2019 Melbourne 400

{{ Infobox V8 Supercar race report

| flag = Victoria

| title = 2019 Melbourne 400

| round_no = 2

| season_no = 15

| year = 2019

| series = SC

| track_map = Albert Lake Park Street Circuit in Melbourne, Australia.svg

| caption = Layout of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit

| date = 14-17 March

| location = Melbourne, Victoria

| circuit = Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit

| weather = Fine

| race1_laps = 25

| race1_dist = 132.610

| pole1 = {{flagicon|NZL}} Scott McLaughlin

| pole1_team = DJR Team Penske

| pole1_time = 1:53.828

| winner1 = {{flagicon|NZL}} Scott McLaughlin

| winner1_team = DJR Team Penske

| winner1_time = 50:01.240

| race2_laps = 13

| race2_dist = 68.957

| pole2 = {{flagicon|NZL}} Scott McLaughlin

| pole2_team = DJR Team Penske

| pole2_time = 1:54.264

| winner2 = {{flagicon|NZL}} Scott McLaughlin

| winner2_team = DJR Team Penske

| winner2_time = 25:39.441

| race3_laps = 25

| race3_dist = 132.610

| pole3 = {{flagicon|NZL}} Scott McLaughlin

| pole3_team = DJR Team Penske

| pole3_time = 1:53.999

| winner3 = {{flagicon|AUS}} Chaz Mostert

| winner3_team = Tickford Racing

| winner3_time = 51:50.000

| race4_laps = 11

| race4_dist = 58.348

| pole4 = {{flagicon|AUS}} Chaz Mostert

| pole4_team = Tickford Racing

| pole4_time = 1:54.278

| winner4 = {{flagicon|NZL}} Scott McLaughlin

| winner4_team = DJR Team Penske

| winner4_time = 25:32.051

}}

The 2019 Melbourne 400 (known for sponsorship purposes as the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400) was a motor racing event for the Supercars Championship held as a support event to the 2019 Australian Grand Prix from 14 March to 17 March 2019. It was held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit and consisted of two races of 70 kilometres and two races of 130 kilometres. It was the second event of fifteen in the 2019 Supercars Championship and the second running of the Melbourne 400 event.

Tickford Racing's Chaz Mostert won the Larry Perkins Trophy for accumulating the most points over the weekend.{{cite news |last1=Herrero |first1=Daniel |title=McLaughlin hits back in Race 6 at Albert Park |url=https://www.supercars.com/news/championship/mclaughlin-wins-final-mostert-the-lp-trophy/ |work=speedcafe.com |publisher=Speedcafe |date=17 March 2019}} The event saw the running of the 1,000th Australian Touring Car Championship race in Race 4, won by DJR Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin.{{cite news |last1=van Leeuwen |first1=Andrew |title=Albert Park Supercars: McLaughlin wins milestone 1000th race |url=https://au.motorsport.com/v8supercars/news/albert-park-mclaughlin-1000th-race/4353561/?nrt=18 |work=motorsport.com |publisher=motorsport.com |date=16 March 2019}} McLaughlin claimed three pole positions and three race wins across the weekend, with the new-for-2019 Ford Mustang GT proving dominant. McLaughlin left the event continuing to hold his championship lead over Jamie Whincup by 31 points.

Report

=Background=

This event was the second of fifteen in the 2019 Supercars Championship and the second running of the Melbourne 400. Defending series champion Scott McLaughlin held the championship lead entering the event after winning both races at the Adelaide 500.

=Practice=

Two 30-minute practice sessions were held prior to qualifying on Thursday. Chaz Mostert was fastest in the first session with a margin of 0.4s over Anton de Pasquale with a time of 1:55.5743s.{{cite news |last1=Herrero |first1=Daniel |title=Mostert fastest by four tenths in Practice 1 |url=https://www.speedcafe.com/2019/03/14/mostert-fastest-by-four-tenths-in-practice-1/ |work=speedcafe.com |publisher=Speedcafe |date=14 March 2019}} The second session saw DJR Team Penske claim the first two positions with Scott McLaughlin setting a time of 1:54.5518, 0.2s faster than teammate Fabian Coulthard and 0.6s clear of Mostert.{{cite news |last1=Herrero |first1=Daniel |title=DJRTP Mustangs well on top in Practice 2 at Albert Park |url=https://www.speedcafe.com/2019/03/14/djrtp-mustangs-well-on-top-in-practice-2-at-albert-park/ |work=speedcafe.com |publisher=Speedcafe |date=14 March 2019}}

=Qualifying=

Four 10-minute qualifying sessions were held to decide the grid for each race. Qualifying for Races 3 and 4 was held on Thursday afternoon with McLaughlin claiming pole position for both races. McLaughlin's time of 1:53.8280s in qualifying for Race 3 was a new Supercars lap record, beating teammate Fabian Coulthard's previous lap record by 0.6s.{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Adam |title=McLaughlin takes pole for Melbourne opener |url=https://www.supercars.com/news/championship/mclaughlin-takes-pole-for-melbourne-opener/ |work=supercars.com |publisher=Supercars Championship |date=14 March 2019}} Mostert was left just 22nd in the first session after infringing track limits on his first flying lap. He recovered in qualifying for Race 4 to be second, 0.128s slower than McLaughlin's best time of 1:54.2643s. Jamie Whincup qualified 3rd, ahead of the Ford Mustangs of Cam Waters, Coulthard and Will Davison.{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Adam |title=Albert Park pole double for McLaughlin |url=https://www.supercars.com/news/championship/albert-park-pole-double-for-mclaughlin/ |work=supercars.com |publisher=Supercars Championship |date=14 March 2019}}

Qualifying for Races 5 and 6 was held early Friday afternoon. McLaughlin claimed his 50th career pole position for Race 5 with a time of 1:53.9990s, 0.5s clear of Waters. Shane van Gisbergen was left 12th after making a mistake at the penultimate corner on his second flying lap.{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Adam |title=McLaughlin claims 50th Supercars pole |url=https://www.supercars.com/news/championship/mclaughlin-claims-50th-supercars-pole/ |work=supercars.com |publisher=Supercars Championship |date=15 March 2019}} Qualifying for Race 6 saw Mostert pip McLaughlin by 0.08s with a time of 1:54.2783s to claim his first pole position since the 2017 Vodafone Gold Coast 600. Whincup qualified 3rd ahead of Waters and van Gisbergen.{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Adam |title=Mostert denies McLaughlin Melbourne pole sweep |url=https://www.supercars.com/news/championship/mostert-denies-mclaughlin-melbourne-pole-sweep/ |work=supercars.com |publisher=Supercars Championship |date=15 March 2019}}

=Race 3=

Race 3 was held on Friday afternoon and consisted of 130 kilometres and 25 laps. McLaughlin converted from his pole position to finish unchallenged ahead of Coulthard and Waters, leading home an all-Mustang top 5. Mostert recovered from his 22nd starting position to finish 5th ahead of the best placed Holden of Tim Slade and James Courtney.{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Adam |title=McLaughlin wins Albert Park opener |url=https://www.supercars.com/news/championship/mclaughlin-wins-albert-park-opener/ |work=supercars.com |publisher=Supercars Championship |date=15 March 2019}} Van Gisbergen retired from the race after an engine failure while running fourth with four laps remaining.{{cite news |last1=Howard |first1=Tom |title=‘Catastrophic’ engine failure caused SVG retirement |url=https://www.speedcafe.com/2019/03/15/catastrophic-engine-failure-caused-svg-retirement/ |work=speedcafe.com |publisher=Speedcafe |date=15 March 2019}}

A post-race investigation into a pitlane incident in which a tyre from Scott Pye's car was collected by Nick Percat during pitstops on lap 10 resulted in Walkinshaw Andretti United receiving a penalty of 30 team championship points and a fine of $3,000. Rick Kelly received a post-race 43-second time penalty, demoting him to 22nd, after his car was released from the pit bay into the path of James Golding.{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Adam |title=WAU, Kelly cop penalties for pitlane breaches |url=https://www.supercars.com/news/championship/wau-kelly-cop-penalties-for-pitlane-breaches/ |work=supercars.com |publisher=Supercars Championship |date=15 March 2019}}

=Race 4=

Race 4 was held early Saturday afternoon and consisted of 70 kilometres and 13 laps. This race was notable as the 1,000th Australian Touring Car Championship race held. McLaughlin led from start to finish to continue his perfect streak of victories, with Mostert in second and Waters in third. Mostert started second but found himself fourth after passes by Waters and Whincup on the opening lap. He recovered to 2nd after passing Whincup on lap 4 and Waters on lap 9.

