Photo: Supercars

Fabian Coulthard heads DJR Team Penske 1-2 in eventful first Hidden Valley race

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Fabian Coulthard headed a DJR Team Penske 1-2 in the first Supercars race of the weekend at Hidden Valley, with team-mate Scott McLaughlin recovering to second after an off earlier in the race.

Nick Percat claimed the final podium position for Brad Jones Racing, his first since he joined the team.

Nissan Motorsport driver Rick Kelly started from pole position and claimed the lead at the start of the race. But the joy was short lived for Kelly who crashed on lap 18 due to a stuck throttle, bringing the safety car out.

Reigning champion Shane van Gisbergen had a tough race, suffering a puncture while in the lead, just before his pit stop. The Triple Eight Race Engineering driver was forced to retire towards the end of the race following a collision with Garth Tander and Jason Bright.

There was a lot of incidents in the race, with Tander also involved in an incident with Prodrive Racing Australia driver Mark Winterbottom and Erebus Motorsport driver Dale Wood, with the latter two spinning.

Wildcard entry Macauley Jones was squeezed off track and into a spin by Walkinshaw Racing driver James Courtney and dropped down to finish 24th while Courtney finished 22nd.

Holden driver Jamie Whincup came home in fourth place ahead of Ford drivers Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters, while Triple Eight Race Engineering veteran Craig Lowndes rounded off the top seven.

Coulthard extends his championship lead thanks to the victory, with Whincup second, 34 points behind.