Will Davison wins opening Hamilton V8 Supercars race for Ford Performance Racing

The Ford Performance Racing driver came through from sixth on the grid to win, as champion Jamie Whincup beat polesitter Garth Tander (Holden Racing Team) to second, and Whincup's Triple Eight Holden team-mate Craig Lowndes chased them home.

Davison had vaulted from sixth to second amid a wild opening lap that saw top three qualifiers Tander, Shane van Gisbergen and David Reynolds trading paint through the first few corners. Tander went from first to third and back again, while van Gisbergen picked up steering damage that would consign him to a 22nd-place finish.

Tander and Davison broke away in a private lead battle for much of the race, joined briefly by Davison's team-mate Mark Winterbottom, who gained ground in the first pitstops but had to pit for steering repairs soon after.

Davison stalked Tander until lap 27 of 59, when he squeezed down the inside into Turn 1.

The FPR man would hold the lead to the flag, despite a safety car period following a crash for Alexandre Premat's Garry Rogers Holden squeezing the pack back together.

Davison withstood some challenges from Tander after the restart, before pulling clear as Whincup - who swiftly recovered from stalling at his first pitstop - battled with Tander and grabbed second with three laps to go.

Tander fended off Lowndes to the flag. Reynolds had been running between them until picking up suspension damage just seven laps from the end.

Kelly Racing's Rick Kelly came through from 14th on the grid to fifth, ahead of Steve Owen (Dick Johnson Ford) and James Courtney - who also made great progress after qualifying his HRT car only 17th.

Holden trio Michael Caruso (GRM), Fabian Coulthard (Brad Jones Racing) and Russell Ingall (Walkinshaw) completed the top 10.

Results - 59 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Will Davison         FPR Ford             1h28m43.7686s
 2.  Jamie Whincup        Triple 8 Holden          + 2.5284s
 3.  Garth Tander         HRT Holden               + 4.5182s
 4.  Craig Lowndes        Triple 8 Holden          + 4.8260s
 5.  Rick Kelly           Kelly Holden            + 21.2939s
 6.  Steve Owen           Dick Johnson Ford       + 23.5804s
 7.  James Courtney       HRT Holden              + 25.1856s
 8.  Michael Caruso       Garry Rogers Holden     + 25.4572s
 9.  Fabian Coulthard     Brad Jones Holden       + 25.8225s
10.  Russell Ingall       Walkinshaw Holden       + 26.0666s
11.  Steven Johnson       Dick Johnson Ford       + 26.8943s
12.  Jason Bright         Brad Jones Holden       + 30.2993s
13.  Lee Holdsworth       Stone Brothers Ford     + 32.0738s
14.  Todd Kelly           Kelly Holden            + 32.3014s
15.  Tim Slade            Rosenberg/SBR Ford      + 32.5842s
16.  Dean Fiore           Triple F Ford           + 36.9982s
17.  Michael Patrizi      Tekno Holden            + 39.2890s
18.  Tony D'Alberto       D'Alberto Ford          + 52.1136s
19.  Jonathon Webb        Tekno Holden            + 59.6247s
20.  Taz Douglas          Dumbrell Holden       + 1m03.7718s
21.  David Wall           Britek/BJR Holden          + 1 lap
22.  Shane van Gisbergen  Stone Brothers Ford        + 1 lap
23.  Mark Winterbottom    FPR Ford                  + 2 laps

Retirements:

     David Reynolds       Rod Nash/FPR Ford          52 laps
     Karl Reindler        Kelly Holden               39 laps
     Alexandre Premat     Garry Rogers Holden        36 laps
     Greg Murphy          Kelly Holden               29 laps
     James Moffat         Dick Johnson Ford          17 laps