Todd Kelly takes race one
Holden Racing Team's Todd Kelly took his first championship race win of the year as he won race one at Oran Park in Sydney
Kelly took the win despite having to hold off Craig Lowndes from lap seven to the end of the 38 lap race. The battle saw the occasional rubbing of panels, with Lowndes twice getting alongside but unable to complete the pass.
Lowndes looked here and there but was unable to make his way through. It was a good result after a poor start dropped him from third to eighth on lap one, but a great pit stop moved him up to Kelly's tail, where he stayed.
Rick Kelly completed the top three, just behind Lowndes, as he moved up to second in the points standings. Pole sitter Jason Bright was fourth, with Lowndes' teammate Jamie Whincup completing the top five.
Rick Kelly's gain came at the expense of teammate Garth Tander who was running fourth when a power steering problem forced him to the pits, and ultimately fail to finish.
His failure to return to the track meant he scored no points, and will have to start behind winner Todd Kelly who gained the maximum 128 points.
However Mark Skaife's day was even worse. After grabbing the lead at the start of the race, Skaife pulled away to a comfortable lead.
He was running best-placed of those who had made their compulsory pit stops when he slowed on lap 15. Transmission failure, a problem which has affected teammate Todd Kelly all year, saw Skaife roll to a stop around the back of the circuit, bringing out the safety car.
After his poor qualifying result of 16th, Steven Richards recovered during the race to finish inside the top ten in eighth. Another mover was Russell Ingall, who started 23rd but finished in twelfth place.
Pos Driver Car 1. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 2. Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA 3. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 4. Jason Bright Ford Falcon BA 5. Jamie Whincup Ford Falcon BA 6. Jason Richards Holden Commodore VZ 7. Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BA 8. Steven Richards Holden Commodore VZ 9. James Courtney Ford Falcon BA 10. Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BA 11. Max Wilson Ford Falcon BA 12. Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA 13. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VZ 14. Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VZ 15. Jason Bargwanna Ford Falcon BA 16. Dean Canto Holden Commodore VZ 17. Andrew Jones Holden Commodore VZ 18. Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VZ 19. Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore VZ 20. Paul Morris Holden Commodore VZ 21. Marcus Marshall Ford Falcon BA 22. Warren Luff Ford Falcon BA 23. John Bowe Ford Falcon BA 24. Brad Jones Ford Falcon BA 25. Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VZ 26. Will Davison Ford Falcon BA 27. Jose Fernandez Ford Falcon BA 28. Steve Owen Holden Commodore VZ DNF Garth Tander Holden Commodore VZ DNF Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VZ DNF Paul Radisich Holden Commodore VZ
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