if they qualify well.
Scott McLaughlin showed that yesterday by winning race 33 from pole position. The track position allowed him to control the pace at the front, and win his third race for the year.
It was the first ever win for a Volvo at Phillip Island as well in the V8 Supercars. Tander and Winterbottom are also in contention but they need to qualify well.
Tander in particular was quick during the final few laps of each race yesterday. The problem for him was that he was too far behind by the time he got clear air on the track.
He will be hoping to qualify well to show the true pace of the HRT car. Tyres will also be an issue as teams start to use their final few sets today.
How each team handles that will be interesting over the day. The rain may save a few teams if it arrives.
With nothing to lose today each driver will go for broke to win today’s race. With that mentality it promises to be an action packed race.
The weather could also play a big part in the day.
Join The Roar for all the action from what could be a drama packed race.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
That is all from me this weekend. Thanks for joining me for the V8 Supercars this weekend. I'll be back in two weeks for the final round of the championship in Sydney. Until then it is bye for now.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
POINTS OVERALL THIS WEEKEND - TOP 5 1. Scott McLaughlin 276 2. Jamie Whincup 259 3. Garth Tander 258 4. Craig Lowndes 216 5. Michael Caruso 187 CURRENT POINTS STANDINGS Jamie Whincup – 3094 Mark Winterbottom – 2642 (452) Craig Lowndes – 2547 (547) Shane Van Gisbergen – 2508 (586) Scott McLaughlin - 2295 (799)
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
RESULTS RACE 33 1. Scott McLaughlin - Valvoline GRM - Volvo 2. Garth Tander - Holden Racing Team - Holden 3. Mark Winterbottom - Ford Performance Racing - Ford 4. Jamie Whincup - Red Bull Racing - Holden 5. Shane Van Gisbergen - Tekno Autosport - Holden 6. Will Davison - Erebus Motorsport - Mercedes 7. Jason Bright - Team BOC - Holden 8. Nick Percat - Walkinshaw Racing - Holden 9. Michael Caruso - Norton Hornets - Nissan 10. Craig Lowndes - Red Bull Racing - Holden 11. Scott Pye - Dick Johnson Racing - Ford 12. Rick Kelly - Jack Daniel's Racing - Nissan 13. James Courtney - Holden Racing Team - Holden 14. Lee Holdsworth - Erebus Racing - Mercedes 15. Todd Kelly - Jack Daniel's Racing - Nissan 16. Fabian Coulthard - Lockwood Racing - Holden 17. Chaz Mostert - Ford Performance Racing - Ford 18. Tim Slade - Supercheap Auto Racing - Holden 19. James Moffat - Norton Hornet - Nissan 20. Dale Wood - Brad Jones Racing - Holden 21. Jack Perkins - Team JELDWEN - Ford 22. Robert Dahlgren - Valvoline GRM - Volvo 23. David Reynolds - Bottle O Racing - Ford 24. Russell Ingall - Lucas Dumbrell Racing - Holden 25. David Wall - Dick Johnson Racing - Ford 5 manufacturers in the top 9. Scott Pye gained the most positions in the race with 12. He went from 23rd to 11th in the race.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Top 5 - McLaughlin, Tander, Winterbottom, Whincup, Van Gisbergen
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Scott McLaughlin wins Race 35 of the V8 Supercar championship. Garth Tander runs out of fuel out of the final corner and McLaughlin steals the win. The Volvo driver gave it enough jandal to win. What a win.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
45/45 Tander is holding on. He looks home.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
45/45 McLaughlin reduces the margin to 0.4 of a second.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
45/45 LAST LAP McLaughlin is half a second away.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
44/45 McLaughlin lost half a second to Tander on the last lap. There is only two laps to go. Can he come back?
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
43/45 McLaughlin makes a mistake into turn 5 and loses time to Tander. Tander has a gap.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
43/45 McLaughlin tries to overtake Tander into turn one but doesn't have enough room. He is inching closer and closer to him.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
42/45 McLaughlin has got a good run again.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
42/45 Nope. Tander holds on. 4 laps to go.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
41/45 McLaughlin has a good run out of turn ten. Can he make the move now?
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
41/45 McLaughlin almost sticks his nose past Tander into turn 4.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
41/45 5 laps to go. Can McLaughlin overtake Tander?
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
40/45 McLaughlin just can't get close enough out of the final turn to make a move on Tander. Tander has his measure coming out of corners at the moment.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
39/45 McLaughlin gets a nice toe into turn 1. He can't make the move though and holds on.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
38/45 Tander is holding on against McLaughlin.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
36/45 McLaughlin is right behind Tander. He is attacking the HRT driver.