Castrol Wrap – V8 Supercar Final Round – Sydney Telstra 500
Davison wins the final race of the 2012 V8 Supercars season
Castrol-backed Ford Performance Racing have capped off another strong year in the International V8 Supercars Championship with Will Davison winning the final race of the year at the Sydney Telstra 500.
The championship win went top Triple 8’s Jamie Whincup with FPR driver Mark Winterbottom narrowly missing out on second for the year being pipped at the post by Craig Lowndes in the final race.
Davison claimed fourth overall in the championship standings as well as picking up the prestigious Armor All Pole Award for the most amount of poles for the season with an impressive nine.
“I am pumped to round out the year like this and to win at Homebush is a special feeling as I’ve come so close in the past,” said Davison.
“It was a great race and for once relatively straight forward. I settled into a good battle and managed everything I needed to so it was nice. I am proud to win the final race for Ford this season so I am going to enjoy our celebrations as the pole award was a nice bonus.” Davison added.
Fellow Castrol-backed FPR teammate David Reynolds putting in his best year to date, in his young career, to finish inside the top-10 in ninth.
Ingall endured a tough finish to what was otherwise a strong year for the Supercheap Auto driver
Castrol-backed Kelly Racing Jack Daniel’s Commodore drivers Rick Kelly and Tim Blanchard finished the 30th and final race of the 2012 season 11th and 24th respectively.
“There’s no doubt we’ve had a tough year but finished it on a comparative high this weekend with a sixth and eleventh,” said Kelly.
“I’m really impressed with how well the team has stuck together this year through the tough times. If we can hang in together that well in the tough times, I know we will enjoy the good times next season when we can challenge the best of them.” Kelly added.
Russell Ingall produced his season-best qualifying performance in the Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore and recovered from a mid-race setback to finish Saturday’s first leg of the Sydney Telstra 500, Race 29 of the V8 Supercar Championship, just outside the top 10.
Ingall unfortunately endured an unlucky conclusion to his 2012 V8 Supercar Championship campaign, a couple of mechanical issues ending his run in the second leg of the Sydney Telstra 500.
The 2012 International V8 Supercar season is now complete; the 2013 season kicks off with the Clipsal 500, Adelaide, February 28-March 3.
Result: V8 Supercars Championship Race 30, Sydney Olympic Park
| 1 | Trading Post FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 74 | 01:57:50.5999 |
| 2 | TeamVodafone | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VE2 | 74 | 01:57:53.1830 |
| 3 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VE2 | 74 | 01:57:55.1879 |
| 4 | Lucky 7 Racing | Tim Slade | Ford Falcon FG | 74 | 01:57:58.7939 |
| 5 | TeamVodafone | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VE2 | 74 | 01:58:15.1295 |
| 6 | Tekno Autosports | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VE2 | 74 | 01:58:18.8181 |
| 7 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 74 | 01:58:28.3027 |
| 8 | VIP Petfoods | Steve Owen | Ford Falcon FG | 74 | 01:58:36.8652 |
| 9 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VE2 | 74 | 01:58:38.3088 |
| 10 | Jim Beam Racing | Steven Johnson | Ford Falcon FG | 74 | 01:58:39.2610 |
| 11 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 74 | 01:58:40.6498 |
| 12 | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Ford Falcon FG | 74 | 01:58:42.0781 |
| 13 | Team iSelect | Taz Douglas | Holden Commodore VE2 | 74 | 01:58:46.3043 |
| 14 | Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing | Karl Reindler | Holden Commodore VE2 | 74 | 01:58:46.9772 |
| 15 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VE2 | 74 | 01:59:58.3786 |
| 16 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VE2 | 73 | 01:58:29.4507 |
| 17 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Holden Commodore VE2 | 73 | 01:58:35.4197 |
| 18 | Orrcon Steel FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 73 | 01:58:51.4094 |
| 19 | Tekno Autosports | Michael Patrizi | Holden Commodore VE2 | 73 | 01:59:03.2504 |
| 20 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VE2 | 72 | 01:59:00.7721 |
| 21 | Jim Beam Racing | Dean Fiore | Ford Falcon FG | 69 | 01:57:53.9308 |
| 22 | Team Norton DJR | James Moffat | Ford Falcon FG | 69 | 01:59:01.1812 |
| DNF | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Michael Caruso | Holden Commodore VE2 | 72 | 01:55:58.1945 |
| DNF | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 34 | 58:00.9814 |
| DNF | Team Hiflex | Tony D’Alberto | Ford Falcon FG | 29 | 51:07.6128 |
| DNF | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 14 | 27:42.6673 |
| DNF | Pepsi Max Crew | Greg Murphy | Holden Commodore VE2 | 5 | 9:58.1246 |
| DNF | SP Tools Racing | Shane Van Gisbergen | Ford Falcon FG |
Championship standings after Race 30 of 30
| 1 | Jamie Whincup | 3861 |
| 2 | Craig Lowndes | 3522 |
| 3 | Mark Winterbottom | 3457 |
| 4 | Will Davison | 3049 |
| 5 | Tim Slade | 2790 |
| 6 | Shane Van Gisbergen | 2554 |
| 7 | Garth Tander | 2462 |
| 8 | Lee Holdsworth | 2189 |
| 9 | David Reynolds | 2187 |
| 10 | James Courtney | 2153 |
| 11 | Fabian Coulthard | 2035 |
| 12 | Jonathon Webb | 1987 |
| 13 | Russell Ingall | 1960 |
| 14 | Rick Kelly | 1894 |
| 15 | Michael Caruso | 1770 |
| 16 | Jason Bright | 1737 |
| 17 | Steven Johnson | 1621 |
| 18 | Michael Patrizi | 1397 |
| 19 | Dean Fiore | 1395 |
| 20 | Steve Owen | 1393 |
| 21 | James Moffat | 1354 |
| 22 | Todd Kelly | 1263 |
| 23 | Tony D’Alberto | 1176 |
| 24 | Karl Reindler | 1147 |
| 25 | David Wall | 1142 |
| 26 | Taz Douglas | 1079 |
| 27 | Alexandre Premat | 942 |
| 28 | Greg Murphy | 649 |
