Race Log – Race 26 – Sydney Olympic Park Street Circuit

Warmup lap has commenced for the 26th and final race of the season. Yesterday’s damage fixed and the championship is on the line.

Holdsworth on pole from Whincup, Winterbottom, Bright, W. Davison and Caruso. Courtney starts 12th. Luff and A. Jones to start from pitlane.

Lap 1 – Holdsworth leads Whincup, Winterbottom, W. Davison, Tander, Bargwanna, Bright, T.Kelly, Lowndes and Caruso.

Lap 3 – Bright sets fastest first sector of anyone, then passes Bargwanna into Turn 9. R. Kelly passes Slade for 11th.

Lap 4 – van Gisbergen passes Slade for 12th at Turn 1. Slade knocks van Gisbergen through the Turn 2/3/4 chicane.

Lap 6 – Holdsworth leads Whincup by less than a second. Winterbottom now 2s further back after losing time exiting Turn 4. Tander pressuring W. Davison for 4th.

Lap 7 – Ingall first to pit for fuel. His strategy will require two more stops to make it home.

Lap 8 – Courtney is running 15th after a tardy start. Every car between 8th and 15th did a 1:30.7s lap the last time around!

Lap 9 – Lowndes and Bargwanna pit. Rock Commodore lost several places on its in-lap. Rear tyres only for Lowndes.

Lap 10 – RACE ORDER: Holdsworth, Whincup, Winterbottom, W. Davison, Tander, Bright, T. Kelly, Caruso, R. Kelly, van Gisbergen.

Bargwanna has a bent right front steering arm.

Lap 13 – R. Kelly pits from 9th. Team-mate T. Kelly is under attack for 7th from Caruso.

Lap 14 – Bargwanna rejoins the race. Lowndes currently has the fastest lap, set after his pitstop. Lowndes runs through Turn 2/3/4 chicane on this lap.

Lap 18 – Best battle on track remains T. Kelly and Caruso for 7th. van Gisbergen, Slade, A. Davison and Courtney are also in close company.

Lap 19 – A. Davison pits from 11th and drives straight into the garage. Crew looking at right rear corner. Suspected brake issue.

Lap 20 – RACE ORDER: Holdsworth, Whincup, Winterbottom, W. Davison, Tander, Bright, T. Kelly, Caruso, van Gisbergen, Slade.

Lap 23 – Whincup pits from second for rears and fuel. Lowndes passes A. Jones and Thompson in one move at Turn 12.

Courtney, Murphy, Coulthard, Fiore also pit. Courtney loses time with a sticky wheel nut.

Lap 24 – Winterbottom and W. Davison pit from 2nd and 3rd. Johnson, Webb and Dumbrell also in. Caruso passes T. Kelly for 4th.

Lap 25 – Holdsworth, Tander, Bright, Caruso, T. Kelly, van Gisbergen, Slade, D’Alberto, Reindler, Thompson pit.

Lap 26 – S. Richards pits. RACE ORDER: Holdsworth, Whincup, Lowndes, Winterbottom, A. Jones, W. Davison, Bright, Tander, R. Kelly.

Lap 27 – A. Jones pits. SAFETY CAR. Tyre bundle on circuit at apex of Turn 2.

Lap 28 – Lowndes, Ingall and Courtney pit.

These SAFETY CAR laps may make the difference between two stops and three for the race leaders. Not good news for Lowndes, Ingall and Courtney

Lap 29 – R. Kelly and Coulthard commit to three stops by pitting for fuel.

Lap 30 – RESTART ORDER: Holdsworth, Whincup, Winterbottom, W. Davison, Bright, Tander, van Gisbergen, Slade, S. Richards, T. Kelly.

Slade passes van Gisbergen as SP Tools Falcon misses Turn 2/3/4 chicane.

Lap 34 – Caruso passes T. Kelly for 10th. Holdsworth now leads by 1.5s, with Whincup seemingly saving fuel.

Courtney restarted outside the top 20 but is now 19th having passed Fiore and Reindler.

