Team CoolDrive Winton Supersprint Supercars Recap

27 May, 2019

Team CoolDrive had their home event this weekend at Winton Motor Raceway; a short 1-hour drive down from their home-base in Albury.

With a two-day event format, each day had an opening practice session, qualifying followed by a 120km race on Saturday and usual 200km race on Sunday. An additional driver session was held on Saturday morning, with Dean Canto getting behind the wheel in what were slippery and wet conditions.

Saturday morning continued to provide its upsets for drivers, as the weather affected on track conditions and saw teams struggle to execute their practice and qualifying strategies. The rain eventually passed and the sun was out for the first race to get underway. Macauley moved forward during the Saturday 120km race, equalling his best result of 17th as seen at the last Supercar round in Perth.

Macauley qualified 18th for Sunday’s 67 lap race, and after some early struggles, he found himself sitting just outside the top twenty. When Will Davison brought out the one and only safety car of the weekend when he had a trans-axle fail, some teams/drivers opted to pit for fresher tyres in hopes they could gain an advantage and pass those who didn’t in the final laps. It was the right call, as when the green flag dropped for the remaining 5 laps, Macauley was able to pass a few cars in front, working his way up to 16th when he crossed the finish line. His new best solo Supercar result! He now sits 22nd in the Championship.

THE WORD FROM MACAULEY

“Winton – my home away from home! Saturday morning saw mixed conditions, it was wet, dry, wet, then dry again in the sessions so it was a bit of a gamble to get the car right when it was changing during the morning practice and qualifying session. We struggled to switch on the tyres in qualifying which was disappointing as I feel we had better car speed than we got to show. We moved forward through the race, it was hard, hot work, but fun and good to finish inside the twenty.”

“Made a few changes this morning, trying to find a sweeter spot with the balance of the car. I was reasonably happy with it in qualifying and feel like the Team CoolDrive Supercar performed better than yesterday. All you are chasing in qualifying is a tenth, which could mean braking later two meters at a corner, it’s not much to be chasing, but in such a competitive field – it is.”

“I was hoping for a little more speed in the race and to get a little further forward, but was in a pretty tough battle group there at the back. The safety car helped us at the end, we were one of the few cars to pit for tyres, so it was a real push at the end to pass those on older tyres. It was the right call and we’ve got our best result of the season.”

SATURDAY

Qualifying
Qualified: 20th – 1:32.1375s
Pole Position: Chaz Mostert – 1:30.2886s

Race Thirteen (120kms / 40 Laps)
Finished: 17th
Winner: Scott McLaughlin

SUNDAY

Qualifying
Qualified: 18th – 1:19.9281s
Pole Position: Scott McLaughlin – 1:18.5233s

Race Fourteen (200kms / 67 Laps)
Finished: 16th
Winner: Scott McLaughlin

COMING UP

Round 7 of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship
BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown
Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin, NT
14-16 June 2019

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 – Scott McLaughlin - 1646
2 – Fabian Coulthard -1402
3 – Shane Van Gisbergen - 1231
4 – David Reynolds - 1220
5 – Jamie Whincup - 1168
22 – Macauley Jones - 495

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