Courtney wins Abu Dhabi thriller
James Courtney scored his first win for HRT in a thrilling V8 Supercar race in Abu Dhabi
Two lengthy safety car periods tore up the usual strategy and created an amazing finale. Courtney was ahead, but marginal on fuel, Jason Bright was second but had no such issues. He ate into Courtney's advantage and swooped into the lead with a daring pass.
But the reigning champion was able to up his pace and hold on to the Brad Jones Racing Holden. On the penultimate lap Courtney made his move, only for Bright to fightback instantly. But this left an opportunity for Courtney to re-pass once more - the lead changing three times in three corners!
This was the decisive exchange and Courtney held on for a sensational victory. It also ended Jamie Whincup's unbeaten streak at Yas Marina. He finished third having being shuffled down the order by pitting under the second safety car.
David Reynolds took a great fourth after a similar fuel gamble to Courtney's by his Straco Racing team, while Michael Caruso finished sixth for Fujitsu Racing, making it a Holden clean sweep of the top six places. Jonathon Webb was the top Ford runner in seventh.
Pos Driver Car Time/Gap 1. James Courtney Holden 1h43m14.651s 2. Jason Bright Holden + 0.607s 3. Jamie Whincup Holden + 4.827s 4. David Reynolds Holden + 7.941s 5. Michael Caruso Holden + 12.345s 6. Jonathon Webb Ford + 13.100s 7. Alex Davison Ford + 13.656s 8. Shane van Gisbergen Ford + 14.199s 9. Greg Murphy Holden + 18.076s 10. Paul Dumbrell Ford + 20.280s 11. Karl Reindler Holden + 20.497s 12. Jason Bargwanna Holden + 21.070s 13. Steve Owen Holden + 25.713s 14. Mark Winterbottom Ford + 28.110s 15. Fabian Coulthard Holden + 42.488s 16. Will Davison Ford + 49.120s 17. Warren Luff Holden + 55.617s 18. Steven Johnson Ford + 59.414s 19. Rick Kelly Holden + 1 lap 20. Dean Fiore Ford + 1 lap 21. Craig Lowndes Holden + 1 lap 22. Lee Holdsworth Holden + 5 laps Retirements: James Moffat Ford 26 laps Russell Ingall Holden 19 laps Todd Kelly Holden 3 laps Tony D'Alberto Holden 0 laps Garth Tander Holden 0 laps Tim Slade Ford 0 laps
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments