Team CoolDrive Sandown 500 Supercars Retro Round Recap

11 Nov, 2019

SATURDAY 9TH NOVEMBER

QUALIFYING

TIME: 12:25-12:45pm

CONDITIONS: Rain, wet

QUALIFIED: Position 25th – 1m08.8808

POLE POSITION: Scott McLaughlin – 1m07.7736

RACE 28 / 20 LAPS / 60KMS

TIME: 14:25

CONDITIONS: Rain, wet

FINISHED: Position 22nd 

WINNER: Craig Lowndes

RECAP: Dean used the race for the grid to continue to develop the car so he and Macca could optimise performance before Sunday’s main 500-kilometre race. Dean moved forward ahead of his rivals and subsequently gave Macca a better starting position for his grid setting race in the afternoon.

RACE 29 / 20 LAPS / 60KMS 

TIME: 17:20

CONDITIONS: Rain, wet

FINISHED: Position 21st 

WINNER: Jamie Whincup

RECAP: Race 29 of the championship saw Macca take the wheel of the Team CoolDrive Supercar, looking to improve the grid position for Sunday’s race. A difficult tyre choice ended in the team opting for slick tyres in drying conditions, but unfortunately the track dried slower than first anticipated, meaning Macca was caught on the wrong tyre. He battled hard with those around him on the same tyre strategy and was able to slightly improve on his grid position for Sunday’s long race.

SUNDAY 10TH NOVEMBER

RACE 30 / 161 LAPS / 500KMS

TIME: 13:35

CONDITIONS: Dry

FINISHED: Position 20th 

WINNER: Jamie Whincup / Craig Lowndes

RECAP – It was a P22 start for Macca and Dean and trouble at the start for close rivals meant starting driver, Dean, made ground early and through a long first stint, he was able to move through the field. Unfortunately there was an issue at the first pitstop with the door of the Team CoolDrive car failing to shut, forcing the crew to opt for makeshift repairs. Despite those efforts initially succeeding, the door jarred opened again meaning it was forced in again for secondary repairs. 

Despite the setbacks, Macca continued his push, before a rear suspension component failure slowed the car - the team eventually finishing 21st.

THE WORD FROM MACCA 

“The Enduro season was a hard one this year with a lot of different things for us to overcome. It’s been awesome having Dean a part of the team. He’s a great bloke and has been really helpful throughout the last couple of months. We’ve been working closely together and made positive steps forward. 

We chipped away and made some strong improvements throughout all 3 enduro events. Unfortunately today didn’t end the way we wanted with our rear suspension breaking so we just had to try and manage the car the best we could to get us to the end. 

The team has been awesome and have been working so hard with these back to back rounds to ensure we have a great car. So thanks so much to all my crew, you guys are awesome. And to all the support from CoolDrive for this round, it’s been really special to me being able to race in dad’s number so thanks to the Blanchards for letting this happen. The livery looked sick!”

COMING UP  

Final round of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship! 

Coates Hire Newcastle 500

Newcastle Street Circuit – Newcastle, NSW

November 22nd-24th  

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 – Scott McLaughlin - 3614

2 – Shane Van Gisbergen – 3064

3 – Jamie Whincup – 2968

4 – Fabian Coulthard – 2791

5 – Chaz Mostert – 2705 

6 - David Reynolds - 2517

22 – Macauley Jones – 1218 

Stay tuned to our Facebook page for updates on Team CoolDrive!