No points were up for grabs in the opening V8 Supercars race at the non-championship Australian Grand Prix round in Melbourne on Friday.
But victory still tasted sweet for Fabian Coulthard – and no wonder.
Nine years after first dabbling in touring cars Coulthard toasted his maiden win, with Holden teammate Jason Bright sealing a dream one-two finish for Brad Jones Racing.
Ford’s Will Davison was third.
It may have been a support category for the Australian Grand Prix but Coulthard’s duel with fellow Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen demanded centre stage with the Albert Park faithful in the 12-lap blitz.
Luck had looked to be finally turning around for the 30-year-old driver after he grabbed his first career pole for Friday’s opening frantic run around the Albert Park street circuit.
Coulthard had been a top-five performer in the recent opening round in Adelaide, only for mechanical problems and an oil spill to dash his hopes in the two 250km races.
But Coulthard was again ruing his fortunes after he slipped from first to fourth, behind last race winner in Adelaide van Gisbergen, when everyone completed their compulsory pit stop following a lap two safety car.
However, Coulthard made his own luck as he showed pure speed to pick away his rivals and remain firmly in van Gisbergen’s rearview mirror.
And on the second last lap the stars aligned for Coulthard.
Van Gisbergen began battling mechanical problems and Coulthard swooped as his stricken compatriot drifted back into the field.
In the end van Gisbergen was one of three drivers who failed to finish.
In contrast, Coulthard was toasting his success after finishing almost two seconds ahead of teammate Bright who also had to overcome the odds on the way to the podium.
Bright qualified second on the grid but was relegated to fourth due to a practice penalty.
However, the former Bathurst 1000 winner also showed exceptional speed in a reminder to traditional powerhouse the Triple Eight Red Bull team that they won’t have it all their own way in 2013.
Four-time series winner Jamie Whincup was fourth with Red Bull teammate and series leader Craig Lowndes fifth.
In another concern for Red Bull boss Roland Dane, his prized pair raised eyebrows when they came into contact late in the race.
Whincup survived to finish the race but Lowndes slipped from third to fifth due to tyre degradation.
There was plenty of action from the opening lap when Nissan’s Michael Caruso and Holden driver Tony D’Alberto came into contact.
But the safety car only emerged on lap two when Holden’s Alexandre Premat inexplicably shunted Lee Holdsworth’s Mercedes.
Friday’s second race starts at 1420 AEDT.
Pos | Team | Driver | Car | Best Lap |
1 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:57.1541* |
2 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 1:57.3077 |
3 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 1:57.4978 |
4 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:57.8713 |
5 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1:57.3918 |
6 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Holden Commodore VF | 1:58.0275 |
7 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 1:57.9921 |
8 | Norton 360 Racing | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 1:57.8648 |
9 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1:58.4969 |
10 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:58.7437 |
11 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1:58.4211 |
12 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:58.8783 |
13 | Tekno Autosports | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VF | 1:58.3736 |
14 | The Bottle-O FPR Ford | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 1:58.5974 |
15 | Wilson Security Racing | Tim Blanchard | Ford Falcon FG | 1:59.0548 |
16 | Norton 360 Racing | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:59.4228 |
17 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VF | 1:59.5918 |
18 | Dodo Insurance Racing | Dean Fiore | Holden Commodore VF | 1:59.2464 |
19 | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:59.3442 |
20 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VF | 1:59.2732 |
21 | Jeld-wen FPR Ford | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 1:59.4059 |
22 | ekol Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 1:59.7026 |
23 | Heavy Haulage Australia Racing | Tim Slade | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:59.3380 |
24 | SP Tools Racing | Maro Engel | Mercedes E63 AMG | 2:00.5572 |
25 | Wilson Security Racing | Jonny Reid | Ford Falcon FG | 1:59.6942 |
DNF | TEKNO Team VIP | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:57.3301 |
DNF | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Alexandre Premat | Holden Commodore VF | 3:00.6720 |
DNF | Team HIFLEX | Tony D’Alberto | Holden Commodore VF |