Supercars: Le Brocq takes maiden win as Percat shines again

July 19, 2020 July 19, 2020

The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship returned to Sydney Motorsport Park for the third full round of 2020’s truncated campaign.

DJR Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin entered the event top of the pack, having won twice three weeks ago.

Strict tyre regulations were imposed once more for the weekend, with teams’ strategies varying again with soft and hard compounds, promising plenty of surprises along the way.

Race 10

For the first of three weekend races, McLaughlin headed the grid on pole, having bested his previous lap record in qualifying. Under the night sky, it was an even start between McLaughlin and other front-runners Shane van Gisbergen and Cam Waters.

With the strict tyre regulations carrying over from last round’s event, McLaughlin’s hard compounds slowed him down, and he dropped behind the softs of SVG, Waters, Lee Holdsworth and Anton De Pasquale.

The Shell V-Power Mustang opted for the soft compound during its mandatory pitstop, and McLaughlin emerged as leader once the reshuffle had been completed. Holdsworth briefly occupied the top spot after his stop, but was quickly passed by McLaughlin on his way to a fourth win in 2020.

Holdsworth crossed the line for a consecutive second-place finish 1.3secs behind, with De Pasquale completing the podium – both drivers found pace through soft-soft strategies, placing them at a disadvantage for the remainder of the weekend.

With tyre choices akin to McLaughlin’s opposing compounds, the Red Bull duo took fourth and fifth, with SVG pipping his teammate on the last lap. Strong performances also came from Cam Waters in sixth, Fabian Coulthard on two hards in seventh, and Macauley Jones in eighth.

“It’s music to my ears. Obviously I have got another set [of softs] up my sleeve. We’ve got a lot of racing left to go but we stuck to our guns. We knew that people were probably going to try that strategy [soft/soft] but we trusted our car speed.”
Scott McLaughlin

Race 10’s Result:

Scott McLaughlin (F)*
Lee Holdsworth (F)
Anton De Pasquale (H)
Shane van Gisbergen (H)
Jamie Whincup (H)
Cam Waters (F)
Fabian Coulthard (F)
Macauley Jones (H)
Nick Percat (H)
Mark Winterbottom (H)

*Note – “H” indicates Holden, “F” indicates Ford.

Race 11:

In a race once more dictated by tyre choices, Nick Percat claimed his second win in as many events. The Brad Jones racer qualified third, but emerged as winner by over nine seconds having pitted for softs on all four wheels.

Percat’s closest rival proved to be van Gisbergen, who led the race for 22 laps. However, the switch to hard compounds lowered the Red Bull Holden to eighth at the flag. Second place was taken by Fabian Coulthard, with teammate McLaughlin rounding out the top three.

It seemed as if the Mustangs of James Courtney and Rick Kelly would finish third and fourth respectively, but both dropped behind a charging McLaughlin in the final half a lap. Chaz Mostert also made a move on Kelly, going on to place fifth.

Seven-time champion Jamie Whincup struggled throughout, starting lowly in 19th, and only passing two on his way to a 17th place finish – a poor result owing to hard compounds for all 32 laps.

“We knew our long tyre pace was good so we [pitted early] to force the hand of Triple Eight. Credit to BJR, Brad, everyone there, they backed the way I look after a tyre so we can do a strategy like that.”
Nick Percat

Race 11’s Result:

Nick Percat (H)
Fabian Coulthard (F)
Scott McLaughlin (F)
James Courtney (F)
Chaz Mostert (H)
Rick Kelly (F)
Garry Jacobson (H)
Shane van Gisbergen (H)
Cam Waters (F)
Jack Smith (H)

Race 12:

The closing race of the weekend welcomed three new drivers to the podium, with Tickford Racing’s Jack Le Brocq on top. Kelly Racing’s Andre Heimgartner initially lit up the grid, storming his way to a maiden pole position in qualifying.

Heimgartner maintained P1 in the early stages, fending off early charger David Reynolds efficiently, and pitting alongside him on lap 12. Le Brocq, on the other hand, pitted a lap prior, and pounced on the pair when they emerged on cold tyres.

A great battle ensued, with Le Brocq, Heimgartner, Reynolds and BJR’s Todd Hazelwood all scrapping for positions, before a failed lunge by Reynolds opened the door for Hazelwood to sneak through on the final lap.

Race 12’s podium standings were the first without a Red Bull or Shell V-Power racer since October 2017, highlighting the unpredictability caused by the harsh tyre regulations imposed.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I don’t really know what to feel. The guys at Tickford have given me an awesome car and an opportunity I suppose to try to prove that we can do the job.”
Jack Le Brocq

Race 12’s Top 10:

Jack Le Brocq (F)
Andre Heimgartner (F)
Todd Hazelwood (H)
David Reynolds (F)
Scott Pye (H)
Mark Winterbottom (H)
Bryce Fullwood (H)
Jamie Whincup (H)
Chaz Mostert (H)
Zane Goddard (H)

Weekend Analysis:

Since Scott McLaughlin’s move to DJR Team Penske in 2017, the contest has been dominated by Shell V-Power Fords and Red Bull Holdens. I have not seen such parity as displayed this weekend within the field since that move four seasons ago.

I feel as if every team has gone into this event thinking that, if they play their cards right, there’s a real possibility for a podium finish. Nick Percat expertly demonstrated this three weeks ago, and has paved the way for others to replicate.

Following on from the lack of the ‘big two’ teams in Race 12, Red Bull struggled to adapt their cars’ raw speed to clever tyre strategies. Neither SVG nor Whincup claimed a podium in the three races, being only the seventh time in 11 years that this has happened.

Brad Jones Racing are also impressing me this year. They have been the mid-to-bottom team for quite a few seasons now, but Percat has achieved back-to-back wins at SMP, Hazelwood has claimed his maiden Supercars victory, and Jack Smith found himself in the top 10 for Race 11. Everything is looking rosy.

Championship Standings: