REV INTO GEAR FOR 2018
We are all set for another big year of motorsport in 2018 , with the city of Adelaide hosting the curtain raiser for the new Virgin Australia Supercars Championship season with the Adelaide 500 from 1 - 4 March .
Three weeks later , the 2018 Formula One World Championship kicks off in Melbourne from 23 - 25 March and for the first time in the two decade history of the event , the Supercar races will count as an official championship points earning round .
The incredible seven time Supercar Series Champion , Jamie Whincup , returns with Red Bull Racing , after his outstanding 2017 title fight with young New Zealand Team Penske DJR star driver Scott McLaughlan . That battle went all the way to the final laps of the season .
The Supercar field ’ s oldest driver and a crowd favourite ( it wasn ’ t that long ago when they called this guy “ the kid ”) triple champion Craig Lowndes returns at 43 years of age in an all new Autobarn Racing livery , while the rest of the field includes most of the same names as last season . There is one exciting new addition though , the super-fast Kiwi ( the fifth from the land of the long white cloud in Supercars ), Ritchie Stanaway , who makes his full time series debut with Ford team PRA .
The new Supercars season also will see the return of Swiss racer Simona de Silvestro with Nissan Motorsport , the series ’ first full time female racer . She is returning for a second season after a number of impressive performances during 2017 .
There will be 16 Supercar rounds in 2018 with one brand new venue added , The Bend Motorsport Park which is located in Tailem Bend , South Australia . This new event will make its debut in August .
In Formula One , the question remains , can anyone beat Mercedes-Benz ? A fourth consecutive double sweep of the Drivers ’ and Manufacturers ’ World Championships in 2017 once again displayed the might of the German marque ’ s technological and sporting prowess . Only Ferrari came close to challenging the Silver Arrows last season , but in their typical style managed to self-implode just after the half-way point of the season through accidents and unforced errors .
Australia ’ s Daniel Ricciardo returns to Red Bull Racing for the final year of his current contract , with both Ferrari and Mercedes- Benz believed to have already started courting the Western Australian ace to join them for 2019 and beyond . Ricciardo ,
despite not having anywhere near the fastest car in the field last season , managed to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and finish on the podium an impressive seven times during the season .
The Australian also completed more successful overtaking moves than any other driver in the F1 field last season , with 43 overtakes in total for the season . A staggering 13 of them were made at last year ’ s British Grand Prix when he started from the rear of the field due to engine and component change penalties . This compares to his Dutch star team mate Max Verstappen ’ s total of 22 overtakes for the season . If the team can find the horsepower they need to beat Mercedes , they will be unstoppable with this incredibly talented driver line up .
One driver to keep a close eye on this season in Formula One is Frenchman Esteban Ocon . On the occasions when he wasn ’ t crashing into his team mate , he was superb in his rookie F1 season with the Mercedes-Benz powered Force India team . This was the second most reliable and consistent team in the field last season to the factory Mercedes-Benz team , finishing a credible 4th in the manufacturers ’ standings .
The 2018 Formula One World Championship will feature 21 rounds , with the only new addition being the Paul Ricard Circuit , located in Le Castellet , Southern France . This venue had been a part of the Formula One World Championship in decades gone by , but in more recent times has been used mainly as a testing venue .
Always keep in mind that for a visit to any Supercar Series or the Formula One event you have been wishing to go to can be organised easily using your Capricorn Reward Points with Capricorn Travel .
Nominate your apprentice as a Capricorn Rising Star and you could be heading to the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 .
See page 28 for more details .
12 CAPRICORN IGNITION MARCH 2018