Fabian Coulthard wins Symmons Super Sprint
Coulthard, Whincup and Winterbottom on the podium
Fabian Coulthard has carried on his tremendous Albert Park form by recording a maiden V8 Supercars Championship race win in the Symmons Plains Super Sprint.
The Lockwood Holden driver started and finished the opening 60km leg second to Jamie Whincup, before diving underneath the Red Bull Holden on the second lap of Leg 2.
Coulthard’s victory was initially provisional with race officials investigating a report of a restart rule breach from the Kiwi. A post-race investigation found that no breach had been made.
The much hyped double-file restart was free of carnage at the front of the field, with only the Lucas Dumbrell Holden of Scott Pye finding trouble deep in the pack.
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Coulthard had to survive a Safety Car restart with six laps to go and sprinkles of rain in the closing stages before taking the chequered flag.
Whincup crossed the line 1.1s adrift of Coulthard in second, later noting that he had made an unhelpful set-up change during the 15 minute service break between legs.
Whincup led the field away for the double-file restart
Mark Winterbottom pressed the defending champion to the line in third ahead of Jason Bright, Garth Tander, Will Davison, Shane van Gisbergen, Scott McLaughlin, James Courtney and Jonathon Webb.
Bright and Tander engaged in some panel rubbing during the opening leg, with Bright lucky not to sustain damage when contact on the back straight momentarily lifted his right-front wheel into the air.
Craig Lowndes was classified just 26th after a clash with Shane van Gisbergen on the opening lap of the first leg punctured a rear tyre on his Holden, sending him into a spin.
Lowndes’ issues, which also included a troublesome gearbox, have allowed team-mate Whincup to take the points lead after three races, with Will Davison moving to second.
Todd Kelly failed to take the start of Leg 2 after a power steering failure while Maro Engel was also a DNF, causing the late Safety Car with an off at Turn 4.
Engel’s Erebus team-mate Lee Holdsworth was also in the wars, spinning at Turn 2 after a tap from James Moffat in the Lowndes-induced melee. The IRWIN Mercedes eventually finished 23rd, with the incident to be investigated after the race.
Two 100km races will complete the Symmons Plains event tomorrow.
See below for the full Race 3 result
| 1 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 01:17:41.5215 |
| 2 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 01:17:42.6596 |
| 3 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 50 | 01:17:42.8240 |
| 4 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 01:17:43.5110 |
| 5 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 01:17:43.7670 |
| 6 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 50 | 01:17:44.0748 |
| 7 | TEKNO Team VIP | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 01:17:45.8019 |
| 8 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 01:17:46.2789 |
| 9 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 01:17:46.4820 |
| 10 | Tekno Autosports | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 01:17:48.0333 |
| 11 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 01:17:48.3817 |
| 12 | Team HIFLEX | Tony D’Alberto | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 01:17:48.9433 |
| 13 | Jeld-wen FPR Ford | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 50 | 01:17:49.9783 |
| 14 | The Bottle-O FPR Ford | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 50 | 01:17:50.2204 |
| 15 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 01:17:51.8219 |
| 16 | Norton 360 Racing | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 50 | 01:17:52.3613 |
| 17 | Wilson Security Racing | Tim Blanchard | Ford Falcon FG | 50 | 01:17:53.2025 |
| 18 | ekol Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 01:17:53.9475 |
| 19 | Norton 360 Racing | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 50 | 01:17:54.8172 |
| 20 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 50 | 01:17:55.0574 |
| 21 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Alexandre Premat | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 01:17:55.5978 |
| 22 | Heavy Haulage Racing | Tim Slade | Mercedes E63 AMG | 50 | 01:17:55.7129 |
| 23 | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Mercedes E63 AMG | 50 | 01:17:55.9529 |
| 24 | Wilson Security Racing | Jonny Reid | Ford Falcon FG | 50 | 01:17:57.2901 |
| 25 | Dodo Insurance Racing | Dean Fiore | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 01:18:01.1573 |
| 26 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 49 | 01:17:59.1359 |
| DNF | SP Tools Racing | Maro Engel | Mercedes E63 AMG | 41 | 01:09:19.4037 |
| DNF | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 25 | 54:55.6893 |
See below for the updated championship standings
| 1 | Jamie Whincup | 359 |
| 2 | Will Davison | 308 |
| 3 | Craig Lowndes | 297 |
| 4 | James Courtney | 248 |
| 5 | Scott McLaughlin | 246 |
| 6 | Russell Ingall | 238 |
| 7 | Jonathon Webb | 220 |
| 8 | Shane Van Gisbergen | 214 |
| 9 | Tony D’Alberto | 205 |
| 10 | Mark Winterbottom | 197 |
| 11 | Scott Pye | 172 |
| 12 | Garth Tander | 170 |
| 13 | Rick Kelly | 165 |
| 14 | David Wall | 162 |
| 15 | James Moffat | 161 |
| 16 | Fabian Coulthard | 148 |
| 17 | Alexandre Premat | 148 |
| 18 | Tim Blanchard | 147 |
| 19 | Lee Holdsworth | 132 |
| 20 | Dean Fiore | 131 |
| 21 | Alex Davison | 128 |
| 22 | Jason Bright | 104 |
| 23 | David Reynolds | 87 |
| 24 | Tim Slade | 86 |
| 25 | Michael Caruso | 74 |
| 26 | Maro Engel | 33 |
| 27 | Jonny Reid | 22 |
| 28 | Todd Kelly | 0 |