Lap 36 – Whincup, Winterbottom, W. Davison, Bright, Tander and Caruso all set their fastest lap on the last lap. So much for saving fuel!

Lap 37 – Bright locks left front at Turn 1 and sails into escape road, dropping from 5th to 11th.

Lap 38 – Thompson pits with a problem. Holdsworth’s lead down to 0.5s. Winterbottom is a further 2.5s behind.

Lap 39 – Courtney passes D’Alberto while Johnson spins Murphy at Turn 9. Ingall spins Webb at Turn 12.

Lap 42 – Whincup lost 0.6s to Holdsworth on the last lap. Gap is now 2.1s. Murphy runs through Turn 2/3/4 chicane. Ingall penalised for Webb incident.

Lap 44 – Johnson penalised for incident with Murphy. Courtney is up to 14th.

SAFETY CAR for tyre bundle on the circuit at apex of Turn 2.

Lap 45 – Holdsworth, W. Davison, Tander, van Gisbergen, Slade, T. Kelly, Bright, Murphy, D’Alberto, Reindler, Fiore, R. Kelly, Webb, Ricciardello, Ingall, Johnson pit.

Lap 46 – Coulthard pits. Reindler returns to the pitlane and goes to the garage (with a holed radiator).

Lap 47 – RESTART ORDER: Whincup, Winterbottom, S. Richards, Caruso, Lowndes, Dumbrell, Courtney, Coulthard, A. Jones, Holdsworth.

W. Davison runs wide at Turn 8 and drops back before pitting (dropped cylinder).

Lap 49 – Whincup pits from the lead. RACE ORDER: Winterbottom, S. Richards, Caruso, Lowndes, Dumbrell, Courtney, Holdsworth, Jones, van Gisbergen.

Lap 50 – S. Richards, Bright, Tander pit. Winterbottom’s lead is 2s over Caruso. Lowndes is just 0.5s further back.

Lap 51 – Winterbottom pits from the lead. Holdsworth, T. Kelly, Coulthard follow.

van Gisbergen tries to pass Jones at Turn 1 and runs down the escape road.

Lap 52 – Caruso, Lowndes, Dumbrell, Jones, Luff, R. Kelly pit. Lowndes rejoins and nearly makes contact with Whincup.

Lap 53 – Courtney and Slade pit. Murphy, D’Alberto and Fiore are our leaders.

Lap 54 – D’Alberto pits.

Lap 55 – Murphy and Bright pit (goes to garage with a loss of power). Johnson leads Ingall, van Gisbergen, Ricciardello, Webb, Fiore and Holdsworth.

Lowndes passes T. Kelly for 12th.

Lap 57 – Holdsworth sits 7th and should make it on fuel. Tander, S. Richards, Winterbottom, Murphy and Lowndes follow.

Lap 58 – Ingall pits from 2nd. Tander penalised for a pit incident. T. Kelly pits with bent steering arm. Slade in Turn 1 exit wall. SAFETY CAR

Lap 59 – Johnson, Riciardello, Fiore pit from top 6.

Lap 62 – RESTART ORDER: van Gisbergen, Webb, Holdsworth, S. Richards, Winterbottom, Murphy, Johnson, Lowndes, D’Alberto, Whincup.

Holdsworth passes Webb for 2nd. Lowndes passes Johnson for 7th. Webb continues to fall backwards.

Lap 64 – Lowndes passes Murphy for 6th at Turn 9.

Lap 66 – Winterbottom off at Turn 1 from 4th place (tailshaft failure according to Winterbottom’s radio). Coulthard, Murphy and Luff join him in the run off area.

Lowndes also spun on the oil. RACE ORDER: van Gisbergen, Holdsworth, S. Richards, Johnson, Whincup, Lowndes, R. Kelly, Webb.

Lap 71 – Tander and Murphy pit.

Lap 72 – van Gisbergen holding off Holdsworth. S. Richards has fallen back in third place.

FINISH – Holdsworth takes lead as van Gisbergen’s car starts to run out of fuel. Holdsworth wins from S Richards, van Gisbergen, Johnson, Whincup. Courtney is the champion in 14th.