Whincup wins Clipsal 500 race one
Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup started off his championship defence with a comfortable win in race one of the Clipsal 500 in the Adelaide Parklands
Whincup made a poor start, dropping back to fifth, but made back the places in the opening 20 laps of the race to retake the lead, a lead he only relinquished temporarily during mid-race pitstops as he went on to win by nearly fifteen seconds.
It would have been closer at the finish but for two late-race retirements. Garth Tander was the first to go, forced to pull in at the end of lap 68 in a cloud of smoke after a power steering problem.
With under five laps remaining it was Craig Lowndes turn to do the same, spinning twice on his own power steering fluid, having pressured his team-mate in the middle of the race before dropping back a few seconds.
Instead, it was Garry Rogers Motorsport's Lee Holdsworth and Tander's teammate Will Davison completing the podium, Davison recovering from a poor start where he dropped to 15th and a quick spin while following his teammate's smoking car.
After a disappointing qualifying effort, Steven Johnson had a steady race, making his way up the order to finish in fifth, just ahead of Jason Richards.
Shane van Gisbergen finished in sixth but may come under further scrutiny after making contact with Mark Winterbottom on lap 54, while Todd Kelly did well to finish seventh after starting 24th and a spin on lap 58 which cost him three places at the time.
Several other frontrunners had bad days. Mark Winterbottom finished 18th after the contact from van Gisbergen, having looked set for a top-five finish. Lowndes rejoined the track after repairs were made to his power steering to finish 19th.
James Courtney had an interesting day, running second in the early laps after a pass on Craig Lowndes which saw him glance the turn eight wall. He later made contact with and spun Paul Dumbrell following a concertina at turn four in the middle of the race.
Later, problems with his cool suit forced him to pit to have both front windows removed before he pulled his car into the garage as the heat took further toll on him. He eventually rejoined to be the last classified finisher in 20th.
Winterbottom's teammate Steven Richards retired after 65 laps, while the biggest crash of the day saw Michael Caruso's race end exiting turn three on lap 7 following possible contact from Greg Murphy, the damage to Caruso's car leaving it in doubt for Sunday's race.
Pos Driver Make Time 1. Jamie Whincup Ford 1:59:06.5279 2. Lee Holdsworth Holden + 14.0273 3. Will Davison Holden + 26.0760 4. Steven Johnson Ford + 28.9280 5. Jason Richards Holden + 30.5157 6. Shane van Gisbergen Ford + 35.9104 7. Todd Kelly Holden + 36.3012 8. Russell Ingall Holden + 41.4976 9. Cameron McConville Holden + 43.1578 10. Rick Kelly Holden + 47.5619 11. Fabian Coulthard Ford + 48.6741 12. Jason Bright Ford + 52.9923 13. David Reynolds Holden + 1:07.5699 14. Dale Wood Holden + 1:14.6664 15. Alex Davison Ford + 1 lap 16. Dean Fiore Holden + 2 laps 17. Paul Dumbrell Holden + 2 laps 18. Mark Winterbottom Ford + 2 laps 19. Craig Lowndes Ford + 3 laps 20. James Courtney Ford + 8 laps Not classified/retirements: Driver Make Laps Garth Tander Holden 67 Steven Richards Ford 65 Jason Bargwanna Holden 65 Marcus Marshall Ford 54 Tim Slade Holden 48 Greg Murphy Holden 34 Jack Perkins Holden 27 Michael Patrizi Ford 12 Michael Caruso Holden 7
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