Today’s two 60km sprint races at Hidden Valley saw some of the best racing action of the V8 Supercars season so far. The schedule consisted of a practice, two qualifying sessions and two races. New tyre rules meant the first qualifying and race could only be contested on hard tyre compounds and the second qualifying and race on only soft tyres.

The opening lap of Race 13 set the mood for the day. Aggressive battles for track position and lack of grip off the racing line saw most of the field end up in the dirt at some stage of the race. Two safety cars were also called in the short 21-lap race due to grass fires.

James Courtney started on pole position but dropped to 2nd place as he headed into the first corner. Meanwhile Garth Tander gained six places on the opening lap, then gained another two and settled into 7th.

The first of the safety cars came on lap 3 with Tander picking up another spot at the restart which moved him into 6th. Courtney was holding off unrelenting challenges from Winterbottom to hold 2nd place. On lap 13 Courtney locked his rear brakes and fell back to 4th, but had the chance to regain some track position after the second safety car was called.

There was just two laps remaining in the 60km race at the restart and Courtney and Tander charged. As they came into turn 1 Courtney and Van Gisbergen bumped sending car #22 into his teammate.

It was a disappointing finish for the team with Tander crossing the finish line in 20th and Courtney three places behind in 23rd.

Race 14 didn’t disappoint the fans either with a similar amount of carnage unfolding as the previous race. While Courtney and Tander didn’t have the best starting positions they were both able to move up a number of places after a big incident on the opening lap.

This caused a safety car as the debris and damaged cars were removed from the circuit. After the restart, Courtney and Van Gisbergen again found themselves battling for position but this time managed to keep the encounter on the track. Both HRT drivers were able to avoid incident as they race to the chequered flag. Courtney finishing 6th and Tander just two places behind in 8th position.