2008 Clipsal 500

The 2008 Clipsal 500 Adelaide was Round 1 of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held from 21 to 24 February around the inner city streets of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. The Adelaide 500 is a unique event where the round results are determined by the results from the second race, rather that the driver with the most points from the weekend. This means that the winner of the round does not necessarily lead the championship after the event.

2008 Clipsal 500 Adelaide
Event Information
Round 1 of 14 in the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series
Date22–24 February 2008
LocationAdelaide, South Australia
VenueAdelaide Street Circuit
WeatherFine
Results
Race 1
Distance 78 laps 250 km
Pole position Jamie Whincup
Triple Eight Race Engineering
1:21.3301
Winner Jamie Whincup
Triple Eight Race Engineering
1:51:37.3538
Race 2
Distance 78 laps 250 km
Winner Jamie Whincup
Triple Eight Race Engineering
2:11:45.5992
Round Results
First
300 pts
Second 258 pts
Third 129 pts

Qualifying

Qualify was held on Friday 22 February. Jamie Whincup broke the qualifying lap record to snare pole position. James Courtney put himself on the front row in second position with Mark Winterbottom completing a Ford top three. Defending champion Garth Tander fulfilled on early promise at his new team to be best Holden in fourth position.

Race 1

Race 1 was held on Saturday 23 February.

Jamie Whincup was slow away, allowing Garth Tander and James Courtney to force the pace early with Courtney breaking away to a five-second lead. Courtney's lead was squandered after a clash in the Senna Chicane while lapping Jason Richards saw a tyre cut and shredded. Tander later disappeared downfield with suspension damage. Mark Winterbottom led towards the end of the race until a late race safety car period, caused by a clash between HSV Dealer Team teammates Rick Kelly and Paul Dumbrell bunched the field up allowing Whincup, who had earlier had a voltage problem leading to a battery change after 12 laps, to charge through the field, passing Winterbottom with two laps to go to win. Teammate Craig Lowndes, hampered by a jammed anti-roll bar, finished third behind Winterbottom, with Lee Holdsworth the first Holden home in fourth place.

It was an excellent result for the three of the four senior Ford teams, Team Vodafone putting both cars on the podium, Ford Performance Racing were second and fifth, with sixth and seventh filled by Jim Beam Racing.

Courtney, who finished in tenth position, was overnight relegated by the stewards to 16th position because of the clash with Jason Richards, and another similar clash with the other Tasman Motorsport Commodore of Greg Murphy, which also cost him 31 series points.

Race 2

Race 2 was held on Sunday 24 February.

Jamie Whincup celebrates on the Podium of the 2008 Clipsal 500 Adelaide.

Mark Winterbottom lead the race early on with Jamie Whincup moving into the lead before the compulsory pit stops began. Whincup resumed in the lead for much of the remainder of the race, but the minor placings became controversial after a number of overtaking incidents and clashes while overtaking punctuated the race, ending with a collision between James Courtney and Craig Lowndes on lap 55 as Lowndes was overtaking Courtney, the incident also eliminating Winterbottom. After the restart Steven Johnson was controversially assigned a driver-through penalty after overtaking Fabian Coulthard before the restart of the race, although Coulthard's car was slowing and retired to the pits the same lap. Garth Tander also was removed in an overtaking incident, after contact with Johnson sent the Ford driver wide and off track, Tander was glanced by Courtney after losing momentum leaving himself vulnerable to a pass from the following car. The glancing blow triggered a second suspension failure for the defending champion.

With several top runners removed Cameron McConville moved into second for many laps before losing the place with only a few laps to go to Lee Holdsworth. The two Holden racers completed the podium with Todd Kelly making three Holdens in the top four. Fifth place was a career best result for New Zealand teenager Shane van Gisbergen who had only entering V8 Supercar late last year.

