Motorsport Weekend Wrap-up

Payne’s pace would continue in to qualifying for Race 5 as he took his maiden Supercars pole-position, pipping Cam Waters for the honours at the end of the session. Unfortunately, Race 5 is where Payne’s weekend would begin to unravel, with the Penrite driver being taken out of the race while leading in both Races 5 & 6, with the former resulting in a DNF.

Ryan Wood had a tricky weekend but managed to score his first top 10 finish in Supercars, with a P10 in Race 5. Andre Heimgartner struggled to find the competitive edge this weekend, failing to make it into the points.

Porsche Carrera Cup Australia

Marco Giltrap’s Porsche Carrera Cup Australia was a tough ask for the young Kiwi, with just a single practice session to get to grips with the new car and team before a gauntlet of 3 races in 3 days on the Melbourne Grand Prix track.

Giltrap put his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car P9 on the grid in the first qualifying session of the weekend, and was able to climb to P6 in the race, securing points on his Carrera Cup debut.

Race 2 was relatively drama free for Giltrap and he was able to bring his car come in P10. Race 3 was a different story however, with Giltrap running off track at turn-1 after a restart and being unable to make the lost places back, crossing the line in P17.

INDYCAR

This weekend’s INDYCAR Thermal $1 Million Challenge was paying cash rather than championship points, with the winner Alex Palou taking home $500,000 USD.

Thought he didn’t take home any points from the weekend, Scott McLaughlin reaffirmed that he has what it takes to challenge this championship, finishing the weekend with a strong P2 and taking home $350,000 USD ($584,000 NZD).

NASCAR

Shane van Gisbergen had a double header this weekend, taking part in both the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup races at NASCAR’s first road course for the year, the Circuit of the Americas.

SVG’s Xfinity was dominant performance marred by controversy. Starting on the front row, SVG led part of the race before slotting in to second after a rare mistake cost him the lead. Shane would hold this position through the dramatic proceedings that took place over the rest of the race and ultimately cross the line in second. Unfortunately, SVG was hit with a 30-second post-race penalty for a last lap corner cut, a controversial decision given the lax track limit rules in NASCAR.

Shane would get to go again on Monday, beginning the Cup race from P12. He would struggle to make his way through the field, with issues each time he seemed to be gaining momentum, including being forced to serve a penalty for speeding into the pit lane, and then later losing first gear in his Chevrolet. SVG would ultimately cross the line in 21^st.