- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
It was the conclusion to what was another thrilling Enduro Cup for the Supercars championship and as always, the Gold Coast 600 delivered on top of what were already fine races at Sandown and Bathurst.
The gruelling streets of Surfers Paradise put up plenty of discussion topics, from the fallout of Race 27’s cancellation due to extreme weather, to a key change in the championship standings – here are the talking points from the Gold Coast 600.
Mostert breaks Tickford drought
2018 has been an awful year for the Tickford Racing stable, with their well-documented struggles for competitiveness, though at last they were able to break through for their first win of the season in Race 26.
Mirroring his efforts from twelve months ago, which also happened to be the last win for Tickford, Chaz Mostert drove the Supercheap Auto Falcon home by 9.5 seconds over Craig Lowndes.
The lead of the race came to the #55 Ford on Lap-36, with a solid co-driver stint from James Moffat who had won his first race since he was a full-time driver with Nissan in 2013 –passing Tony D’Alberto in the #12 Shell V-Power car.
Despite chaos in the pit-lane amongst the Triple Eight cars and diverging strategies from all the contenders, Mostert maintained the lead of the race with 40 laps to go to stand on the podium for only the second time in 2018.
Sunday washout
It was forecast well in advance, yet when the storm hit Surfers Paradise not to long into Race 27 on Sunday, chaos ensued and after multiple red flags – the race was ultimately declared on Lap-43, amidst the thunder and lightning.
Conditions were ultimately too dangerous to continue racing upon and there was plenty of conjecture thrown up about minimum co-driver distances and having a time-certain finish. Race control were made to clarify several regulations regarding those matters, which always seem to be unclear whenever there is a crazy race.
Dumbrell found the tyre barriers on slick tyres, with the likes of Ash Walsh, Dean Canto and David Russell also parking themselves at Turn 12, upon the soaking wet surface and highlighting the treacherousness of the track.
Much will be said about not having scheduled the 102-lap race earlier or having not elected to restart it at 4pm local time – though ultimately, OHS prevailed for all working and spectating trackside, as much as it detracts from the show.
McLaughlin retakes championship lead
Coming into the Gold Coast round with a 19-point deficit to Shane Van Gisbergen in the championship, Scott McLaughlin following Race 26 was able to retake the lead of the standings, after he and Alex Prémat finished ahead of the #97 Red Bull Commodore.
Despite having pole for the race and leading away, the duo of the #17 car came home in fifth ahead of the tenth placed #97. Prémat led the field away initially, however was sent into the wall by Paul Dumbrell at Turn 4.
Scott McLaughlin (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
Thankfully, there was no damage to the Ford and the Frenchman was able to continue. Whilst drive-through penalties later for both Red Bull cars for unsafe releases, pretty much terminated Van Gisbergen and Earl Bamber’s chances of keeping that points lead.
The non-event of Sunday’s race means that the points following the first leg of the Gold Coast 600 remained unchanged and with four races to go across two rounds in 2018, McLaughlin holds a crucial lead over his compatriot.
Lowndes and Richards win the Enduro Cup
For the retiring Lowndes, this Enduro Cup couldn’t have been scripted any better, having finished on the podium at Sandown, claimed the Bathurst victory and then a final podium during Race 26 on the Gold Coast – to grant the veteran and Steven Richards the Enduro Cup.
A second Enduro Cup for Lowndes in what has been an illustrious career, came about with a stellar drive from 21st on the grid to second, following a penalty for impeding Richie Stanaway during qualifying.
The question begs to be asked about whether if Race 27 had continued and had the #888 Autobarn Commodore served its drive-through penalty for an unsafe release, would they have scored the points necessary to still claim the Enduro Cup over McLaughlin and Prémat.
However, with the race cancelled in the end and no points awarded, Lowndes will go into the last two rounds as a full-time driver, having enjoyed a successful endurance partnership alongside Richards – who’s own co-driving future is unknown for 2019.
Goodbye Gold Coast 600
Even though the Enduro Cup has ended on somewhat of a damp squib, with Race 27’s cancellation – the Gold Coast 600 marks the conclusion of another fascinating season of endurance and is also the end of an era for this event.
As announced in the build up to the Surfers Paradise weekend, the 2019 Supercars calendar will see a shake up to the Enduro Cup and the Gold Coast event will see a change in its format to bring it in line with the Sandown 500.
The Gold Coast 500, as it’ll be in 2019 will feature only one 500km race on Sunday, with qualifying races to supplement it on the Saturday – as already seen with the Sandown 500’s format.
As well as having qualifying races, the Supercars commission has also confirmed that there will now be points for those sprints at both the Gold Coast and Sandown races – increasing the emphasis on those portions of the weekend.
Finally, Gold Coast will remain as the event post-Bathurst, however will not be the finale to the Enduro Cup, with Sandown having been shifted to the start of November from its traditional pre-Bathurst status.
Looking for great odds on racing and sport? Get into the action with PlayUp today. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.