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FCTTN: When too much motorsport is barely enough · Full Credit to the Noise

• FCTTN 26 11 09: Yeah. This week on Full Credit to the Noise, Brody gets a pass to Adelaide, but Will Brown misses out on an invitation, and George Russell can't even get out of pit lane. Welcome to Full Credit to the Noise. Well hello, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and welcome to Full Credit to the Noise. You can find this podcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at FCTTN Podcast. You find me on Instagram, Twitter, Blue Sky, and Facebook at former underscore legend. You find the boy who crossed me on Twitter at AVL underscore motorsport. He's on Instagram at AVL dot motorsport. He's a man who this week demanded a recount in Mississippi. He's spent a week crying when he thought it was the retired broadcaster Alan Jones that had passed away. And tonight he's wearing an at and center pair of boxes. Welcome to Speed Cafe's Andrew Van Lewen. Hello former. By this stage of a trip away I can tell you I'm well into the reserve I'm into the pot when it comes to underwear, to be honest. There's nothing fancy like silky center boxes going on. I'm I'm into the reserves in the underwear front. But Four wears out of one pair. I've told you before. Don't I know it? Don't I know it. how was it, mate? Wet, then dry, then a bit of everything. It wasn't too bad, to be honest. I think the horror stories about the weather didn't really come true, which is classic Melbourne style, right? that's what Melbourne does. But it was more it wasn't the rain, it was some of the forecast maximums that were getting people pretty nervous across the weekend. But it really wasn't that cold and was probably annoyingly warm in the sun sometimes when you've committed to the jacket programme. So so yeah, it wasn't too bad. Like it I I feel like It felt quite early in the weekend, particularly on Friday and even Saturday, but the forecast for Saturday was pretty ropey. The forecast for Sunday was cold but no rain and the crowd was massive. it really was. It was the the switch between Saturday and Sunday was unbelievable. So it really did deliver. It is a great finals venue in terms of how it races and and all that sort of stuff. So we're looking at a very different final series this time of the year, but it was a I think it was a a good swan song for Sandown as you know, i for its final time as a semifinals venue and and there's kind of I mean the August slot for next year is a little concerning weather wise, but it does feel like it could be a great place to wrap up the sprint cup as well. Although there's still a lot of people out there that really wish we were gonna have a proper Sandown five hundred two driver race next year. Yeah, especially a bunch of co drivers. before we do go further on, can I just St send our condolences to the family of Alan Jones, obviously the nineteen eighty Formula One World Drivers Champion, former star of Group A and Supercars AVL, and from what I remember him mostly, brilliant T V commentator, a sidekick to Barry Sheen at one stage, and Mark Scave Humiliator. he passed away at the age of eighty last week. He was remembered as a a winner of twelve Grand Prix. He was an absolutely fearless competitor from all reports. And a man who dedicated his life to motorsport and he'll be forever leg remembered as a legend of Australian sport, not just motorsport. So I'm sure I you share my condolences to the family on his passing. Yeah, I definitely do. And I that was very well put. He was obviously just a yeah, just a an absolute bull of a competitor, like just an incredible race car driver. And I'll get onto this a bit later in the show in another point I want to make. But you know, those guys really were race car drivers that that they They could do anything and he proved that by coming back and and having some success in the Australian Turing Car Championship and all that sort of stuff. But tremendously sad news. you know, like he was the last of our living F one world champions at the moment. So to lose him is a is a really big deal. and yeah, as you say, condolences to the family. And Cutfield might be a way off for our next one, but we'll cover off on that soon as well. Let's talk about Sandown on Saturday. Matt Payne was was just absolutely rapid in the shootout. Chaz Mostett threw it off at Dandenong Corner and then in the race. It was absolutely one of the best supercar races in the dry in recent memory. I'm not even going to put it as a wet race. Brady got a golden ticket to Adelaide. Matt Payne came second, although some poor decisions in pits cost him a bit of a win. Cam Waters grabbed third. Aaron Cameron's car burnt like Inands Toast, and Will Brown f seemingly lost his mind, but we'll cover off on that in a bit as well. On Sunday, Matt Payne again was fast in the shootout, quickest around the track from Anton. But the shock was that Waters, Mostet, and Brown didn't make the shootout despite being in the final seven in the semifinals. And in the race, Matty Payne deservedly won the race from Anton Di Pasquale and Cooper Murray, again, we'll cover off on that a bit in a minute. And making the finals to the final four in Adelaide will be Payne, Brody, Brock Feeney, and Chaz Most. Yeah, I was gonna say something about the finals. Again, we'll cover off on that in a bit, but it was Saturday was just electric. Yeah, fantastic car race. Just an awesome car race, and I think it was definitely underpinned by that tension around the finals. Like there was it it was it was the best drivers in the country racing for a big prize already in the second round second last round of the season. So that really kind of fueled what we saw on the Saturday. The Sunday wasn't as electric in terms of a motor race, but you've still that's the beauty of finals, you've still got this undercurrent of storylines because there's stuff stuff happening, you know, and there's there's things playing out and people's it's life or death for people's season. So I just yeah, it it was it was fantastic across the whole weekend and I'm not sure it would have been anywhere near as good if we didn't have finals. I agree. And the thing is too, on Sunday, yeah, it wasn't the same as Saturday's race, which was a classic, but it was actually quite a bit of tension around those final two spots, Anton trying to get the free pass into, you know, Adelaide. I actually thought yeah, it wasn't at the same level. But geez, I thought the last fifteen laps was quite tense, especially as I'm coming through traffic and Maddie Payne was the pioneer there. It was I thought it was I th actually thought that actually brought something to the race as well, which will like you said Without that, it would have been just another race. Yeah, correct. Yep, absolutely. let's do Champagne and Shys and we'll start with Champagne. And as I said, Cooper Murray, he got his first ever podium in supercars in his second meeting for Premier. and was basically anonymous all day. And that's nothing that's not a shot at the T V people who obviously have their stories to follow. But geez, if ever there was a time not to get a podium or your first podium, it might have been yesterday if for for Cooper, but Just a sensational drive. Congratulations to him. You can see what it meant to him. One question. What must Declan have been thinking when he was watching that? Yeah, well, to go back to what you said a second ago, I'm not sure that Cooper will be that worried about how much he was on TV because it was still a statement drive. There was absolutely no doubt about that. like you say, a little bit of bad luck that there's all this other final stuff going on and perhaps it does get a little bit lost in that, but it was I I don't think Cooper would care. Like he's still really Drew a line in the sand yesterday with with his performance. When I say yesterday, Sunday. We're recording on the Monday, obviously. in terms of Declan, yeah, realistically he had a tough weekend in Super Two, and then his old car ended up on the podium in the main game, so that's not ideal. But I think the fair thing to do here is to really focus on Cooper and what he's achieved in his very short stint at Premier, because he seemed to have the edge on Jaden O'Jade since he joined the team, which does make some sense given that he does have a fair bit more supercars experience than Juice does. And I think it actually says more about how well Cooper has gone rather than being any sort of criticism of Juice. But it does feel like we're perhaps and it's early days, but we are at a bit of a turning point for that premier racing team. they had Roland Dane come in. There's been this kind of spotlight on can he do what he did with Triple A and turn a struggling team into