An ark would have won this weekend from Sydney had it entered the final weekend of the V8 Supercars season as another torrential downpour hit the city and disrupted the final race of the season.
The race began before the rainfall but on a wet track with the Volvo of Scott McLaughlin on pole position ahead of the Holdens of Garth Tander, Shane Van Gisbergen and James Courtney. The track soon dried out and it became clear a Holden driver was going come out on top. McLaughlin started to slide down the running order and Ford's Mark Winterbottom had started fifth but hit the barrier and dropped him out of contention.
Dark clouds approached Sydney and led to a scramble into the pit lane. Tander was able to stay out longer than anyone on slicks and exited after switching to wets in the lead ahead of Van Gisbergen and his teammate Courtney. Tander hydroplaned in the first corner as the safety car was being released due to the track conditions. Van Gisbergen was able to get by Tander as the #2 Holden driver had to correct the slide and get back going.
The rains continued to pelt down, flooding the track with thunder and lightning accompanying. The race was called after 44 of 74 laps and Van Gisbergen declared the winner, the Kiwi's fifth victory of the 2014 season. Tander and Courtney rounded out the podium with champion Jamie Whincup coming home in fourth after starting in ninth position. Ford's Chaz Mostert rounded out the top five.
Tim Slade finished sixth, a ten position improvement from his spot on the starting grid, despite having to overcome an airjack issue in the race. Rick Kelly was the top Nissan driver in seventh with the pole-sitter McLaughlin coming home in eighth position. Race two pole-sitter Jason Bright finished ninth in the final round of 2014 with the #9 Erebus Motorsport Mercedes-Benz of Will Davison rounding out the top ten.
Jamie Whincup takes his record-setting sixth championship with 3364 points after winning fourteen of 38 races with 21 podiums and ten pole positions. Shane Van Gisbergen jumps to second with his victory and will end 417 points behind Whincup. Mark Winterbottom falls to third, 13 points behind Van Gisbergen as the Ford driver finished 19th in the final race of the year. Craig Lowndes was another driver who had a poor final weekend with a 17th place ending his year. The Red Bull Holden driver finished 109 points behind Winterbottom and 705 points off his teammate. In his and Volvo's rookie season, Scott McLaughlin rounds out the top five in the championship, 150 points back of Lowndes.
James Courtney comes home in sixth with 2489 points, 38 points ahead of Chaz Mostert. Fabian Coulthard ends eight points behind the Bathurst winner. Garth Tander ends in ninth position with 2289 points. Despite retiring after only completing six laps in the final race of the season, Michael Caruso held on to tenth in the championship, holding off Jason Bright by 12 points. Nick Percat and Rick Kelly finish tied, six points back of Bright. Percat wins the tiebreaker with more second places finishes, one to Kelly's none. Percat finished second in the final race at Sydney Motorsports Park. Will Davison finished fourteenth, ninth back of the Percat and Kelly. Rounding out the top fifteen is David Reynolds with 1786 points.
The first round of the 2015 V8 Supercars season is 83 days away and will take place on the street of Adelaide.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
