Rick Kelly takes shock win as top four collide

Former champion Rick Kelly took a surprise win in the first race at Darwin, when the top four runners all made contact at the restart five laps from the end.

Ford Performance Racing driver Mark Winterbottom had started from pole position and was looking strong, chasing his first win of the 2011 season in the race, when at the restart on lap 37, Triple Eight’s Jamie Whincup, Stone Brothers Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen and Garry Rogers Motorsport driver Lee Holdsworth were all caught up in a first corner tangle, letting Rick Kelly into the lead from fifth, and the 28-year-old went on to take his second win of the season.

Winterbottom went on to finish in 15th place in the FPR Ford Falcon, and blamed Whincup for the incident.

“At the restart you control the pace and I got smacked from behind to push me wide and create the overlap,” said Winterbottom.

“Then I wheelspun up and I wasn’t going to yield because he bumped me. Three cars into turn one doesn’t work and we all ended up in the ditch.”

“I feel dirty that you get bumped out of the way to create the overlap. I’m not in the points battle so others have more to lose.”

Kelly was ecstatic after taking the team’s second ever victory, taking the first for Kelly Racing at Hamilton in April.

“I can’t believe that just happened!” exclaimed the 2006 V8 champion.

“You’re allowed to overlap after the last corner and everyone did. I thought I braked too early into turn one. Our tyre life was not as good as the top three so we were lucky to get it. We’re lucky, but we’re stoked.”