Supercars Sydney SuperSprint results: Nick Percat stuns Jamie Whincup
Nick Percat claimed his first win in four years, taking advantage of a controversial rule to deny V8 immortal Jamie Whincup victory in his 500th race start at the Sydney SuperSprint.
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Nick Percat crashed Jamie Whincup’s milestone moment with the Brad Jones racer swooping to stop the V8 immortal from celebrating his 500th race start with a win.
In a wild race that was ultimately decided by tyre strategy, Percat stormed home on fresh rubber to claim his first victory since 2016 as the season restarting Sydney SuperSprint resumed with an upset.
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The sport’s greatest championship driver, Whincup bolted off the line to claim the lead and looked certain to extend his legend by claiming a victory in race No.500.
Enter Percat.
Throwing all his best rubber at Whincup in an all or nothing assault, Percat charged home to win his first race for Brad Jones Racing.
“It is amazing and I have to thank Brad for showing faith in me,” Percat said.
“It has taken a few more years than I wanted.”
STILL A TWO HORSE RACE
Percat would not have been anywhere near Whincup had it not been for a controversial tyre allocation that was introduced to give the battler’s hope.
In a move that made it impossible for any one team or driver to win all three races, Supercars limited each team to a set number of tyres that could be used across the return to racing weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Whincup was not beaten by Percat. The V8 great was beaten by a rule that was put in place to manufacture a result and make the series appear more competitive than it really is.
“We just threw everything at it,” Percat said.
“We lived for now and we will see how we go later. We obviously had much better tyres.”
Make no mistake, the series is still strictly a two-team race. A fight between DJR/Team Penske and the Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
“It was really interesting with the strategy,” Whincup said.
“We used six tyres and were a little bit compromised.”
NEW TEAMS – SAME STORY
Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters went toe-to-toe in a Sydney street-fight that renewed their bitter rivalry.
Former teammates who were split after a series of on-track incidents made it impossible for them to remain in the same garage, Walkinshaw recruit Mostert wasted no time in finding his Tickford sparring partner as the season relaunched in Sydney.
After passing Tickford’s new No. 1 in the first instalment of the Sydney SuperSprint, Mostert went back-to-back to claim another victory over Waters following a five-lap fight.
Waters appeared to have won the battle until he collided with a fast finishing Scott McLaughlin in a bump that allowed Mostert to pass.
While many had doubts about his move to Walkinshaw Andretti United, Mostert’s switch is so far proving a success with the former Bathurst winner dethroning Dave Reynolds as best of the rest behind Penkse and Red Bull.
James Courtney also showed his move to quit Team Sydney was a masterstroke with the new Ford driver scoring an emphatic win over his former team.
FORMAT A WINNER
The COVID forced compressed race program proved popular with both fans and drivers with the action-packed schedule getting the thumbs up. With lengthy breaks between sessions scrapped and the program compressed into two days, the non-stop schedule proved a winner that many would love to see stay.
“I give it a nine-and-a-half out of ten,” Waters said.
“I love it. It is short and sharp and the day goes fast.”
SUPERCARS RESUMPTION: RACE 1
Scott McLaughlin labelled Shane van Gisbergen a “cockroach” after the Ford flyer failed to kill off his Holden rival in the Supercars season resumption in Sydney.
Ending a 108-day COVID forced ceasefire, the war between Ford and Holden restarted with a V8 thriller when McLaughlin held off van Gisbergen to win in a 33-lap fight Sydney SuperSprint that went down to wire.
McLaughlin survived a stunning last lap assault from van Gisbergen to claim another victory over his greatest rival and restart the season with a stunning show of speed – but admitted the fight against his Holden nemesis had only just begun.
“He is like a cockroach,” McLaughlin said.
“Because you can never get rid of him. He was all over me again and it was an unbelievable battle to restart the season.”
Having edged out van Gisbergen in qualifying to claim his seventh SMP pole, McLaughlin sprinted away to a three-second lead after winning the start.
But that margin was cut to nothing by the time McLaughlin stopped on lap 15 and van Gisbergen peppered the reigning champion in an all-out assault that did not stop until the Ford flew over the finish line.
“I knew I was going to be in a little bit of trouble during the last stint because of the way he came at me in the first stint, so we have a little bit of work to do in regards to the way we go forward,” McLaughlin said.
“It was a tough last five laps but I just did the best I could and you take them when you can get them. We came out on top.”
McLaughlin admitted he may have come out too hard after almost being mowed down by the Red Bull towards the end of his first stint.
“The front tyres really went away,” McLaughlin said.
“I was a bit too aggressive at the start of the first stint and I had to pull it back a bit for the second stint, which meant I had a bit more to fight Shane with when he got to me at the end. I am just happy to be back on track and it has been a great day.”
Out to end McLaughlin’s two-year championship reign and send Holden out a winner in the brand’s final year, van Gisbergen lamented falling milliseconds short.
“It was a pretty decent race and I had a crack,” van Gisbergen said.
“But the aero-wash was ridiculous as soon as you got close. I couldn’t do much when I got behind him. We did a strategy where we tried to get to him at the end but it was too hard to pass. We have to try something a bit different tomorrow.”
The Sydney Supersprint resumes with another two 33-lap races at SMP on Sunday.