a front running team. And we're a long way away from that being the case. But there's just these little green shoots now and and Cooper joining that team does seem to have revitalised it to some extent and given the right hardware, he's kind of proved himself really quickly as being someone who can run around at the front. And that was just that was a podium. That's that's Premier's first solo driver podium or solo driver event podium. And it was just done purely on merit. Like totally it was incredibly impressive. So yeah, that's I I think there's a well I know there's a lot of optimism in that Premier Garage right now with it because every reason mate. For sure. Yep, big problem. My next champagne goes to Brody, who's just unbelievably strong on Saturday. He copped a drive thru for switching his engine off and coasting to the grid on Sunday before the race had even started, which sent him down to twenty first at one stage. He got it back to tenth. He's the first bloke who was invited to Adelaide in the finals. And I know he doesn't go in as the top seed, but he's gonna be a tough nut to crack in Adelaide gut feel. yeah. I I Totally agree with that. I'm not sure how the second part of that got him into the champagne section because that was realistically a potentially hugely damaging misjudgment from Brody in terms of turning the car off on the grid given the revised grand final seatings for this year have put a premium on being in the top two heading to Adelaide. So he probably brought brought on a little bit more stress than required on that side of the garage. It sort of felt it's easy to say, well, it doesn't matter, he was already qualified, but it does still matter. Like having your ticket And having a ticket and being one of the top two seeds. There's a big difference in that. I don't think they really expected to leave or DJ expected to leave Sandown in in the top spot. So second was really what they were working towards. And they did get that. Brody did drive well to get back up there. But that was definitely a very interesting misjudgment from him because it could have potentially, if he ends up third or fourth seed, you've suddenly got a lot more to do when you get to Adelaide. But the way it's set up, I don't know if it could actually be set up better. with Matt Payne at Brody Castecki's those top two seeds. that is just that is a tasty, tasty prospect heading to Adelaide. Yeah. my next one is Matt Payne. Just absolutely mega all weekend, mate. Probably the fastest all weekend across the two days. Converted to a win on Sunday. after the team muddled the results in pit stops on Saturday. But just a mega drive. And I thought the triers at one stage were falling off a cliff yesterday, but For whatever reason, he just found more pace at one stage and Anton said to drop pace and it's became imperative at that point in time for him getting the win. And I don't think anyone could say he doesn't deserve to be going over to Adelaide as the number one seed. Definitely not. I I think this weekend was the perfect scene setter for Adelaide for Matt, to be honest. they clearly had a plan, and that plan was to protect the top seed at all costs. I think that he kept a He kept a bit in reserve on Saturday. There were a few opportunities, like when Brody and and Cam were running off the road into Danny Long Road for the lead at one point, he really could have got right into that fight. But I think there was just a plan there. And then on the Sunday, he has the car speed to drive away from the field. Obviously came under a bit of pressure from Anton when the traffic got involved and that sort of stuff. But it never really felt like he was in too much danger of losing that win. And ultimately, if he'd if he'd had to sacrifice the lead to Anton. I'm sure he would have done that because it feels like there were some real lessons learned at Sandown last year about how to go about this semi final scenario. So he has the Adelaide's top seed and he has to Adelaide for me as as the outright favourite. Like I just I feel like he is so good there. So's Brody. Actually all the guys in the top four are very good there. So Brock. there's no f yeah, there's no four so's Chaz, evidently. But good call. so there's no foregone conclusions, but I I do really feel like Matt, this was just the perfect workman sort of scene setter for him heading to the heading to the the grand final and it's gonna take some work from Brody or anyone else to to to run him down, I think, in Adelaide. and finally just a couple of shout outs in the champagne section to a couple of twenty twenty six champions. Firstly Nathan Heard, congrats on being a three time championship winner in Trans Am. had to do it watching on the sidelines in the last race, which was a bit of a shame. he had the absolute ass ripped out of his car. But at the same time, did enough throughout the whole season to get the win and well deserved it. I'm really happy for him. and there's some stuff around the corner for him, speaking to him on Saturday. and then Cooper Barnes, congratulations on to him to on securing the eighty six championship. not sure what he's doing next year, but in twenty twenty eight he'll be doing super two. I think is Cooper the one that purchased a Johnson Mustang? Is that Yeah, the DJ I car. Yep. Yeah. Yep. So Yeah. So so just but come back to Nathan Hearn, he was also I was out at Sandown earlier today, again, Monday. And he was cutting laps for premiere at the ride date. and it feels like there might be some co driver movement there, so that's one to keep an eye on. Which I think you may have been alluding to just moments ago. Yeah, yeah. We'll actually touch on that a little bit l in later on. But yeah, and I'm really happy for him. He did a stellar job at Bathurst, was given a car probably in not in the position he wanted it to be and kept the thing straight all weekend despite a lot of people saying that he wouldn't and I thought he did a great job. And then yeah, like you say, he the the field in Trans Am has some quality in it. So to beat beat that field, I don't think there's anything to scoff at either. So well done Nathan. Yep. my shizen. And I'm gonna start with you, Avial or you and your mate mates in the media. Yeah you and you and your mates. Well, as a collective, the Motorsort media spent All of twenty twenty four telling us how much Brody Kastecki and Barry Ryan had had a massive fallout. Brody had sought an immediate release and how they were all not on speaking terms. Not long after Brody heads to Deja and Baddie W Barry was demonized by the bloody media. So Andy explained those two blokes jumped in a car together for a quick drive around the burbs of Melbourne on Friday afternoon, all smiles, all manhugs and just two old makes broin it out. What do you got to say for yourself? You're right, we made it all up. None of it ever happened. None of it ever happened. Look, that that was all a whole bunch of fun. Actually that that Friday afternoon, during the ride session was a heap of fun. watching Barclay Nettelfold take his first ride in a supercar was just it was incredible. his reaction to it was amazing. and then there was the Barry and Brody thing. It was all for a good cause. It was for the Motorsport Ministry's charity night. They both paid two and a half grand for the for the honor to go for a ride with Brody. yeah, I mean, it's convenient from a PR perspective and they're There was plenty of it th it was all all the beat up and all that stuff. I don't know, I'm not gonna get into it like it we all know like so th yeah, it wasn't that long ago. There there there were things that happened. There was a time when there was clearly a rift between the two. They've patched it up, that's great. but y we can't you know, there's no way to revise history. Like things happened. They did. What did what did those two drives cost? Two and a half grand each? Two rights? Two and a half, yep. Yeah. You reckon Barclay Paid it off in instalments or nah. Probably put it into the ashtray. well maybe have I told the Barclay Netflix story from the GTs earlier this year? No, I'll tell you later. It's yeah, please don't. Not on it. No, it's it's not a bad story, but well so so I'll tell you. So I was picking up my accreditation and there's a lady in front of us and she was is it under Mary Jones? Is it under Sally French? Is it under it's just throwing names out. No, I'm just sitting there and I look at this bloke and we both smile at each other and she's and this guy goes, She'll get it eventually. And I said, Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we're sort of looking around talking and then there's this beautiful BMW M3 just drives past. And I said, Geez, that's nice, isn't it? I said, That's a nice color green. And the bloke I'm talking to