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