Formula 1

It was a weekend to forget in Mexico for Liam Lawson, who's race was marred by conflict and poor strategy decisions from his team.

Things weren’t ideal from the off; Lawson had top-10 pace in qualifying, but was unable to get that time on the board due to teammate Yuki Tsunoda putting his car in the wall and red-flagging the session. This meant that the Kiwi had to settle for P12.

The VCARB strategists attempted to recreate the brilliance of Lawson’s performance in Texas by once again running an offset strategy for the race, starting on the hard tyre while nearly all the other runners started on the medium.

This strategy works best when you can run in clean air and maximise your lap-times, but Liam was battling all race long, so despite running as high as P4 before he pitted, the #30 came out at the back of the pack.

Shod with fresh medium tyres, Liam’s pace was rapid, with the Kiwi making quick work of a few competiors. Eventually he was caught by Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez who was fighting from the back after yet another shocking qualifying performance.

The duo battled hard, with Perez unhappy with Liam’s fervent defense, despite the Red Bull driver making some questionable moves of his own.

Contact with Colapinto broke Lawson’s front wing and he was forced to pit, putting to bed any chance of salvaging a good result, eventually crossing the line in P16.

On October 2nd Liam will be back out on track in Sao Paulo for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Supercars

There were mixed results for our drivers in Surfers Paradise this weekend at the penultimate round of the Supercars Championship.

Matthew Payne ran a very solid first race and was rewarded with P4 and a jump into the championship top-5 for his efforts. Andre Heimgartner also had a strong race, climbing four positions to finish in the top 10 in P8. Ryan Wood was involved in numerous incidents throughout the race, crossing the line in P21.

It was Andre Heimgartner who shone in the second race, storming through the pack from P17 to finish in P6. Matt Payne picked up some solid points in P9, while after another lap 1 incident, Ryan Wood finished in P21.

The final round takes place 14^th -17^th November in Adelaide.

Carrera Cup Aus

It was a tricky weekend for Marco Giltrap on the infamously unforgiving streets of Surfers Paradise.

The young Kiwi was on the back foot after kerb strikes in qualifying started him from near the back of the grid. His pace was strong in the races, but the nature of the street circuit making it difficult for overtaking and easy to get caught in contact, meant strong results weren’t forthcoming.

Clay Osborne had his Carrera Cup Australia debut at the event, driving the 992 GT3 Cup Car for the first time and managing to achieve a top 10 in the enduro race.

Carrera Cup Asia

Brock Gilchrist had a one-off debut race in Carrera Cup Australia at the iconic Shanghai International Circuit, the home of the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix.

His first time in a 992 GT3 Cup Car, Brock was up to speed immediately, taking P3 and P2 in Qualifying 1 & 2 respectively.

He’d convert this qualifying pace to race pace, taking P4 in Race 1 and then two consecutive podiums in Races 2 & 3, all in tricky wet conditions.

A stellar debut for Gilchrist, who was vice-champion in this year’s Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia series.

NASCAR Xfinity

Another tough weekend on the oval for Shane van Gisbergen.

The Supercars-champion has speed in the #97 car, but a lack of consistency over the long runs meant that he couldn't quite capitalise on it.

Kaulig Racing attempted a strategy gamble that didn't quite pay off, with van Gisbergen eventually crossing the line in P17.