goes, Yeah, he goes, mate, that is nice. Is he? He I've got an Aston in that colour. And I went, I said, yeah, I said one of the panels on my chimera's at colour as well. I said, so we've got quite a lot in common. Then I just realised who I was talking to. I'm like, okay, yeah, cool. Mad flex, by the way, just throwing in the Aston line. I I actually I saw that Aston parked out the front of Sandown on Sunday morning. So I can send you a photo of it because their number fate is quite recognizable. But I'm not gonna say what it is on here. I wonder whether Barclay remembers that conversation 'cause yeah. my next Shizen and it goes to and I don't Don't take much joy in this, but Will Brown, because he found his way to the front of the field on lap fourteen on Saturday, after the first round of pit stops. And then he and Brody leapfrogged leapfrogged, I should say, pole position winner, Matt Payne. Then on lap thirty six, Kastecki made some sort of move to take the lead entering turn one. But Brown tried to respond at turn four, but locked the rears, spun it, and then killed off any hopes with a comeback when he spun Brad Jones racing driver Cameron Hill and he copped a fifteen second penalty for that. misdemeanor as well, which dropped into eighteenth to twentieth. But after the race, he made the extraordinary claims that Hill repeatedly brake checked him and doubled down by saying it was done in order to help fellow Toyota runner Chaz Mostett from Walkenshaw Toyota. and then went again to warn everyone about Adelaide saying if he's out of the title hunt, he said just watch out. AVL, first of all, you couldn't possibly think that Cameron Hill is running around in twentieth thinking, he's Will Brown I'll really make sure he doesn't go to Adelaide. I think Will done enough that day already to make sure he wasn't going to Adelaide. Second of all, is do you think he can race Brodie? It was certainly a pretty hot topic in the paddock over well, not over the weekend, but certainly on Sunday. while I answer this, just check your phone by the way. I just sent you something. But Yeah, I mean it was a tough weekend for Will. He did recover well on Sunday after getting knocked out of Q1. obviously the damage to his season was done on the Saturday. There's been plenty said about that attempted move on Brody that really undid his season. You know, that's there's obviously that that did raise a lot of questions in the paddock by Sunday about whether he can race Brody or and do so effectively or or whether he can't. Then there were those activities. accusations that you talked about that he'd been break checked by Cam Hill and it was part of some Toyota conspiracy. And to be brutally honest, that felt about as desperate as the move on Brody in the first place. And didn't go down well in the paddock either, particularly among the two Toyota teams, given there was this kind of spotlight on manufacturer collusion heading into the weekend. So that wasn't all that well received. So yeah, it was a tough weekend for Will, but he kind of has this opportunity now to really come through for the team and help out Brock Feeney and Adelaide. And Brock's gonna need a bit of that because he's gotta come from the third seed and there is that widening that's happened this year between the top two seeds and third and fourth. So Brock, you know, is gonna need some help to to get there and to win the title and this is Will's opportunity to to really sort of show what a team player he is and and go and help Triple Eight to get a title. Hmm. Yeah, more questions and answers I've got to say after that weekend. My next shizen goes to the pit lane cone. now what am I talking about? what happened to the traffic cone at the end of Pit Lane that was there only twelve months ago, Avial? it used to be there to stop the blokes from the first pit bay from driving too wide down the pet pits or the exit of pits. But twice on Sunday Maddie Payne left the grove pits and drove side by side with other cars, hit both of them on both occasions, where if that traffic cone was there, it just wouldn't have been possible. there was also one there in twenty twenty four as well. Payne hit Waters trying to exit the pit lane on Saturday, as I said. Brock Feeney got a penalty in Adelaide in twenty twenty four for hitting Mossad as he tried to exit the pit lane. So how does Matt Payne have two unsafe releases on the Saturday and they both go unpenalised? Yeah, that's a decent that's a decent question. I sort of expected particularly the second one to probably draw a penalty, but it it didn't and whether that was a little bit of the classic finals mentality of leaving the whistle in the pocket if and when you can. I'm not a hundred percent. Well look, I I don't it's not a sporting penalty, it's a safety penalty. Yes, but when it's at a part of the pit lane where it's obviously I I I get it. For the sake of absolute consistency, it probably should have been a penalty. I don't find it massively outrageous it wasn't, but I wouldn't have found it surprising if it was. In terms of the pit lane cone, like race control didn't really feel it was necessary and to be honest I don't think it would have changed anything in terms of Payne's re entry after either stop on Saturday. So probably giving a bit more space to be able to run side by side before filing in is not not a bad thing. So I don't find that overly relevant to to to how it all played out. But But if it's there, they don't do that. They've got to stop it Well they they still maybe but you know, was it really that big a deal? I'm not not a hundred percent sure. Given a bit more space to try and sort it out. I I don't know. I'm not I I I don't like I say, if if he'd been penalised, particularly for the second one, I would have gone, Yeah, okay, well that's what happens when you do hit a car in pit lane, but it's a long way towards pit exit as well, so I don't find either outcome overly offensive, if that makes sense. There's a bit of a push around saying that the Groves are getting a fair rub of the green with the officials this year and last. your thoughts? I don't Think so. Obviously there was the big high profile case, in terms of tire the tire pressures in Perth for for Kai Allen. that was a case of you know, they managed to talk their way out of a penalty. Supercars wasn't happy with it, so it's not like they that supercars is on their side. We know that because it ended up in the in the Court of Appeal where it ultimately failed because the process hadn't actually failed, but I don't think there's necessarily any conspiracy to help the Groves. it's just basic could it be a bit of fear of lawyers at dawn? Motorsport Australi well the Stewards panel's mostly made up of lawyers, so Motorsport Australia has plenty of itself, don't worry about that. I mean that's effectively what that is the generally the the profession that that fits the those those stewarding positions best. So it I don't think there's plenty of good lawyers at Motorsport Australia, don't worry about that. All right. and my final shiz and and it's an overall thing about burning race cars AVL, I reckon we all as motorsport fans don't mind seeing the odd crash, spin, bingle, there's you know but there's something about a car on fire that makes most of us, I reckon, feel a bit sick inside. And on Saturday Aaron Cameron's Lickimol liquid molly car Pulled up at turn four with flames licking out the back left hand wheel arch. and it got worse before it got better, obviously. Thankfully camo got out, but it took a bit to put the flames out and then a heap of work from the team who pulled an all nighter to put the car back together. One thing I noticed about that AVL, whilst we were watching that car burn, at the back where the fuel tank happens to sit, a lot of photographers within like five feet of all that happening, which seemed risky. yeah, I mean that's an element of that is just the old school nature of sand down and how sort of close the walls out of the track and that sort of stuff. And I guess when a car's on fire and you're a professional photographer, you're probably gonna wanna wanna get close to it and take a photo of it. So yeah, I mean, as a man of the media, I don't want to discourage people being able to get close to take great photos and I can put it on a website, I'm sure everything was. Which website would they put that on, would you say? Probably speakfa dot com. But the the yeah, I I think it was I think Camo did a great job to get out of the car. You're right, it just does make you feel sick to the stomach whenever you d whenever you see a car on fire, particularly closed cars like and you man, I hope this guy can get out of this thing, but he was out of it real quick. he deployed the firebomb in the car and the damage was extensive, but it could have