The Facts That Matter For Barbagallo

Ford Has Pole Form In The West


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We're heading deeper into another intriguing Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, and with that the series heads to Barbagallo Raceway in Western Australia this weekend.

Without further ado let's run through some of the key stats ahead of the Perth SuperSprint.

1. Last year marked the 40th event held at the track which has long been a fixture on the Australian Touring Car Championship/Supercars calendar. (This year makes the 41st candle on the cake)

2. Ford on a streak, at least in qualifying. They've qualified on pole the last seven times, locking out top spot on the grid in every race at Barbagallo since 2015. But Jamie Whincup's the man with the most poles in the west, he's got 8.

3. Pole position is fun (and ideal) but race wins are better and Craig Lowndes has more of those in WA than anyone else who steers a Supercar. He's got 16 of them (roughly 15% of all his wins, if you're keeping tally)

4. Jamie Whincup might have qualified on pole more than any other driver here but it's been a while between drinks. The last time the reigning champion started P1 was in 2013.

5. Supercars journeyman Will Davison will start his 400th race on Sunday at Barbagallo (that's a lot of candles). He'll wear the #400 on his car this weekend.

6. Seven drivers have trophys from winning at Barbagallo in years past - Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup, series leader Scott McLaughlin, Mark Winterbottom, Chaz Mostert, Will Davison and Garth Tander.

7. Qualifying is everything in the west. No one's won at Barbagallo from as far back as 8th or 9th. Passing can be a bitch but it's not to say it can't be done. The legendary Peter Brock managed to win from 12th in 1978, and Larry Perkins did it in 1997.

8. The Safety Car doesn't get much of a workout here, it's only been seen once in the last 10 races - that being in 2015.

9. The closest Barbagallo finish belongs to Larry Perkins and John Bowe in 1997 when the pair were split by just 0.1164 seconds. Otherwise known as a bees dick.

10. There are 3971 kilometres between the last circuit we raced at (Symmons Plains) in Tasmania and Barbagallo (WA). Thanks Google.

 

H/T: Supercars.com

 

Sean Maynard

2 May 2018

Article by:

Sean Maynard




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