Results

Results as follows:[1]

Qualifying

Pos No Name Car Team Part 3 Part 2 Part 1
1 88 Jamie Whincup Ford BF Falcon Triple Eight Race Engineering 1:21.3301
2 4 James Courtney Ford BF Falcon Stone Brothers Racing 1:21.3406
3 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford BF Falcon Ford Performance Racing 1:21.6647
4 1 Garth Tander Holden VE Commodore Holden Racing Team 1:21.6930
5 18 Will Davison Ford BF Falcon Dick Johnson Racing 1:21.7557
6 888 Craig Lowndes Ford BF Falcon Triple Eight Race Engineering 1:21.8745
7 33 Lee Holdsworth Holden VE Commodore Garry Rogers Motorsport 1:21.9638
8 17 Steven Johnson Ford BF Falcon Dick Johnson Racing 1:22.0282
9 6 Steven Richards Ford BF Falcon Ford Performance Racing 1:22.0976
10 16 Paul Dumbrell Holden VE Commodore HSV Dealer Team No time
11 7 Todd Kelly Holden VE Commodore Perkins Engineering 1:21.9779
12 15 Rick Kelly Holden VE Commodore HSV Dealer Team 1:22.0049
13 9 Shane van Gisbergen Ford BF Falcon Stone Brothers Racing 1:22.0814
14 2 Mark Skaife Holden VE Commodore Holden Racing Team 1:22.0939
15 3 Jason Richards Holden VE Commodore Tasman Motorsport 1:22.1513
16 111 Fabian Coulthard Ford BF Falcon Paul Cruickshank Racing 1:22.3425
17 25 Jason Bright Ford BF Falcon Britek Motorsport 1:22.3910
18 39 Russell Ingall Holden VE Commodore Paul Morris Motorsport 1:22.4469
19 14 Cameron McConville Holden VE Commodore Brad Jones Racing 1:22.4609
20 51 Greg Murphy Holden VE Commodore Tasman Motorsport 1:22.7538
21 12 Andrew Jones Holden VE Commodore Brad Jones Racing 1:22.7571
22 34 Michael Caruso Holden VE Commodore Garry Rogers Motorsport 1:22.7915
23 11 Shane Price Holden VE Commodore Perkins Engineering 1:22.9660
24 55 Tony D'Alberto Holden VE Commodore Rod Nash Racing 1:23.0891
25 50 Andrew Thompson Holden VE Commodore Paul Weel Racing 1:23.1461
26 67 Paul Morris Holden VE Commodore Paul Morris Motorsport 1:23.6190
27 021 Kayne Scott Ford BF Falcon Team Kiwi Racing 1:23.9923
28 26 Marcus Marshall Ford BF Falcon Britek Motorsport 1:24.5641

Race 1 results

Pos No Name Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 78 1:51:37.3538 1 150
2 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing 78 +1.8s 3 138
3 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering 78 +2.5s 6 129
4 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport 78 +2.9s 7 120
5 6 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing 78 +4.1s 9 111
6 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing 78 +7.5s 8 102
7 18 Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing 78 +11.0s 5 96
8 15 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team 78 +17.4s 12 90
9 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team 78 +19.1s 14 84
10 51 Greg Murphy Tasman Motorsport 78 +22.0s 20 78
11 111 Fabian Coulthard Paul Cruickshank Racing 78 +22.2s 16 72
12 9 Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Racing 78 +22.7s 13 69
13 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport 78 +22.9s 15 66
14 39 Russell Ingall Paul Morris Motorsport 78 +25.5s 18 63
15 7 Todd Kelly Perkins Engineering 78 +35.9s 11 60
16 4 James Courtney Stone Brothers Racing 78 +42.9s 2 57
17 55 Tony D'Alberto Rod Nash Racing 77 +1 Lap 24 54
18 12 Andrew Jones Brad Jones Racing 77 +1 Lap 21 51
19 26 Marcus Marshall Britek Motorsport 76 +2 Laps 28 48
20 50 Andrew Thompson Paul Weel Racing 76 +2 Laps 25 45
21 11 Shane Price Perkins Engineering 74 +4 Laps 23 42
22 021 Kayne Scott Team Kiwi Racing 71 +7 Laps 27 39
23 1 Garth Tander Holden Racing Team 69 +9 Laps 4 36
DNF 16 Paul Dumbrell HSV Dealer Team 67 Accident 10
DNF 14 Cameron McConville Brad Jones Racing 63 19
DNF 67 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport 57 Engine fire 26
DNF 25 Jason Bright Britek Motorsport 53 17
DNF 34 Michael Caruso Garry Rogers Motorsport 29 Accident 22