been a lot worse. And again, the the way it would have been the worst case scenario was if he couldn't get out of the car. So it's always a massive relief when you see the driver w walking around afterwards. Yeah, Roman Grosjean called him a pussy, but anyway, whatever. Alright, let's go the shift cut, because there's a lot of F1 stuff happening. And we'll start by going into the Brazilian Grand Prix Avial, Ralph Schumacher, really short of an opinion these days, compared Lewis Hamilton to Al Capone over his radio messages during Ferrari's Cossack Mexico GP. He said Lewis Hamilton has accepted if Charles Leclerc doesn't drive across the meadow, a crash will occur. You don't demand a penalty for your teammate over the radio. Then to speak like Al Capone and threaten them saying we have big, big problems. From my point of view, the dog is walking the owner. Not a bad point, to be honest. speaking to media in the Interlagus packet paddock, Hamilton rejected the suggestion that his remarks are calculated, pointing to the pressures drivers face during a race. He said, I'm never going to apologize for being authentic and real. I'm never going to be silenced. I've not been asked to s not say anything. That's not just that's just the way it is. Hamilton maintained that Leclerc races him differently from other drivers, drawing comparisons with Mon the Monegasque's previous Ferrari teammates, Sebastian Vatel and Carlos Sainz. Martin Brundle then weighed in with his take on the drama, saying Hamilton is playing a smart political game at Ferrari by openly criticising his teammate. Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur helped clear the air talks with his drivers on Thursday evening in Brazil and made it clear that the team must come first. And then for a lot of yesterday after or sorry, this morning, they raced together. So that was A lot of people sitting around going, Jesus, here we go. But I gotta be honest, they were both clean in the end because I think both of were slow. Yeah, yeah. I I I didn't see much around the sort of Ralph comments and that sort of stuff, but I do feel that a seven time world champion has got the right to have an opinion, and I'm probably heavily biased on that because the idea of teams shutting drivers down and and not allowing them to actually express what they think and and giving them a company line to tow doesn't really fit with my profession, right? I want everyone to be as outspoken as they can and of course as honest as they can and and we don't actually probably see enough of it. So that's my biased view of it. We know Ferrari's management of his drivers has seemed pretty ad hoc for quite a long time, but, you know, I think someone with the stature of Lewis Hamilton, like I I think muzzling someone like that or attempting to do so w is not actually a good thing for the sport because he is the rock star of the sport. So let him be that. What do you reckon about the way they handled these two? Because If you look at Charles Leclerc you probably think, Well, he's in a bit Ferrari longer term than Lewis unless something horrendous happens. So how do you deal with this? How does Fred Visur deal with this in that he tries to please everyone? Because I reckon it must be a tough gig at the moment, trying to f sort that mess out. Well, we saw how tough it was with McLaren last year. Like that's the most incredible recent example of of trying to be overly fair. And I think at some point you've got to lay down framework for the drivers. Here's what's completely unacceptable. But also just let just let car races happen as they happen. And explain to the drivers that you can't control the team can't control everything. Yeah. And at ultimately you're also responsible for what you're doing in the car. So sort it out. Give yourself a little more margin around your teammate, but sort it out except when things don't go your way. Because there's every chance they'll go your way next time around. Or yeah, just you you like I say, you you can only be responsible for so much sitting on the pit wall. Like these guys are driving the car. Give some very structured rules about what is absolutely not allowed. And then after that, just make it clear to them that car races happen as they happen and you're partly in control of that. Yeah. Or Ralph Schumacher, I hear that's what I hear you saying. Let's talk about qualifying in Brazil. Now there were five engine penalties across the grid, but through it or Lando Norris claimed pole position in what was a rain-soaked qualifying session that was disrupt disrupted with lengthy delays. He beat George Russell by point two of a second with newly crowned world champion Kimi Antonelli finishing third. Russell carried on like a bit of a pork chop butt the radio when the team told him to back out of a fast lap just as the rain entins intensified. Although it did matter little with him forced to take a five-place grid penalty due to a power unit change. Charles Leclerc finished the session in fourth, but also took a penalty of his own for a power unit change. That pushed Liam Lawson to third. Nicke Holkenberg was in sixth, but jumped to fourth because of all these penalties. Alonso was in eighth. Leclerc dropped to fourteenth, Hamilton to twentieth, and Max in twenty first. So if you wanted to see what reverse grid racing was like in Formula One, we almost got it this morning because there were some blokes at the back. and then in the Grand Prix, Lando Norris fought back from losing the lead at the start to champion elect Kimmy Antonelli and He mastered the typically unpredictable weather conditions in Alagas. Does it ever not rain there, by the way? with his third victory of the season, Max Verstappen produced another phenomenal comeback drive in Brazil as he charged from twenty first on the grid to finish a remarkable second, ahead of Red Bull teammate Issaak Hajar, who completed the podium. George Russell led home newly crowned F one world champion Andrea Kimi Antonelli in fourth. As Mercedes clinched the twenty twenty six Constructors Championship. With three races remaining, although George Russell did spin leaving Pitts, which was amusing and dramatic all at once. It marks Mercedes' first constructors triumph since twenty twenty one in its ninth overall. Piastri finished sixth. Liam Lawson, who got to second early, he dropped down to eighth but was promoted seventh after Charlotte Claire was penalised over a late c collision between the pair. It was an interesting race, but it actually sounds like a lot more happened than it did, to be honest. Yeah, you'll have to do the heavy lifting here as I didn't actually see the race live and I I did watch the mini today, but it was in between doing other bits and pieces, mostly supercars related, so I don't have a heap of insight to add, but by the looks of things, like just Max Verstappen in changeable conditions at Interlagos, he's just on a different planet. It just seems insane. He got to Lewis pretty quick and you were kinda well, even the comments I listened to the world feed, I just can't do the other mob I listened to World Feed and they were saying, these two can work together to come through the field. But Lewis just stopped and Max just kept going and going and going. It was an unbelievable drive. how anyone could vote for anyone else for driver of the day, and I know driver of the day doesn't mean diddly squat, but if you're watching that and thinking anyone else was a better driver on the day than Max Verstappen, then you're not watching the same thing I'm watching. But yeah, it was a good race without being stellar, is what how I would put it. a couple of quick supercar stories, Avial. the Dunlop Super 2 series will race Underlights as part of its standalone event at the historic Malala Circuit in South Australia next year. The the additional round is a standalone super 2 event, as we discussed last week, at the She Sam Shahin owned Malala Motorsport Park in April, the first of its kind in nearly two decades. The undercars expect to include the likes of Trans Am, Touring Car Masters, and Supertrucks. Which would mark the first time in the modern era that supercars of any type and super trucks have shared a bill. nothing in super trucks, but I'd be going there to watch the Super Two's underlights, that would be fantastic. Metallo actually drew a massive crowd for Supertrucks this year. I think it I think it was this year they went back there and drew a massive crowd. So the super trucks is actually what they Stuff up the tarmac or something because it's man, I I raced I raced at super trucks events at Wannoroo back in the early two thousands and the track was rubbish. Like it was just covered in whatever comes out of those things. Like it was you could just guarantee you were gonna be a second and a half