Courtney penalised over Rick Kelly contact

James Courtney

James Courtney’s troubled Winton weekend has ended with a points penalty for late contact with Rick Kelly in Race 12.

Stewards have relieved Courtney of 15 championship points after knocking Kelly’s Nissan wide at Turn 12 on lap 59 of 67.

Kelly had been attempting to hold onto ninth place at the time of the incident, which saw the Jack Daniel’s entry lose a single position.

Courtney, who finished the race in seventh place after a bold soft-hard-soft tyre strategy in order to gain early track position, drops behind Jamie Whincup to fourth in the standings as a result.

THE FINAL RACE OF THE 2023 REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP ON ONE OF THE WORLD’S BEST STREET CIRCUITS.
GO ALL IN AT THE VAILO ADELAIDE 500, CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

The incident came a day after Courtney received a drive-through penalty for knocking Walkinshaw stablemates Garth Tander and Lee Holdsworth out of Race 11 on the opening corner.

Andre Heimgartner has meanwhile been docked 15 points for pushing Holdsworth off on lap 40 of Race 12.

The pair had been disputing 16th place following the Safety Car restart when the incident occurred at Turn 1.

The Kiwi retains 22nd in the points standings, two places behind Holdsworth, who went on to finish Race 12 in 15th place.

Updated V8 Supercars Championship standings

1

Mark Winterbottom

937

2

Craig Lowndes

925

3

Fabian Coulthard

851

4

Jamie Whincup

801

5

James Courtney

795

6

Garth Tander

734

7

Shane Van Gisbergen

731

8

Chaz Mostert

714

9

David Reynolds

708

10

Rick Kelly

620

11

Todd Kelly

551

12

Jason Bright

537

13

Will Davison

513

14

Michael Caruso

496

15

Nick Percat

479

16

Scott McLaughlin

459

17

Tim Slade

434

18

James Moffat

426

19

Dale Wood

401

20

Lee Holdsworth

394

21

Tim Blanchard

389

22

Andre Heimgartner

355

23

David Wall

333

24

Ashley Walsh

282

25

Scott Pye

263

26

Marcos Ambrose

125