Fabian Coulthard wins after puncture and penalty drama at Phillip Island

Fabian Coulthard won the first Supercars race of the weekend at Phillip Island and has claimed the championship lead. The Kiwi won a race filled with punctures and penalties, with Craig Lowndes, who crashed hard in practice, crossing the finish line first.

Lowndes received a 15-second penalty after the race for crossing the fast lane line heading into the pits, dropping him to 13th.

But the Triple Eight Race Engineering driver was not alone in receiving a penalty for crossing the line. Former championship leader Shane van Gisbergen was also penalised, as was DJR Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin, who had started from pole and headed the field for a good portion of the race, as well as Prodrive Racing Australia driver Mark Winterbottom.

Van Gisbergen dropped down to finish fourth, Winterbottom to eighth while McLaughlin dropped all the way down to tenth position.

The new soft Dunlop control tyre was a major contributor to the action in the race with a whopping 17 punctures during the race.

One of the drivers to experience a puncture was race winner Coulthard, on lap 19. Despite this, Coulthard was able to take advantage of several safety car periods and clawed his way back up through the field to win.

The third and final safety car period came just three laps from the end as Nick Percat had a puncture and collected Alex Rullo when losing control.

Jamie Whincup claimed second place in the race for Triple Eight Race Engineering while Garry Rogers Motorsport driver Garth Tander crossed the line in third.

Michael Caruso was the highest placed Nissan Motorsport driver in fifth behind van Gisbergen, while his team-mate Todd Kelly rounded off the top six.