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 23/2/2008
TeamVodafone has continued its 2007 momentum at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide with pole sitter Jamie Whincup fighting his way back from a lengthy pitstop to win Leg 1 of the 10th anniversary event.
Teammate Craig Lowndes joined Whincup on the podium after guiding his brand new chassis from sixth on the grid to third. The opening race of the 2008 V8 Supercar season was not without a number of nervous moments for the leading Ford team. Whincup's #88 Falcon was forced to endure a longer than anticipated fuel stop to fit a new battery while Lowndes' final laps were affected by a deflating right rear tyre.
Whincup confirmed his championship intentions with an impressive drive, which saw him muscle his way through the field from 20th after his pitstops to third place by Lap 61. A safety car on Lap 70 closed the gap between Whincup and second placed Lowndes before Whincup passed his teammate on the subsequent lap. With some consistently fast laps Whincup caught race leader Mark Winterbottom and took control of the race with only two laps remaining. "250km is a very long race distance to start the year off with," Whincup explained. "But the car felt great all race and I am also feeling good." "We did have a minor electrical issue which delayed our pitstop by five to six seconds so the team had to completely change our strategy after that." "Great teamwork paid off today and I have to say this victory is up there as one of my best. To come through the pack and win like that was very satisfying," he added. Today's podium result for Car #888 continues the success of new Triple Eight Race Engineering built chassis's enjoying podium spoils upon debut. "At this track it is always important to get a good start and I was quite surprised how cautious the race pace was early on," said Lowndes. "Our mid race strategy was spot on allowing me to remain competitive with Frosty and Tander. We did suffer a couple of car issues, with the front sway bar the biggest concern as it locked on in one position." "It is a credit to the team that our off season preparation has been so thorough, there is no better result than two cars on the podium," he concluded. Tomorrow the V8 Supercars will warm-up at 10.35am (AEST) before the final 250km leg of the Clipsal 500 gets underway at 2.30pm (AEDST). V8 Supercar Leg 1 Top Ten Results 1. Jamie Whincup, 150pts
2. Mark Winterbottom, 138pts
3. Craig Lowndes, 129pts
4. Lee Holdsworth, 120pts
5. Stephen Richards, 111pts
6. Steven Johnson, 102pts
7. Will Davison, 96pts
8. Rick Kelly, 90pts
9. Mark Skaife, 84pts
10. James Courtney, 78pts From www.teamvodafone.com.au |
