Virgin Australia LASTCAR Championship

Sunday 21 April 2024

Reynolds last at Taupō as pit strategy doesn't work.

Original by Auto Action, edited by me.

David Reynolds picked up the 14th last-place finish of his career when his #20 Tradie Beer Chevrolet finished under power, 1 lap down in the final race at Taupō. The finish came in Reynolds' 442nd start.

David Reynolds is a Supercars veteran and has been racing since 2009 full-time and 2007 as a co-driver. His best Championship result of 3rd in 2015. In 2021 he became infamous for lying about his vaccination status, which got him barred from several rounds of the championship. Reynolds' first full-time season was with Walkinshaw Racing, then moved to Kelly Racing for a year after only doing endurance events for 2010, then moved to Rod Nash Racing from 2011 to 2015 before he moved to Erebus Motorsports in 2016 and stayed until 2021 when he moved to Kelly Grove Racing when then became Grove racing in 2022. In 2024, Reynolds would replace Mark Winterbottom at Team 18 Racing. Reynolds was 9th in Practice 1 but slipped to 13th in Qualifying, missing the Top 10 Shootout.

Nick Percat in the #10 Bendix Cheverolet started the race in the rear, but quickly Aaron Love in the #3 Cooldrive Ford fell to last and held that place early on.

Lap 12 saw pitstops start, with David Reynolds in the #20 Tradie Beer Chevrolet pit and fall to last, holding it as Slade, Golding, Davison and Percat pitted over the next few laps. On Lap 17, James Courtney in the #7 Snowy River Ford pitted and fell to last. Lap 19 saw Jaxon Evans in the #12 SCT Logistics Chevrolet pit and fall to last, followed by a slow pitstop for Mark Winterbottom in the #18 DeWalt Chevrolet on Lap 20 which dropped him to last. By Lap 23 Bryce Fullwood in the #14 Middy's Electrical Chevrolet pitted and fell to last, then the following lap Aaron Love in the #3 Cooldrive Ford pitted and falling to last over 20 seconds behind David Reynolds in 23rd.

A second pitstop for Reynolds on Lap 31 dropped him to last, signalling the start of the 2nd round of pitstops, although only Aaron Love in the #3 Cooldrive Distribution Ford fell behind Reynolds during pitstops. Eventually, Reynolds would fall to last and remain there until the end of the race, losing a lap in the process.

Rounding out the Bottom Five was Aaron Love in the #3 Cooldrive Ford, James Courtney in the #7 Snowy River Ford, Tim Slade in the #23 Nulon Chevrolet and Macauley Jones in the #96 Wendy's Chevrolet.

The Bottom Five

David Reynolds	59 Laps	Running
Aaron Love	60 Laps	Running
James Courtney	60 Laps	Running
Tim Slade	60 Laps	Running
Macauley Jones	60 Laps	Running

Driver’s Championship

Pos	Driver	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Ryan Wood	2	3	3
2	Jaxon Evans	1	1	3
3T	Matt Payne	1	1	1
3T	Jack LeBrocq	1	1	1
3T	Tim Slade	1	1	1
3T	David Reynolds	1	1	1
7	Aaron Love	0	3	4
8	Thomas Randle	0	3	3
9	Cameron Hill	0	2	4
10	Cameron Waters	0	2	2
11	Bryce Fullwood	0	1	3
12T	Anton De Pasquale	0	1	2
12T	James Courtney	0	1	2
14	James Golding	0	1	1
15	Chaz Mostert	0	1	1
16	Macauley Jones	0	0	5
17T	Andre Heimgartner	0	0	1
17T	Broc Feeney	0	0	1

Team’s Championship

Pos	Team	Drivers	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Walkinshaw Andretti United	2	1	4/2	4/2
2	Shell V-Power Racing	2	1/2	1/2	2
3	Premair Nulon Racing	2	1/2	1	3/2
4T	Team 18 Racing	2	½	½	½
4T	Erebus Motorsports	2	½	½	½
4T	Penrite Racing	2	1/2d	1/2	1/2
7	Brad Jones Racing	4	1/4	2/4	11/4
8	Blanchard Racing Team	2	0	5/2	3
9	Tickford Racing	2	0	5/2	5/2
10	Matt Stone Racing	2	0	1	6/2
11	Red Bull Racing	2	0	0	½

Manufacturer’s Championship

Pos	Manufacturer	Drivers	Last	Bottom 3	bottom 5
1	Ford	10	4/10	16/10	17/10
2	Chevrolet	14	4/14	8/14	18/14

Friday 19 April 2024

Start line collision leaves Tim Slade last at Taupō

Tim Slade picked up the 13th last-place finish of his career when his #23 Nulon Chevrolet was involved in a 2-car crash that ended his race without completing a lap at Taupō. The finish came in Slade's 376th start.

Tim Slade is a Supercars veteran in his 15th full-time Season. Slade started racing a VE Commodore for Paul Morris Motorsports before switching to James Rosenberg Racing and their Ford Falcon in 2010. Slade would stay when James Rosenberg Racing switched to Mercedes in 2013 but would move to Walkinshaw Racing in 2014. Slade would race for Walkinshaw Racing until 2016. In 2016, Slade would move to Brad Jones Racing. Slade would briefly find himself out of the sport when Todd Hazelwood replaced him at Brad Jones Racing. In 2020, Slade would only race once, the Bathurst 1000. Slade would return for the Blanchard Racing Team for 2021 and 2022. Finally, Slade would move to PremAir Racing for 2023 and 2024. He was 14th in Practice and improved to 10th in Qualifying, getting him into the Top 10 Shootout. Tim Slade then jumped to 4th in the Top 10 Shootout.

