Leaders won’t have it all their own way: Skaife
THE odds may favour one of the two powerhouse teams of the Supercars championship to take the first win of the year at the Adelaide 500 – but be prepared for the unexpected.
Fox Sports commentator Mark Skaife says few people predicted Shane van Gisbergen would clean sweep last year’s event and anything could happen at the concretelined street circuit.
“I think there’s probably six or eight red hot team/driver/ engineer combinations,” Skaife said.
“All the eyes will be looking at the pointy end of the field to see what’s going on with the rivalry between DJR Team Penske and Triple Eight Race Engineering – last year, the battle between Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup was unbelievable.
“Shane van Gisbergen dominated (the Adelaide 500) last year. It was an unbelievable race meeting for him.
‘‘If anyone predicted van Gisbergen would dominate last year like he did ... that blew me away, I didn’t think that would happen. The other aspect is how those rookies will apply themselves.”
The average age of the Supercars field will drop from 32 to 30, thanks to an influx of five new full-time drivers.
Skaife said their approach to the top-level of racing might play a part in the end result.
“To be really honest, they haven’t experienced the level of aggression and everyone racing for sheep stations as they are about to experience,” he said.
“Being in the middle of the field, they’ll arrive at the first corner and think ‘Are you kidding me? These guys are mad.’.
“Richie Stanaway, he had his first win in the sport last year (as a co-driver at Sandown).”