Photo: Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport

Nick Percat wins chaotic rain-affected Adelaide Race 3

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Nick Percat has claimed victory in the third race of the Clipsal 500 at the Adelaide Street Circuit, which was twice-hit by torrential rain. The shortened race’s outcome was affected by the application of the fuel drop regulation, which saw a number of front runners forced to pit for fuel despite running with near-full tanks with only a few laps left of the race.

Just moments ahead of the scheduled start of the race, a heavy downpour of rain hit the Adelaide circuit, with the bulk of the field changing tyres from slicks to wets on the grid. A number of drivers missed out, including reigning champion Mark Winterbottom, and had to pit at the end of the formation lap, while Aaron Russell was the first casualty before the race had even started, crashing the Erebus Holden and retiring with damage.

With the rain getting heavier before the lights went out, the race start was delayed by five minutes and eventually started behind the safety car, with DJR Team Penske Ford driver Coulthard starting from pole position.

When the green flag was waved on lap seven, wet weather expert Shane van Gisbergen made an uncommon error at Turn 6 on the first lap and dropped from third to behind Scott McLaughlin’s Volvo, but over the next two laps worked his way forward to pass McLaughlin, Prodrive’s Chaz Mostert and then Coulthard to grab the lead on lap eight. Coulthard would get back ahead of van Gisbergen due to another error by his fellow New Zealander, before van Gisbergen would retake the lead at Turn 8 of lap 11, but the driver making the most progress was yesterday’s Race 2 winner James Courtney, who was now up to third and showing great pace in the Holden Racing Team Commodore.

Courtney followed van Gisbergen past Coulthard just one corner later, and then on lap 13, van Gisbergen went wide at Turn 9, allowing Courtney through into the lead.

The conditions were now drying out and Jason Bright was the first to switch to slick tyres on lap 17, while one lap later Courtney was spun out of the lead by van Gisbergen at Turn 9 as the Triple Eight driver locked up on the wet side of the circuit, allowing his team-mate Craig Lowndes past and into first place with Courtney now down to second ahead of van Gisbergen.

The first slew of pit stops soon followed, with HRT turning Courtney around more quickly than Triple Eight with their driver Lowndes, and he was briefly back in the lead, but Lowndes then caught and passed Courtney one lap later at Turn 6.

Lowndes began to pull away from Courtney, who was now being chased by Prodrive’s Chaz Mostert as the rain began to fall again, which caught Mostert out at the fast Turn 8, with the Ford driver damaging his suspension due to impact with he wall and spinning out of control into the barriers at Turn 9, with the second safety car deployed for the second time.

More cars took to the pits, which meant as the race restarted it was Nissan’s Rick Kelly which was leading the race, but as the rain began to fall even more heavily than it had at the start, Kelly dropped down the field with poor visibility due to a stuck windscreen wiper on his Nissan Altima.

James Courtney now assumed the lead with the Garry Rogers Motorsport Volvo of Scott McLaughlin behind, but the conditions became unmanageable, with Courtney the main casualty, crashing out at Turn 8 and damaging his Commodore VF, handing McLaughlin the lead of the race as the red flags were waved, suspending the race.

The rule book now became of key importance, as although all drivers had completed a compulsory pit stop, the regulations stated 140 litres of fuel still needed to be dropped into the cars even in the case of a suspended race, which with the race now certainly running to a time limit, meant at this point the majority of the field were set to receive a 30-second time penalty.

As the conditions improved, the race was restarted with seven minutes to go, with McLaughlin leading Lowndes while all those still to complete their mandatory fuel drop dived for the pit lane.

Nick Percat was now up to third and the first driver to have taken on the required amount of fuel, while McLaughlin and Lowndes darted into the pits with just one lap to go. Percat was now fighting for the lead against DJR Team Penske’s Fabian Coulthard, but Coulthard and team-mate Scott Pye were now the only two cars not to have completed the mandatory fuel drop.

Percat crossed the finish line ahead of Coulthard to claim his second career victory, after co-winning the Bathurst 1000 in 2011, and taking the first win for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.

Coulthard crossed the line second but was hit with a 60-second penalty due to the rule breach, promoting Nissan’s Michael Caruso to second with Garth Tander third in the HRT Holden Commodore.

With the race being a disaster for yesterday’s stars Jamie Whincup and James Courtney, finishing 16th and 21st respectively, Nissan’s Michael Caruso leaves Adelaide with the lead of the championship after a consistent weekend, 15points clear of Jamie Whincup, with Tander five points further behind.

The next round of the V8 Supercars Championship is the non-championship round at Melbourne supporting the Formula 1 World Championship on March 19th-20th.