Race 2 results

Pos No Name Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 78 2:11:45.5992 1 150
2 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport 78 +0.8s 4 138
3 14 Cameron McConville Brad Jones Racing 78 +1.7s 25 129
4 7 Todd Kelly Perkins Engineering 78 +2.2s 15 120
5 9 Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Racing 78 +2.8s 12 111
6 15 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team 78 +3.4s 8 102
7 51 Greg Murphy Tasman Motorsport 78 +3.9s 10 96
8 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport 78 +6.0s 13 90
9 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing 78 +7.7s 6 84
10 25 Jason Bright Britek Motorsport 78 +9.0s 27 78
11 34 Michael Caruso Garry Rogers Motorsport 78 +9.3s 28 72
12 12 Andrew Jones Brad Jones Racing 78 +13.6s 18 69
13 26 Marcus Marshall Britek Motorsport 78 +14.1s 19 66
14 021 Kayne Scott Team Kiwi Racing 78 +14.8s 22 63
15 6 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing 77 +1 lap 5 60
16 67 Paul Morris Team Sirromet Wines 76 +2 laps 26 57
17 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team 73 +5 laps 9 54
18 111 Fabian Coulthard Paul Cruickshank Racing 69 +9 laps 11 51
19 1 Garth Tander Holden Racing Team 67 +11 laps 23 48
DNF 55 Tony D'Alberto Rod Nash Racing 71 Suspension 17
DNF 16 Paul Dumbrell HSV Dealer Team 66 Accident 24
DNF 4 James Courtney Stone Brothers Racing 55 Accident 16
DNF 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering 55 Accident 3
DNF 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing 55 Accident 2
DNF 50 Andrew Thompson Paul Weel Racing 46 Accident 20
DNF 11 Shane Price Perkins Engineering 18 Engine 21
DNF 18 Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing 5 Mechanical 7
DNF 39 Russell Ingall Paul Morris Motorsport 2 Mechanical 14

Notes

Ulladulla driver Ashley Cooper was involved in a high-speed accident on Saturday morning, after lap 11 in the second race of the Fujitsu series, the lead support category at the Adelaide 500, which utilises older V8 Supercars retired from the main series teams. The accident occurred at the notorious Turn 8 after Cooper clipped the barrier inside of the corners apex unsettling the car for the right hand bend and the car hit the wall on the outside of the corner broadside on. Cooper died on 25 February due to injuries sustained in the crash.[2][3]

Post race

Two incidents in the two races brought the attention of driving standards for the next round at Eastern Creek, the first was Jamie Whincup. During the first race he made contact with Mark Winterbottom with two laps to go. This gave Whincup the win and although race control looked at the incident, they decided that no action should be taken.

The second incident involved Craig Lowndes and James Courtney. On lap 56 Courtney was in second and Lowndes third. Coming into the hairpin (turn 9) Lowndes went straight down the inside of Courtney and going into turn 11 Courtney turned Lowndes around sending both into the wall. Mark Winterbottom was also caught up within the accident and all three were DNF'ed. The new Driving Standards Observer Tomas Mezera received plenty of criticism, because Lowndes already had done a similar move to Winterbottom and Lee Holdsworth a few laps before.

Standings

After Round 1 of 14

Pos No Name Team Points
1 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 300
2 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport 258
3 15 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team 192
4 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing 186
5 7 Todd Kelly Perkins Engineering 180

References

  1. "Adelaide Parklands Circuit 24 February 2008 2008 Clipsal 500 Adelaide". National Software. 24 February 2008. Archived from the original on 22 March 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  2. "Clipsal 500 driver 'critical'". The Daily Telegraph (news.com.au). 23 February 2008. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
  3. Novak, Lauren; Malinauskas, Rob (25 February 2008). "V8 Supercar driver Ashley Cooper dies after Clipsal 500 crash". Adelaide Now (news.com.au). Archived from the original on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
Supercars Championship
Previous race:
2007 Grand Finale
2008 Supercars Championship Next race:
2008 Eastern Creek round of the V8 Supercar Championship
Previous year:
2007 Clipsal 500
Clipsal 500 Next year:
2009 Clipsal 500
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