TEAM BOSS SLAMS RE-START AFTER RACE CALLED OFF
MOTORSPORT: The Gold Coast Supercars race was washed out after a thunderstorm lashed the Surfers Paradise street circuit.
Organisers were forced to call off the race with just 43 of 102 laps completed after the weather conditions made the track too dangerous.
The decision means no points are awarded leaving Ford’s Scott McLaughlin still leading the title race by a mere 14 points from Holden’s Shane Van Gisbergen with just four races remaining.
A no-result also ensures Bathurst champions Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards claim the Endurance Cup for the best-performed pairing during the season’s three endurance events.
The race was initially halted for 30 minutes after 37 laps before organisers attempted a restart which was aborted after five laps under the safety car with the conditions not abating.
Red Bull Holden Racing Team principal Roland Dane said the attempt to restart the race and get past the 50% mark when points could be awarded was dangerous.
“We were right to suspend the race,” Dane said.
“We were utterly wrong to resume it then. We absolutely need to be a little bit smarter about when it is raining like this about running races.”
After the race was cancelled, Jamie Whincup conceded his championship defence was over after a horror weekend.
The Red Bull Holden Racing Team ace was 433 points behind championship leader Scott McLaughlin after a 14th-place finish in Saturday’s first 300km race on the streets of Surfers Paradise.
Yesterday, Whincup didn’t even get behind the wheel of his Commodore after co-driver Paul Dumbrell’s collision with a wall as a storm hit the circuit ended their day after 31 laps.
The seven-time driver’s champion quickly conceded the result meant any slim hope he had of retaining the title was over.
Whincup said his focus would now shift to helping teammate Shane Van Gisbergen in his title battle with McLaughlin.
“Car 97 (Van Gisbergen) is still well in the charge and we’ll do all we can to help them get it done,” Whincup said.
The championship now moves to New Zealand for the Auckland SuperSprint from November 2-4.