V8 Supercars

Whincup wins first race of V8 Supercar season in Abu Dhabi

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In his 100th championship start, Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup, secured the win in the first race of the 2011 V8 Supercar season – his third victory from as many starts at the Yas Marina circuit.

Craig Lowndes had secured pole position for the Yas V8 400 with team-mate Jamie Whincup lining up second, but it was Alex Davison of Stone Brothers Racing starting from third, who was the big winner from the start getting the jump on both Vodafone-backed cars as Lowndes faltered on the line.

Davison's lead was soon cut-short though as Whincup wasted no time in catching up and passing before the end of the opening lap. And just as he had last year, Whincup streaked away, winning by a massive 13 second margin, and leaving Lowndes in the sister car trailing in seventh place.

Davison eventually won the battle for second, having duelled with Mark Winterbottom in the Ford Performance Racing car for most of the race. After the first round of pit-stops, Winterbottom had gained the advantage, but an error in the pits in the second stop handed Davison the second place and his first podium since Hidden Valley in 2009.

At the other end of the grid, Davison's younger brother Will, lost control of his Ford Performance Racing car on the first lap, hitting a trackside sign and spinning back onto the track. Incredibly, the entire field managed to evade him. Emerging unscathed, Will Davison recovered from last position to come home 12th.

With Winterbottom taking third, Stone Brothers Racing team-mates Shane van Gisbergen and Tim Slade rounded out the top-five, the first time in the Stone Brothers V8 Supercars history that three of its cars have finished inside the top five in a race.

It wasn't such a great day for reigning champion James Courtney and his new Toll HRT team, after a collision on the first lap with Brad Jones Racing driver Jason Bargwanna, forced him into the pits to repair a broken steering arm. He was to eventually finish second last, four laps down.

Speaking after the race, Jamie Whincup said: “It's been a big week. We come here each year and seem to get off to a good start. There's a lot going on behind the scenes and trying to keep these soft tyres alive and my car seemed to do it better than most.”

Race 1 Results (43 laps)

Pos Car Competitor/Team Driver Vehicle CL Laps
1 88 TeamVodafone Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore VE2 43
2 4 Irwin Racing Alex Davison Ford Falcon FG 43
3 5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon FG 43
4 9 SP Tools Racing Shane Van Gisbergen Ford Falcon FG 43
5 47 Lucky 7 Racing Tim Slade Ford Falcon FG 43
6 2 Toll Holden Racing Team Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE2 43
7 888 TeamVodafone Craig Lowndes Holden Commodore VE2 43
8 61 Huzzah Racing Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore VE2 43
9 33 Fujitsu Racing GRM Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VE2 43
10 7 Kelly Racing Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE2 43
11 17 Dick Johnson Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon FG 43
12 6 Trading Post FPR Falcon Will Davison Ford Falcon FG 43
13 15 Kelly Racing Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VE2 43
14 49 VIP Petfoods Steve Owen Holden Commodore VE2 43
15 34 Fujitsu Racing GRM Michael Caruso Holden Commodore VE2 43
16 18 Dick Johnson Racing James Moffat Ford Falcon FG 43
17 16 Stratco Racing David Reynolds Holden Commodore VE2 43
18 3 Wilson Security Racing Tony D’Alberto Holden Commodore VE2 43
19 14 Team BOC Jason Bargwanna Holden Commodore VE2 43
20 19 Mother Energy Racing Team Jonathon Webb Ford Falcon FG 43
21 11 Pepsi Max Crew Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VE2 43
22 12 Trple F Racing Dean Fiore Ford Falcon FG 43
23 30 Gulf Western Oil Racing Warren Luff Holden Commodore VE2 42
24 39 Supercheap Auto Racing Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VE2 42
25 55 The Bottle-O Racing Team Paul Dumbrell Ford Falcon FG 39
26 1 Toll Holden Racing Team James Courtney Holden Commodore VE2 39
DNF 21 Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing Karl Reindler Holden Commodore VE2 41
DNF 8 Team BOC Jason Bright Holden Commodore VE2 20

Fastest Lap: Jamie Whincup, 1:57.8540

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About author
Andy is our resident V8 Supercars reporter. He also runs the V8 Supercars fan site www.v8scglobal.com and works as a freelance motorsport writer (with experience in both the World and British Touring Car Championships). You can find him on Twitter at @andychampness or contact him via his website www.andychampness.co.uk
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