Fabian Coulthard has finally broken through to claim his first championship event race win in the V8 Supercars, narrowly edging out Jamie Whincup in a closely-fought two-part race today at Symmons Plains.
The result caps off an impressive run of form shown by the Kiwi since the start of the season. Coulthard won three of the four non-championship support races during the Australian Grand Prix weekend, and today’s result marks his first visit to the top step of the podium in the main game.
After qualifying his Brad Jones Racing Holden on the front row of the grid earlier today, he had to make sure he was in contention for the second leg of the series’ new ‘60/60’ format races, which are split into two 60-kilometre sprints separated by a fifteen-minute half-time break.
He did enough by remaining glued to the rear bumper of polesitter Jamie Whincup in the opening leg, before setting up his victory in the second leg with a brilliant side-by-side duel with the champion on the second lap of that race.
His move on Whincup began at the Turn 4 hairpin and took over a kilometre to complete as they battled along the circuit’s back straight; he eventually got the lead into the final corner.
From that point, Coulthard remained in control, easing out to a one-second lead which was only diminished by a late Safety Car interruption for marshals to rescue Maro Engel’s spun AMG from the gravel.
Whincup had to fend off a late race charge from Mark Winterbottom, who was the best-placed Ford runner in third, while teammate Will Davison finished two spots back, behind Coulthard’s teammate Jason Bright and the HRT Holden of Garth Tander, who staged a brutal battle for fourth place in both heats.
Craig Lowndes surrendered his early lead in the Drivers’ Championship after a poor run in the second race. He made contact with Shane van Gisbergen on the opening lap and sustained a puncture, before losing more time with a gearbox problem. He finished a lap down and last of the remaining runners.
2013 V8 Supercars Tasmania 365 – Race 1 Final Classification (50 laps):
Driver | Entry / Team | Result | ||
1. | Fabian Coulthard | ![]() |
Lockwood Racing / Brad Jones Racing | 1:17:41.5215 |
2. | Jamie Whincup | ![]() |
Red Bull Racing AU / Triple 8 Engineering | + 1.1381 |
3. | Mark Winterbottom | ![]() |
Pepsi Max Crew / Ford Performance Racing | + 1.3025 |
4. | Jason Bright | ![]() |
Team BOC / Brad Jones Racing | + 1.9895 |
5. | Garth Tander | ![]() |
Holden Racing Team / TWR | + 2.2455 |
6. | Will Davison | ![]() |
Pepsi Max Crew / Ford Performance Racing | + 2.5533 |
7. | Shane van Gisbergen | ![]() |
VIP Petfoods / Tekno Autosports | + 4.2804 |
8. | Scott McLaughlin | ![]() |
Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport | + 4.7574 |
9. | James Courtney | ![]() |
Holden Racing Team / TWR | + 4.9605 |
10. | Jonathon Webb | ![]() |
Tekno Autosports | + 6.5118 |
11. | David Wall | ![]() |
Wilson Security Racing / Brad Jones Racing | + 6.8602 |
12. | Tony D’Alberto | ![]() |
HIFLEX Racing / Tony D’Alberto Racing | + 7.4218 |
13. | Alex Davison | ![]() |
Jeld-Wen Racing / Ford Performance Racing | + 8.4568 |
14. | David Reynolds | ![]() |
Bottle-O Racing / Ford Performance Racing | + 8.9869 |
15. | Russell Ingall | ![]() |
SuperCheap Auto Racing / TWR | + 10.3004 |
16. | Michael Caruso | ![]() |
Norton 360 Racing / Nissan Motorsport | + 10.8398 |
17. | Tim Blanchard | ![]() |
Wilson Security Racing / Dick Johnson Racing | + 11.6810 |
18. | Scott Pye | ![]() |
EKOL Racing / Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport | + 12.4260 |
19. | James Moffat | ![]() |
Norton 360 Racing / Nissan Motorsport | + 13.2957 |
20. | Rick Kelly | ![]() |
Jack Daniel’s Racing / Nissan Motorsport | + 13.5359 |
21. | Alexandre Prémat | ![]() |
Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport | + 14.0763 |
22. | Tim Slade | ![]() |
Heavy Haulage Racing / Erebus Motorsport | + 14.1914 |
23. | Lee Holdsworth | ![]() |
IRWIN Racing / Erebus Motorsport | + 14.4314 |
24. | Jonny Reid | ![]() |
Wilson Security Racing / Dick Johnson Racing | + 15.7686 |
25. | Dean Fiore | ![]() |
Dodo Insurance / Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport | + 19.6358 |
26. | Craig Lowndes | ![]() |
Red Bull Racing AU / Triple 8 Engineering | + 1 lap |
Not Classified | ||||
DNF. | Maro Engel | ![]() |
SP Tools Racing / Erebus Motorsport | 41 laps |
DNF. | Todd Kelly | ![]() |
Jack Daniel’s Racing / Nissan Motorsport | 25 laps |
![]() |
|
Richard Bailey
Latest posts by Richard Bailey (see all)
- 2020 F1 Season Review (Blu Ray) - 27 February, 2021
- WTCR: Guerrieri outwits Muller at the Nordschleife - 26 September, 2020
- WTCR: Girolami breaks Nordschleife lap record to claim pole - 25 September, 2020
- WTCR: Hyundai withdraws from Germany round - 24 September, 2020
- WTCR: Ehrlacher leads Lynk & Co podium sweep at Zolder - 13 September, 2020