a lapse lower for that meeting. But it was the biggest it was the second biggest crowd that we raced in front of after supercars. By a mile. So it was they were still fun race meetings. So I I think that's actually a really fun part of this. I will let you have your victory lap on this form of the return of a standalone super two thing. I know it was underlies. You've driven it. You've driven it. The the underlies like top to bottom, it's just great news. It's one of the feel-good stories of the overall supercar's calendar announcement. That support lineup is cool, racing under lights is cool, and I think I want to be there. I think I want to be there to see it. I reckon we need to be there. And you know what? They will get a crowd there because a lot of even though it's not like in the middle of Adelaide or anything, they do get a good a pretty loyal group of people go out to that track for pretty much everything. So I reckon you'll see a fairly decent crowd for that meeting. I think I think you will. The Sunday's Anzac Day as well, and 'cause it's an old RAF base, they're gonna do like historic plane flyovers and that sort of stuff. so I know they've got some pretty good news around the T V broadcast of it coming up, that'll that'll come out a bit later. But in terms of, feet on the ground, I think they're pretty committed to pricing it at a at a pretty decent level to try and ensure there's people there. So and I think there will be 'cause like I say, they've they've had some good crowds. They got a decent crowd for the homecoming towards the end of last year, last November, and apparently they got a big crowd through for Supertrucks. So I think if you bring all this stuff together, it's just the perfect fit for a circuit like that. So yeah, I'm I'm genuinely Pretty keen to be there. I think it's going to be a cool weekend. Triple Eight Race Engineering, in even better news for Millegy Industries, has confirmed its Bathis twelve hour entry with a Ford Mustang G3, GT3, to be driven by Brock Feeney and Will Brown. A third driver is likely to come from Ford's factory driver pool. will be announced at a later date. For Feeney, next year's race will offer him a shot at redemption after his first outing in the Mustang was thwarted by a rogue kangaroo, but we taught him a lesson, AVL. We taught that roue a real good lesson. Yeah, I don't think he'll be there next year, but it will be a good comeback. Yeah, yeah. it'll be really interesting to see if this is the only Mustang on the grid. because indications as of right now are that it could be the only one, despite what you've been told. and that obviously comes with some risk given exactly what happened this year. I did speak to Mark Rushbrook at the Grand Prix early this year. much earlier, right after the Bathers twelve hour, and he was adamant there needed to be multiple forward entries in the race to protect against a soul car having a problem like it had. But wanting cars on the grid and finding ways to get them there in a commercialised fashion are two different things. So I'm interested I still wouldn't be surprised if there's more than one, but I I'm very interested to see how they put that together and how it plays out for for I'm pretty sure I can't remember the exact number, but there's less than thirty G T three Mustangs in existence. It might even be less than twenty. So you you you probably do have a fair point there, mate. Trying to get one to bring it over might even be a problem, let alone finding budget and everything else. Yeah, I think getting one there is the the easy part. It's paying to run it and then paying drivers and all that stuff around it that's the more difficult part. But that is one interesting thing sort of as we build the Bathus twelve hour entry is how many Mustangs are out there? Bring it over and sell it when you get over it. It's usually the the standard way we pay for these trips. Again, easy to say. Hard to actually do because they're pretty expensive. I was gonna say the price tag on that one sitting at the Ford tent at the top of the chase last year was eye watering, let's just say that. Yep. let's talk about NASCAR. Shane Van Gisburg and qualified twenty sorry, thirty-fourth in the Pistol Pete impeachment four fifty at homestead. And in the race, he could do no better than 34th. the race was won by Ryan Blaney while Kyle Larsen clinched his third NASCAR Cup Series title. Now I want to talk about Moto GP because to lead up to the Qatar Grand Prix, there was a lot of pushback about whether they should even be racing there. on Thursday the press conference had one question and it was ended straight after that, where Mark Marquez was asked, Are you worried about being here? He replied I'd like to be in another place, but for that reason I arrive on the latest flight possible and I will leave on the earliest flight possible. But here we are, ready to race and fully concentrated. With that answer, it was all over, everyone walked out. Now Marco Bazecchi, who is believed to be among the few riders in favour of racing Qatar, took a dig at Marquez before the press conference began saying, You came after all, all that fuss, but you're still here in the end. Marquez quipped. There's no way otherwise otherwise I'd given you free points. the GP went ahead despite nine into the twenty two riders on the grid signing a letter last week stating they would not race if the championship did not take responsibility for anything that might go wrong. Toner Wolf then joined in having a crack at the writers and backed F one and the FIA over its push to race in the region, saying, I think if the riders stand up who geopolitically know nothing about what's going on but have the audience that listens, I think that is something that creates media value. F one drivers have reportedly AVL been forbidden. From airing their concerns about the Middle East and racing over there, which is interesting tactic. Yeah, look, I don't know anything about that or whether they have been forbidden or whatever. it was still I don't know. It felt uneasy that Moto G P went there. I think it was a bit of a test case for what F one is gonna do. I still wouldn't be surprised either way that F one could potentially go with this thing. Like I I don't have a great read on how it's gonna play out, but it's going to be pretty controversial if they decide to press on with those with those last two races over there at the end of the season. Well it was worthwhile in some regard for Mark Marquez to go because he survived a clash in the sprint race with Marco Besecki to win the sprint while Grossini's Firman Aldeguer ran into Peko Bagnoya. Have you seen this crash? yeah, that was horrible. Bagnoye into what's can only be described as sickening accident, which led to the race being red flagged. Bagnoya was taken to hospital in Qatar after suffering fractures To his foot in the horrific incident. Imagine that. Didn't want to go over there and then got a broken foot. You're still in hospital for the next week in Qatar. at the restart, Marquez was involved in a tense duel with Besecchi that resulted in a collision between the pair and the Italian crashing out of the title contention. Fabio D. Giadantonio finished second from Jorge Martin, who kept his faint title hopes alive. And in the Grand Prix, Bezzecchi dominated from all twenty-two laps. he beat a Mark Marquez, who got second from Raul Fernandez. Marquez started second, but he dropped as low as fourth behind Bezecchi. but then he got in front after Pedro Acosta had a tire pressure problem. Jorge Martin showed immense bravery, Avil. He is busted to get seventh to keep his title alive in Portugal. Marquez will be a champion though if he wins the sprint race in Portugal, regardless of where anyone else finishes. So you'd think it's fate of complete given that Marquez seems to be a sprint race specialist these days too. Moto 2, Centre Aggius qualified sixth. dropped to seventh by the finish and Joel Kelso qualified fourteenth but got all the way up to six in moto three. That is it for what was one hell of a busy weekend. Jesus when it rains it pours literally except in Melbourne. Yep, exactly. Alright, let's go to a break and we'll come back with what's the forward headline. Winter could spell bad news for your vehicle's battery. Here are three maintenance tips from the battery gurus at RNJ Batteries. 1. Avoid frequent short trips to keep your battery at a healthy state of charge. 