Australian Sports Car Championship 2020 Season Review

This is something new for the blog. I've been running a racing series on Nascar 03 via a website (stunodracing.net, check it out) and I thought I'd post a season review on here. It's an Australian Sports Car Championship. This is the first season, a bridge to more settled championships in 2021 and beyond. Here's the 2020 season reviewed.

Beginning at Daytona: Jack Smith was a suprise on pole, and led about 20 laps before Golding took over. A late Big One took out Winterbottom and Golding leaving Jamie Whincup to take his only win of the year.

Adelaide: Golding took pole but spun early. Carnage ensued in the early laps, leading to a five-car pileup. De Pasquale won easily from Bamber and Mostert.

The Glen: Mostert was on pole. A stop-start race with many consecutive yellow periods during the middle led to not much change after the first 25 laps, until leader Golding suffered a suspension failure and retired, leaving a bunched up pack fighting for the lead. Davison won and moved to second in the standings.

Perth: le Brocq took pole, but ran wide on the opening lap. Golding spun late on which allowed le Brocq to retake the lead after an eventful race for him and win.

Talladega: Golding took his second pole. Smith and Jake Kostecki suprised by running in the top three before suffering failures. Suprisingly, it took 119 laps for a caution to occur. Winterbottom won by a lap.

Darwin: Heimgartner took pole. He won easily in the end, with some retirements in the middle order, but more importantly le Brocq retired late and lost the championship lead.

Martinsville: Heimgartner continued his good form taking another pole. 27 cautions occurred in this race, with a lot of spins due to drivers not understanding how to properly drive the small track. Mostert won.

QR: Cancelled due to a pit lane issue.

Bristol: Le Brocq took his second pole, joining Heimgartner and Golding as multi-poles. Le Brocq and Percat were among the names taken out. Hazlewood won.

Symmons Plains: O'Keeffe took pole. The only action in the race was Mostert hitting the fence on the final lap. O'Keeffe easily converted.

Coca-Cola Speedway: Winterbottom took pole. A really big one happened on lap 24, 13 cars were taken out. Hazlewood took his second win of the season.

Lakeside: Murray took pole. Winterbottom won a rather uneventful race. The championship at this point had one point between De pasquale and Heimgartner.

Darlington: Championship leader de Pasquale took the pole. Many high runners in the championship hit the wall or retired for other reasons, including Heimgartner. Percat won.

Charlotte: Hazlewood took another pole. Five cars were taken out completely by the Big One on lap 39. Percat took a win to move to third in the championship.

Winton: Jacobson took a pole. Jake Kostecki ended up in the gravel three times. D'Alberto had a strong run, leading the race for a while and taking his first Top 10. Heimgartner won in the end.

Sonoma: Davison took pole. Le Brocq retired from a mile in the lead, leaving a big fight for the lead between five cars. Mostert won the race in the end.

Bathurst: Holdsworth started on pole. A lot of leading cars retired including de Pasquale, Holdsworth and le Brocq; but the most notable retirement was Heimgartner who smashed the wall hard at the Esses, nearly destroying his car. Hazlewood won from Mostert, vaulting the 14 into championship contention.

Gold Coast: D'Alberto took a surprise pole. A water main burst at turn 3 on lap 24. Kostecki, Jones and Feeney caused a small pileup. Winterbottom won from Hazlewood, who was now ten points behind de Pasquale for the championship.

Indy: Heimgartner took pole. Nine drivers were taken out in the Big One on lap 12. After a lengthy green flag period, Hazlewood took a win and the championship lead.

Sandown: le Brocq was on pole. Hazlewood suffered an engine failure. In a bland race, Davison took the win.

Pocono: de Pasquale took the pole. Hazlewood's engine failed on lap 60. The second biggest crash of the season occurred on lap 105; 11 cars was taken out. De Pasquale won, meaning that even if Hazlewood won the Homestead race, de Pasquale would win the championship if he finished 18th or higher.

Homestead: D'Alberto took another surprise pole. It was a rather uneventful race, apart from a four-car accident on lap 78. Mostert won but de Pasquale took fourth and the championship.

Here's the championship top 10:

1. 99 (de Pasquale) 585 2. 14 (Hazlewood) 555 3. 22 (Mostert) 510 4. 7 (Heimgartner) 509 5. 8 (Percat) 467 6. 23 (Davison) 393 7. 35 (Jacobson) 371 8. 18 (Winterbottom) 369 9. 5 (Holdsworth) 365 10. 911 (Bamber) 364