Andrew Thompson has won a crash-marred opening race for the Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series in Townsville.
The Monster Energy Commodore driver led the entire race from pole position, leading home Jayco Matthew White Motorsport’s David Russell by 1.00s after surviving two Safety Car restarts.
Marcus Zukanovic made a fast start from fifth on the grid to run second early, but subsequently fell behind Russell and Nick Percat (Coates hire Walkinshaw Racing) to take fourth.
Paul Morris (Love Machine PMM) was fifth after passing Jack Perkins (Supercheap Auto Sonic Motor Racing Services) on the penultimate lap.
Rodney Jane (Bob Jane T-Marts Sonic Motor Racing Services), Daniel Jilesen (Greg Murphy Racing), Tim Blanchard (Jayco MWM) and Chaz Mostert (simPro Miles Racing) rounded out the top 10.
The Safety Car was required for the opening five laps of the race after a multi-car pile-up at Turn 2. The incident involved the cars of Taz Douglas (Fastaz Motorsport), Geoff Emery (AC Delco GMR), Ash Walsh (simPro Miles Racing), Aaren Russell (Go Karts Go), Roberg Cregan (Mad Croc MSR) and Dale Wood (Wilson Secuirty).
Todd Fiore (Flexi Staff Triple F) subsequently brought out the second Safety Car on Lap 8 after a spin into the inside concrete wall on the exit of Turn 6.
Series front-runner Scott McLaughlin (Fujitsu SBR) lost time in the opening corner carnage and finished a lowly 16th.
Race 2 of Round 3 of the 2011 Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series is scheduled for 10:00 tomorrow. Mostert will start from pole position under the reverse top 10 grid format.
See below for the full Race 1 result
| 1 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Andrew Thompson | Holden Commodore VE | 24:39.2276 | 1:14.7220 |
| 2 | Team Jayco | David Russell | Ford Falcon BF | 24:40.2274 | 1:14.9620 |
| 3 | Coates Hire Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VE | 24:41.2425 | 1:15.0594 |
| 4 | Midway Concrete&Garden Supply | Marcus Zukanovic | Holden Commodore VE | 24:44.3565 | 1:15.5670 |
| 5 | The Love Machine | Paul Morris | Holden Commodore VE | 24:45.7861 | 1:15.4857 |
| 6 | Bob Jane T Marts/Supercheap | Jack Perkins | Ford Falcon BF | 24:45.9634 | 1:15.7692 |
| 7 | Bob Jane T-Marts | Rodney Jane | Ford Falcon FG | 24:46.6319 | 1:16.1169 |
| 8 | R&J Batteries/EarthEx/KingGee | Daniel Jilesen | Holden Commodore VE | 24:47.0234 | 1:15.9102 |
| 9 | Team Jayco | Tim Blanchard | Ford Falcon BF | 24:47.9824 | 1:15.9139 |
| 10 | Simpro Software/Master Elect. | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon BF | 24:48.4430 | 1:16.1480 |
| 11 | Team Tom Supporters Club | Tom Tweedie | Ford Falcon BF | 24:49.6167 | 1:16.1706 |
| 12 | Go Karts Go | Drew Russell | Ford Falcon BF | 24:49.9629 | 1:16.0191 |
| 13 | Eggleston Motorsport | Cameron McConville | Holden Commodore VE | 24:51.6677 | 1:15.5084 |
| 14 | Tricor/EarthEx/Drill Pro Srvs | James Brock | Holden Commodore VE | 24:52.2798 | 1:16.3398 |
| 15 | Flexi Hire Racing | Andrew Jones | Holden Commodore VE | 24:57.3531 | 1:16.1749 |
| 16 | Fujitsu | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon BF | 25:01.4754 | 1:18.4244 |
| 17 | City of Townsville/Bisley | Colin Sieders | Ford Falcon BF | 25:02.0809 | 1:17.4453 |
| 18 | NCSS | Aaron McGill | Ford Falcon BF | 25:02.8166 | 1:17.8078 |
| 19 | Fastaz Motorsport | Taz Douglas | Holden Commodore VZ | 25:05.0144 | 1:15.8885 |
| 20 | Sportsalive.com / AFS | Tony Bates | Holden Commodore VE | 25:06.0992 | 1:16.2462 |
| 21 | Formula Tech/Interquip Racing | Brett Stewart | Holden Commodore VE | 25:07.9244 | 1:18.9115 |
| DNF | Mad Croc Energy | Robert Cregan | Ford Falcon BF | 25:23.0456 | 1:31.1066 |
| DNF | Flexi Staff | Todd Fiore | Ford Falcon BF | 12:09.5852 | 1:15.6909 |
| DNF | Wilson Security Racing | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VE | 1:53.9753 | 1:53.9753 |
| DNF | Simpro Software/Master Elect. | Ashley Walsh | Ford Falcon BF | 26:44.0225 | |
| DNF | AC Delco/Simworx/NDD | Geoff Emery | Holden Commodore VE | ||
| DNF | Go Karts Go | Aaren Russell | Ford Falcon BF |
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Townsville V8 Race Guide