2. Keep the battery terminals clean and corrosion free. 3. Avoid running your accessories with the engine off for too long. If your battery is three years or older, it might be time to get it tested for free. At your local R and J Batteries. R and J Batteries power like nothing else. And welcome back. So as we do, each week after a race meeting of supercars, we do what's the forward headline? I'm gonna give you a subject. You just tell me your headline around the subject. Number one, AVL, Will Brown. What's your forward headline for the weekend? time to cash in some favours from Brock because this is a remarkable opportunity for Brock to have Will as his rear gunner for Adelaide. so if you see Brock, you know, driving a tilt tray around to Woomba or helping out in the finance department of Cars Galore, don't be surprised. Put him to work, Will. Make sure he earns that support. My headline is lucky dogs looking for new co-host. I don't know. I've got a someone put something to me over the weekend, Aviol, and I'm gonna put it to you. Mm-hmm. Is Will Brown and Triple Eight heading for a divorce? It just seems like They have different values and mindsets around racing. I think if he goes out and does a fantastic job of helping Brock win the championship, that conversation will be parked very, very quickly. All right. so yeah. I'll leave that one there. Anton Di Pascali, what's your forward headline? The year of falling just short. And I do feel for Anton like that's two heartbreaking near misses in one year. He just didn't quite have enough. on the Sunday at Sandown, but he made a good fist of it and it does feel like things are building at Team eighteen. and that's really good news for GM as well, because between that and this new look sort of premier racing, this rejuvenation of that team that we're seeing in the in the very back end of this season, there's kind of some there's it feels like there's some light at the end of the tunnel for for GM as a manufacturer in supercars, which is an important thing. You know, we want to keep we want them in the sport, you know, it's good for everyone. so yeah, I I like to sort of see those glimmers of hope for that manufacturer. My forward headline is hiding Bathur Scars superbly because I don't know, there just looks like behind those eyes there's a bloke still thinking, mate, what if? absolute yeah. what about Cam Waters? What's your forward headline? The semi final hurdle strikes again. Because that's two years in a row that Cam, a renowned street fighter, doesn't get his shot in Adelaide. I hoped he would because it would have been a lot of fun to watch. And I really thought he would after Saturday at Sandown because the Tickford cars traditionally work better on the soft tie than they do on the super soft. So interestingly the team does have a theory that he had one set of soft tires that was just no good. And that was the set that he went out on for Q two and he was three tenths slower in Q two than he was in Q one. That obviously knocked him out. those four tires were then split across different sets in the first two stints of the race and he struggled for pace and couldn't make any progress. And then with another set in the final stint, the team reckons his pace was really good. So I have no idea if that's true or not, but that's definitely the working theory at Tickford. Yeah, my forward headline is can't tell if it's a good year or a bad year. Like, to be honest with you, it doesn't feel like Cam has had a great year and yet He was almost in the final four going to Adelaide. So, They they they really struggled in the first half of the season, or sorry, the first part of the season. And then they had this this sort of purple patch in the northern swing in Darwin and Townsville, where he won was he win three or win two and took a couple of poles and that sort of stuff, like sort of seemed to really get on top of things and then kind of things mellowed a little bit, but he was still scoring enough points and doing enough and then I I f I really feel like the Saturday at Sandown was that he didn't have the pace to win the race. I don't think they expected to on the super soft tire, but they certainly rolled into the track on Sunday morning thinking we can give this a real good shake. It was only a point of nudge under the cut line. but yeah, just whatever happened. And it was weird. I I mean again the tire theory, i it it's a really tough one to to kind of get your head around it a and be able to say definitively yes that was what happened or no it wasn't. But the fact that Tommy Randall's car was fast. he was in and around the top five sort of yeah, the well the the the second part of the top ten all day. So it feels weird that you know and apparently the cars were very similar on setup and all that sort of stuff. So there was an element of bizarrness about the fact that Cam just fell off a cliff and did a did an eight two in Q one and then did an eight five in Q two and then sort of Just couldn't get the thing going in the race, it was all very strange. So just a shame. Cause like I say, you if you put he's a bit like Chaz Mossad. If you put that guy in the final four in Adelaide, doesn't matter where he's seated, like he's gonna be a factor. Yep. what about Kai or mine was yeah, I I think I said underrated or overhead. What about Kai Allen? What's your forward headline? Lightning doesn't strike twice because he got away with the tire pressure breach once this year, but the stewards saw him coming at Sandown. And he got he got busted for being under the minimum tire pressure. Luckily it was any practice, but it was a fun side note in the early part of the weekend. I just wrote twelve months is a long time because this time last year we were saying he's gonna go to the finals without winning a race. This year he's won a race and not gonna go to the finals. And geez on the weekend, he was bashed from pillar to post but also made a few mistakes that you wouldn't have thought bloke of that ability and Hossett maturing might have done. But yeah, I think we're It's the end of his second season in Supercars. if I was gross, I'd be pretty happy with his progression even if he didn't make finals. He obviously overachieved in terms of his end of season position last last year, but it was still I think that it you're right, it was a totally different season, or it's been a totally different season for him this year, but I think he's made the right gains in the right areas in terms of going, right, I can be consistent and I can bank the points and I can Put the weekends together when it matters to progress through the finals system, but he's a race winner. He's doing those the the big ticket items that you really need to do if you're gonna go on and have a very long and suc successful career in the sport. And I have very little doubt that that's exactly what he's gonna do. I'm not suggesting he should be punted next week or anything. I just think that yeah. I think there was maybe I think we the start of this year we both said he will be in the final four in Adelaide. and he's he wasn't. Chaz Mossett. Don't bet against him. fourth seed. yeah. Everything to do. But Chaz Mustard on a street circuit, you just can't rule him out as Madelaid. That'll make that'll make the other three nervous. there's a th there was a just based on nothing against Anton or teammating or their consistency or anything, but geez, I I reckon any of those guys in the top four would have thought, geez, if you could sort of take Chaz out of the equation and put Anton in it, that might be a safer bet. We d we don't know exactly where teammates, they're not necessarily that kind of it's a street track, they're gonna go gangbusters team yet at least. But Chaz on a street circuit. Man. It was a constant topic of conversation in the commentary. Should should Maddie just let him through and and take take the L for the day? You could never do you could never do it because the risk of embarrassment if Anton went out and won the championship would just be way too high. And it would be a very genuine risk as well. So but you could certainly make a case based solely on Chaz's ability in those street circuit situations that there might have been a there might have been a f slightly friendlier opponent. Yeah. I just wrote Chaz just gets the job done because a few times over the weekend I he was nowhere. In in qualifying, there was a time there on Saturday where he was not gonna make the ten. He was a long way from the ten. And then he throws it up there. then he threw it off the road, don't let's not be let's be honest. But yeah, he just somehow gets the job done and and well done to that team. First year in the Toyota's to be able to ha be in the final four is quite an achievement. That is a that is an amazing achievement. Like you are not wrong about that. That is something pretty incredible for for them to come along with that car and to get a car into the grand final. That is something that's it's kinda easy to overlook because it is Walk and Shore, it is Chaz Most and all that sort of stuff, but it is actually an inc a remarkable achievement. Well, we we I'm you know how much work work that team were doing back end of last year and over Christmas. We seen for our o with our own eyes. They were working their guts out. So this is some reward for that and well done to them. What about Aaron Cameron? Motorsport Australia extraction test world champion. 