All twenty-eight International Guest drivers started the ArmorAll Gold Coast V8 Championship Series, Round 21, Saturday at Surfer’s Paradise
Once the first couple of laps got sorted out, the up front pack remained in the same order. SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS/No88 Team Vodafone Holden took off and maintained a 0.06-0.07 gap ahead of MIKA SALO/No.6 Trading Post FPR Ford.
Meanwhile, Bourdais’ teammate, ANDY PRIAULX/No.888, had electrical issues, which caused the car to keep cutting out. He pitted, for repairs before going back out, 16 laps down. Priaulx’s co-driver is CRAIG LOWNDES, who was leading the V8 Championship going into this race.
Three International drivers hail from the USA, all from California. PATRICK LONG/No.61 Bundaberg Holden and JOEY HAND/No.18 Jim Beam Racing Ford raced each other for P4/5 with Long finally passing Hand. This was before their respective pit stops. BORIS SAID/No.VIP Petfoods Holden was running in the teens before his driver change.
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Lap thirty-three was the start of wholesale pitting and driver changes. Bourdais handed off to Whincup, who maintained the lead.
The V8 series is colorful. On the TV feed, the Red and Blue driver initials indicate Holden or Ford, respectively.
V8 Supercar officials released a six-page bulletin Saturday morning regarding the Short Cutting & Overuse of Kerbs.
The yellow font of a driver’s name on the monitor indicated some kind breach identification, and the HOP on the monitor refers to kerb jumping. The electronic detection loops are in Turn 2, T7, T9, and T10 chicane. The bollard (orange colored solid elastomeric composite mold) has two flags in the top half which face the kerb to assist Drivers in establishing line of sight. They are in place at T2, T9 and T10. The bollards have an electronic detection loop.
I misspoke about the Friday night adjustment of the Turn Two detection loop. It wasn’t moved, it was ‘de-sensitized.’
On Lap 49, before the Safety Car situation, the top five drivers were JAMIE WHINCUP/No.88 Team Vodafone Holden (Bourdais); pole sitter GARTH TANDER.No.2 Toll Holden Racing Team (Briscoe); WILL DAVISON/No.6 Trading Post FPR Ford (Salo); FABIAN COULTHARD/No.61 Bundaberg Holden (Long) and GREG MURPHY/No.11 Pepsi Max Crew Holden (Oliver Gavin).
The caution came out because someone wrecked a bollard, not just hit it, but took the top clean off. That necessitated repairs by some very courageous workers with the V8’s coming within inches of their working on the kerb edge.
Stay tuned