Michael Caruso leaves Adelaide with shock lead of the championship for Nissan

After a strong weekend and a controversial third race, Nissan’s Michael Caruso leaves the Clipsal 500 with the lead of the V8 Supercars drivers’ championship by 15 points ahead of six-time champion Jamie Whincup, the first time a Nissan driver has led the championship since Mark Skaife won the 1992 Australian Touring Car Championship in a Nissan Skyline.

The 32-year-old finished 13th in Race 1, sixth in Race 2 and followed that up with second on Sunday in the 250km race, overtaking Saturday’s points leaders, former champions Jamie Whincup (Triple Eight Holden) and James Courtney (Holden Racing Team) in the points standings.

“A lot of effort has gone in over the off season to start the championship in the best way possible, and there’s no better way to finishing the weekend in the lead of the championship,” said Caruso. “A lot of credit to everyone involved, not just at the track, but also back at the factory for their hard work. Now the real hard work begins and we have to maintain these results and keep pushing hard so we can stay at the front of the field.”

Team-mates Todd and Rick Kelly also had strong weekends with a pair of top ten finishes across the days races each and both find themselves eighth and tenth in the drivers’ standings after Adelaide.

“It was a funny race, it’s probably a little bit optimistic to say that was our genuine pace in those conditions,” said Todd Kelly. “Today just goes to show that all the boys did a great job. When the track was dry we certainly had more pace than we’d ever had in the past. It has set up really for the year with our points. It has also given us a bit of confidence and a reason to aim a little bit higher with our goals.”

Caruso will keep his points lead until at least April 2nd, at the next points-scoring round of the championship at Symmons Plains, but in just two weeks, the cars will be back in action in support of the Formula 1 World Championship at Albert Park, Melbourne.