'Cause that was a quick exit from a car. And you do have to do extraction tests sometimes and I reckon if they did some sort of pit stop challenge but it was an extraction test, he'd be hard to beat. Do you reckon they did a walk on Thursday afternoon of the track and went that's the there's fire marshals there, just in case you are wondering. So yeah, remember that. I just wrote better at barbecues than Todd Hazelwood. What's what a that's actually very, very good. Yeah. What's your forward headline for the final system? Best thing ever. Yeah. I love it. The reality is that Matt Payne would already be champion elect under the old system. We'd be going to this massive marquee government funded event in Adelaide with nothing to play for. You will never convince me that Gold Coast didn't benefit from finals, Sandown didn't benefit from finals, Adelaide doesn't benefit from finals, the industry doesn't benefit from finals, and the fans don't benefit from finals. Matt Payne, he's got an argument right now that he might not benefit for from it, but we'll find that out in Adelaide, but I just I love it. Just checking. You're for it? Yeah, I'm for it. Yeah. My my forward headline is all arguments are now over. You just I I had people message me last week saying, I don't like it, this, that, this, that, it's not not what I'm used to. But then one of those blokes actually messaged me over the weekend and said, I've become the quickest convert known to man on Saturday. Just watching those blokes hammer and tongue it to try and make the top four or try and get a win and get in. I really hope that the final four that we do have going there that that it it'll be really hard to make an argument against any of them being A deserving champion. Obviously, that was an accusation leveled against Chaz last year just based on how dominant Brock Feeney was. But no one has been dominant dominant this year. Yes, Matt Payne would have the championship wrapped up under a traditional point score, but you'd be hard pressed to argue that Brody Castecki, if he beat Matt in Adelaide, wasn't a deserved like he's won a lot of I he's might have won the most races this year, right? So like he he's done a lot this year as well. If Brock Feeney wins, there's this redemption angle to it that'll be hard not to appreciate. And if Chaz Mostett wins it, then he's the finals guy. once again, he's the guy that that steps up on the big stage and gets the job done. it's not it's not a fluke anymore. He's done it two years in a row. So I just I I really hope that we're in this. And obviously it will depend on the nature of how the races play out and there was a bit of a bad taste in some people's mouth about The Ryan Woodbrock Feeney clash last year and all that stuff. But I feel like we've got this final four now that there is a pretty strong argument for any of them winning the title. So hopefully you are right. This does put the argument to bed. It never will. That's not how sport works. It's not how sport fandom works. And and that's a good thing because everyone sh has the right to their opinions about things and should be passionate about those opinions. But yeah, I think my position on it's pretty clear. Let's go to Formula One for the last two. George Russell, which a forward headline for George. Well, you can I'm gonna let you do the heavy lifting on F one, 'cause I don't feel like I watched enough of it to contribute here. I just wrote I don't I can't write this as concisely as four words, but a season wrapped up in one movement. Spinning out of pits after you've got a tire change whilst you're chasing down the leaders is everything you need to know about George Russell's year in twenty twenty six. He must just be sweating on getting out of here and having a couple of a month or two off before he comes back because it has not gone well. but finally Max Verstappen and I'm sure you'll go with this, I've just written the best driver on the planet. He just unbelievable. Just unbelievable watching him. He was on an absolutely and that that car still isn't the best car on the grid. I don't care what anyone says. That is still not the best car on the grid. To go from last or second last to second He's just a freak. A freak of nature. We should just enjoy watching this blate run around because it is something to behold. I bet he's glad he signed on for next year. 'Cause he must be thinking Yeah, I reckon this might go around. Remember when he signed on and were like, Jeez, there must have been much else around that, caught his eye. But geez within the space of six weeks, we were like, right. I see. Yep. Good call. all right, let's go to a break and we'll come back with rear of grid. Yeah, welcome back. I don't know whether you ducked into the Discord over the weekend AVL as often as I did. Well you probably didn't, but on the stage there I just had a quick look up. There was thirty six people in there. All chatting motorsport at once. there's more in total, like this. yeah, yeah, but just in one hit, that is mate, yeah. Almost that's almost I don't want to say too many. There's never too many, but geez, it was a quite healthy To see that many people sitting there and and and just enjoying it, so if you do want to be part of it, go over to fctn.com, join up with the membership, and jump into Discord and chat away. And I'll tell you what, it will be busy in Adelaide, for the Adelaide race. So yeah. And you do get some little tidbits of exclusivity. Like you know, we were at the first reveal that the unfortunately the Castro retro livery wasn't running white wheels for the weekend, which was devastating. That was a big topic on the Thursday, I in the Discord. And a bad choice. And I might even put the tomorrow I'll put the photo that I sent you on WhatsApp before into the Discord. So you have to be into it if you want to see the photo. And I'll drop that I'll drop that in the Discord. If I'll do that tomorrow. I'll give people a few hours to sign up and then it's going in and it probably won't be worth it. But you know, why not? Yeah. I mean if you haven't seen Avial's famous photos in your inbox by now. You must be one of the few in Australia, so we've all seen it, mate. you bash into something presentable before you do it again, that'd be great. Mate, let's do credit or shredded. So I'm gonna make a statement. You decide whether you agree or disagree with credit or shredded will come back after we've done all six. Number one, supercar should enable and encourage one main game driver to be able to do one super two round each as NASCAR do. shreddit. Yeah. I I say Shreddit. number two, George Russell is cooked at Mercedes and the team should look at replacing him now. Ooh, Shredd it. Yeah, Shredd, but with a caveat. Number three, Liam Lawson has turned in the best season ever for a bloke who could lose his seat at the end of the year. Credit. Credit. Number four, with F one now no real chance, Jack Doan should be on Supercar Team's shopping list as an Enduro driver in twenty twenty seven. Shredded. I'll say credit. Number five. Lewis Hamilton says he wants to race at the first Raw London Grand Prix, meaning he'll likely be around forty five years of age. He will race there and it will be with Ferrari. that's a great one. I'm gonna say credit. Wow. Yep, it's a big cool. I'll say maybe not the Ferrari part. Maybe not the Ferrari part. I'll say Shred it. Number six, sand out is proof that a good racetrack only needs two good straights with some hard stopping and a few squiggly bits in the middle. credit. Credit. all right, go back to number one. Supercar drivers doing one super two round each if they want. Yeah, I could see how this would be fun, but there's a few issues that I see with it. firstly it's with the way that the the sort of schedule works on a weekend. On a super car's weekend with Super Two, it'd be a big ask to to have drivers like asking your spearhead professional athlete in your team when you're trying to fight for championships and that stuff to say, well, you have to then go and have all this other distraction going on at the same time. Laps are good, but at some point, you have professional drivers that don't necessarily need to just be pounding around and round and round. and that yeah, I think it would be a tough sell. And then th you got the flip side of that argument that is, well, hang on, this guy's out here doing all his laps this weekend. so I think it's a tough sell on the Supercars teams in the main game. It's a tough sell on the Super Two front because