2015 Clipsal 500 – Day 3: V8 Supercars live coverage, blog

Match result:

James Courtney has won back to back Clipsal 500’s, winning Race 3 of the V8 Supercars championship, after an enthralling battle with Shane Van Gisbergen in the final few laps.

The win by Courtney made him the fourth driver to win back to back Clipsal 500’s and also gave Holden their 8th straight victory in Adelaide.

After taking out pole position in today’s top ten shootout, Courtney would make the perfect start by leading into the Senna chicane.

Whincup, who started in fourth, would move to second by the first corner and start to attack Courtney for the lead.

McLaughlin would follow Whincup, and move to third past Coulthard, who moved back to sixth from second on the grid.

Behind these three, Van Gisbergen started to move towards the front, as he overtook Moffat for fourth on the second lap.

The top four didn’t change until lap 18 when the first round of pit stops happened.

Whincup and Van Gisbergen pitted first on lap 18 before Courtney pitted four laps later on lap 22.

McLaughlin would pit on lap 21 and run into trouble for the rest of the day.

He had an alternator problem which reduced the battery in his car. The Volvo driver would have to replace two batteries during the race and drive without water and a cool suit. He would finish 18th and be dragged out of the car by the team.

How he finished the race is a wonder in itself.

Up front, the race changed on lap 26.

Ash Walsh had an electrical problem with his car as it stopped between turn 7 and 8 on the straight.

This prompted the first safety car for the day which changed the strategy of all the drivers.

Some chose to stop again during the safety car with others waiting for another opportunity to pit.

The top three – Courtney, Whincup, and Van Gisbergen – remained the same.

Eight laps later that opportunity presented itself after Lee Holdsworth hit the turn 8 wall to retire from the race.

Courtney and Whincup took the chance to pit with Van Gisbergen missing the chance by a few seconds.

He was told by his team to pit but was already past the pit marker when they radioed him.

This handed Van Gisbergen the lead as they restarted the race.

Despite some drivers pitting twice, and others pitting once, all had to pit one more time to finish the race.

The main reason around drivers pitting twice came from the minimum fuel load for the race.

With Courtney, Whincup, and others in the mid-pack, some took the chance to pit after the safety car and get clean air.

Courtney, who charged after the restart on lap 36, pitted on lap 45 to take the lead out of those who pitted early on after the restart.

This included Whincup, Winterbottom and Tander who were able to climb through the pack after pitting first after the restart.

When Van Gisbergen pitted on lap 47 he couldn’t make it out in front of Courtney who took back the lead.

This set up a great battle between Courtney, Van Gisbergen and Tander for the win.

Tander, who was not far behind the top two, started to struggle with his tyres as the race finish loomed.

This allowed Van Gisbergen to close on Courtney and he made a move on the HRT driver on lap 60.

Heading into turn 9, he got a run, and moved down the inside of Courtney.

Unfortunately for Van Gisbergen, he hit the HRT car, and was forced to let Courtney back into the lead.

He would have one more chance to overtake Courtney, on lap 76, but he was unable to get close enough to make a move on him.

Courtney would hold on to take the win, with Van Gisbergen and Tander rounding out the top 3.

Behind the top 3, there was a big incident on the final lap, involving Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert.

With oil on the circuit, and Whincup in 4th, he slowed down as Mostert came storming home.

Out of turn 9, Mostert got a run, around the outside of Whincup.

They made contact into turn 10 and Mostert hit the wall hard and bounced back on to the track.

James Moffat, who was inside the top ten, then made contact with Mostert and damaged both of their cars.

It was a terrible way to end the day for both drivers.

Neither driver involved in the accident got a penalty either and they deemed it a racing incident.

Courtney’s win hands him the lead in the championship after three races so far in 2015.

The next event in the championship is the non-points event at the Australian Grand Prix in less than two weeks time.

Match preview:

Holden will be looking for eight straight wins at the Clipsal 500 when the final race of the weekend starts today around the Adelaide street circuit. Join The Roar for a live blog of qualifying, the top ten shootout, and Race 3 of the championship from 11:25am AEDT.

Yesterday was a dominant day for the Holden Lion as they roared to victory in Race 1 and 2 of the championship.

Not only did they secure both wins but they also secured five of the six podium spots on offer in yesterday’s races.

In Race 1, Jamie Whincup won for the 90th time in V8 Supercars, as he started his campaign for a seventh V8 Supercar title in perfect fashion.

Chaz Mostert, on debut in the new Ford FG-X, would finish in second and be the sole non-Holden driver to make the podium on Saturday.

Fabian Coulthard would round out the podium and record his first top three finish at the Clipsal 500.

It got better for Coulthard though as he bounced back in the second race to take his first win around the streets of Adelaide.

A flat tyre to Whincup, with 15 laps to go while he was in the lead, handed Coulthard the lead and the race.

Whincup would finish 21st in the race with James Courtney and Craig Lowndes rounding out the podium.

Coulthard, with the win, became the 12th driver to win around the streets of Adelaide.

He also provided Holden with seven straight wins in Adelaide since Ford won their last race in 2012.

They will be hoping to continue the form heading into the final 250 kilometre race. Today the Clipsal 500 champion will be crowned with Sunday’s race determining the overall winner for the weekend.

Despite having races on Saturday, and still awarding points for those races, Sunday’s winner is given the overall win.

Last year James Courtney took the win, and will be looking to go back to back with a win today.
Only three drivers, Mark Skaife (02 and 03), Marcos Ambrose (04 and 05) and Whincup (08 and 09), have done the feat at the Clipsal 500.

Courtney faces a tough task doing that with drivers looking to bounce back from yesterday. Whincup, after his problem in Race 2, will be looking to continue his incredible performances in Adelaide. He has won nine times at Clipsal.

He will be among the favourites for today. Others to look out for at Holden include Coulthard, Garth Tander, Craig Lowndes and Lee Holdsworth.

All four drivers showed handy race pace yesterday and will fancy their chances of winning today.
For the other manufacturers, today is all about bouncing back.

Volvo, after a shocking day for Scott McLaughlin, will be hoping for a less dramatic day than Sunday.

After a fire in the warm up lap ruled them out of Race 1, McLaughlin finished nineth in Race 2 after getting two penalties for jumping the start.

If everything goes right for McLaughlin today, his car is capable of winning for Volvo. For Nissan and Erebus they struggled yesterday for pace with both teams only getting into the top ten in the final race.

For Ford, they will be looking to end the debut of the Ford FG-X with a win. Mostert, who finished second in Race 1, looks to be the man to deliver on both accounts.

I predict Holden to make it eight in a row in Adelaide.

They had brilliant pace yesterday and everyone else struggled to beat them. Whincup will respond after yesterday’s flat tyre and claim his 10th win in Adelaide.