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James Courtney leads V8 Supercars after Adelaide opener

James Courtney claimed an early V8 Supercars championship lead with a hard-earned victory in the main leg of the series' Clipsal 500 opener in Adelaide

Holden Racing Team driver Courtney withstood huge pressure from Tekno's Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander in the second HRT entry to win Sunday's 78-lap race at the long-time Australian Grand Prix Formula 1 venue.

Reigning champion Jamie Whincup had dominated Saturday's opener and shrugged off a last-minute safety car restart, but then finished only 21st in race two after a puncture.

He was fourth in the finale, despite a last-lap collision with Chaz Mostert in which the Ford driver was collected heavily by James Moffat. Those results leave Whincup fifth in the standings at present.

Fabian Coulthard won race two, having been third behind Mostert - who jumped him in the pits - in race one. Sixth behind Mark Winterbottom in the long-distance race places Coulthard second to Whincup in the championship after Adelaide.

Courtney was only 10th in the first race following a pit delay, but second to Coulthard in race two and then his win in the headline race gives him an early 17-point championship lead.

Scott McLaughlin had a painful weekend in the Volvo. A oil leak sent him into the wall on the parade lap in race one, an early race two lead became only ninth place after a jump-start penalty and another penalty for taking the first during a safety-car period, and then alternator problems spoilt his Sunday.

Returning two-time champion Marcos Ambrose made steady progress through the weekend to finish 12th in the final race for DJR Penske, having qualified ninth.

RACE ONE - 33 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Holden 48m28.7493s
2 Chaz Mostert Prodrive Ford 0.8572s
3 Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden 1.2519s
4 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden 1.4641s
5 Mark Winterbottom Prodrive Ford 1.9777s
6 Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Holden 2.5012s
7 Garth Tander HRT Holden 3.0179s
8 Tim Slade Schwerkolt/HRT Holden 3.2935s
9 Lee Holdsworth Walkinshaw/HRT Holden 3.8712s
10 James Courtney HRT Holden 4.1201s

RACE TWO - 39 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden 59m05.6809s
2 James Courtney HRT Holden 1.9574s
3 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden 8.8547s
4 Garth Tander HRT Holden 10.0055s
5 Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden 15.0016s
6 Rick Kelly Nissan Motorsport Nissan 15.6811s
7 James Moffat Nissan Motorsport Nissan 16.4196s
8 Ashley Walsh Erebus Mercedes 17.7007s
9 Scott McLaughlin GRM Volvo 18.2067s
10 Lee Holdsworth Walkinshaw/HRT Holden 18.2884s

RACE THREE - 78 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 James Courtney HRT Holden 1h56m00.5102s
2 Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Holden 0.7602s
3 Garth Tander HRT Holden 1.8961s
4 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Holden 13.2981s
5 Mark Winterbottom Prodrive Ford 13.8968s
6 Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden 14.6242s
7 Rick Kelly Nissan Motorsport Nissan 16.4239s
8 Tim Slade Schwerkolt/HRT Holden 20.7523s
9 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden 24.4635s
10 Todd Kelly Nissan Motorsport Nissan 28.6176s
11 Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden 40.8307s
12 Marcos Ambrose DJR Penske Ford 41.2677s
13 Dale Wood Britek/BJR Holden 45.2078s
14 Michael Caruso Nissan Motorsport Nissan 48.8831s
15 David Reynolds Rod Nash/PRA Ford 49.2805s
16 David Wall GRM Volvo 51.8516s
17 Tim Blanchard Dumbrell Holden 1m02.5968s
18 Scott McLaughlin GRM Volvo 4 Laps
19 Will Davison Erebus Mercedes 5 Laps
20 Nick Percat Dumbrell Holden 8 Laps
21 Andre Heimgartner Super Black/PRA Ford 16 Laps
- Chaz Mostert Prodrive Ford Retirement
- James Moffat Nissan Motorsport Nissan Retirement
- Lee Holdsworth Walkinshaw/HRT Holden Retirement
- Ashley Walsh Erebus Mercedes Retirement

LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER THREE OF 37 ROUNDS:

Pos Driver Points
1 James Courtney 258
2 Fabian Coulthard 241
3 Garth Tander 237
4 Shane van Gisbergen 222
5 Jamie Whincup 216
6 Craig Lowndes 208
7 Mark Winterbottom 202
8 Rick Kelly 177
9 Jason Bright 161
10 Todd Kelly 143


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