Webb takes shock win as title leaders crash out of lead

Jonathon Webb has taken his first V8 Supercars victory in one of the most bizarre races in the championship’s history at Sydney, as all three title contenders crash out of the lead.

Webb, in his first season with Dick Johnson Racing, took the chequered flag in an incident packed race ahead of Jason Bright, who had started 28th, and Rick Kelly in Race 25 at the Homebush Street Circuit.

The race was composed for the first part of the race by a titanic struggle between all three championship contenders, but a downpour on lap 60 saw most of the field spectacularly crash out, and a different race unfold between TeamVodafone, Jim Beam Racing & Ford Performance Racing in the pit lane, to see who could get their driver out first and into the points.

Lee Holdsworth had started from pole position, and held place at the start, whilst TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup moved up ahead of Mark Winterbottom for second.

On lap 7, Karl Reindler in the Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing entry crashed out, causing the first deployment of the safety car.

Drivers at the back of the pack pitted at this point, but an unsafe release by the Toll Holden Racing Team, putting Will Davison into Fabian Coulthard, saw Davison pick-up a penalty as a result.

At the restart on lap 10, Whincup swiftly took the lead from Holdsworth, pitting eight laps later along with Holdsworth and Winterbottom during the second safety car, which was brought about after Warren Luff was taken out by Tony D’Alberto.

GRM’s Michael Caruso assumed the lead ahead of DJR’s James Courtney and SBR driver Alex Davison, with all three yet to make their first stop.

On the restart, a mistake by Caruso at Turn 1 gave Courtney the lead, whilst Whincup and Winterbottom were battling through the field together, with Winterbottom having moved ahead of Holdsworth during the pit sequence.

Courtney and Caruso stayed out until lap 27, pitting under green flag conditions dropping them back down the order, with Courtney rejoining behind HRT’s Garth Tander in 20th, who had just served a drive through penalty for spinning out the Bundaberg Red Racing entry of Andrew Thompson – the second incident between the Walkinshaw Performance run cars.

After the next round of pit-stops were complete, Whincup had assumed the lead running ahead of Mark Winterbottom, with Courtney at this point now up to 13th place.

On lap 33, the Triple F Racing Falcon of Dean Fiore crashed out at Turn 9, causing the third deployment of the safety car, under which Whincup and Winterbottom took their second pit-stop, with Courtney staying out and resuming the lead.

At the restart, Courtney lead from Alex Davison in second with Whincup third, but Whincup made short work passing Davison, with Lowndes and Winterbottom following through eight laps later as light rain hit the circuit.

On lap 47, Whincup passed Courtney at Turn 5 for the lead, with Courtney tagging the wall further on but taking minimal damage. Whincup then went wide at Turn 9 having to use the escape road, giving the lead back straight back to Courtney.

Winterbottom passed Lowndes the next lap to put all three title contenders in the top three positions.

On lap 52, Courtney made his second green flag pit stop of the race, with Whincup and Winterbottom following three laps later. Both had made up time during these three laps and rejoined ahead of Courtney.

On the following lap, Russell Ingall in the Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore crashed out of third place, wedging his car in the tyre wall causing the fourth safety car deployment.

After an extended safety car period to recover the sticken Commodore, the race was restarted on lap 60, with Whincup leading ahead of Winterbottom and Courtney – immediately BJR’s Jason Bright ducked into the pits for wet tyres seeing what was ahead.

The heavens opened on the circuit, and the first casualties were all the championship contenders, with the three crashing out taking heavy damage. In the pandemonium that followed, cars lay strewn across the track, as others pitted for wet tyres. The safety car was called again whilst Whincup, Courtney and Winterbottom dragged their damaged cars back to the pits.

The new race order emerged, and it was Dick Johnson Racing’s Jonathon Webb who was in a surprise lead, ahead of Jason Bright with Steven Johnson third, Fabian Coulthard fourth and Rick Kelly in fifth position, with only 14 cars still running at this point.

The race was restarted on lap 64, with a backmarker separating Webb and Bright. Webb managed to pull away from the BJR driver and hold on to secure his first V8 Supercars Championship victory, with Bright closing him down at the end, but with the race declared at 69 laps due to time.

Rick Kelly managed to pass Coulthard and then Johnson in the final stages to claim the final place on the podium.

The key battle in respect of the championship in these final laps however was in the pits, as DJR, FPR and TeamVodafone tried desperately to repair their contender’s cars and get them back out and score some vital points.

Courtney rejoined on lap 68 with Whincup following the next lap, but with the chequered flag falling before Whincup could complete a flying lap, the reigning champion wasn’t classified, leaving Courtney to pick up a vital 60 points, finishing last and in 15th place of the 29 starters, albeit seven laps down.

James Courtney now moves into a dominant 113 point lead over Jamie Whincup, with 150 remaining from Race 26 tomorrow, with Mark Winterbottom now ruled out of the title hunt, 263 points down.

Courtney just needs to finish 22nd or better to secure his first championship tomorrow, whilst Whincup has to finish in the top four to stand a chance.