Latest news with #Supercars
The Advertiser
9 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Advertiser
NZ duo withstand the heat to top fiery Darwin practice
Kiwi drivers Andre Heimgartner and Ryan Wood have kept their cool to set the pace in a fiery first day of Supercars action in Darwin. Heimgartner notched the fastest lap on Friday, steering his Brad Jones Racing (BJR) Camaro around the Hidden Valley Raceway track in one minute and 6.631 seconds during the second practice session. Wood trailed Heimgartner by six-hundredths of a second, with reigning series champion Will Brown just three ten-thousandths of a second behind him. There was little to separate the grid, with less than seven-tenths of a second between first and 25th. It was a promising outing for BJR, who sit third from bottom on the team standings. Heimgartner's teammates Jaxon Evans, Macauley Jones and Bryce Fullwood all managed top-10 times, after the trio also showed good pace the previous round in Perth. "The last couple of rounds I was the only one that wasn't, so it's good to turn that around," Heimgartner said. Despite a disappointing showing in the last couple of rounds, the 30-year-old remains in the top 10 on the championship standings with 647 points, trailing leader Broc Feeney by 543. Wood had earlier topped the pace in the opening session, which ended with flames breaking out around the devilish opening turn. Drivers tested the limits of Hidden Valley's challenging 2.9km circuit, with a procession of racers overshooting the long, loopy left-hander at turn one throughout the day. A patch of parched grass was set alight after Brown ran his Camaro off the track there towards the end of the session. Wood outpaced nearest challenger Feeney by more than two-tenths of a second in the first session with a lap of one minute and 7.059 seconds. With temperatures expected to run into the 30s throughout the weekend - and exceeding 50 degrees inside the cars - drivers' endurance will be tested as much as their driving abilities. Feeney was the first driver to run off on turn one, but recovered well. The 22-year-old won the last two races in Perth and showed promising pace - also finishing eighth-fastest in practice two - as he looks to extend his 72-point gap over Triple Eight teammate Brown at the top of the leaderboard. Darwin is a happy hunting ground for Feeney, having won both races at the racetrack last year and another race there in 2023. Drivers will return for back-to-back qualifying sessions from 8.35am (ACST) on Saturday, ahead of two 120km races. The final 200km race of the weekend on Sunday will determine who takes on the Darwin Triple Crown trophy. Kiwi drivers Andre Heimgartner and Ryan Wood have kept their cool to set the pace in a fiery first day of Supercars action in Darwin. Heimgartner notched the fastest lap on Friday, steering his Brad Jones Racing (BJR) Camaro around the Hidden Valley Raceway track in one minute and 6.631 seconds during the second practice session. Wood trailed Heimgartner by six-hundredths of a second, with reigning series champion Will Brown just three ten-thousandths of a second behind him. There was little to separate the grid, with less than seven-tenths of a second between first and 25th. It was a promising outing for BJR, who sit third from bottom on the team standings. Heimgartner's teammates Jaxon Evans, Macauley Jones and Bryce Fullwood all managed top-10 times, after the trio also showed good pace the previous round in Perth. "The last couple of rounds I was the only one that wasn't, so it's good to turn that around," Heimgartner said. Despite a disappointing showing in the last couple of rounds, the 30-year-old remains in the top 10 on the championship standings with 647 points, trailing leader Broc Feeney by 543. Wood had earlier topped the pace in the opening