Photo: V8 Supercars Media

Rick Kelly wins in the wet at Sandown

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Rick Kelly has taken his second win of the season at a wet Sandown, finishing ahead of reigning Champion James Courtney, who’d put on a good charge from eighth on the grid, though not as impressive as Craig Lowndes who went from 27th to sixth.

Rick Kelly got away well from pole position, whilst Jamie Whincup almost cut-out at the start, dropping two spots to the Fords of Shane Van Gisbergen and Will Davison.

Whincup took back both positions on the second lap of the race, whilst the first safety car was called five laps later for debris on the track after one of the drivers hit the polystyrene track markers.

The bulk of the field pitted behind the safety car except for Dean Fiore, who took the lead in his Triple F Ford Falcon. Rick Kelly was quick to retake the lead at the restart on lap 11, but Whincup seemed to struggle in his Triple Eight Commodore on the new set of tyres, slipping back through the field.

Team-mate Craig Lowndes, who struggled in qualifying was having a sensational run however, breaking into the top ten on lap 19.

James Courtney had also found his feet in the wet, passing the Ford Performance Racing Falcon of Will Davison and Stone Brothers Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen to move up to second place, though Kelly had found time to build a substational lead.

That lead was wiped out however as the second safety car was called on lap 22 after Kelly’s stable-mate Greg Murphy crashed out hard at Turn 7.

At the restart, Craig Lowndes passed his struggling team-mate Whincup for sixth and set about chasing Todd Kelly. After just two laps of green flag racing, the safety car was out again after BJR driver Jason Bargwanna hit the wall, also spun out at Turn 7 by James Moffat’s DJR Falcon.

At the restart, Lowndes fought Todd Kelly for a few laps to try and take fifth, but was unsuccessful, with Todd able to pass Shane Van Gisbergen and Will Davison on the final lap to snatch the final podium position.

James Courtney finished second, whilst nobody had the pace at the restarts to catch Rick Kelly, who took his first win since Darwin.

Whincup continued to fall down the order, eventually finishing 13th, which sees Lowndes close the gap in the Championship down to 158 points heading into tomorrow’s race.