The 2018 Melbourne 400 (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2018 Coates Hire Supercars Melbourne 400) was a

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

event for the

Supercars Championship The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

that was held on the weekend of 22 to 25 March 2018. The event was run at the

Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung–Taungurung language, Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the St ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, and marked the first running of the

Melbourne 400 The Melbourne 400 (formally known as the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Victoria since 2018. The 2018 edition was the first time that a championship round ...

. It was the second event of sixteen in the

2018 Supercars Championship The 2018 Supercars Championship (known for commercial reasons as the 2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship) was an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for Supercars Championship, Su ...

and consisted of two races of 130 kilometres, and two races of 70 kilometers. The races were run in support of the

2018 Australian Grand Prix The 2018 Australian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 2018 Rolex Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 25 March 2018 in Melbourne, Victoria. The race was contested at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit and was the ...

and marked the first time that the Supercars support races would be a points-paying round of the Supercars Championship.

Results

Practice

Race 3

Qualifying

;Notes *–

Todd Hazelwood Todd Matthew Hazelwood (born 25 September 1995) is an Australian professional racing driver competing in the Repco Supercars Championship. He currently drives the #3 CoolDrive Racing Ford Mustang for Melbourne-based team, Blanchard Racing Team ...

, although his best time exceeded the specified qualifying time cut-off, the Stewards gave him permission to race.

Race

Championship standings after Race 3

;Drivers Championship ;Teams Championship * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Race 4

Qualifying

;Notes *– James Golding received a 5-place grid penalty for impeding

Craig Lowndes Craig Andrew Lowndes (born 21 June 1974) is an Australian racing driver in the Repco Supercars Championship competing in the Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He is also a TV commentator. Lowndes is a three-time V8 Supe ...

during qualifying.

Race

;Notes *–

Jack Le Brocq Jack Le Brocq (born 7 July 1992) is an Australian professional racing driver. He currently competes in the Repco Supercars Championship, and drives the No. 34 Holden Commodore ZB for Matt Stone Racing. So far, Le Brocq's career highlights incl ...

received a 15-second Time Penalty for Careless Driving, causing contact with

James Courtney James Anthony Courtney (born 29 June 1980) is an Australian racing driver competing in the Supercars Championship, Repco Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 5 Ford Mustang (sixth generation), Ford Mustang GT for Tickford Racing. ...

Championship standings after Race 4

;Drivers Championship ;Teams Championship * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Race 5

Qualifying

;Notes *–

received a 5-place grid penalty for impeding

Lee Holdsworth Lee Holdsworth (born 2 February 1983) is a semi-retired Australian racing driver. He won the 2021 Bathurst 1000 alongside Chaz Mostert and finished his full-time career after the 2022 season, after nearly two decades of racing. He plans to retur ...

during qualifying.

Race

;Notes *–

Anton de Pasquale Anton De Pasquale (born 14 September 1995) is an Australian motor racing driver. He currently drives the No. 11 Ford Mustang (sixth generation), Ford Mustang GT for Dick Johnson Racing in the Supercars Championship, Repco Supercars Championship ...

received a 5-second post-race Time Penalty for Careless Driving, failing to leave room and causing

Rick Kelly Rick Kelly (born 17 January 1983) is an Australian professional racing driver who previously competed in the Supercars Championship. He last drove the No. 15 Ford Mustang GT for Kelly Racing. Previously, he drove for the HSV Dealer Team with wh ...

lost 4 positions.

Championship standings after Race 5

;Drivers Championship ;Teams Championship * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Race 6

Qualifying

;Notes *–

and

Shane van Gisbergen Shane Robert van Gisbergen (born 9 May 1989) is a New Zealand racing driver in the Supercars Championship racing in the Number 97 Holden ZB Commodore car for Triple Eight Race Engineering. With three Supercars Championship wins (2016, 2021, 202 ...

, although their best time exceeded the specified qualifying time cut-off, the Stewards gave them permission to race.

Race

;Notes *–

Cameron Waters Cameron Waters (born 3 August 1994) is an Australian motor racing driver who competes in the Repco Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 6 Ford Mustang GT for Tickford Racing. He is the cousin of Australian Superbike champion Jos ...

received a 5-second Time Penalty for Careless Driving, causing contact with

. *–

received a Pit-Lane Penalty equivalent Time Penalty (40 seconds) for a breach of the Safety Car Restart procedures.

Championship standings after Race 6

;Drivers Championship ;Teams Championship * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

External links

{{V8 race report , Name_of_race = Melbourne 400 , Year_of_race = 2018 , Previous_race_in_season = 2018 Adelaide 500 , Next_race_in_season =

2018 Tasmania SuperSprint The 2018 Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint was a motor racing event for the Supercars Championship, held on the weekend of 6 to 8 April 2018. The event was held at Symmons Plains Raceway in Launceston, Tasmania, and was scheduled to consist of one ...

, Previous_year's_race = 2017 Coates Hire Supercars Challenge , Next_year's_race = 2019 Melbourne 400 Melbourne 400