Andrew Thompson has extended his Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series lead after a largely uneventful opening race of the weekend at Bathurst.
The Monster Commodore driver led every one of the 14 laps from pole position, pulling a 1.5s advantage at the end of the opening tour before easing away to win by 3.4s.
Russell ended the race a similarly comfortable 2.3s ahead of Jack Perkins, who recovered well after falling from second on the grid to fifth Lap 1 thanks to a poor start.
Perkins overhauled Nick Percat for third at Griffins Bend with three laps remaining, while Paul Morris, Tim Blanchard, Rodney Jane, David Wall, Marcus Zukanovic and Scott McLaughlin rounded out the top 10.
A battle involving Wall, Zukanovic, McLaughlin, Daniel Jilesen and Chaz Mostert provided the race's main entertainment, with Wood and Zukanovic both moving through the pack having qualified outside the top 10.
The battle between Jilesen and Mostert ended in contact at Forrest Elbow – the Simpro Falcon tagging the Greg Murphy Racing Commodore as the former squirmed down the inside under brakes.
While Mostert continued largely unaffected, Jilesen lost initial ground having activated the pitlane speed limiter during his half-spin, before retiring on the penultimate lap.
Jilesen's team-mates Geoff Emery and Tony Bates made door-to-door contact with each other during the race, after Emery had spun wildly through the left-hander at The Chase while holding down 13th.
Irishman Richard Cregan also endured a difficult race – pulling off the circuit at the entry to McPhillamy Park with broken rear-rear suspension.
Taz Douglas, Ash Walsh and Drew Russell were all non-starters, with the two Falcon drivers having crashed heavily in qualifying this morning.
See below for the full race result
1 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Andrew Thompson | Holden Commodore VE | 30:34.1391 | 2:10.2706 |
2 | Team Jayco | David Russell | Ford Falcon BF | 30:37.5206 | 2:10.6210 |
3 | Supercheap / Bob Jane T Marts | Jack Perkins | Ford Falcon BF | 30:39.8138 | 2:10.5401 |
4 | Coates Hire Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VE | 30:43.4278 | 2:10.4307 |
5 | Sargent Security Racing | Paul Morris | Holden Commodore VE | 30:48.2399 | 2:11.0984 |
6 | Team Jayco | Tim Blanchard | Ford Falcon BF | 30:55.2450 | 2:11.3128 |
7 | Bob Jane T-Marts | Rodney Jane | Ford Falcon FG | 31:01.2030 | 2:11.7072 |
8 | Wilson Security Team McGrath | David Wall | Holden Commodore VE | 31:05.3208 | 2:11.8830 |
9 | Midway Concrete&Garden Supply | Marcus Zukanovic | Holden Commodore VE | 31:10.4662 | 2:12.1462 |
10 | Fujitsu | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon BF | 31:13.2920 | 2:12.4981 |
11 | Simpro Software/Master Elect. | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon BF | 31:13.9155 | 2:12.1917 |
12 | GARMIN | Tom Tweedie | Ford Falcon BF | 31:17.4280 | 2:12.9594 |
13 | CEG Rentals/Go Karts Go | Aaren Russell | Ford Falcon BF | 31:31.0342 | 2:12.9915 |
14 | ACDelco/Simworx/NDD | Geoff Emery | Holden Commodore VE | 31:41.8071 | 2:13.1753 |
15 | Drill Pro Services/EarthEx | James Brock | Holden Commodore VE | 31:44.6103 | 2:14.1794 |
16 | Favourit.com / AFS | Tony Bates | Holden Commodore VE | 31:45.1260 | 2:13.6254 |
17 | Freestones Roadhaven | Paul Freestone | Ford Falcon BF | 31:56.7006 | 2:15.1485 |
18 | Warrin Mining Volvo Const Eq. | Adam Wallis | Holden Commodore VE | 32:01.4288 | 2:16.0563 |
19 | Bisley Workwear | Colin Sieders | Ford Falcon BF | 32:04.9711 | 2:15.6052 |
20 | SOLO / NCSS | Aaron McGill | Ford Falcon BF | 32:19.4768 | 2:16.2351 |
21 | Flexi Staff | Todd Fiore | Ford Falcon BF | 32:21.5351 | 2:16.1640 |
22 | Formula Tech/Interquip Racing | Brett Stewart | Holden Commodore VE | 32:32.3889 | 2:17.6022 |
DNF | R&J Batteries/EarthEx/KingGee | Daniel Jilesen | Holden Commodore VE | 32:56.9913 | 2:12.4674 |
DNF | Mad Croc Energy | Robert Cregan | Ford Falcon BF | 15:56.8022 | 2:13.3657 |
DNF | Voight Constructing | Steve Voight | Holden Commodore VE | 5:05.9456 | 2:36.1020 |