Andrew Thompson has chalked up Triple Eight Race Engineering’s first race victory of the weekend at the 2011 Clipsal 500.
The Monster Commodore driver dominated this evening’s opening Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series race, leading every lap from the front-row of the grid.
Jayco Ford driver David Russell challenged Thompson early, but dropped to 11th after spinning at the Senna Chicane due to contact with a lapped Paul Freestone. Russell recovered over the final 13 laps to finish eighth.
Pole-sitter Nick Percat swapped places with Russell in the opening laps and avoided the spinning Falcons to finish second, ahead of Jack Perkins (Supercheap/BJTM Ford) and Tim Blanchard (Jayco Ford).
Taz Douglas (CRG Holden) took a fine fifth, while Drew Russell (Go-Karts-Go Ford) charged from outside the top 10 to finish sixth.
The race was a disaster for Ash Walsh (simPRO Ford), whose top 10 qualifying run turned to nought due to a trip into the Turn 11 tyre barrier on Lap 2.
Also to strike trouble were Tony Bates (spinning at Turn 9 on Lap 1) and Todd Fiore (running into the Turn 9 exit wall on Lap 20).
Results to follow
