Bright takes narrow race one victory
Ford Performance Racing's Jason Bright took a narrow win in the first race of the inaugural Desert 400 in Bahrain
Bright took the win after early leader Garth Tander had to deal with other cars in pit lane as he exited his pit stop, Tander's difficulty compounded with the car stalling as he went to leave his pits.
Tander closed in on Bright, but was unable to find a way past, finishing less than half a second behind him at the finish.
Todd Kelly finished third, one place ahead of younger brother Rick, who took fourth place from James Courtney at turn four with three laps remaining.
Craig Lowndes continued to struggle for pace, finishing the race in ninth. One place ahead of him in eighth was Mark Winterbottom, who had started the race seven places behind him, Lowndes one of three drivers to gain a place on the grid after Greg Murphy was demoted to tenth for a technical infringement.
With tarmac runoffs there was only one safety car period, but there was still a couple of significant incidents, the first bringing out the safety car and ending uncle and nephew Brad and Andrew Jones' race.
A later incident at turn four effectively ended the race of both Dick Johnson Racing cars of Will Davison and Steven Johnson when they were involved in a collision with Jason Bargwanna.
Rick Kelly's strong result has reduced the title challengers from seven to five as Jason Bright and Steven Richards can no longer win the title. Meanwhile Kelly's lead over Lowndes has increased to 90 points.
Pos Driver Car 1. Jason Bright Ford Falcon BA 2. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VZ 3. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 4. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 5. James Courtney Ford Falcon BA 6. Steven Richards Holden Commodore VZ 7. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VZ 8. Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BA 9. Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA 10. Jamie Whincup Ford Falcon BA 11. Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VZ 12. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VZ 13. Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA 14. Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VZ 15. Jason Bargwanna Ford Falcon BA 16. Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VZ 17. Max Wilson Ford Falcon BA 18. Steve Owen Holden Commodore VZ 19. Warren Luff Ford Falcon BA 20. John Bowe Ford Falcon BA 21. Marcus Marshall Ford Falcon BA 22. Jack Perkins Holden Commodore VZ 23. Jason Richards Holden Commodore VZ 24. Dean Canto Holden Commodore VZ 25. Chris Pither Holden Commodore VZ 26. Paul Morris Holden Commodore VZ 27. Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BA DNF Will Davison Ford Falcon BA DNF Jose Fernandez Ford Falcon BA DNF Brad Jones Ford Falcon BA DNF Andrew Jones Holden Commodore VZ
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