session, which ended with flames breaking out around the devilish opening turn. Drivers tested the limits of Hidden Valley's challenging 2.9km circuit, with a procession of racers overshooting the long, loopy left-hander at turn one throughout the day. A patch of parched grass was set alight after Brown ran his Camaro off the track there towards the end of the session. Wood outpaced nearest challenger Feeney by more than two-tenths of a second in the first session with a lap of one minute and 7.059 seconds. With temperatures expected to run into the 30s throughout the weekend - and exceeding 50 degrees inside the cars - drivers' endurance will be tested as much as their driving abilities. Feeney was the first driver to run off on turn one, but recovered well. The 22-year-old won the last two races in Perth and showed promising pace - also finishing eighth-fastest in practice two - as he looks to extend his 72-point gap over Triple Eight teammate Brown at the top of the leaderboard. Darwin is a happy hunting ground for Feeney, having won both races at the racetrack last year and another race there in 2023. Drivers will return for back-to-back qualifying sessions from 8.35am (ACST) on Saturday, ahead of two 120km races. The final 200km race of the weekend on Sunday will determine who takes on the Darwin Triple Crown trophy. Kiwi drivers Andre Heimgartner and Ryan Wood have kept their cool to set the pace in a fiery first day of Supercars action in Darwin. Heimgartner notched the fastest lap on Friday, steering his Brad Jones Racing (BJR) Camaro around the Hidden Valley Raceway track in one minute and 6.631 seconds during the second practice session. Wood trailed Heimgartner by six-hundredths of a second, with reigning series champion Will Brown just three ten-thousandths of a second behind him. There was little to separate the grid, with less than seven-tenths of a second between first and 25th. It was a promising outing for BJR, who sit third from bottom on the team standings. Heimgartner's teammates Jaxon Evans, Macauley Jones and Bryce Fullwood all managed top-10 times, after the trio also showed good pace the previous round in Perth. "The last couple of rounds I was the only one that wasn't, so it's good to turn that around," Heimgartner said. Despite a disappointing showing in the last couple of rounds, the 30-year-old remains in the top 10 on the championship standings with 647 points, trailing leader Broc Feeney by 543. Wood had earlier topped the pace in the opening session, which ended with flames breaking out around the devilish opening turn. Drivers tested the limits of Hidden Valley's challenging 2.9km circuit, with a procession of racers overshooting the long, loopy left-hander at turn one throughout the day. A patch of parched grass was set alight after Brown ran his Camaro off the track there towards the end of the session. Wood outpaced nearest challenger Feeney by more than two-tenths of a second in the first session with a lap of one minute and 7.059 seconds. With temperatures expected to run into the 30s throughout the weekend - and exceeding 50 degrees inside the cars - drivers' endurance will be tested as much as their driving abilities. Feeney was the first driver to run off on turn one, but recovered well. The 22-year-old won the last two races in Perth and showed promising pace - also finishing eighth-fastest in practice two - as he looks to extend his 72-point gap over Triple Eight teammate Brown at the top of the leaderboard. Darwin is a happy hunting ground for Feeney, having won both races at the racetrack last year and another race there in 2023. Drivers will return for back-to-back qualifying sessions from 8.35am (ACST) on Saturday, ahead of two 120km races. The final 200km race of the weekend on Sunday will determine who takes on the Darwin Triple Crown trophy.
Daily Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Automotive
- Daily Telegraph
Supercars Darwin: Barry Ryan's frank verdict on fall of Erebus
Don't miss out on the headlines from Motorsport. Followed categories will be added to My News. Erebus chief executive Barry Ryan has offered a frank reflection on a crippling 18 months that has seen his title-winning team slip to last in the Supercars standings. After a fairytale start to the Gen3 era, which saw Erebus win both the drivers' and teams' titles in 2023, the squad has endured a string of well-publicised internal struggles. Will Brown defected to Triple Eight at the end of 2023, while reigning champion Brodie Kostecki missed the start of the 2024 season while in dispute with the team, which coincided with big name sponsors such as Coca-Cola walking away. Kostecki would later return and win the Bathurst 1000, however left to Dick Johnson Racing at the end of last season – along with both Erebus race engineers George Commins and Tom Moore. Will Brown left Erebus at the end of 2023. Picture: Brendan Radke Brodie Kostecki was another high-profile departure. Team principal Brad Tremain also left the squad at the end of 2024 with plans to pursue an opportunity in IndyCar in the US. That has prompted a significant, and ongoing, internal rebuild, highlighted by Ryan himself needing to take the race engineer role on Jack Le Brocq's car. It's been tough going for Le Brocq and rookie teammate Cooper Murray, too, with Erebus slumping to last in the teams' standings ahead of this weekend's Darwin Triple Crown. 'There's no hiding behind it; the last 18 months have been really hard on our team. Really hard,' said Ryan at Hidden Valley on Friday. 'Losing key people … our last rebuild was 2021 and we got Brodie and Will and no one believed, really, in that. And we won a championship two years later, and we won Bathurst the year after. 'We've gone back to where we were [in 2021]. 'It's hard on the team. To replace people like George, Tom and Brodie is really hard. Brad Tremain is going to kick goals in America. That's four key people out of the team, it's really tough to replace that. 'It's going to take time. We can't hide behind that. I can only do so much and the boys that I've had there for six, seven years can only do so much. 'Unfortunately I'm still race engineering, and I say that because I shouldn't be. I should be running the business. But until we can get the right person to do that role; we're trying to self-promote from within, we're trying to find an engineer we can just put in and be really successful. Cooper Murray was 11th in the second practice session in Darwin. 'It's a balancing act and I can't say I'm really enjoying it. We got to a point where we were beating Triple Eight and we wanted to be that team that was the best year in, year out. 'Massive respect to Roland Dane for what he did for that whole time he was there, and what they're still doing. We got there and we just couldn't keep the momentum. 'No matter what everyone thinks the reason is why. We just couldn't keep that momentum that teams like that can do. 'Anyway, it's a lesson learned, this whole situation. We'll try not to go through it again. 'We'll get there again. We're confident in our team. We've got a great bunch of loyal staff that want to stay on and want to see us get there again and win championships and Bathursts. 'We're still going to go to Bathurst trying to win there this year. We'll have the belief and we'll have the drivers than can do it.' Erebus showed signs of improvement on track on Friday, with Murray 11th in the second practice session and Le Brocq in 19th as Andre Heimgartner led the way for Brad Jones Racing ahead of Ryan Wood and Will Brown. This story was written by Speedcafe Originally published as Supercars Darwin: Barry Ryan's frank verdict on fall of Erebus
News.com.au
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- News.com.au
Supercars Darwin: Barry Ryan's frank verdict on fall of Erebus
Erebus chief executive Barry Ryan has offered a frank reflection on a crippling 18 months that has seen his title-winning team slip to last in the Supercars standings. After a fairytale start to the Gen3 era, which saw Erebus win both the drivers' and teams' titles in 2023, the squad has endured a string of well-publicised internal struggles. Will Brown defected to Triple Eight at the end of 2023, while reigning champion Brodie Kostecki missed the start of the 2024 season while in dispute with the team, which coincided with big name sponsors such as Coca-Cola walking away. Kostecki would later return and win the Bathurst 1000, however left to Dick Johnson Racing at the end of last season – along with both Erebus race engineers George Commins and Tom Moore. Team principal Brad Tremain also left the squad at the end of 2024 with plans to pursue an opportunity in IndyCar in the US. That has prompted a significant, and ongoing, internal rebuild, highlighted by Ryan himself needing to take the race engineer role on Jack Le Brocq's car. It's been tough going for Le Brocq and rookie teammate Cooper Murray, too, with Erebus slumping to last in the teams' standings ahead of this weekend's Darwin Triple Crown. 