Jonathon Webb has won an amazing V8 Supercars race at the Sydney Telstra 500 today, while James Courtney has moved into the box seat in the championship race.
The Mother-backed driver took his first V8 win amid a staggering amount of drama at the Sydney Olympic Park street track.
Webb’s victory came courtesy of a well executed pit stop for wet tyres late in the race.
Rain, carnage and controversy prevailed, with Webb leading home Trading Post Racing’s Jason Bright and Jack Daniel’s Racing’s Rick Kelly.
While Webb took a surprise win, the race for the V8 title between the championship contenders took a major hit on lap 60 when leader Mark Winterbottom, James Courtney and Jamie Whincup (among others) hit the turn five wall in wet conditions.
The crash ended Winterbottom’s race and championship chance, while Courtney and Whincup’s crew worked overtime to get the cars back on the track to score title points.
Courtney ended up 15th, while Whincup’s team got the car onto the back of the track, but he only completed an outlap at the end and has been classified as a non-finisher. The gap in the championship between Courtney and Whincup, as it stands, is 113 points.
Top-3 talk to Speedcafe after today’s race
Race Highlights
More race coverage to follow on Speedcafe.com.au ….
| 1 | 19 | Jonathon Webb | Ford Falcon FG | 69 |
| 2 | 14 | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VE2 | 69 |
| 3 | 15 | Rick Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 69 |
| 4 | 17 | Steven Johnson | Ford Falcon FG | 69 |
| 5 | 24 | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VE | 69 |
| 6 | 34 | Michael Caruso | Holden Commodore VE2 | 69 |
| 7 | 33 | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VE2 | 69 |
| 8 | 10 | Andrew Thompson | Holden Commodore VE2 | 69 |
| 9 | 11 | Jason Bargwanna | Holden Commodore VE2 | 68 |
| 10 | 55 | Paul Dumbrell | Ford Falcon FG | 68 |
| 11 | 6 | Steven Richards | Ford Falcon FG | 67 |
| 12 | 39 | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 67 |
| 13 | 3 | Tony D’Alberto | Holden Commodore VE2 | 67 |
| 14 | 12 | Dean Fiore | Ford Falcon FG | 65 |
| 15 | 18 | James Courtney | Ford Falcon FG | 62 |
| DNF | 1 | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VE2 | 61 |
| DNF | 9 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Ford Falcon FG | 60 |
| DNF 8 | 888 | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VE2 | 60 |
| DNF | 5 | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 60 |
| DNF | 7 | Todd Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 59 |
| DNF | 22 | Will Davison | Holden Commodore VE2 | 59 |
| DNF | 2 | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VE2 | 59 |
| DNF | 4 | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 59 |
| DNF | 8 | Andrew Jones | Holden Commodore VE2 | 59 |
| DNF | 51 | Greg Murphy | Holden Commodore VE2 | 57 |
| DNF | 47 | Tim Slade | Ford Falcon FG | 53 |
| DNF | 16 | Tony Ricciardello | Holden Commodore VE2 | 33 |
| DNF | 30 | Warren Luff | Holden Commodore VE2 | 15 |
| DNF | 21 | Karl Reindler | Holden Commodore VE | 5 |
