Event
statistics following the fifth race of the 2018 Supercars Championship season,
Race #3 of the Coates Hire Supercars Melbourne 400 at the Albert Park Grand
Prix Circuit in Melbourne.
Scott
Pye became the third winner in three races at Melbourne and fourth winner in
five races this season, holding off Race #2 winner Jamie Whincup by two tenths
of a second. Brad Jones teammates Nick Percat and Tim Slade finished third and
fourth respectively, both season-bests, while Pye’s teammate, James Courtney,
rounded out the top five.
Melbourne
400 (Race #3)
Albert
Park Grand Prix Circuit – Melbourne, Victoria
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Winner (starting position): Scott Pye (3rd)
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Top Five: Scott Pye, Jamie Whincup, Nick Percat, Tim Slade, James Courtney
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Full Results: Scott Pye, Jamie Whincup, Nick Percat, Tim Slade, James Courtney,
Craig Lowndes, Mark Winterbottom, Will Davison, Cameron Waters, Chaz Mostert,
Tim Blanchard, Fabian Coulthard, Shane van Gisbergen, David Reynolds, Scott
McLaughlin, Michael Caruso, Rick Kelly, Todd Hazelwood, Lee Holdsworth, Anton
de Pasquale, Andre Heimgartner, Jack Le Brocq, Simona de Silvestro, James
Golding, Richie Stanaway, Garth Tander
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Laps Completed: 25
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Race Leaders: 5
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Laps Led: Scott Pye (19), Nick Percat (2), Shane van Gisbergen (2), Tim Slade
(1), Scott McLaughlin (1)
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Pole Position: Scott McLaughlin (1 minute, 55.1576 seconds)
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Hard Charger: Cameron Waters (+13; 22nd to 9th)
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Fastest Lap: James Courtney (1 minute, 56.696 seconds)
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Margin of Victory: 0.261 seconds
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Car Count: 26
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Cars Entered: 26
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Cars Running at Finish: 26 (of 26; or 100 percent of the field)
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Drivers to Finish on Lead Lap: 25
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Cautions: None
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Average Speed: 152.154 kph/94.544 mph
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Lead Changes: 5
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Manufacturer Breakdown: Holden (14); Ford (8); Nissan (4)
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Race Time: 52:16.7560
Notes
of Interest – Race/Weekend Recap
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This is Scott Pye’s first career Supercars Championship victory. He becomes the
fourth driver in five races this season to win a race, and the third driver in
this weekend’s Melbourne 400.
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Pye’s first victory comes in his 165th start. He made his first start in 2012
and has competed fulltime in the Supercars Championship since 2013.
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This is Pye’s first podium finish of the season and five in his career. He
earned a season-best two podiums in 2016.
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Pye’s previous best finish this season was sixth in Race #1 of the Melbourne
400.
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Pye led 19 laps of the race, the most he’s ever led in a single race. Pye has
led 25 laps in five races this season, which is half of his all-time total
coming into this season.
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Pye is the second Australian driver to win a race this season, joining Jamie
Whincup, who won Race #2. New Zealand drivers won the first three races of
2018.
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Pye moved from seventh to sixth in the points standings with his victory.
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Pye led a contingent of Holdens at the finish. Holdens earned the top-six
finishing positions.
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Pye became the first driver this season to win from the third-starting position,
his best start of 2018 and best start since starting second in Race #3 at
Pukekohe Park Raceway in Auckland in 2016. The first four races of 2018 were
won from the pole position.
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This was the first victory for Walkinshaw Andretti United, which is in its
first year as a team.
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Jamie Whincup finished second, his third podium of the season, all of which
have come at Melbourne. Whincup moved from 10th to seventh in the points
standings.
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Whincup’s second-place finish marked his 214th career podium finish. Whincup
failed to lead a lap, however, only the second of five races this season.
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Whincup started fourth; he hasn’t finished worse than fifth this season
(started every position from first through fifth once).
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Nick Percat earned his first podium finish of the season with a third-place
effort. Percat equaled his podium total from 2017. He led two laps in the race,
and has led two races for a total of four laps this season, both races coming
at Melbourne.
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Teammate Tim Slade also finished a season-best fourth, leading his first lap of
the season. It marked Slade’s best finish since a third-place effort at Race #1
of last year’s season finale at Newcastle Street Circuit.
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James Courtney, Pye’s Walkinshaw Andretti United teammate, finished fifth, his
second top-five finish of the season and first top-10 effort in three races at
Melbourne.
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Craig Lowndes was sixth, the final Holden in the top six. For Lowndes, it also
marked his third top-10 finish of the season as well as his best finish of
2018.
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Mark Winterbottom was the highest-finishing Ford driver, taking seventh in his
third top-10 of the season.
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Cameron Waters finished ninth, advancing a race-high 13 positions (from 22nd).
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Chaz Mostert finished 10th, his worst finish of the season, but remained the only
driver to finish in the top 10 in each of the first five races of 2018.
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Others that earned or tied season-best finishes were: Will Davison (8th); Tim
Blanchard (11th); and Todd Hazelwood (18th).
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Shane van Gisbergen remained in the points lead despite finishing outside the
top 10 for the first time this season. He finished 13th.
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Race #1 winner Scott McLaughlin also finished outside the top 10 for the first
time in 2018, garnering 15th.
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A total of 13 drivers improved on their starting position in the race.
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For the first race this season, there were no retirements.
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For the third race this season, there were no full-course caution periods.
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The next race will be Sunday, March 25, with the final of four races from the
Melbourne 400.
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