'There's no hiding behind it; the last 18 months have been really hard on our team. Really hard,' said Ryan at Hidden Valley on Friday. 'Losing key people … our last rebuild was 2021 and we got Brodie and Will and no one believed, really, in that. And we won a championship two years later, and we won Bathurst the year after. 'We've gone back to where we were [in 2021]. 'It's hard on the team. To replace people like George, Tom and Brodie is really hard. Brad Tremain is going to kick goals in America. That's four key people out of the team, it's really tough to replace that. 'It's going to take time. We can't hide behind that. I can only do so much and the boys that I've had there for six, seven years can only do so much. 'Unfortunately I'm still race engineering, and I say that because I shouldn't be. I should be running the business. But until we can get the right person to do that role; we're trying to self-promote from within, we're trying to find an engineer we can just put in and be really successful. 'It's a balancing act and I can't say I'm really enjoying it. We got to a point where we were beating Triple Eight and we wanted to be that team that was the best year in, year out. 'Massive respect to Roland Dane for what he did for that whole time he was there, and what they're still doing. We got there and we just couldn't keep the momentum. 'No matter what everyone thinks the reason is why. We just couldn't keep that momentum that teams like that can do. 'Anyway, it's a lesson learned, this whole situation. We'll try not to go through it again. 'We'll get there again. We're confident in our team. We've got a great bunch of loyal staff that want to stay on and want to see us get there again and win championships and Bathursts. 'We're still going to go to Bathurst trying to win there this year. We'll have the belief and we'll have the drivers than can do it.' Erebus showed signs of improvement on track on Friday, with Murray 11th in the second practice session and Le Brocq in 19th as Andre Heimgartner led the way for Brad Jones Racing ahead of Ryan Wood and Will Brown.
The Advertiser
12 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Advertiser
Wood on fire in sizzling Darwin Supercars practice
Ryan Wood has scorched the Supercars field to set the fastest time in the first practice session in Darwin. The Walkinshaw Andretti United youngster outpaced nearest challenger Broc Feeney by more than two-tenths of a second in the Top End dry-season heat on Friday. Wood set the best lap of one minute and 7.059 seconds, with championship-leader Feeney 0.265 seconds behind and Triple Eight teammate Will Brown another hundredth of a second behind him in third. Drivers tested the limits of Hidden Valley's challenging 2.9km circuit, with several racers overshooting the long, loopy left-hander at turn one. A patch of parched grass at the end of the turn was set alight after Brown ran his Camaro off towards the end of the session. With temperatures expected to run into the 30s throughout the weekend - and up to 50C inside cars - drivers' endurance will be as much of a challenge as keeping their cars running. Feeney was the first driver to run off on the first turn at the end of the 1.1km straight, but recovered to set a speedy lap time that had him at the top of the totem for most of the session. The 22-year-old won the last two races in Perth and showed promising pace as he looks to extend his 72-point gap at the top of the leaderboard at the track he won two races at last year. Teenage wildcard entrant Rylan Gray, Matt Stone Racing veteran Nick Percat and Tickford's Cam Waters also took excursions off the track on turn one, while Andre Heimgartner battled to hold onto control of his lively Camaro on several occasions. Drivers will return for the final practice session at 2.55pm (ACST) on Friday, ahead of Saturday's back-to-back qualifying sessions. Two 120km races will follow qualifying on Saturday, before the final 200km race of the weekend on Sunday. Ryan Wood has scorched the Supercars field to set the fastest time in the first practice session in Darwin. The Walkinshaw Andretti United youngster outpaced nearest challenger Broc Feeney by more than two-tenths of a second in the Top End dry-season heat on Friday. Wood set the best lap of one minute and 7.059 seconds, with championship-leader Feeney 0.265 seconds behind and Triple Eight teammate Will Brown another hundredth of a second behind him in third. Drivers tested the limits of Hidden Valley's challenging 2.9km circuit, with several racers overshooting the long, loopy left-hander at turn one. A patch of parched grass