Davison leads Ford a V8 Supercar sweep in Adelaide
Will Davison with trophy in hand, celebrates with rest of team |
Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom gave Ford Performance Racing a one-two finish in race two of the V8 Supercars season-opener in Adelaide.
The team had been on course for the same result on Saturday until its gamble on going the distance on two pitstops failed and three-stopper Jamie Whincup was able to steal victory.
But FPR turned the tables today with a comfortable victory over Garth Tander (Holden Racing Team), while Triple Eight Holden duo Whincup and Craig Lowndes could only manage fourth and fifth. The result was FPR's first one-two since 2008.
Tander had got the jump on polesitter Whincup off the line, leading until the champion slipped back past on lap eight.
Adelaide is still one of the very best street circuits in the world |
Whincup could not pull away, and just before half-distance began reporting that his car was misfiring. Tander, Davison and Winterbottom duly moved past in quick succession to demote him to fourth.
Davison and Winterbottom then piled pressure on Tander until lap 47, when Davison grabbed the lead and Winterbottom followed him through.
They then pulled away over the remaining 31 laps, with Davison escaping from Winterbottom to win by 4.8 seconds. Tander retained a lonely third.
Whincup's car was still quick enough for fourth, ahead of Lowndes and Stone Brothers Ford driver Shane van Gisbergen.
The race ran its whole distance without a safety car, causing fuel mileage worries for many in the closing stages, though the only frontrunner to lose out as a result was Rick Kelly, who dropped from seventh to 11th when he had to pit his Kelly Holden for a last-gasp top-up. Another top 10 qualifier who dropped back was Garry Rogers Holden driver Michael Caruso, thanks to a first-lap spin.
Greg Murphy (Kelly) and Jonathon Webb (Tekno Holden) both failed to start after their massive collision in qualifying, and James Courtney (HRT) suffered a repeat of the tailshaft failure that left him last on the grid.
Results – 78 laps:
Pos |
Driver | Team/Car | Time/Gap |
1. | Will Davison | FPR Ford | 1h48m31.4231s |
2. | Mark Winterbottom | FPR Ford | + 4.8453s |
3. | Garth Tander | HRT Holden | + 9.0902s |
4. | Jamie Whincup | Triple 8 Holden | + 21.1746s |
5. | Craig Lowndes | Triple 8 Holden | + 26.3348s |
6. | Shane van Gisbergen | Stone Brothers Ford | + 27.4772s |
7. | David Reynolds | Rod Nash/FPR Ford | + 39.8591s |
8. | Lee Holdsworth | Stone Brothers Ford | + 44.3162s |
9. | Fabian Coulthard | Brad Jones Holden | + 54.3387s |
10. | Tim Slade | Rosenberg/SBR Ford | + 54.4039s |
11. | Rick Kelly | Kelly Holden | + 54.7811s |
12. | Tony D'Alberto | D'Alberto Ford | + 1m05.3099s |
13. | Russell Ingall | Walkinshaw Holden | + 1m19.8768s |
14. | Steve Owen | Dick Johnson Ford | + 1 lap |
15. | Michael Patrizi | Tekno Holden | + 1 lap |
16. | Jason Bright | Brad Jones Holden | + 1 lap |
17. | Steven Johnson | Dick Johnson Ford | + 1 lap |
18. | Alexandre Premat | Garry Rogers Holden | + 1 lap |
19. | Dean Fiore | Triple F Ford | + 1 lap |
20. | Karl Reindler | Kelly Holden | + 1 lap |
21. | David Wall | Britek/BJR Holden | + 1 lap |
22. | Michael Caruso | Garry Rogers Holden | + 1 lap |
23. | Todd Kelly | Kelly Holden | + 1 lap |
24. | Taz Douglas | Dumbrell Holden | + 1 lap |
25. | James Courtney | HRT Holden | + 13 laps |
26. | James Moffat | Dick Johnson Ford | DNF 16 laps |
27. | Jonathon Webb | Tekno Holden | DNS |
28. | Greg Murphy | Kelly Holden | DNS |