Originally announced in December 2013, the engine production for the Commodore ceased as of the 20th of October 2017. Whilst the V8 Supercars chassis and engines lived on until the end of the 2022 racing season

The bigger bodied, wider curved rear end of the ZB Commodore has been with us since the Season 1 2020 update (released in December 2019), and whilst I may be a Ford fan, I must admit I feel a very profound sense of loss to see the tail end of the Commodore.

We’ve already crowned our champion, so now all eyes turn to the “Battle for the Bubble”.

The Vermillion eSports driver of Zach Rattray-White will be the centrepiece of this battle yet again. There’s been some brilliant speed across the journey, and the improvement has been a sight to behold, but he’s yet to make a finish inside the top 10 and this will likely be his goal heading into the final round. Consequently, he also would do enough with a top 10 to finish in the automatic qualification spots.

Mathematically only 4 drivers below the cut line are still in contention for qualification, but realistically its a “must win” scenario for both Brenton Hobson and Marcello River who sit on 1288 points. They both are required to outscore all the drivers ahead of them by 116 points, and that’s before we get into the complicated situation should Shawn McNamara and Tom Freer both manage to move their way into being the bubble driver.

The story for McNamara and Freer is a lot easier of a task. McNamara sits 12 points adrift of Rattray-White, and Freer is only 18 further back for a target of 30 points to 20th. Getting into the on track scenarios this looks like 3 spots to tie it up for McNamara and 8 spots for Freer and is likely to be a big focus of the discussions tomorrow night.

Ahead of the bubble and still required to put points on the table sit 7 drivers. Adam Briggs, Josh Anderson, Blake Worboys, Jake Burton are a part of the calculations but realistically just require to hit the 75% marker to put points on the board. Ian Ford is the next driver in the equation and he will require a mid to high 20’s position to lock himself in.

Here’s where we stop looking at drivers that are “all-but” locked in. Beau Albert sits 92 points ahead of the bubble and Jake Moloney is only 38 points ahead of McNamara’s total. 21st is all Beau Albert will require to be locked in for 2025, but Moloney will require a 7th place finish.

I know there’s a lot of data to cover there, but for 2025 it becomes a lot more important than it's ever been. We’ve finally got confirmation we’ll be moving over to the Gen3 chassis, and we begin to encounter the new variables. There’s always a trick to be found with new cars and you don’t want to take a run through the gauntlet of the qualifying series in a new car if it can be avoided.

How about the location to bid adieu to the Commodore? We’re off on a spa vacation…. Sorry Circuit de Spa Francorchamps… Bugger, I’d already got my headphones in and put my feet up.

2022 Results

Qualifying  - Marcello Rivera 2.17.498
Race  - Jarrad Filsell
Format  - 39 Laps - 273km

2023 Results

Qualifying  - Jarrad Filsell 2.16.593
Race  -  Jarrad Filsell (post race penalty promoted James Scott to the win)
Format  - 39 Laps - 273km

2024 Format - 35 Laps - 245km

Both races that we’ve run at Spa have finished with winning margins under half a second, which shouldn’t be surprising given the drafting nature of the track.

Last year there was a bit of controversy as Filsell received a 15 second penalty in the opening laps for contact with Brady Meyers for the race lead. He elected not to serve the penalty across the duration of the race in a hope of challenging it post race. That didn’t work out and began a long slide through the remainder of the season that saw him return to the stewards box multiple times, and eventually be forced to the qualification series for this year.

The 3 biggest things about Spa are:

1. Big Lap
2. Big Speeds
3. Big draft trains

There’s so much opportunity to get some fuel saving if you can’t make your way forwards and the front of the field is going to form into its usual draft train aspect. You don’t want to lead early.

From the mid section of the race you’ve got to be position well when the strategy starts to open up.

Stops will start around Lap 13, but you could go very late as well with a lot of ease to catch and pass cars.

As for my predictions? Well… its pretty easy. The guy who’s won the race on the road and has been the fastest driver this year comes in as the favourite. Since we were here last 18 months ago, Jarrad Filsell went on a downhill slide into a redemption year. He’s my pick again just based on his dominance.

I’d be very nervous in Zach Rattray-White’s shoes, and he will know he’s going to have a camera on him all night long. He’s had a fun race already this week where he’s let the hair down and that's probably what he needed to set himself up for a big Wednesday night.

Shawn McNamara has got to pull something out here. The big issue with that is he’s a quiet consistent driver, not one for the big occasion and big performance when it’s required. His pace is still great, but this could be the last time we see him in the Logitech Pro Invitational Series if the younger talent coming through eliminates him from the qualifying series next year.

I’ll see you all Wednesday night for our final race of the season, but I’m not done with content for the year.

We’ll be live as usual from 7.45pm Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time to send off the Commodore in spectacular fashion.