Team CoolDrive Darwin Triple Crown Supercars Recap

18 Jun, 2019

As expected, Darwin brought the heat off and on the track this weekend! It was an absolute rollercoaster of a weekend for Team CoolDrive – with the crew rising to the challenges that came their way.

Saturday’s 120km race was off to a wild start, with multiple tangles in the opening laps. Unfortunately, Macauley was caught in the first incident of the race, receiving a hit from Jack Le Brocq which caused contact with James Golding. Damage from the contact forced Macauley into the pits, and due to a safety car from another on-track incident on lap two, the team were able to get him back out by the race restart, on lap ten. At this point, the objective was for Macauley to circulate and manage the CoolDrive Supercar as best as possible. He finished in 22nd.

Sunday’s opening qualifying session saw Macauley follow stable-mate Nick Percat into the wall after issues at turn 10, narrowly missing each other in the process. The team had to work extensively to repair both cars and managed to get them both back on the grid for the final race of the weekend. Macauley was starting off the back of the grid in 24th and was able to progress through to 22nd, where his final laps were tangled in another battle with Le Brocq. A tougher weekend than expected for Macauley and the CoolDrive team.

Since its inception in 2006, no driver had ever won the Darwin Triple Crown, until today! Scott McLaughlin dominated the weekend, taking out the shootout and two races, he has become the first ever person to claim the ‘Triple Crown’. The team will return to home base in Albury and prepare for the next event in the always shining Townsville, North Queensland.

SATURDAY RESULTS

Qualifying
Qualified: 23rd – 1:06.9822s
Pole Position: Scott McLaughlin – 1:06.0108s
Race 15 – 120kms / 42 Laps
Finished: 22nd
Winner: Scott McLaughlin

SUNDAY RESULTS

Qualifying
Qualified: DNF (Starting 24th)
Provisional Pole Position: Scott McLaughlin - 1:05.4737s
Top Ten Shootout
Pole Position: Scott McLaughlin
Race 16 – 200kms / 70 Laps
Finished: 22nd
Winner: Scott McLaughlin

THE WORD FROM MACAULEY

On Saturday’s Race “The first lap accident ended our race early today. We got caught up between Jack Le Brocq and James Golding, with a post-race investigation not putting anyone at fault. There was a lot going on in that first couple of laps. We had to pit for repairs which cost us a lot of laps, but we got back out to circulate and try to claim the points we could.

On Sunday Qualifying “I was struggling with rear nervousness and lost the rear on the entry. I don’t know if there was anything on track or not, I need to look into that a bit further. It was a very strange situation for both Nick Percat and me to go off on the same corner, the same lap like that. I couldn’t see much of what happened with Nick, just a lot of tyre smoke. The crew are focused on getting the Team CoolDrive Supercar back out for today’s race.”

COMING UP

WATPAC Townsville 400
5-7 July 2019
Reid Park Circuit, Townsville, QLD

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 – Scott McLaughlin - 1946
2 – Fabian Coulthard – 1627
3 – David Reynolds - 1487
4 – Chaz Mostert - 1400
5 – Shane VanGisbergen - 1399
22 – Macauley Jones – 573

Stay tuned to our Facebook page CoolDrive Auto Parts to see photos and videos from upcoming Supercars event and updates from Team CoolDrive!