ADELAIDE, South Australia — Recap by Race Chaser Online V8 Supercars Correspondent James Pike — Robert Cianflone/Getty Images AsiaPac photo —
Though Race Two of the Clipsal 500 Adelaide was in the end one of the highlights of Fabian Coulthard’s V8 Supercars career, it will likely be more remembered for the number of people that left the race angry, to say the least.
Coulthard backed up his first-ever podium in Race One at the Clipsal 500 with his fifth career V8 Supercars victory in race two. James Courtney put the Holden Racing Team with a second-place finish, and Craig Lowndes scored Red Bull Racing Australia another podium with a third-place finish — but not after a large dose of controversy, centered around Wilson Security Racing GRM’s Scott McLaughlin.
McLaughlin was deemed to have jumped the start by race officials after beating polesitter Jamie Whincup to turn one on the opening lap. Surprisingly (given how close the replays made the start appear to be legal), McLaughlin was quick to admit that he was guilty of the crime charged.
“No, no, no, I jumped it. I was a bit too eager,” McLaughlin said post-race. “I was working on releasing my clutch a bit quicker and it worked — I got the start, but it was a bit too fast.”
As per section 8.1.7.1 of the V8 Supercars rulebook, McLaughlin was ordered to serve a ten-second penalty added on to the end of his first pit stop. McLaughlin would stay out and wait to serve that penalty until the middle of the race. He would control the first half of the race with the penalty impending, but there was plenty of drama behind him in the field during that stretch.
It started with Chaz Mostert, who on lap 5 clipped the barrier on the outside of turn eight and broke half of his rear wing off. Mostert was forced to bring his Ford Falcon to the pits, where he retired from the race.
Four laps later, there was more controversy as Dale Wood forced Todd Kelly off over the curb in turn one. Kelly fought to regain control of his car as he reentered the track surface, and in the meantime, Ash Walsh got around Kelly — only to clip Wood on the entrance to turn three and spin Wood out.
From lap nine to lap 17, the race enjoyed its most peaceful period. It was on lap 17 that the first of a series of events occurred — which ultimately led to the first Safety Car of the race occurred.
Michael Caruso drove deep underneath Mark Winterbottom at turn nine and appeared to have the pass made — until he drove right into the side of David Reynolds, who was on the outside of Winterbottom. The resulting left front damage sent Caruso into the wall at turn eight a lap later and brought out the first Safety Car of the race.
It was at this point (on lap 18) that McLaughlin decided to pit and serve his penalty under the Safety Car. He came out from the pits in ninth position when the green flag came out once again.
No sooner than the green flag flew for the restart on lap 24 did more action take place on the streets of Adelaide. Fabian Coulthard completed the lone green-flag lead change of the race when Whincup overshot turn nine and opened the door for the Freightliner Holden Commodore to slip past and into the lead.
A lap later, Craig Lowndes got punted by James Courtney in turn three and lost positions to both the No. 22 and Shane van Gisbergen. The N0. 97 of van Gisbergen held that spot for about a straightaway before Tim Slade drove into turn nine and spun van Gisbergen the same way Caruso spun David Reynolds earlier on in the race. Slade also sustained heavy left-front damage in his turn nine affair and would be forced to retire.
The complexion of the race changed dramatically on lap 27, however, when Whincup lost a left-rear tire and slid sideways through turn eight to dramatically keep his car unscathed.
“I reckon I came across some debris from Caruso, and I had a massive ride into turn eight,” Whincup said of the incident. “I thought for sure I was gonna eat the fence!”
Red Bull Principal Roland Dane was less forgiving of the incident, slamming V8 Supercars officials for not clearing turn eight off under the Safety Car after the incidents of Caruso and Mostert.
As Whincup lost his tire, McLaughlin had come charging from ninth on the restart to third, having forced Craig Lowndes to overdrive turn nine and open up the inside lane on lap 34. However, McLaughlin was then deemed to be in violation of Section 8.1.7.3 of the V8 Supercars rulebook, which states that penalties for jumped starts cannot be served under the Safety Car — as McLaughlin had done earlier.
Wilson Security Racing GRM Principal Garry Rogers was furious when the news of the penalty came down from the officials.
“The officials were there, they timed the stop, we timed the stop,” he said. “To me, that’s just petty bull****.”
As a result, ten seconds were added on to McLaughlin’s time, and what was a third-place finish turned into a ninth-place result.
“What can you say – that’s the rules,” McLaughlin said. “But I think it’s fair and square we stopped and did our penalty. We did it. I took the penalty and … worked my way forward. But that’s alright that’s the rules.”
The penalty rounded out a rough Saturday in Adelaide for McLaughlin, who failed to start the first race due to an oil line that broke on the formation lap. He ends Saturday 22nd in the points standings.
As for Coulthard, his win and podium on Saturday were good enough to put him on top of the drivers championship for the first time in his career (by 15 points over Craig Lowndes). When told of the fact that he held the championship lead, Coulthard’s eyes immediately turned towards the end of the season.
“That’s not a bad stat, but it would be a lot nicer if it were in December!” the winner smiled. “It all started off yesterday – first front row start for BJR and to come home this afternoon with a third and a first, a race win today, I’m pretty pumped.”
Coulthard also commendably dedicated the victory to Geoffrey Paradise, a crew member at Brad Jones Racing that had passed away the week before.
The Clipsal 500 Adelaide concludes with Race Three of the V8 Supercars Championship, beginning at 3:20 p.m. local time on Sunday (11:55 p.m. EST Saturday night).
For more information on the Clipsal 500 Adelaide, visit https://www.clipsal500.com.au/.
For more information on V8 Supercars, visit http://www.v8supercars.com.au/.
RESULTS: V8 Supercars Championship; Clipsal 500 — Race 2; Adelaide Parklands Street Circuit
- Fabian Coulthard
- James Courtney
- Craig Lowndes
- Garth Tander
- Jason Bright
- Rick Kelly
- James Moffat
- Ash Walsh
- Scott McLaughlin (10 sec. time penalty added — false start)
- Lee Holdsworth
- Mark Winterbottom
- Todd Kelly
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Nick Percat
- David Wall
- Marcos Ambrose
- David Reynolds
- Dale Wood
- Tim Blanchard
- Andre Heimgartner
- Jamie Whincup
- Tim Slade (DNF)
- Michael Caruso (DNF)
- Chaz Mostert (DNF)
- Will Davison (DNF)