James Golding received a 5-second time penalty for failing to leave racing room for Andre Heimgartner at the end of the first lap. His Garry Rogers Motorsport teammate Richie Stanaway received the same penalty after a post-race investigation found him guilty of careless driving after contact with Lee Holdsworth. Todd Hazelwood was investigated for twice cutting the Turn 11/Turn 12 complex, but was cleared due to damage from contact with Percat.{{cite news |last1=Herrero |first1=Daniel |title=Penalties for both GRM cars in Race 4 at Albert Park |url=https://www.speedcafe.com/2019/03/16/penalties-for-both-grm-cars-in-race-4-at-albert-park/ |work=speedcafe.com |publisher=Speedcafe |date=16 March 2019}}

=Race 5=

Race 5 was held late Saturday afternoon and consisted of 130 kilometres and 25 laps. The race started in bizarre circumstances after an out-lap crash between polesitter McLaughlin and second-place qualifier Waters resulted in neither driver starting the race.{{cite news |last1=Bartholomaeus |first1=Stefan |title=McLaughlin, Waters crash out on way to grid |url=https://www.supercars.com/news/championship/mclaughlin-waters-crash-out-on-way-to-grid/ |work=supercars.com |publisher=Supercars Championship |date=16 March 2019}} The incident left Brad Jones Racing's Percat and Slade as the new highest-placed starters. Slade led from the line but was passed by Whincup at Turn 13 on the opening lap. Slade and Percat then made contact at Turn 15, resulting in Percat being escorted wide and falling to seventh. Whincup continued to extend his race lead while Slade fell under pressure from Mostert. Mostert undercut Slade during pitstops and began to pressure Whincup for the effective race lead, eventually passing on lap 14. Mostert continued to extend his lead until a Safety Car was called on lap 20 after van Gisbergen's car lost a wheel. Mostert held the race lead as the race restarted with four laps to go and won the race from Whincup and Slade. David Reynolds finished in fourth ahead of Coulthard and Walkinshaw Andretti United drivers Pye and Courtney. van Gisbergen was classified 22nd and 2 laps down after repairs to his car.{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Adam |title=Mostert wins after McLaughlin non-start |url=https://www.supercars.com/news/championship/mostert-wins-after-mclaughlin-non-start/ |work=supercars.com |publisher=Supercars Championship |date=16 March 2019}}

Triple Eight Race Engineering were fined $5,000 and docked 30 teams' championship points as a result of van Gisbergen's wheel loss. Will Davison received a 5 second time penalty, demoting him to 10th, for failing to leave racing room while battling James Golding at Turn 3 on lap 3.{{cite news |last1=Bartholomaeus |first1=Stefan |title=Red Bull HRT penalised for wheel loss |url=https://www.supercars.com/news/championship/red-bull-hrt-penalised-for-wheel-loss/ |work=supercars.com |publisher=Supercars Championship |date=17 March 2019}} Incidents between Lee Holdsworth and Richie Stanaway were the subject of a post-race investigation. The two drivers first made contact on lap 1, with Stanaway then making contact with the rear of Holdsworth's car on lap 3. Stewards charged Stanaway with dangerous driving and he was disqualified, fined $10,000 and forced to start Race 6 from pitlane.{{cite news|last1=Bartholomaeus |first1=Stefan |title=Stanaway disqualified, fined $10,000 |url=https://www.supercars.com/news/championship/stanaway-disqualified-fined-10000/ |work=supercars.com |publisher=Supercars Championship |date=17 March 2019}}

=Race 6=

Race 6 was held on Sunday afternoon and consisted of 70 kilometres and 13 laps. The race did not meet the scheduled race distance due to time certainty and finished after 11 laps. The race was won by McLaughlin, leading from start to finish from second on the grid. Polesitter Mostert finished 2nd and Whincup finished 3rd. Van Gisbergen was given a 15-second time penalty after contact with Coulthard at Turn 13 on lap 2. Coulthard fell to 22nd after the contact, recovering to 15th position. The Safety Car was called after a crash between Garry Jacobson and Macauley Jones on lap 4. The accident occurred when Jones was attempting a pass on Simona de Silvestro. Overlap between the rear of Jones' car and the front of Jacobson's car caused Jones to spin into the wall. The race resumed on lap 7 with McLaughlin and Mostert building a comfortable lead over Whincup before the race finish. Mostert won the Larry Perkins Trophy for accumulating the most points over the weekend, with 2018 Larry Perkins Trophy winner Whincup second in the standings.

