Safety Car Spoils Shell Chance
March 25, 2018
COATES HIRE MELBOURNE 400 – SUNDAY, MARCH 25 – RACE 6
Fabian Coulthard - No. 12 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Race 6 – 6th (Fastest Lap: 1m57.6785s)
Scott McLaughlin - No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Race 6 – 7th (Fastest Lap: 1m57.2065s)
Recap: The final race of the event was almost an anti-climax, with a mid-race Safety Car intervention nullifying any threat that the Shell V-Power Racing Team cars may have had to make more ground through the pack. Both Scott and Fabian had a good start, getting through the first turn cleanly with Scott executing a clever pass at Turn 4 to gain two positions on the opening lap. They then ran nose to tail for several laps until Fabian allowed Scott through to attempt an attack on the Walkinshaw Andretti car of Scott Pye. The Safety Car boards and flags were shown not long after, and the cars rolled around behind the Safety Car for four laps while the fire-damaged No.34 of James Golding was removed from the circuit. When the race went green again the clock had passed the time certain finish limit, and as such it was the final lap of the race. Scott return the position to Fabian at the end of the lap, with Fabian finishing 6th and Scott 7th. Scott now sits third in the Drivers' points, with Fabian 14th. The team is fourth in the Teams' points.
Coulthard Quote: "I got another great start, but got boxed in a bit so couldn't take advantage like I would have liked, but that's how it goes sometimes. It's good to be getting good consistent starts. It was a pretty good bounceback weekend after a poor start in Adelaide, so I'm looking forward to Tasmania."
McLaughlin Quote: "Got a pretty strong start and then got boxed in a bit, but was able to get passed a couple of cars on the first lap when they got into each other. After getting past Fabs, I just didn't have the pace to go further forward. I think the car was better than yesterday, but we've got work to do before the next round."
DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 | Shane van Gisbergen | 486 |
2 | David Reynolds | 437 |
3 | Scott McLaughlin | 425 |
4 | Chaz Mostert | 416 |
5 | Scott Pye | 397 |
6 | Jamie Whincup | 379 |
7 | James Courtney | 375 |
8 | Nick Percat | 352 |
9 | Mark Winterbottom | 329 |
10 | Cameron Waters | 325 |
14 | Fabian Coulthard | 308 |
TEAMS' CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | 865 |
2 | Walkinshaw Andretti United | 772 |
3 | Tickford Racing (Winterbottom/Mostert) | 745 |
4 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | 733 |
5 | Brad Jones Racing | 672 |
6 | Erebus Motorsport | 583 |
7 | Nissan NISMO | 446 |
8 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | 425 |
9 | Tickford Racing (Waters/Stanaway) | 399 |
10 | Nissan Motorsport | 381 |