Fabian Coulthard scored a surprise victory in an action packed second race at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide.

Race 1 winner Jamie Whincup looked set for a double success before handing Coulthard the ascendancy by running wide at Turn 9 with 15 of the 39 laps to run.

Whincup had been battling a deflating left-rear tyre which eventually punctured heading into Turn 8, requiring a miraculous save from the six-time champion to keep the car off the wall.

James Courtney overtook Craig Lowndes and Whincup to emerge as Coulthard’s only threat in the closing stages, but could not make inroads on the Kiwi’s three second lead.

Scott McLaughlin finished third on the road but dropped to ninth in the final results thanks to a 10 second post-race penalty.

Starting second, the Volvo driver had taken the lead off the start, but was soon handed a 10 second addition to his pitstop for jumping the start.

That penalty was eventually served illegally under Safety Car, which earned the driver a second penalty.

McLaughlin had appeared fortunate, however, not to have received a mechanical black flag as his car – which received a rapid engine change between heats – burnt oil throughout the race.

Lowndes was elevated to the final podium spot ahead of Garth Tander, Jason Bright, Rick Kelly, James Moffat and Ashley Walsh.

The gradually slowing Whincup had created a frantic few laps as those behind scrambled for positions.

Moments after taking Lowndes for fourth, Shane van Gisbergen was turned around in the pack by Tim Slade, who had been diving to the inside of the Red Bull Holden into Turn 9.

Van Gisbergen eventually finished 13^th, while Slade joined the retirements list after his Holden took left-front damage.

Michael Caruso brought out the race’s single Safety Car on lap 19 when damage from an earlier hit on David Reynolds caused a puncture and subsequent crash at Turn 8.

Chaz Mostert clouted the Turn 8 wall in the early stages, while Will Davison failed to complete the warm-up lap due to a clutch failure.

The V8 Supercars will return to the circuit for Race 3 qualifying at 1055 on Sunday.

VIDEO: Clipsal 500 Adelaide Race 2 highlights

Result: V8 Supercars Race 2, Clipsal 500 Adelaide

1

Freightliner Racing

Fabian Coulthard

Holden Commodore VF

39

59:05.68

2

Holden Racing Team

James Courtney

Holden Commodore VF

39

59:07.64

3

Red Bull Racing Australia

Craig Lowndes

Holden Commodore VF

39

59:14.54

4

Holden Racing Team

Garth Tander

Holden Commodore VF

39

59:15.69

5

Team BOC

Jason Bright

Holden Commodore VF

39

59:20.68

6

Nissan Motorsport

Rick Kelly

Nissan Altima

39

59:21.36

7

Nissan Mororsport

James Moffat

Nissan Altima

39

59:22.10

8

Erebus Motorsport V8

Ashley Walsh

Mercedes E63 AMG

39

59:23.38

9

Wilson Security Racing GRM

Scott McLaughlin

Volvo S60

39

59:23.89

10

Walkinshaw Racing

Lee Holdsworth

Holden Commodore VF

39

59:23.97

11

Pepsi Max Crew

Mark Winterbottom

Ford Falcon FG/X

39

59:24.46

12

Nissan Motorsport

Todd Kelly

Nissan Altima

39

59:24.86

13

Team TEKNO Darrell Lea

Shane Van Gisbergen

Holden Commodore VF

39

59:25.69

14

Repair Management Aust Racing

Nick Percat

Holden Commodore VF

39

59:26.13

15

Wilson Security Racing GRM

David Wall

Volvo S60

39

59:28.32

16

DJR Team Penske

Marcos Ambrose

Ford Falcon FG/X

39

59:29.79

17

The Bottle-O Racing Team

David Reynolds

Ford Falcon FG

39

59:30.91

18

Team GB Galvanizing

Dale Wood

Holden Commodore VF

39

59:32.08

19

Team Cooldrive

Tim Blanchard

Holden Commodore VF

39

59:32.89

20

Super Black Racing

Andre Heimgartner

Ford Falcon FG

39

59:33.25

21

Red Bull Racing Australia

Jamie Whincup

Holden Commodore VF

39

00:01.25

DNF

Supercheap Auto Racing

Tim Slade

Holden Commodore VF

25

39:55.78

DNF

Nissan Motorsport

Michael Caruso

Nissan Altima

16

22:45.19

DNF

Pepsi Max Crew

Chaz Mostert

Ford Falcon FG/X

3

04:20.57

DNF

Erebus Motorsport V8

Will Davison

Mercedes E63 AMG

V8 Supercars Championship standings after Race 2

1

Fabian Coulthard

139

2

Craig Lowndes

124

3

James Courtney

108

4

Garth Tander

108

5

Jamie Whincup

96

6

Mark Winterbottom

91

7

Jason Bright

89

8

Shane Van Gisbergen

84

9

James Moffat

84

10

Lee Holdsworth

81

11

Rick Kelly

81

12

Chaz Mostert

69

13

Ashley Walsh

67

14

Todd Kelly

65

15

David Reynolds

60

16

David Wall

57

17

Marcos Ambrose

56

18

Nick Percat

56

19

Tim Blanchard

48

20

Tim Slade

45

21

Dale Wood

44

22

Scott McLaughlin

42

23

Andre Heimgartner

40

24

Michael Caruso

21

25

Will Davison

0