Top performers: Australian Grand Prix
Triple Eight sent an ominous warning to its competitors will all three cars fighting for the podium across the weekend at the Formula One Rolex Australian Grand Prix.
The Roland Dane-led group had not won a race at the Albert Park street circuit since 2011 but with new recruit Shane van Gisbergen and six-time champ Jamie Whincup, the team shattered that statistic this year.
But the Ford FG Xs also looked speedy on soft tyres, begging the question – when it counts for Championship points, just who will be in the mix at the front?
Vote for your best from the Coates Hire V8 Supercars Challenge at the AGP below.
Shane van Gisbergen – Red Bull Racing Australia
He won three of the four races and was awarded the event win, the New Zealand national anthem booming out to the fans at the AGP.
Van Gisbergen looked to have settled into his new Triple Eight Commodore further this round, after looking a little uncomfortable around the streets of Adelaide at the season opener.
He sits third in the Championship points, right behind Whincup – who he had to negotiate passing in the first race for the first time as teammates – and showed us it will be on in Tasmania.
Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia
A mechanical failure pushed him back in the event points in the final race, but Whincup raced hard and earned what was surprisingly his first ever pole position at Albert Park.
He sailed away to win Saturday’s race by six and a half seconds, leaving van Gisbergen to scrap with Lowndes as Whincup had the day before.
Solid results in second, third and first before the driveline issue in the fourth outing show his speed.
Craig Lowndes – TeamVortex
He isn’t going to let his younger teammates take the spotlight or the results – fan favourite Lowndes stole the show in two of the races, with lively battles with Whincup and then van Gisbergen.
If it were for points, it would’ve been on, he said on the coverage, and after finishing second last year in the championship, Lowndes isn’t going anywhere.
He qualified further back than his teammates in seventh but didn’t have any problems climbing through the field and latching onto the back of their Commodores.
Seventh, second, third and third left him second in the event points.
Fabian Coulthard – DJR Team Penske
A Falcon was ‘best of the rest’ but it may not have been the one we were expecting.
Fabian Coulthard backed up the speed he showed at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide and while he admitted he still isn’t completely comfortable in his new-for-2016 car, saying ‘there’s more to come’ could be a scary prospect for his competitors.
He finished third in the event points after two fourth place finishes, a fifth and a second. Qualifying third and just 0.06sec off pole man Whincup was another impressive showing of speed.
Who was your best at Albert Park over the weekend? Vote and tell us why below in the comments.
