Live Diary: Auckland SuperSprint Saturday

7:30pm We caught up with Jamie and Shane following the race to see how they felt:

Jamie Whincup – Car #88

“It was a tough day, but as expected, intermittent weather conditions made it ultra-difficult to get right. We had a good start and I was the pioneer, so I was trying to push hard in conditions that were variable. It fried the brain a little bit! At the end of the day, car #17 was too fast, we just didn’t have the pace, which really hurt us. I did my absolute best to keep him at bay, but ultimately the championship is going to be won by pace. I’m a bit disappointed to get the bad sportsmanship flag. I think I got it because I’m not a Kiwi! He (Scott McLaughlin) bombed me in the middle of the hairpin and then we had quite a lot of contact. It was all fairly 50-50, all fair and reasonable. There was a mix up with the safety car, I thought I was the lead car and so did the team. We were all on the same page and we decided to sit behind it, then we realised we weren’t the leader and pushed on and unfortunately we lost two spots out of it. Congratulations to SVG (Shane van Gisbergen), great day for the team.”

Shane van Gisbergen – Car #97

“Today qualifying was a bit of an abolishment and was red flagged pretty much straight away, which was the right call. From then on we kept an eye on the weather to see if it would dry up. We actually didn’t really know what was happening until we drove out for the formation lap and we could see that the track was still quite wet but dry enough for slicks. We started on slicks, and it was very dicey with only one racing line. We ran in third and came out from the pit stop in third so we just tried to run with the leaders, Jamie (Whincup) and Scotty (McLaughlin), and then it got exciting with the safety car, we came out in front and had to save a bit of fuel but we were in front so we were able to do it. It’s awesome to win and we just have to see what the weather does tomorrow and stay on top of that. Hopefully it’s dry, the track is too dangerous in the wet conditions, so hopefully it’s dry and we can put on a good show again.”

6:40pm Burnouts later and this is what we have… We didn’t need that one did we?

5:40pm Wowee that was a nail-biting race! The highs and lows just didn’t stop coming but our Kiwi bro came out on top in fantastic fashion! Team mate J-Dub finishes a close fourth.

3:45pm The sun has come out and the bulls are lining up for the main race.

1:15pm Qualifying is cancelled. That’s big news as we head into our first race in just over 3 hours. As a result, the combined results of both practice sessions yesterday will determine the grid – Jamie will start in P2 and Shane in P6. Hopefully the rain holds off and we can have a good run at 4:10pm.

1:05pm We wait… And we wait.

12:47pm Well that didn’t last long… Two laps and there’s a red flag. Session is put on hold until 1:15pm before a final call is made.

12:44pm Pit exit is open and we’re underway, let’s see how we go!

12:25pm Qualifying is meant to begin but we’ve been put on hold. Drivers wait in the cars as safety cars take to the track – all reports are that the back straight is incredibly slippery with all of the puddles.

11:20am It’s bucketing down now. Could be dangerous out there if these conditions keep up.

11:00am We just had our signing session outside the garages, it was great to see all of those who made it down! If you couldn’t make it, come back tomorrow at the same time, 10.30am.

9:30am The rain has started! It’s going to be an interesting day if this keeps up.

7:00am Morning bros! It’s race day, let’s see what we can do 🙂

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