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Round 2 BP Supercars All Stars Eseries: What you need to know

15 Apr 2020
Everything you need to know about tonight's races in one place.
4 mins by James Pavey
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THE FORM GUIDE

Scott McLaughlin. The two-time defending Virgin Australia Supercars Champion has taken his form from the Shell Mustang and applied it to iRacing.

WATCH: GET READY FOR ROUND 2 OF THE ESERIES

After winning an IndyCar online race, the 26-year old backed up with two wins from three races in the opening round of the BP Supercars All Stars Eseries last week. He will be the one to catch.

Supercheap Auto’s Jack Le Brocq won the reverse grid race and showed great improvement throughout the night. Tickford teammate Cam Waters is second on the Coates Hire Leaderboard after round one, he will be amongst the frontrunners tonight.

Chaz Mostert has been the best of the Holden drivers so far and expect the Bathurst winner to be in the thick of things again after another week glued to his simulator preparing for tonight.

THE WILDCARD

Tonight fans get to watch a current Formula 1 superstar take on Supercars’ best.

Max Verstappen is one of the biggest names in motorsport and tonight, the experienced iRacer goes head-to-head with his good friend and Red Bull teammate, Shane van Gisbergen, as both try to catch Shell Ford’s Scott McLaughlin.

How Verstappen fairs in a Supercar will be one of the most intriguing stories of the night.

THE FORM SEEKERS

Anton De Pasquale and Shane van Gisbergen were tipped to be at the front for the entire series, but things just did not go their way last week.

De Pasquale crossed the line first in the reverse grid race but was penalised for a passing move on the final corner. Expect the Penrite #99 Commodore to be out to make up for lost ground this week. He’s too good to be back in 16th on the leaderboard for the entire eseries.

Van Gisbergen qualified at the front but as he found out, a mix of experience in the Supercars field means if you get caught in the pack, anything can happen.

Expect the kiwi to improve this week. He races Verstappen online frequently and the battle between the two Red Bulls will be intriguing and neither will want to finish behind the other.

THE ROUGHIES

Matt Stone Racing’s rookie Zane Goddard and DeWalt Racing’s Scott Pye have driven on the Silverstone and Barcelona circuits after stints in Europe and both have been putting in the hard yards on simulators recently.

Goddard had a 6th place finish last week, while Pye couldn’t avoid dramas in the middle of the pack.

Kelly Racing’s Andre Heimgartner, Shell’s Fabian Coulthard and Walkinshaw rookie Bryce Fullwood were among the surprise packets last week who should go well again in round two.

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Brad Jones Racing’s Nick Percat is 10th on the Coates Hire Leaderboard and is another who if he qualifies well should be toward the front at both circuits.

THE UNKNOWN

Will Brown will make his BP Eseries debut, replacing David Reynolds in the #9 Penrite Commodore.

Brown and Verstappen are the only drivers in the field who didn’t race last week in the opening round.

Rick Kelly has very publicly stated he is a rookie on iRacing. That said he significantly upgraded his homemade simulator during the week and now has state of the art technology on his side. Could that be what the 2006 Supercars Champion needs to make a push forward?

THE CIRCUITS

Supercars have never raced at either Silverstone or Barcelona. Some of the drivers racing tonight, most notably Verstappen, have raced at the European F1 circuits so may hold an advantage.

The 2019 Grand Prix layout to be used at the Silverstone Circuit for the opening two races and the historic layout to be used at Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya for the final two races of the evening.

Silverstone is 5.9km long with 18 turns, Barcelona is 4.728km long with 14 turns.

Fuel and tyre strategy will be critical.

THE FORMATS

Four races tonight. Two at Silverstone and two at Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya.

There will be three timed ARMOR ALL Qualifying Sessions for Races 1,3 and 4 of the night.

The results of Race 1 at Silverstone will determine the reverse grid starting order for Race 2, as was the case last week at Phillip Island.

The opening race at Silverstone and opening race at Barcelona will be determined as Sprint races, lasting approximately 15 minutes. The second and fourth races of the night will be determined as Regular races lasting approximately 20 minutes each. All four races will require compulsory pit stops.

WHERE TO WATCH

Qualifying for the second round of racing at Silverstone (UK) and Barcelona (Spain) will begin on Wednesday night at 6:00pm AEST, will be broadcast exclusively on Fox Sports 506 before racing begins at 7:00pm.

From 7:00pm as was the case for Round One, the races will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 506, Kayo, Sky Sports (NZ) and 10 Play. Online fans can watch races via Supercars Facebook Page, Supercars’ Teams Facebook Pages.

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