That’s a wrap on 2017, but it wasn’t the note we hoped to send it out on.
Today marked the final race on the 2017 calendar around the streets of Newcastle.
It was a tough start to the day in qualifying. Seconds after James Courtney went to the top of the timesheets, he made an error, resulting in him finding the tyre wall and bringing out the red flag.
That meant his best lap was cancelled. Unable to continue in the session, he was forced to start the race out of 24th.
For Scott, he struggled to find the balance he had in the race yesterday, managing a time good enough for 18th.
The start of the race was relatively uneventful. Scotty pitted on lap 1, and JC lap 2 to find clear air.
They were one of the first to stop again in the second cycle, which meant when the safety car was called on lap 55, they moved up to P13 and P14.
Both cars were involved in the championship fight, as Scott McLaughlin found himself battling with the boys for 10 laps.
In that fight, JC copped a whack from Chaz Mostert, which broke his exhaust and forced the safety car to come out once again so it could be retrieved.
Once the field bunched up, JC’s suffered from a case of déjà vu, innocently hit by another car, bending a steering arm and putting him four laps down.
The same car, Tim Slade, also made contact with Scott later in the race, forcing him to drop three spots as he scrambled to keep car 02 on the circuit.
He eventually came home to cross the line in 14th, four spots up from his starting position, while JC was classified 24th.
So that brings to a close 2017. It hasn’t been the year we wanted, things didn’t go our way at times, but we have made some progress in the back half of the year the shows we are headed in the right direction.
Now, we switch focus to the next chapter, Walkinshaw Andretti United.
We can’t thank you enough for your support. We couldn’t do it without you.
#WalkAndUnite
JAMES COURTNEY
“I just couldn’t believe my luck again in the race.
“Qualifying was completely my fault, I put my hand up for that one, I was just pushing a little bit too hard.
“In the race, we were making good progress forward, thanks to a good call on the strategy from the guys.
“To lose an exhaust from a hit and then to bend a steering arm from another hit was shattering.
“Thanks to everyone for their support this year. We will be back, and we will be better. It’s going to be an exciting 2018.”
SCOTT PYE
“We gave it our all today, we just didn’t have quite enough speed.
“The hit from Sladey at the end cost us a few positions, that hurt.”
“It wasn’t the year we were after but there were still positives to take from it.
“I’m already looking forward to 2018. It’s going to be amazing transforming into Walkinshaw Andretti United.
“Stick with us, and thanks for your support.”