Courtney sprints into the distance at QR
Race 9 winner James CourtneFord has taken its first V8 Supercars Championship Series win in 2010, with James Courtney winning Race 9 of the championship in the Ipswich 300 at Queensland Raceway this afternoon.
Courtney dominated the race, beating TeamVodafone driver Craig Lowndes by over 13 seconds. The Jim Beam Racing driver also reset Russell Ingall’s lap record from last year by 0.2s.
While it was Courtney’s second race victory for the year, it was the first ‘championship’ round win.
Courtney’s win was the icing on the cake for Dick Johnson Racing, which had all three of its cars finish inside the top 10 (Steve Johnson sixth and Jonathon Webb 10th). Also, it was DJR’s 75th career race win.
“It’s great. The whole race today was excellent,” Courtney said.
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“Apart from a few dramas, it was flawless right from the start. I had a lot of speed. I sat behind Garth at the start to see what his speed would be like. He was running a bit slower than I though we had to. I got past him and set my own rythm and my car held onto its tyres and had a good margin at the end. It’s a good feeling, very nice.”
SP Tools driver Shane van Gisbergen rounded out the podium.
Championship leader Jamie Whincup fought back from his worst qualifying result of the season (12th) to finish fourth.
Toll HRT driver Garth Tander was fifth from Johnson, Lee Holdsworth (Fujitsu), Rick Kelly (Jack Daniel’s), Mark Winterbottom (Orrcon Steel FPR) and Webb.
RESULTS: Race One (Series Race 9)
| 1. | #18 | James Courtney | 38 laps |
| 2. | #888 | Craig Lowndes | |
| 3. | #9 | Shane Van Gisbergen | |
| 4. | #1 | Jamie Whincup | |
| 5. | #2 | Garth Tander | |
| 6. | #17 | Steven Johnson | |
| 7. | #33 | Lee Holdsworth | |
| 8. | #15 | Rick Kelly | |
| 9. | #5 | Mark Winterbottom | |
| 10. | #19 | Jonathon Webb |
V8 Supercar Championship Series Points Standings
After Race 9 of 26
| 1. | Jamie Whincup | 1191 |
| 2. | James Courtney | 1017 |
| 3. | Mark Winterbottom | 894 |
| 4. | Lee Holdsworth | 867 |
| 5. | Craig Lowndes | 858 |
| 6. | Shane Van Gisbergen | 855 |
| 7. | Garth Tander | 834 |
| 8. | Rick Kelly | 812 |
| 9. | Michael Caruso | 732 |
| 10. | Paul Dumbrell | 660 |