at the end of the turn was set alight after Brown ran his Camaro off towards the end of the session. With temperatures expected to run into the 30s throughout the weekend - and up to 50C inside cars - drivers' endurance will be as much of a challenge as keeping their cars running. Feeney was the first driver to run off on the first turn at the end of the 1.1km straight, but recovered to set a speedy lap time that had him at the top of the totem for most of the session. The 22-year-old won the last two races in Perth and showed promising pace as he looks to extend his 72-point gap at the top of the leaderboard at the track he won two races at last year. Teenage wildcard entrant Rylan Gray, Matt Stone Racing veteran Nick Percat and Tickford's Cam Waters also took excursions off the track on turn one, while Andre Heimgartner battled to hold onto control of his lively Camaro on several occasions. Drivers will return for the final practice session at 2.55pm (ACST) on Friday, ahead of Saturday's back-to-back qualifying sessions. Two 120km races will follow qualifying on Saturday, before the final 200km race of the weekend on Sunday. Ryan Wood has scorched the Supercars field to set the fastest time in the first practice session in Darwin. The Walkinshaw Andretti United youngster outpaced nearest challenger Broc Feeney by more than two-tenths of a second in the Top End dry-season heat on Friday. Wood set the best lap of one minute and 7.059 seconds, with championship-leader Feeney 0.265 seconds behind and Triple Eight teammate Will Brown another hundredth of a second behind him in third. Drivers tested the limits of Hidden Valley's challenging 2.9km circuit, with several racers overshooting the long, loopy left-hander at turn one. A patch of parched grass at the end of the turn was set alight after Brown ran his Camaro off towards the end of the session. With temperatures expected to run into the 30s throughout the weekend - and up to 50C inside cars - drivers' endurance will be as much of a challenge as keeping their cars running. Feeney was the first driver to run off on the first turn at the end of the 1.1km straight, but recovered to set a speedy lap time that had him at the top of the totem for most of the session. The 22-year-old won the last two races in Perth and showed promising pace as he looks to extend his 72-point gap at the top of the leaderboard at the track he won two races at last year. Teenage wildcard entrant Rylan Gray, Matt Stone Racing veteran Nick Percat and Tickford's Cam Waters also took excursions off the track on turn one, while Andre Heimgartner battled to hold onto control of his lively Camaro on several occasions. Drivers will return for the final practice session at 2.55pm (ACST) on Friday, ahead of Saturday's back-to-back qualifying sessions. Two 120km races will follow qualifying on Saturday, before the final 200km race of the weekend on Sunday.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Wood on fire in sizzling Darwin Supercars practice
Ryan Wood has scorched the Supercars field to set the fastest time in the first practice session in Darwin. The Walkinshaw Andretti United youngster outpaced nearest challenger Broc Feeney by more than two-tenths of a second in the Top End dry-season heat on Friday. Wood set the best lap of one minute and 7.059 seconds, with championship-leader Feeney 0.265 seconds behind and Triple Eight teammate Will Brown another hundredth of a second behind him in third. Drivers tested the limits of Hidden Valley's challenging 2.9km circuit, with several racers overshooting the long, loopy left-hander at turn one. A patch of parched grass at the end of the turn was set alight after Brown ran his Camaro off towards the end of the session. That's one for the Darwin bingo 🔥Follow along this weekend from our NEW Live Insights here 👉 #Supercars — Supercars (@supercars) June 20, 2025 With temperatures expected to run into the 30s throughout the weekend - and up to 50C inside cars - drivers' endurance will be as much of a challenge as keeping their cars running. Feeney was the first driver to run off on the first turn at the end of the 1.1km straight, but recovered to set a speedy lap time that had him at the top of the totem for most of the session. The 22-year-old won the last two races in Perth and showed promising pace as he looks to extend his 72-point gap at the top of the leaderboard at the track he won two races at last year. Teenage wildcard entrant Rylan Gray, Matt Stone Racing veteran Nick Percat and Tickford's Cam Waters also took excursions off the track on turn one, while Andre Heimgartner battled to hold onto control of his lively Camaro on several occasions. Drivers will return for the final practice session at 2.55pm (ACST) on Friday, ahead of Saturday's back-to-back qualifying sessions. Two 120km races will follow qualifying on Saturday, before the final 200km race of the weekend on Sunday.