De Silvestro received a post-race penalty of 5 seconds for careless driving after a last corner pass on James Golding escorted him wide and caused him to hit the wall. Kelly Racing were also docked 50 teams' championship points after it was found in parc ferme that Rick Kelly's car did not have a SD card inserted in its judicial camera. Jacobson, meanwhile, was cleared of wrongdoing after a post-race investigation into the crash with Jones.{{cite news |last1=Herrero |first1=Daniel |title=De Silvestro penalised for last corner pass on Golding |url=https://www.speedcafe.com/2019/03/17/de-silvestro-penalised-for-last-corner-pass-on-golding/ |work=speedcafe.com |publisher=Speedcafe |date=17 March 2019}}

Results

=Practice=

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%" \|+ Practice summary ! rowspan="2"\| Session ! rowspan="2"\| Day ! colspan="5"\| Fastest lap
No. ! Driver ! Team ! Car ! Time
Practice 1 \| Thursday \| align="center"\| 55 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Chaz Mostert \|Tickford Racing \|Ford Mustang GT \|1:55.5742
Practice 2 \| Thursday \| align="center"\| 17 \|{{flagicon\|NZL}} Scott McLaughlin \|DJR Team Penske \|Ford Mustang GT \|1:54.5518
colspan="7"\|Sources:{{cite web \|title=Practice 1 - Results \|url=https://www.supercars.com/sessions/2019-melbourne-400/virgin-australia-supercars-championship-practice-1/ \|website=supercars.com \|publisher=Supercars Championship}}{{cite web \|title=Practice 2 - Results \|url=https://www.supercars.com/sessions/2019-melbourne-400/virgin-australia-supercars-championship-practice-2/ \|website=supercars.com \|publisher=Supercars Championship}}

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%"

|+ Practice summary

! rowspan="2"| Session

! rowspan="2"| Day

! colspan="5"| Fastest lap

No.

! Driver

! Team

! Car

! Time

Practice 1

| Thursday

| align="center"| 55

|{{flagicon|AUS}} Chaz Mostert

|Tickford Racing

|Ford Mustang GT

|1:55.5742

Practice 2

| Thursday

| align="center"| 17

|{{flagicon|NZL}} Scott McLaughlin

|DJR Team Penske

|Ford Mustang GT

|1:54.5518

colspan="7"|Sources:{{cite web |title=Practice 1 - Results |url=https://www.supercars.com/sessions/2019-melbourne-400/virgin-australia-supercars-championship-practice-1/ |website=supercars.com |publisher=Supercars Championship}}{{cite web |title=Practice 2 - Results |url=https://www.supercars.com/sessions/2019-melbourne-400/virgin-australia-supercars-championship-practice-2/ |website=supercars.com |publisher=Supercars Championship}}