these teams have got kids paying a lot of money for these seats, like crazy amount of money. so if you go back to my original point about not wanting to dovetail supercars and super two on the same weekend, there'd be this big pressure on the standalone round to do it. And this is kind of the kids time to shine on the a as the as the lead category. So when you're charging them, close to a million dollars to be to be doing a s doing a seven one season. I I just don't see how it would work. yes, main gamers provide a benchmark, but it's probably too high a benchmark given the difference in race miles between the two tiers o across a season. So I just couldn't see it getting across the line. And and we have confirmed with supercars that the s that the For the standalone round at Madela, the normal rules will be in place which effectively prohibit main game drivers from competing in Super Two. Okay. when I wrote this I thought, that's a good idea. And then the more I thought about it, the more I thought, is it is it really? Like what It's a fun idea. It's a fun idea like really on the surface, but I think real realistically I just couldn't see it happening. Yeah. And the other thing too is I I the well, I used to like Dumbrell the series because he was a really good benchmark. To go, okay, if you're beating Paul Dumbrell, who hadn't didn't have a lot to prove, and he was in Super Twos for quite a while just to keep the rust off, then you did pretty well. And it wasn't like he was unbeatable or anything, but nothing against Paul, but bringing someone like let's just say Brody or Brock or Matt Payne to do one race, and what happens if he goes out and just hoses him? Like Well, that's a pretty likely outcome. That's the that's that's kind of the kind of the issue. A and the issue in terms of why it would be a tough sell. The Super Two teams. George Russell is cooked and Mercedes should look at replacing him ASAP. Yeah, I said shred it because like a world beater paired with a competent Grand Prix driver is number two is almost the dream line. Do think George Russell's going to accept being number two? Well he's gonna have to at some point if things keep going the way they're going. Like it could all change next year. He might come out firing, who knows? But like at some point your place in the world just has to be accepted. Yeah. I I just think I don't know, I But then who do they replace him with, too? That's the other thing. Because it was it's Lewis Hamilton and Valtery Bodas, right? That was a great combo. It was a great combo for him. So it's Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. Valtery never went there and said, if I had been this team earlier, Lewis wouldn't have won championships. No, no, that's true. so yeah, look. It's it's gonna be an interesting watch because I think next year, if I don't think George will have the same year as this year, but if he happened to Then I think it's all over Red Rover for him and Merck and maybe just go to Aston and and fill that seat. Liam Lawson has turned in the best season ever for a bloke who who could lose his seat. He's done a he's done a good job. It's it's so bizarre, but as I've said so many times, it's a quirk of that Red Bull system. Mm. Like you can be doing so well, but still not doing enough. Yep. F one now, no real chance. Jack Dylan should be on supercar team shopping lists as an enduro driver in twenty seven. You said no. I say yeah. I said no because it's something I've been thinking about because of the focus it's been on Alan Jones in the last week, following his park passing like that sort stuff. Like it's just when you think about his career, it's a great reminder the old school F one drivers in the days of H Batten gearboxes and three pedals. Like they were they were racing drivers. And they could adapt to do anything because there were common principles across nearly all categories. But modern F one drivers are F one drivers. the FIA single seat pyramid is so limiting in terms of skill set and it turns them into amazing F one drivers. And F one turn turns them into amazing F one drivers. But I don't know. I I look at someone like Jack who's a product of that system and I think there'd just be so much work to do to turn him into a supercars driver. Like a really front running supercars driver. So it's actually a massive shame. it's it's a shame that there is this huge difference between open wheel cars and well sorry, the the the FIA open wheel cars and then other professional race cars that you sort of just can't imagine people coming out of that system and flourishing in a supercar z environment, for example. They tend to go to sports cars. Yeah, but he's dri it's still a a paddle shift, two pedal, high down force car. Yep. it's he would still he he wouldn't come to Bathurst's for the one thousand and wipe the floor with everyone. No. He might do that on twelve hour weekend, but he would not he would not do that on one he'd get there. I'm not saying he wouldn't get there, not saying Jack Dwyn wouldn't get there, but I think teams sit there and just look at the the process and think, man, there's just easier options. Yeah. I tell you what, it wouldn't be hard to sell sponsorship to it, but would they? having Jack Dwyn's name on the side of your car. But yeah, I say, and the other thing too is it's always that thing of Aviol, if they come over and they get their ass handed to them because of, like you say, just not enough running. Yeah. What would be the purpose of them doing that? It could actually damage their reputation back over in Europe. So Lewis, Rwanda, forty five and Ferrari. Yeah, the Ferrari bit maybe I've maybe I've got a bit excited here about the Ferrari bit. I don't know if he's still gonna be there in that time, but He says he wants to do it. He says he's built different. And I believe him. I reckon Fernando will probably be there as well. Imagine forty five years of age, Rwanda Grand Prix, and Ollie Behrman saying, I'll bit Ferrari next year, but for sure. Yeah, exactly. That is I don't know, Ollie. You might want to look outside the square. I'm a juni I'm a Ferrari Junior. Yeah, mate, yeah, yeah. You're thirty four. Sandy out's proof good racetracks only need two long straights, some hard stopping and some squiggly bits. Yeah, it's not just sand down, but and I don't know if sand down is the ultimate proof, but long straights into hard stops, it may be boring, but it is what provides the best racing. Yeah. Yeah, and Jesus turned on some good races, especially in the last five or five or so years. So All right. Our family of the week comes from Innis Price on Facebook. He said, Hey, on the Kosteky pit lane penalty, does the crime fit the punishment? Harshest penalty and it doesn't even happen during the race. Chaz's team dropped the car with the fuel hose in and got teams points and a fine. It was sloppy and deserved punishment, but seems severe considering what it was. Glad he was good enough to get back to be seeded P two for the final, as that's as far up as he realistically would have been anyway, with the points reset and pain winning. Adelaide said should be epic. Shout out to Chaz and Toyota for making the f grand final in year one hell of an effort that. What do you think about that? pit lane penalty and cruising in in angel gear. Well actually not even in angel gear, just on silent mode. it's a very valid question. It is one that Stefan and I did debate in the Sunday edition of the Daily Podcast over the weekend. But ultimately there's a recommended table of penalties put together by supercars and given to the stewards and clearly the PLP for Brody for the Brody breaches tied up in that. it does seem harsh, I agree with that, but the rule is also very clear. So, just don't breach it. So the table of penalties is reviewed each year. I'd be surprised if this one isn't reviewed because obviously when when it is applied, that shines a spotlight on it and that's what does lead to a review if there is a general sense that it was too harsh. But the other way to look at it is that the best deterrent is harsh penalties. So I'm sure Brady won't be doing it again because it almost had massive ramifications on his season. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. And I think he might have ducked he dodge one earlier in the weekend anyway on Saturday with waters at the at the S's at the back of the strait, so you win one, you lose one anyway. Yeah. Well, that'll about do us for this episode of Full Cruise of the Noise. Don't forget you can find the show on all the socials at FC T T N Podcast. You read Avi Earl's excellent work at speakcavay dot com where they break all the big boat sport news first. I'm a big former legend, he's been Avi Earl and we'll see you on Dark Horses. See you there. Full credit to the noise.