Supercars will go racing under lights in Australia for the first time since 1997 at the Sydney Motorsport Park with 300 championship points on the line in a taxing 300-kilometre battle. Join The Roar for live coverage of the race from 7:20pm (AEST).
Aside from the endurance races at Sandown and Bathurst, it’s hard to remember a more hyped event in the Supercars season.
Apart from their one foray to Abu Dhabi and the Yas Marina Circuit in 2011, Supercars haven’t raced under lights for more than two decades.
This is the categories answer to formats like T20 cricket and Rugby Sevens, with a compact format seeing practice and elimination qualifying earlier this afternoon, before a one-off 300-kilometre race expecting to take about two and a half hours sets the contenders free.
With 300 championship points on the line, this is not going to be a walk in the park for the main championship contenders ahead of endurance season either.
While Bathurst and Sandown are long thought to be the toughest races of the year, this will pit drivers in unfamiliar conditions of darkness alongside a longer race format than they race individually all year.
77 laps around the difficult 3.9-kilometre track could well shake up the overall standings. If a driver doesn’t finish, they could well fall away.
As it stands, Scott McLaughlin, who heartbreakingly lost the championship on the streets of Newcastle last season, has a 131-point lead over Triple Eight’s Shane Van Gisbergen.
McLaughlin was decent in the only session under lights before the race, finishing fifth, but it was Chaz Mostert who stole the show.
He set the fastest time ahead of Scott Pye and Mark Winterbottom, with the trio all struggling in this year’s championship. Provided they can’t find the pace required under lights though to match the rest of the season, it’ll be Jamie Whincup and Scott McLaughlin going into the race with the most confidence.
Still, the strategy which plays out will have a say. Up to three pit stops are expected throughout the race and getting them right will be crucial to any driver’s chance of victory.
Prediction
It’s so very hard to tip. The grid may not mean much here and with McLaughlin the in-form driver and handling night conditions the best yesterday to finish top five, I expect him to take victory ahead of Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert.
Scott McLaughlin to extend his championship lead.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the race from 7:20pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thanks for joining me this evening right here on The Roar for our live coverage of the 2018 Supercars season as Shane Van Gisbergen won the first race in Australia under lights for more than two decades. Hopefully you enjoyed the coverage. We will be back with more over endurance season, the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 live here on The Roar. Bye for now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
TOP TEN 1. Shane Van Gisbergen 2. Jamie Whincup 3. Scott McLaughlin 4. Craig Lowndes 5. Chaz Mostert 6. Rick Kelly 7. David Reynolds 8. Nick Percat 9. Jack Le Brocq 10. Tim Slade
Scott Pryde
Expert
Scott Pryde
Expert
All of the drivers seemed to enjoy the night racing - that and of course, having plenty of fans around. As mentioned, 35,000 at Eastern Creek. The other takeaway, for mine at least, is that 300-kilometre races are just about the right length.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Full results to come. Thoughts on the race Roarers? Thoughts on night racing in Supercars? That was a lot of fun.
Scott Pryde
Expert
SHANE VAN GISBERGEN WINS THE SYDNEY 300! What a race! Shane Van Gisbergen hangs on for the win, with Jamie Whincup coming through in second place. McLaughlin holds for second, then it's Lowndes in fourth. Mostert, Kelly, Reynolds, Percat, Le Brocq and Slade round out the top ten. Fireworks on the front straight as they come up to the finish line. That was bloody impressive. More night racing please.
Scott Pryde
Expert
LAP 77/77 McLaughlin now holding a second and a half to Lowndes. So long as he doesn't make a mistake, he will hold for third.
Scott Pryde
Expert
LAP 77/77 Van Gisbergen has three and a half seconds into the final lap here. He will just ease it up ever so slightly to the line to make sure he gets it done here. This has been a fantastic motor race.
Scott Pryde
Expert
LAP 76/77 Tell you what, the final lap might allow Lowndes an opportunity to sneak past McLaughlin here, which will have huge championship implications. About a second now is the gap. Whincup won't catch Van Gisbergen either. About three and a half seconds.
Scott Pryde
Expert
LAP 75/77 Whincup is flying, getting the gap to Van Gisbergen back under four seconds in half a lap. Lowndes isn't quite making an impact on the gap between himself and McLaughlin just yet though, so he is running out of time to do so.
Scott Pryde
Expert
LAP 75/77 Three laps to go now. Lowndes will try to catch McLaughlin as well, but their tyre age is the same and the gap is almost two seconds between the duo for the final spot on the podium.
Scott Pryde
Expert
LAP 74/77 There is nothing in this battle for second. Whincup is all over him, almost running out of space at 4 and 5. He goes outside at 6, then criss crosses into seven and gets the job done for second place. Now, Whincup is almost 5 seconds behind. It's going to take a mistake or a safety car if Whincup even has a shot at winning this.
Scott Pryde
Expert
LAP 73/77 Whincup with a huge moment out of Turn 3 there, hitting the dirt over the top of the hill. That ruins his run to try and get the job done there.
Scott Pryde
Expert
LAP 72/77 Whincup just loses a little bit of ground out of Turn 6 this time. Van Gisbergen has now taken the lead out to 2.4 seconds, so one would expect he is now going to win and bring the championship back to 107 points, maybe less if Whincup can get the job done.
Scott Pryde
Expert
LAP 72/77 Van Gisbergen is now over 2 seconds ahead of McLaughlin. He is in the box seat to win this race under the lights, but Whincup continues to pepper McLaughlin here. Another dive at 4, but he doesn't have the pace out of three and down the hill to get the job done.
Scott Pryde
Expert
LAP 71/77 McLaughlin continues to hold on for second spot here. Whincup just doesn't seem to have the pace of Van Gisbergen, but the pressure is still on here. He has a crack at 2 and there was minimal contact, but it didn't make any difference, with McLaughlin slamming the door shut down the hill.
Scott Pryde
Expert
LAP 70/77 Whincup is going to need to get the job done on McLaughlin soon here if he wants to have any chance of catching Van Gibsergen. Putting the pressure on from just behind, but he can't get around for now with Van Gisbergen taking the lead to over two seconds.
Scott Pryde
Expert
LAP 69/77 Whincup now starting to put all sorts of pressure on McLaughlin. Lowndes has been left in the dust with the slightly older tyre and you'd expect McLaughlin to have the same here if he gets passed.
Scott Pryde
Expert
LAP 68/77 ORDER Van Gisbergen, McLaughlin, Whincup, Lowndes, Mostert, Kelly, Reynolds, Percat, Le Brocq, Coulthard
Scott Pryde
Expert
LAP 68/77 Van Gisbergen gets the pass at Turn 4 after running over the hill down the inside! He had a dive at 2, got the exit of three perfect and then executed the pass to the absolute millimetre. Great work from Van Gisbergen and it's hard to see him being caught from here.