Caruso breaks win drought in Darwin opener

Nissan’s Michael Caruso became the 10th different winner of the 2016 Supercars season after pole-sitter Shane van Gisbergen fell foul of a restart penalty.

The result comes seven years after Caruso’s first and only previous victory, also scored at Hidden Valley, and is Nissan’s second win in the Supercars era following success at Winton in 2013.

Caruso had out-dragged Van Gisbergen to lead at the first corner, staying clear of the chaos that was to unfold behind.

The pack was shuffled at Turn 5 as seventh placed starter Craig Lowndes spun following contact with Rick Kelly, who in turn had pressure being applied from Tim Slade behind.

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One of the biggest beneficiaries was Garth Tander who charged from 25th to 16th on lap one, but losing his right-front door along the way resulted in a Safety Car and a trip to the garage.

The subsequent restart provided the race’s flashpoint as Van Gisbergen made minor contact with Caruso exiting the final corner before sneaking down the inside of the Altima before the control line.

Van Gisbergen’s eagerness soon earned him a drive-through penalty, leaving Davison – who also overtook the Nissan at the green flag – leading Caruso and Mostert.

Caruso was one of the first to stop when the pit window opened on lap 10, while Davison waited a further five laps before taking service.

When the front-running stops shook out Caruso had a comfortable three second lead over Mostert with Davison third and Jamie Whincup fourth.

Whincup picked off Davison on lap 24 and Mostert 12 laps later before closing Caruso’s margin to just 1.8s at the flag.

DJR Team Penske duo Scott Pye and Fabian Coulthard finished fifth and sixth respectively after both running long first stints.

Pye had been fortunate to escape without significant damage from the restart, which saw the Shell Ford scrape the inside wall after a touch from Whincup.

Todd Kelly, Lee Holdsworth, Mark Winterbottom and Scott McLaughlin filled seventh through 10th, while Lowndes recovered to 11th.

Van Gisbergen was five places further back after his drive-through penalty.

The results see Whincup jump from third to the head of the championship, now holding an 18 point lead over erstwhile leader Winterbottom.

Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown Race 12

1	Nissan Motorsport	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	42	50:12.3730
2	Red Bull Racing Australia	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	42	50:14.1525
3	Supercheap Auto Racing	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG/X	42	50:17.4609
4	Team Darrell Lea STIX	Will Davison	Holden Commodore VF	42	50:18.4083
5	DJR Team Penske	Scott Pye	Ford Falcon FG/X	42	50:19.5667
6	DJR Team Penske	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG/X	42	50:21.9819
7	carsales Racing	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	42	50:24.9066
8	Preston Hire Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VF	42	50:25.4794
9	The Bottle-O Racing Team	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG/X	42	50:26.8857
10	Wilson Security Racing GRM	Scott McLaughlin	Volvo S60	42	50:27.7785
11	TeamVortex	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	42	50:28.2132
12	Team BOC	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VF	42	50:28.8879
13	Freightliner Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	42	50:34.1111
14	Super Black Racing	Chris Pither	Ford Falcon FG/X	42	50:40.0351
15	Sengled Motorsport	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	42	50:40.5791
16	Red Bull Racing Australia	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	42	50:40.9746
17	Erebus Motorsport Penrite	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore VF	42	50:46.4757
18	ABRO/Repair Management Aust	Andre Heimgartner	Holden Commodore VF	42	50:46.7109
19	Team Cooldrive	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore VF	42	50:47.9239
20	GB Galvanizing Racing	Dale Wood	Nissan Altima	42	50:48.7978
21	Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	42	50:55.1633
22	Plus Fitness Racing	Aaren Russell	Holden Commodore VF	42	50:56.0539
23	Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	37	50:56.4546
24	Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG/X	33	50:56.6650
DNF	Wilson Security Racing GRM	James Moffat	Volvo S60	27	50:31.0450
DNF	ABRO/Repair Management Aust	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF

Championship Standings

1	Jamie Whincup	1185
2	Mark Winterbottom	1167
3	Scott McLaughlin	1134
4	Craig Lowndes	1116
5	Shane Van Gisbergen	1054
6	Will Davison	1032
7	Michael Caruso	933
8	Tim Slade	885
9	Rick Kelly	861
10	Garth Tander	844
11	Chaz Mostert	833
12	Todd Kelly	799
13	James Courtney	798
14	Fabian Coulthard	796
15	Scott Pye	775
16	Jason Bright	738
17	David Reynolds	691
18	Lee Holdsworth	648
19	Cameron Waters	646
20	James Moffat	546
21	Nick Percat	537
22	Dale Wood	484
23	Chris Pither	478
24	Tim Blanchard	464
25	Andre Heimgartner	395
26	Aaren Russell	336