Pukekohe V8 Supercars: Jason Bright wins opening race

Polesitter Bright was comfortably beaten away by champion Jamie Whincup at the lights, but the Triple Eight Holden struck power steering issues at one-third distance, slewing off the road and then pitting.

Brad Jones Holden driver Bright then kept Shane van Gisbergen's Tekno Holden at bay to end a victory drought that stretched back to the 2013 event at the New Zealand track.

Championship leader Craig Lowndes came third despite shooting down the Turn 5 escape road late on.

James Courtney, Will Davison and Nick Percat completed the top six.

Mark Winterbottom, winner of the previous race at Winton, was seventh until a spin in the closing laps put him down to 13th and meant Ford had no cars in the top dozen. He had crashed in qualifying and started back in 10th.

The race ran to the 40-minute time limit after a long early safety car period, triggered by David Wall crashing at the final corner in a clash with Chaz Mostert. The damage has ruled Wall's Dick Johnson Ford out of the rest of the weekend.

Results - 33 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Jason Bright         Brad Jones Holden      40m48.3124s
 2.  Shane van Gisbergen  Tekno Holden              +1.6796s
 3.  Craig Lowndes        Triple Eight Holden       +4.8554s
 4.  James Courtney       HRT Holden                +5.5961s
 5.  Will Davison         Erebus Mercedes           +6.1556s
 6.  Nick Percat          Walkinshaw/HRT Holden     +7.1594s
 7.  Fabian Coulthard     Brad Jones Holden        +10.0857s
 8.  Scott McLaughlin     GRM Volvo                +13.8858s
 9.  Garth Tander         HRT Holden               +17.5205s
10.  James Moffat         Nissan                   +18.0826s
11.  Tim Slade            Rosenberg/HRT Holden     +18.5292s
12.  Lee Holdsworth       Erebus Mercedes          +19.0799s
13.  Mark Winterbottom    FPR Ford                 +19.5140s
14.  David Reynolds       Rod Nash/FPR Ford        +20.5948s
15.  Russell Ingall       Dumbrell Holden          +21.2168s
16.  Todd Kelly           Nissan                   +22.2305s
17.  Michael Caruso       Nissan                   +23.3799s
18.  Scott Pye            Dick Johnson Ford        +24.1073s
19.  Jack Perkins         Schwerkolt/FPR Ford      +24.4345s
20.  Rick Kelly           Nissan                   +26.1984s
21.  Chaz Mostert         FPR Ford                 +26.6033s
22.  Robert Dahlgren      GRM Volvo                +37.4217s
23.  Dale Wood            Britek/BJR Holden           +1 lap
24.  Jamie Whincup        Triple Eight Holden        +7 laps

Retirements:

     David Wall           Dick Johnson Ford            1 lap