The 2019 ITM Auckland SuperSprint was a motor racing event for Supercars, held on the weekend of 13 to 15 September 2019. The event was held at Pukekohe Park Raceway near Pukekohe, New Zealand, and consisted of two races, 200 kilometres in length. It was the 11th event of fifteen in the 2019 Supercars Championship and hosted races 23 and 24 of the season. It was the fourteenth running of the Auckland SuperSprint.
Report Practice The first practice session started in wet conditions, eventually drying as the session went on. Richie Stanaway strayed wide at the final corner, swiping the wall and causing damage to his left-rear suspension which forced him out of the rest of the session. With the track continually improving toward the end of the session, Will Davison seized the advantage and came away as the fastest driver.
The remaining two sessions were claimed by stablemates, Lee Holdsworth and Chaz Mostert, to complete a Tickford Racing sweep of practice. + Practice summary Session Day Fastest lap No. Driver Team Car Time P1 Friday 23 Will Davison 23Red Racing Ford Mustang (S550) 1:02.4451 P2 Friday 5 Lee Holdsworth Tickford Racing Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.6281 P3 Saturday 55 Chaz Mostert Tickford Racing Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.8983
Race 23 Qualifying Hometown hero, Shane van Gisbergen, took pole position for the first race of the weekend, not long after spinning off at turn three in the final practice session. This marked his first pole position since Tasmania in April.
Pos No Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 97 Shane van Gisbergen Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:01.5480 2 6 Cam Waters Tickford Racing Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.6986 3 23 Will Davison 23Red Racing Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.7513 4 55 Chaz Mostert Tickford Racing Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.7804 5 12 Fabian Coulthard DJR Team Penske Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.8018 6 17 Scott McLaughlin DJR Team Penske Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.8461 7 9 David Reynolds Erebus Motorsport Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:01.9151 8 5 Lee Holdsworth Tickford Racing Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.9338 9 99 Anton de Pasquale Erebus Motorsport Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.0445 10 8 Nick Percat Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.0786 11 2 Scott Pye Walkinshaw Andretti United Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.1043 12 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.1251 13 14 Tim Slade Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.1477 14 33 Richie Stanaway Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.1694 15 18 Mark Winterbottom Team 18 Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.1829 16 7 Andre Heimgartner Kelly Racing Nissan Altima (L33) 1:02.2470 17 3 Garry Jacobson Kelly Racing Nissan Altima (L33) 1:02.2680 18 34 James Golding Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.2712 19 22 James Courtney Walkinshaw Andretti United Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.3129 20 35 Todd Hazelwood Matt Stone Racing Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.3532 21 21 Macauley Jones Tim Blanchard Racing Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.3648 22 15 Rick Kelly Kelly Racing Nissan Altima (L33) 1:02.4633 23 78 Simona de Silvestro Kelly Racing Nissan Altima (L33) 1:02.6325 24 19 Jack Le Brocq Tekno Autosports Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:03.1087 Source(s):
Race Name Team Laps Time Grid 1 97 Shane van Gisbergen Triple Eight Race Engineering 70 1hr 19min 07.6388sec 1 2 6 Cam Waters Tickford Racing 70 + 12.649 2 3 9 David Reynolds Erebus Motorsport 70 + 15.428 7 4 17 Scott McLaughlin DJR Team Penske 70 + 16.089 6 5 5 Lee Holdsworth Tickford Racing 70 + 16.892 8 6 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 70 + 17.363 12 7 12 Fabian Coulthard DJR Team Penske 70 + 21.383 5 8 7 Andre Heimgartner Kelly Racing 70 + 21.996 16 9 23 Will Davison 23Red Racing 70 + 24.822 3 10 33 Richie Stanaway Garry Rogers Motorsport 70 + 25.927 14 11 14 Tim Slade Brad Jones Racing 70 + 26.661 13 12 8 Nick Percat Brad Jones Racing 70 + 31.849 10 13 2 Scott Pye Walkinshaw Andretti United 70 + 32.280 11 14 35 Todd Hazelwood Matt Stone Racing 70 + 37.850 20 15 99 Anton de Pasquale Erebus Motorsport 70 + 38.320 9 16 78 Simona de Silvestro Kelly Racing 70 + 38.586 23 17 22 James Courtney Walkinshaw Andretti United 70 + 39.985 19 18 3 Garry Jacobson Kelly Racing 70 + 42.179 17 19 15 Rick Kelly Kelly Racing 70 + 47.031 22 20 21 Macauley Jones Tim Blanchard Racing 70 + 57.902 21 21 19 Jack Le Brocq Tekno Autosports 69 + 1 lap 24 22 18 Mark Winterbottom Team 18 65 + 5 laps 15 23 34 James Golding Garry Rogers Motorsport 60 + 10 laps 18 24 55 Chaz Mostert Tickford Racing 56 + 14 laps 4 Fastest lap: Jamie Whincup (Triple Eight Race Engineering), 1:02.5421 Source:
