After a frenetic start to the new Supercars season in Adelaide and Melbourne, the championship crossed the Bass Straight to the Apple Isle for another exciting weekend of racing.
The Tasmania SuperSprint was the first weekend since the change in weights for both the Ford and Holden teams, and what unfolded at Symmons Plains produced a different result to that many had expected.
From a drought-breaking pole position to Holden’s first win of the season, here are the talking points from Tasmania.
Van Gisbergen snaps Mustang’s winning streak
The Red Bull Holden Racing Team once again produced a Tasmanian masterclass at Symmons Plains as the factory Holden outfit finally broke the winning streak of their Ford rivals in Race 8.
Shane van Gisbergen qualified on pole position for the Sunday leg of the Tasmania SuperSprint, his first pole since Townsville last year.
The only trouble the Kiwi faced during the 84-lap race was caused by compatriot Fabian Coulthard after the second round of pit stops. Ultimately the 2016 Supercars champion went on to win by 5.1 seconds, chalking up the first win for Holden in 2019.
Commodores occupied six of the top ten places in Race 8, with David Reynolds for Erebus picking up his first podium of the season in third. Coulthard was the best-placed Ford as the runner up.
Shane Van Gisbergen (Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
No weight advantage, no problem
All the talk leading into the weekend was about the changes made to the centre of gravity of the Mustang and Commodore cars after a test following the Melbourne 400 had found both were carrying a weight advantage.
The Mustang copped most of the penalty, with up to 28 kilograms of ballast added to the roof inside the cockpit of all six cars. That didn’t deter the championship-leading Shell V-Power Racing outfit from delivering an emphatic statement during Race 7, finishing one-two, with Scott McLaughlin claiming his sixth win of the season.
The Sunday leg saw the reigning series champion home in fourth, which left his lead in the standings untouched. Coulthard, following a pair of podiums, moved into second, and a poor weekend from Chaz Mostert and Tickford saw the fellow Mustang competitors drop to sixth.
Regardless of the weight changes, it seems that DJR Team Penske are largely unaffected as the team to beat despite Triple Eight having the pace advantage on Sunday.
Scott McLaughlin of Shell V Power Racing. (AAP Image/David Mariuz)
Frosty ends pole drought
In what was the biggest move of the off-season, former Ford man Mark Winterbottom left Tickford, his home of 13 years, and went over to the revitalised Team 18 operation – and, more importantly, into a Holden.
With new title sponsor Irwin and the recruitment of gun engineer Phil Keed the Winterbottom-led Team 18 was tipped as a dark horse for race wins in 2019, and Race 7 almost saw this eventuate.
The former Ford stalwart took Holden’s first pole position of the year, in the process recording his best qualifying result since 2016. It was also Team 18’s first pole since the team joined the sport in 2016.
Mmany were hoping for a win, but that wasn’t to be case for Frosty in Race 7, as the Shell V-Power cars were just too quick. Cruelly, though, even the team’s first podium was denied by Van Gisbergen, who stripped the No. 18 Commodore of third on the final lap.
Sixth on Sunday made for a solid weekend for the single-car Holden outfit, with Winterbottom leaping to seventh in the overall standings.
What Tasmania showed, though, was how far this small team has come since the dire seasons of the past.
Co-drivers cup
While Enduro season is still many months away, there was extra emphasis on the first co-drivers-only practice session at the start of the weekend, with precious seat time being afforded to the additional drivers.
Given that the Enduro Cup this year commences with the challenge of the Bathurst 1000, practice for the co-drivers throughout the year will be vital.
It was experienced hands Warren Luff and Garth Tander who were the fastest at the end of the 30-minute session. Luff topped the timesheets, steering the Walkinshaw Andretti United car of Scott Pye once again.
Tander, who was sensationally dropped from a full-time drive by GRM in the off-season, was quickly snared up for an endurance berth with Triple Eight to pair up with Van Gisbergen.
The other envious combination will be that reunification of the Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes partnership, with the latter setting the fifth-fastest time in his first drive since retiring at the end of 2018.
With plenty of salivating combinations up and down the order, the anticipation for the Enduro Cup is high as ever, though there is plenty of racing yet to chew through until that jewel in the crown that is the Bathurst 1000.
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