Nick Percat in the #10 Bendix Chevrolet started the race in the rear, and quickly trouble broke out.

Cameron Waters in the #6 Monster Energy Ford got a slow start, while Tim Slade in the #23 Nulon Chevrolet got a blinder start. The two made contact and Slade crashed out on the front straight, ending his race before it began and damaging Waters' car. Other victims include Matt Payne in the #19 Penrite Oils Ford, who was spun by Anton De Pasquale in the #11 Shell V-Power Ford, and Broc Feeney in the #88 Red Bull/Ampol Chevrolet, who was spun by Thomas Randle in the #55 Castrol Ford.

The other retirement of the race was Bryce Fullwood in the #14 Middy's Electrical Chevrolet after he was spun by Jack LeBrocq in the #9 TFN Chevrolet, causing the 2nd Safety Car of the race and retire due to being unable to keep going due to a Fuel Pressure issue. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Chaz Mostert in the #25 Mobile 1/Optus Ford, who had to pit on Lap 43 with a loose wheel while running 2nd, Broc Feeney in the #88 Red Bull/Ampol Chevrolet after 3 pit-stops during the race and Cameron Hill in the #4 SupaGlass Chevrolet.

The Bottom Five

Tim Slade	0 Laps	Crash
Bryce Fullwood	7 Laps	Fuel Pressure
Chaz Mostert	59 Laps	Running
Broc Feeney	60 Laps	Running
Cameron Hill	60 Laps	Running

Driver’s Championship

Pos	Driver	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Ryan Wood	2	3	3
2	Jaxon Evans	1	1	3
3T	Matt Payne	1	1	1
3T	Jack LeBrocq	1	1	1
3T	Tim Slade	1	1	1
6	Thomas Randle	0	3	3
7	Cameron Hill	0	2	4
8	Aaron Love	0	2	3
9	Cameron Waters	0	2	2
10	Bryce Fullwood	0	1	3
11	Anton De Pasquale	0	1	2
12T	James Golding	0	1	1
12T	James Courtney	0	1	1
12T	Chaz Mostert	0	1	1
15	Macauley Jones	0	0	4
16T	Andre Heimgartner	0	0	1
16T	Broc Feeney	0	0	1

Team’s Championship

Pos	Team	Drivers	Last	Bottom 3	Bottom 5
1	Walkinshaw Andretti United	2	1	4/2	4/2
2	Shell V-Power Racing	2	1/2	1/2	2
3T	Penrite Racing	2	½	½	½
3T	Erebus Motorsports	2	½	½	½
5	Brad Jones Racing	4	1/4	2/4	10/4
6	Blanchard Racing Team	2	0	3/2	2
7	Tickford Racing	2	0	5/2	5/2
8	Matt Stone Racing	2	0	1	6/2
9	Premair Nulon Racing	2	1/2	1	1
10	Red Bull Racing	2	0	0	1/2

Manufacturer’s Championship

Pos	Manufacturer	Drivers	Last	Bottom 3	bottom 5
1	Ford	10	4/10	14/10	15/10
2	Chevrolet	14	3/14	7/14	17/14

How Juniorgeneric defines a Last-Place finisher

Australian V8 LASTCAR'S Official Definition of a "Last-Place Finisher" (LPF)

For the purposes of the Australian V8 LASTCAR championship rankings and statistics, a "Last-Place Finisher" (LPF) is a driver(s) who, after qualifying for a V8 Supercars Championship Points-Paying race, the result must be confirmed from official sources, or unofficial sources failing that. Only one driver (or two in a endurance race) can be classified as the LPF for that race.

Meeting those requirements, the LPF can be any driver classified as such for any reason, including, but not limited to.
1) A "did not start" although it should be noted that there is a difference between my definition of "did not start" and Brock Beard's definition of "Did not Start".
For example, in Bathurst 2015 Chazz Mostert and Cameron Waters' #6 Pepsi Max Ford had a huge accident during practice that injured Mostert and all but wrote off the car. Car #6 was withdrawn, and therefore I don't count Mostert and Waters as finishing last. Under Brock Beard's definition, however, Mostert and Waters would have finished last instead of David Wall and Chris Pither.
2) An entrant who encounters an event once the race has started which prevents the driver(s) from finishing ahead of any other qualified entrants, including both DNFs and drivers who finish under power but laps down*

*Only when all the cars in the race are running ahead of the LPF

3) A decision to “start and park” the driver’s entry (Extremely rare in V8 Supercars)
(4) a disqualification handed down by V8 Supercars and/or track officials that subsequently classifies the driver(s) in the final position behind the unofficial LPF.

Australian V8 LASTCAR shall not consider the LPF as anything else, including but not limited too
1) Any DNQ's
2) Any driver's who's car withdrew before the race start.
3)The lowest-ranked driver who finishes the race under power (unless all cars finished under power, actually quite common in V8 Supercars)
4) A driver(s) who finished last initially, however post-race disqualifications usurped the spot.
5) A driver(s) who may be catagorised as finishing last for exhibition events (I may bring these back at some point in the near future, I need more accurate numbers for the events before I start them up again)
6) Anything in non-V8 Supercar Main game (again, insufficent historical data)
7) A driver who was running last when the checkered flag fell, however because they greeted the checkered flag but a drive who was in front of them at the end of the race, however was not running at the end of the race. In that instance the driver who doesn't finish the race will fall behind the driver whom is still running at the end of the race.

In the rare event where official results or a preponderance of unofficial results are later updated with more accurate information about who was the LPF for that event, Australian V8 LASTCAR rankings and statistics shall be updated to reflect that change.