Race 24 Qualifying Pos No Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:01.5620 2 23 Will Davison 23Red Racing Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.5909 3 55 Chaz Mostert Tickford Racing Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.6314 4 97 Shane van Gisbergen Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:01.6593 5 5 Lee Holdsworth Tickford Racing Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.7362 6 17 Scott McLaughlin DJR Team Penske Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.7414 7 8 Nick Percat Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:01.7916 8 12 Fabian Coulthard DJR Team Penske Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.8654 9 18 Mark Winterbottom Team 18 Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:01.8762 10 6 Cam Waters Tickford Racing Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.9078 11 35 Todd Hazelwood Matt Stone Racing Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:01.9210 12 14 Tim Slade Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:01.9465 13 7 Andre Heimgartner Kelly Racing Nissan Altima (L33) 1:01.9697 14 99 Anton de Pasquale Erebus Motorsport Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.0408 15 34 James Golding Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.0437 16 33 Richie Stanaway Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.0747 17 2 Scott Pye Walkinshaw Andretti United Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.1329 18 22 James Courtney Walkinshaw Andretti United Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.2171 19 21 Macauley Jones Tim Blanchard Racing Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.3003 20 15 Rick Kelly Kelly Racing Nissan Altima (L33) 1:02.3484 21 78 Simona de Silvestro Kelly Racing Nissan Altima (L33) 1:02.4197 22 9 David Reynolds Erebus Motorsport Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.4999 23 3 Garry Jacobson Kelly Racing Nissan Altima (L33) 1:02.5196 24 19 Jack Le Brocq Tekno Autosports Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.6650 Source(s):
Top Ten Shootout Pos No Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:01.6666 2 5 Lee Holdsworth Tickford Racing Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.8651 3 6 Cam Waters Tickford Racing Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.8781 4 12 Fabian Coulthard DJR Team Penske Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.8964 5 17 Scott McLaughlin DJR Team Penske Ford Mustang (S550) 1:01.9165 6 97 Shane van Gisbergen Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:01.9809 7 55 Chaz Mostert Tickford Racing Ford Mustang (S550) 1:02.0236 8 23 Will Davison 23Red Racing Ford Mustang (S550) 1:02.1325 9 18 Mark Winterbottom Team 18 Holden Commodore (ZB) 1:02.3685 DSQ 8 Nick Percat Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore (ZB) Disqualified Source(s):
Race Name Team Laps Time Grid 1 17 Scott McLaughlin DJR Team Penske 70 1hr 17min 38.7925sec 5 2 97 Shane van Gisbergen Triple Eight Race Engineering 70 + 1.898 6 3 55 Chaz Mostert Tickford Racing 70 + 6.043 7 4 8 Nick Percat Brad Jones Racing 70 + 6.566 10 5 35 Todd Hazelwood Matt Stone Racing 70 + 31.654 11 6 2 Scott Pye Walkinshaw Andretti United 70 + 43.751 17 7 78 Simona de Silvestro Kelly Racing 70 + 44.932 21 8 18 Mark Winterbottom Team 18 70 + 47.365 9 9 33 Richie Stanaway Garry Rogers Motorsport 70 + 50.136 16 10 34 James Golding Garry Rogers Motorsport 70 + 50.952 15 11 15 Rick Kelly Kelly Racing 70 + 53.074 20 12 12 Fabian Coulthard DJR Team Penske 70 + 53.406 4 13 23 Will Davison 23Red Racing 70 + 53.864 8 14 6 Cam Waters Tickford Racing 70 + 54.160 3 15 5 Lee Holdsworth Tickford Racing 70 + 55.603 2 16 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 70 + 55.969 1 17 22 James Courtney Walkinshaw Andretti United 70 + 58.178 18 18 14 Tim Slade Brad Jones Racing 70 + 58.733 12 19 7 Andre Heimgartner Kelly Racing 70 + 1:01.575 13 20 99 Anton de Pasquale Erebus Motorsport 69 + 1 lap 14 21 3 Garry Jacobson Kelly Racing 69 + 1 lap 23 22 21 Macauley Jones Tim Blanchard Racing 68 + 2 laps 19 23 19 Jack Le Brocq Tekno Autosports 68 + 2 laps 24 24 9 David Reynolds Erebus Motorsport 54 + 14 laps 22 Fastest lap: Jamie Whincup (Triple Eight Race Engineering), 1:02.3719 Source:
Aftermath Once again, questions were posed regarding the future of the Supercars event at Pukekohe. In January 2020, it was announced that the New Zealand leg of the championship would shift from Pukekohe to Hampton Downs Motorsport Park. The reasoning given for the shift was as a result of legislation which prevents the Pukekohe circuit hosting racing on Anzac Day. However, the COVID-19 pandemic ground global motorsport to a halt and the round scheduled for 2020 would not go ahead. The championship would not return to New Zealand until 2022 where the series would complete one more round at Pukekohe before the tracks closure and demolition in 2023. Championship standings
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points 1 Scott McLaughlin 3008 2 2 Shane van Gisbergen 2410 1 3 Chaz Mostert 2327 1 4 Fabian Coulthard 2317 5 Jamie Whincup 2140
Teams' Championship standings Constructor Points 1 Dick Johnson Racing 5265 2 Triple Eight Race Engineering 4410 3 Tickford Racing 1 3981 4 Erebus Motorsport 3719 5 Tickford Racing 2 3706
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References