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Melbourne V8s: Shane van Gisbergen defeats Jamie Whincup in opener

Shane van Gisbergen won the first V8 Supercars support race to the 2014 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on Friday

Michael Caruso started the race from his and the Nissan Altima's maiden V8 Supercars pole, but Tekno Holden driver van Gisbergen lunged down the inside at Turn 1 on the first lap to take the lead.

Jamie Whincup made a bold move for the lead at Turn 3, driving around the outside of both Caruso and van Gisbergen, but the reigning champion could not make the move stick and slotted into second as van Gisbergen forced him wide on the exit.

Caruso's poor first lap continued as Scott McLaughlin grabbed third in the GRM Volvo with a bold move down the inside at Turn 13.

Whincup looked racey in the early stages and put van Gisbergen under pressure, with the leading group closing up behind them as they battled.

Triple Eight Holden driver Whincup had to get defensive coming out of the final turn on lap three, forcing McLaughlin onto the grass on the inside of the start-finish straight and allowing van Gisbergen to escape to victory.

The stewards took a dim view of Whincup's driving during the battle, giving him a five-place grid penalty for race two later on Friday.

Van Gisbergen raced on to score a comfortable six-second win, while Whincup held on narrowly to beat McLaughlin's Volvo to runner-up spot.

Caruso completed the top four, ahead of Fabian Coulthard and Garth Tander.

Championship leader Craig Lowndes, James Moffat, Chas Mostert and Todd Kelly completed the top 10 in what proved to be a tame conclusion.

Results - 10 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Shane van Gisbergen  Tekno Holden           19m48.4102s
 2.  Jamie Whincup        Triple Eight Holden       +6.1803s
 3.  Scott McLaughlin     GRM Volvo                 +7.1881s
 4.  Michael Caruso       Nissan                    +7.4849s
 5.  Fabian Coulthard     Brad Jones Holden         +8.0388s
 6.  Garth Tander         HRT Holden                +9.5136s
 7.  Craig Lowndes        Triple Eight Holden      +11.0891s
 8.  James Moffat         Nissan                   +11.4754s
 9.  Chaz Mostert         FPR Ford                 +11.9600s
10.  Todd Kelly           Nissan                   +12.4674s
11.  Rick Kelly           Nissan                   +12.7121s
12.  Will Davison         Erebus Mercedes          +13.2026s
13.  Mark Winterbottom    FPR Ford                 +16.1806s
14.  Jason Bright         Brad Jones Holden        +16.4129s
15.  James Courtney       HRT Holden               +20.8795s
16.  Tim Slade            Rosenberg/HRT Holden     +21.2128s
17.  Nick Percat          Walkinshaw/HRT Holden    +22.5780s
18.  Robert Dahlgren      GRM Volvo                +23.4963s
19.  Russell Ingall       Dumbrell Holden          +25.8265s
20.  Lee Holdsworth       Erebus Mercedes          +26.4032s
21.  Jack Perkins         Schwerkolt/FPR Ford      +30.6198s
22.  Dale Wood            Britek/BJR Holden        +30.9776s
23.  David Wall           Dick Johnson Ford        +31.2494s
24.  David Reynolds       Rod Nash/FPR Ford        +36.3186s
25.  Scott Pye            Dick Johnson Ford      +1m19.1095s

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