What you need to know: Round 8 BP Eseries
27 May 2020
THE FORM GUIDE
Shane van Gisbergen is the new BP All Stars Eseries points leader after yet another dominant display last week.
He’s opened up a 64 point lead over Scott McLaughlin on the Coates Hire Leaderboard with three rounds to go, although McLaughlin won at Phillip Island in Round 1 and van Gisbergen struggled.
WATCH: ZANE GODDARD'S INTERLAGOS PREVIEW
Cam Waters came within a whisker of beating van Gisbergen last week at Charlotte and bagged a podium at Phillip Island the first time around.
The Walkinshaw Andretti United duo of Chaz Mostert and Bryce Fullwood claimed podiums at Phillip Island in Round 1 and Mostert claimed two more podiums last week.
THE WILDCARDS
Four wildcards are in for this week and one of them is one of Australia’s best up-and-coming online racers, Fawzan El-Nabi.
El-Nabi won his way into tonight’s round by setting a blistering lap time on the virtual Phillip Island circuit as part of the BP Ultimate Wildcard competition.
Expect the 23-year old Victorian to be a frontrunner in the #98 BP Ultimate Mustang.
Other wildcards include 2019 Mike Kable Young Gun Award Winner, Tyler Everingham, who showed huge potential in the Dunlop Super2 Series last year and will enjoy going door-to-door with some of his idols tonight.
James Golding returns to the Supercars grid tonight for the first time since he was announced as Mark Winterbottom’s IRWIN Racing Commodore PIRTEK Enduro Cup teammate for 2020.
James Courtney will also make his debut in the Boost Mobile Racing Mustang, following his arrival at Tickford last week. Courtney competed in a Commodore at Spa in Round 5 as an independent wildcard.
THE FORM SEEKERS
Could James Golding’s inclusion finally get Team 18 a podium or race win? That is the question.
Team 18, Team Sydney and Kelly Racing are the fan favourites for the final three rounds, as the only three teams yet to step on the virtual podium for a top three race finish, everyone is cheering for the underdogs.
Mark Winterbottom is the only Supercars driver with experience at Interlagos, so that may work in his favour in the IRWIN Racing Commodore tonight.
THE ROUGHIES
Fabian Coulthard returned to form last week in the Shell Ford at Charlotte and did claim a podium at Phillip Island in Round 1.
Rick Kelly’s Castrol Racing simulator has become one of the most talked about items of the BP Eseries and he desperately wants at least one strong result. He's keen to make amends for his Eseries debut at Phillip Island, where he saw his Mustang turn into the “KellyCopter” on the main straight.
David Reynolds has been arguably the biggest improver since the opening round and had his best results to date last week in the Penrite Commodore, so could be an outside chance tonight.
THE FORMATS
18:05-18:25 - Qualifying for Race 25, Sao Paulo
18:35-18:55 - Qualifying for Race 24, Phillip Island
19:15 - Race 24, Phillip Island, 12 laps or 18 minutes, one pitstop, 100 points available
19:48 - Race 25, Sao Paulo, 12 laps or 18 minutes, one pitstop, 100 points available
20:20 - Race 26 (reverse grid), 20 laps or 31 minutes, two pitstops, 100 points available
WHERE TO WATCH
Qualifying coverage for Round 8 will begin at 6pm AEST and will be broadcast exclusively on Fox Sports 506 before racing begins at 7pm.
From 7pm, racing will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 506, Kayo, Sky Sports (NZ) and 10 Play.
Online fans from around the globe can watch races via the Supercars’ Facebook page, Supercars teams' Facebook pages, Twitch and YouTube.
10 Bold will show a full replay of Round 8 on Saturday afternoon from 1-3pm.
