Mostert wins chaotic Hidden Valley opener

Chaz Mostert and Mark Winterbottom emerged from an action packed opening race at Hidden Valley with a one-two finish for Prodrive.

Mostert made the best of the starts to lead all 21 laps, asserting his dominance on two Safety Car restarts on the way to victory.

Pole-sitter James Courtney gave chase before a mid-race off at Turn 1 saw the Holden drop behind Winterbottom, eventual third place finisher Rick Kelly and Shane van Gisbergen.

Courtney’s race came even further unstuck on a restart with two laps to go, when the 2010 champion speared off following side-to-side contact with Van Gisbergen’s Tekno Holden.

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Garth Tander, who had fought his way through from 15th on the grid, was also caught up in the incident, dropping both HRT entries to the rear.

James Moffat and Michael Caruso swept through the chaos to fourth and fifth respectively, with Scott Pye, Tim Slade, Dale Wood, Nick Percat and Todd Kelly filling the remainder of the 10.

Jamie Whincup took the flag in 11th despite dropping to the back of the pack at the very opening turn.

Starting fourth, the six-time champion lost the rear of his Red Bull Holden, sliding into third-placed Fabian Coulthard, putting the Kiwi out of the race.

There was more carnage at the Turn 6 hairpin as a Scott McLaughlin dive-bomb resulted in spins for Craig Lowndes and Tim Blanchard.

A battle for sixth between James Moffat and Dale Wood two laps later sent the BJR Holden off at Turn 1, triggering a grass fire that required a Safety Car while it was extinguished.

The full course yellows were also required in the closing stages after another fire; this time caused by a second Craig Lowndes spin.

Also in the mid-race wars were David Reynolds, Jason Bright and Andre Heimgartner, who all toured the scenery during a scrap for eighth.

Result: V8 Supercars Race 13, Hidden Valley

1	Pepsi Max Crew	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG/X	21	27:48.7583
2	Pepsi Max Crew	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG/X	21	27:49.7771
3	Nissan Motorsport	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	21	27:50.8052
4	Nissan Motorsport	James Moffat	Nissan Altima	21	27:51.1891
5	Nissan Motorsport	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	21	27:52.1446
6	DJR Team Penske	Scott Pye	Ford Falcon FG/X	21	27:52.4236
7	Supercheap Auto Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	21	27:52.7317
8	GB Galvanizing Racing	Dale Wood	Holden Commodore VF	21	27:53.0872
9	Repair Management Aust Racing	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	21	27:53.3396
10	Nissan Motorsport	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	21	27:53.7485
11	Red Bull Racing Australia	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	21	27:54.0400
12	Team Darrell Lea STIX	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	21	27:54.6691
13	Walkinshaw Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VF	21	27:55.0765
14	Erebus Motorsport V8	Will Davison	Mercedes E63 AMG	21	27:55.3275
15	Wilson Security Racing GRM	David Wall	Volvo S60	21	27:55.8228
16	The Bottle-O Racing Team	David Reynolds	Ford Falcon FG/X	21	27:56.0576
17	Team Cooldrive	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore VF	21	27:56.9516
18	Red Bull Racing Australia	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	21	27:57.2817
19	Team BOC	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VF	21	27:57.5297
20	Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	21	27:58.1665
21	Erebus Motorsport V8	Ashley Walsh	Mercedes E63 AMG	21	27:58.7360
22	Super Black Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Ford Falcon FG/X	21	27:58.9426
23	Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	21	28:00.8670
DNF	Freightliner Racing	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore VF
DNF	Wilson Security Racing GRM	Scott McLaughlin	Volvo S60