James Courtney takes hard-fought Race 2 win in Adelaide

James Courtney grabbed victory in the second race at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, passing early race leader Chaz Mostert at Turn 9 just after half distance and went on to claim victory in the Holden Racing Team Commodore, chased throughout the remainder of the race by Triple Eight’s Jamie Whincup in an epic battle between the former champions.

The 2010 champion had a great start from fourth on the grid to blast past Scott McLaughlin’s Volvo and Whincup’s Holden to move up to second through Turn 1, while Chaz Mostert kept the lead from pole position at the start in the Prodrive Racing Australia Holden.

The safety car was deployed early on in the race after Chris Pither hit the wall at the exit of Turn 8 in the Super Black Racing Ford Falcon, bouncing across to the inside wall with broken suspension and severely damaging the car in the second impact.

At the restart, Mostert continued to lead while Triple Eight’s Shane van Gisbergen was able to grab back fifth place from the Nissan of Michael Caruso which he’d lost at the start, but the New Zealander would lose out heavily in the pit stops due to a delay with changing the left-rear tyre.

Things were worse for Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander in the stops, as the 2006 champion’s car failed to restart after being dropped off the jacks and would lose four laps, but the 38-year-old’s dramas were only just starting.

As Tander rejoined, he pulled off line to allow the cars coming up to lap him again past into the first corner, but was collected by Brad Jones Racing’s Tim Blanchard, who voiced his frustration with the positioning of the #2 car on the track on the way into the corner.

The safety car was deployed again as Blanchard returned to the pits with the damaged Holden Commodore, with repairs needed to the track at Turn 1.

After the second restart on lap 20, Courtney pounced on race leader Mostert at Turn 9 on lap 21, with Mostert running out wide and losing two positions, after also allowing Triple Eight’s Jamie Whincup through into second place.

The two leading Holdens began a close battle throughout the remainder of the race, with Whincup riding the tail of Courtney’s Holden VF right to the finish.

Battles raged on further behind, while van Gisbergen recovered from his earlier pit stop drama to fight his way from ninth at the restart to fifth by the finish, with the Nissan Altima of Michael Caruso his last victim, and was closing in on the Garry Rogers Volvo of Scott McLaughlin towards the finish.

All eyes were on the intense battle between former champions Courtney and Whincup as the two battled lap after lap throughout the final minutes, with Whincup applying unrelenting pressure on Courtney, with Courtney at one point clipping the tyre bundle at Turn 1 but escaping significant damage.

Courtney crossed the finish line just under a second ahead of Whincup, after a scary moment through the fast Turn 8 without lifting the throttle to claim victory in the second race of the season.

Qualifying for Race 3 takes place on Sunday at 11:30 ACDT, followed by the Top Ten Shootout at 12:40, with the race at 15:20 (5:50 CET).