This was originally posted on Richard’s F1…check it out here!
On a hot and sticky day at the Gold Coast, the dynamic duo of Jamie Whincup and Sebastien Bourdais took the top spot on the podium today after an action filled race at the ArmorAll Gold Coast 600. The TeamVodafone pair were joined by Jonathon Webb and the German Marc Leib for Tekno Autosports and Mark Winterbottom and Will Power for FPR in third.
The race took some time to start though, with the internationals having a little drama getting underway...requiring 2 restarts and a fair while to clean up, the concrete canyon lived up to its name!
James Hinchcliffe was a little slow off the mark for Garry Rogers Motorsport and was subsequently hit by Luizzi’s Irwin Ford which lead to Ricky Taylor’s Fujitsu Holden flip onto it’s head! Simon Pagenaud for Stone Brothers Racing also being involved meant that four cars were out before a single lap had been started. But that wasn’t all…
The restart saw Nicolas Minassian in the Holden Brad Jones Racing stall and Franck Montagny hitting the rear of the car. Again, the red flags were given some unwanted air time.
The race finally got underway 50 minutes behind schedule, meaning the race was then timed to finish at one lap after 4.15pm, for a total of 79 laps.
The race was fought hard and fast with a number of different leaders throughout the afternoon. FPR’s Mika Salo was the early leader however once Whincup swapped in, he lead the bright orange from the front for the last 44 laps. Jamie talked after the race:
“What a crazy start to that race. I thought we’d never get into it and get the race going. We fought on and the Webb car was hooked up and hard to keep at bay.”
Indeed, Webb nipped at Whincup’s heels for about 20 laps, applying pressure to Jamie all the way to the end of the race.
Only 18 of the 28 starters finished, and there were three different safety car outings. Mika Salo and Will Davison weren’t able to capitalise on Salo’s early lead after contact with a wall lost them their edge.
Mark Winterbottom, who came in third and is focusing on his bid for the Championship, praised his co-driver, local Will Power but will be looking to push for a win on Sunday.
“It was a good fight back and a tough race. Will (Power, co-driver), did a great job and I could attack at the end. We were coming but we needed a few more laps so we were just a bit short.”
Full results are below.
Let the racing continue!
2012 V8 Supercars ArmorAll Gold Coast 600 – Race 1 Results (79 laps*):
| Driver | Entry / Team | Result | ||
| 1. | Jamie Whincup / Sébastien Bourdais |  |
Triple 8 Racing | 1:45:10.0919 |
| 2. | Jonathon Webb / Marc Lieb | |
Tekno Autosports | + 0.4647 |
| 3. | Mark Winterbottom / Will Power |  |
Ford Performance Racing | + 1.0893 |
| 4. | Garth Tander / Ryan Briscoe | |
Holden Racing Team | + 12.2211 |
| 5. | Tim Slade / David Brabham | |
Stone Brothers Racing | + 12.9548 |
| 6. | Craig Lowndes / Richard Lyons | |
Triple 8 Racing | + 14.6256 |
| 7. | James Courtney / Darren Turner | |
Holden Racing Team | + 17.1494 |
| 8. | Rick Kelly / Graham Rahal | |
Kelly Racing | + 21.5720 |
| 9. | Russell Ingall / Peter Dumbreck | |
Walkinshaw Racing | + 22.0760 |
| 10. | Shane van Gisbergen / Jeroen Bleekemolen | |
Stone Brothers Racing | + 22.5905 |
| 11. | Michael Patrizi / Lucas di Grassi | |
Tekno Autosports | + 23.7514 |
| 12. | Jason Bright / Stephane Sarrazin | |
Brad Jones Racing | + 23.9662 |
| 13. | Greg Murphy / Justin Wilson | |
Kelly Racing | + 25.1239 |
| 14. | Taz Douglas / Mike Conway. | |
Dumbrell Motorsport | + 25.4685 |
| 15. | David Wall / Jamie Campbell-Walter | |
Brad Jones Racing | + 55.0786 |
| 16. | Steven Johnson / Max Papis | |
Dick Johnson Racing | + 1 lap |
| 17. | Dean Fiore / Gianni Morbidelli | |
Dick Johnson Racing | + 2 laps |
| 18. | Will Davison / Mika Salo | |
Ford Performance Racing | + 16 laps |
| NOT CLASSIFIED | ||||
| DNF. | David Reynolds / Nick Heidfeld | |
Ford Performance Racing | 66 laps |
| DNF. | Steve Owen / Boris Said | |
Dick Johnson Racing | 40 laps |
| DNF. | Tim Blanchard / Marco Andretti | |
Kelly Racing | 19 laps |
| DNF. | James Moffat / Peter Tox | |
Dick Johnson Racing | 18 laps |
| DNS. | Lee Holdsworth / Simon Pagenaud | |
Stone Brothers Racing | 0 laps |
| DNS. | Tony D’Alberto / Vitantonio Liuzzi | |
Tony D’Alberto Racing | 0 laps |
| DNS. | Fabian Coulthard / Nicolas Minassian | |
Brad Jones Racing | 0 laps |
| DNS. | Michael Caruso / James Hinchcliffe | |
Garry Rogers Motorsport | 0 laps |
| DNS. | Karl Reindler / Franck Montagny | |
Kelly Racing | 0 laps |
| DNS. | Greg Ritter / Ricky Taylor | |
Garry Rogers Motorsport | 0 laps |
* Following the two separate startline accidents, the race distance was reduced from its scheduled 102 laps and instead time-limited to a one-hour, 45-minute minute race
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