Todd Kelly wins Adelaide race 1
Holden Racing Team's Todd Kelly scored the debut win for Holden's VE Commodore in its maiden race in the first race of the Clipsal 500 in the Adelaide Parklands
Kelly held off pole sitter James Courtney throughout the second half of the race, Courtney able to keep up with and pressure Kelly, but never looking like being able to make a pass.
The podium was completed by Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup, who recovered from an early off while leading on lap 8 which dropped him to 16th. Back to tenth by lap 20, strong mid-race pace saw him fifth by lap 51 of 78, before taking fourth on lap 73 and third on the second-last lap.
Rounding out the top five was Toll HSV's Rick Kelly, a great result after starting 15th, and Ford Performance Racing Mark Winterbottom, who looked like completing the podium before fading in the closing laps.
Unusually, there were no safety car periods, though there was still carnage, three cars making light contact into turn one at the start and John Bowe crunching the wall fifteen laps later after a front right suspension failure.
Jason Bright finished tenth in his first race for Britek, a place ahead of Steven Richards in his first race for FPR.
They both beat home a pair of former series champions in 13th and 14th. Team Vodafone's Craig Lowndes looked set for a top ten finish, possibly even a top five, before getting caught behind Max Wilson after making both compulsory pit stops.
Lowndes went to make a run down the inside of Wilson on lap 37, but thought better of it. However, he still clipped the back of Wilson who spun, Lowndes later receiving a drive-through penalty from which he never really recovered.
He still finished a place ahead of the teammate of the race winner, Mark Skaife showing pace early in the race before drifting back down the order from one-third distance onward.
Pos Driver Car Laps 1. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE 78 2. James Courtney Ford Falcon BF 78 3. Jamie Whincup Ford Falcon BF 78 4. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VE 78 5. Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BF 78 6. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE 78 7. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VE 78 8. Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BF 78 9. Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BF 78 10. Jason Bright Ford Falcon BF 78 11. Steven Richards Ford Falcon BF 78 12. Dean Canto Holden Commodore VE 78 13. Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BF 78 14. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VE 78 15. Jason Bargwanna Ford Falcon BF 78 16. Steve Owen Holden Commodore VZ 78 17. Max Wilson Ford Falcon BF 77 18. Adam Macrow Ford Falcon BF 77 19. Jack Perkins Holden Commodore VE 76 20. Jason Richards Holden Commodore VE 76 21. Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VZ 76 22. Shane Price Holden Commodore VE 76 23. Alan Gurr Ford Falcon BF 75 24. Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VZ 74 25. Andrew Jones Ford Falcon BF 73 DNF Brad Jones Ford Falcon BF 48 DNF Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VE 47 DNF Will Davison Ford Falcon BF 38 DNF Paul Morris Holden Commodore VZ 31 DNF John Bowe Ford Falcon BF 16 DNF Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore VZ 6
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