=Race 3=

==Qualifying==

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%" !{{Tooltip\|Pos.\|Position}} !{{Tooltip\|No.\|Car number}} !Driver !Team !Car !Time !Gap !{{tooltip\|Grid\|Starting grid position}}
1 \| align="center" \|17 \|{{flagicon\|NZL}} Scott McLaughlin \|DJR Team Penske \|Ford Mustang GT \|1:53.8280 \| \| align="center"\|1
2 \| align="center"\|12 \|{{flagicon\|NZL}} Fabian Coulthard \|DJR Team Penske \|Ford Mustang GT \|1:54.1894 \| +0.3614 \| align="center" \|2
3 \| align="center" \|6 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Cam Waters \|Tickford Racing \|Ford Mustang GT \|1:54.4033 \| +0.5753 \| align="center" \|3
4 \| align="center" \|23 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Will Davison \|23Red Racing \|Ford Mustang GT \|1:54.5222 \| +0.6942 \| align="center" \|4
5 \| align="center" \|97 \|{{flagicon\|NZL}} Shane van Gisbergen \|Triple Eight Race Engineering \|Holden Commodore ZB \|1:54.5425 \| +0.7145 \| align="center" \|5
6 \| align="center" \|14 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Tim Slade \|Brad Jones Racing \|Holden Commodore ZB \|1:54.6259 \| +0.7979 \| align="center" \|6
7 \| align="center" \|88 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Jamie Whincup \|Triple Eight Race Engineering \|Holden Commodore ZB \|1:54.6352 \| +0.8072 \| align="center" \|7
8 \| align="center" \|8 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Nick Percat \|Brad Jones Racing \|Holden Commodore ZB \|1:54.6495 \| +0.8215 \| align="center" \|8
9 \| align="center" \|22 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} James Courtney \|Walkinshaw Andretti United \|Holden Commodore ZB \|1:54.7917 \| +0.9637 \| align="center" \|9
10 \| align="center" \|18 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Mark Winterbottom \|Team 18 \|Holden Commodore ZB \|1:54.8920 \| +1.0640 \| align="center" \|10
11 \| align="center" \|99 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Anton de Pasquale \|Erebus Motorsport \|Holden Commodore ZB \|1:54.9159 \| +1.0879 \| align="center" \|11
12 \| align="center" \|5 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Lee Holdsworth \|Tickford Racing \|Ford Mustang GT \|1:54.9761 \| +1.1481 \| align="center" \|12
13 \| align="center" \|9 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} David Reynolds \|Erebus Motorsport \|Holden Commodore ZB \|1:55.0363 \| +1.2083 \| align="center" \|13
14 \| align="center" \|2 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Scott Pye \|Walkinshaw Andretti United \|Holden Commodore ZB \|1:55.1899 \| +1.3619 \| align="center" \|14
15 \| align="center" \|7 \|{{flagicon\|NZL}} Andre Heimgartner \|Kelly Racing \|Nissan Altima L33 \|1:55.1958 \| +1.3678 \| align="center" \|15
16 \| align="center" \|34 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} James Golding \|Garry Rogers Motorsport \|Holden Commodore ZB \|1:55.2560 \| +1.4280 \| align="center" \|16
17 \| align="center" \|15 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Rick Kelly \|Kelly Racing \|Nissan Altima L33 \|1:55.2758 \| +1.4478 \| align="center" \|17
18 \| align="center" \|33 \|{{flagicon\|NZL}} Richie Stanaway \|Garry Rogers Motorsport \|Holden Commodore ZB \|1:55.5238 \| +1.6958 \| align="center" \|18
19 \| align="center" \|35 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Todd Hazelwood \|Matt Stone Racing \|Holden Commodore ZB \|1:55.6453 \| +1.8173 \| align="center" \|19
20 \| align="center" \|78 \|{{flagicon\|CHE}} Simona de Silvestro \|Kelly Racing \|Nissan Altima L33 \|1:55.6818 \| +1.8538 \| align="center" \|20
21 \| align="center" \|3 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Garry Jacobson \|Kelly Racing \|Nissan Altima L33 \|1:55.7423 \| +1.9143 \| align="center" \|21
22 \| align="center" \|55 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Chaz Mostert \|Tickford Racing \|Ford Mustang GT \|1:56.0845 \| +2.2565 \| align="center" \|22
23 \| align="center" \|19 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Jack Le Brocq \|Tekno Autosports \|Holden Commodore ZB \|1:56.7293 \| +2.9013 \| align="center" \|23
24 \| align="center" \|21 \|{{flagicon\|AUS}} Macauley Jones \|Tim Blanchard Racing \|Holden Commodore ZB \|1:56.9507 \| +3.1227 \| align="center" \|24
colspan="8" \|Sources:{{cite web \|title=Armor All Qualifying - Race 3 \|url=https://www.supercars.com/sessions/2019-melbourne-400/virgin-australia-supercars-championship-armor-all-qualifying-race-3/ \|website=supercars.com \|publisher=Supercars Championship}}{{cite web \|title=Virgin Australia Supercars C'ship - ARMOR ALL Qualifying R3 \|url=http://racing.natsoft.com.au/642447667/object_452868.81d/Result?10 \|website=racing.natsoft.com.au }}{{Dead link\|date=June 2020 \|bot=InternetArchiveBot \|fix-attempted=yes }}

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%"

!{{Tooltip|Pos.|Position}}

!{{Tooltip|No.|Car number}}

!Driver

!Team

!Car

!Time

!Gap

!{{tooltip|Grid|Starting grid position}}

| align="center" |17

|{{flagicon|NZL}} Scott McLaughlin

|DJR Team Penske

|Ford Mustang GT

|1:53.8280

| align="center"|1

| align="center"|12

|{{flagicon|NZL}} Fabian Coulthard

|DJR Team Penske

|Ford Mustang GT

|1:54.1894

| +0.3614

| align="center" |2

| align="center" |6

|{{flagicon|AUS}} Cam Waters

|Tickford Racing

|Ford Mustang GT

|1:54.4033

| +0.5753

| align="center" |3

| align="center" |23

|{{flagicon|AUS}} Will Davison

|23Red Racing

|Ford Mustang GT

|1:54.5222

| +0.6942

| align="center" |4

| align="center" |97

2019 Melbourne 400

Report

=Background=

=Practice=

=Qualifying=

=Race 3=

=Race 4=

=Race 5=

=Race 6=

Results

=Practice=

=Race 3=

==Qualifying==

==Race==

=Race 4=

==Qualifying==

==Race==

=Race 5=

==Qualifying==

==Race==

=Race 6=

==Qualifying==

==Race==

References