The 2007 Adelaide 500, known for naming rights reasons as the 2007 Clipsal 500, was the first race of the 2007 V8 Supercar season. It was held on the weekend of 1 to 4 March around the inner streets of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. The Adelaide 500 is a unique event where the round results are determined by the results from the 2nd race, rather that the driver with the most points from the weekend. This means, as was the case in the 2006 round, that the winner of the round doesn't necessarily lead the championship after the event.
Qualifying The event was the first run under the new 2007 qualifying rules, in which the one-hour session is split into three 'knock out' parts. The first major eliminations occurred in the second part when Mark Skaife and defending champion Rick Kelly were eliminated. The front row of the grid for the first race was an all Ford row, with James Courtney from Stone Brothers Racing taking pole and Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup taking second.
Race 1 Race 1 was held on Saturday 3 March 2007. The race began with Cameron McConville spinning at the Senna Chicane on the first lap after colliding with Andrew Jones. Team BOC also had problems with Brad Jones losing his front left wheel and brake assembly on lap 11.
John Bowe had a bad start to the year with his new team after running wide at the end of the main straight and clipping the tyre barrier. This destroyed the front right suspension on the car causing his retirement on lap 16.
On lap 48, Craig Lowndes was given a drive through penalty for contact with Max Wilson at turn 4. The remainder of the race was uneventful, with Todd Kelly winning the race from James Courtney and Jamie Whincup in third.
Race 2
Race 2 was run on Sunday 4 March. The race began with James Courtney having another bad start and dropping from 2nd to 10th after the first lap. Alan Gurr from Irwin Racing and Lee Holdsworth from Garry Rogers Motorsport collided at turn 5 on the first lap causing Gurr to retire from the race and Steve Owen from Autobarn Racing hit the concrete wall on the outside of turn 8 causing his retirement from the race. These incidents cause the first safety car of the weekend.
Following from the restart, Jack Perkins had engine problems, stalling at turn 11 and being hit by Paul Dumbrell causing his retirement and a penalty to Dumbrell which caused the second safety car on lap 8. After the pit lane opened for the compulsory stops, a collision occurred between Todd Kelly and Garth Tander causing Tander to be given a drive through penalty.
The remainder of the race was relatively incident free, with only minor collisions between drivers, until lap 64 when Jason Bargwanna stopped on the track with an electrical problem causing the safety car to be deployed for the third time. This bunched the field up, causing an 18 lap sprint to the finish with Todd Kelly leading from his brother Rick. On lap 68, Todd Kelly made a small mistake in turn 7 allowing Rick past and into the lead. This is how the race finished with Rick Kelly winning, from Todd Kelly and James Courtney in third.
Results
Qualifying Name Team Vehicle Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Grid 1 4 James Courtney Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:22.3802 1:22.4721 1:22.3584 1 2 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BF) 1:22.9977 1:22.8174 1:22.4712 2 3 16 Garth Tander HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VE) 1:22.5907 1:22.6255 1:22.5496 3 4 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:22.7173 1:22.5491 1:22.5900 4 5 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 1:22.5266 1:22.4591 1:22.6406 5 6 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BF) 1:23.3665 1:22.8518 1:22.6513 6 7 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VE) 1:22.9857 1:22.6397 1:22.6850 7 8 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:23.0247 1:22.8264 1:22.6960 8 9 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:22.9065 1:23.3445 1:22.7326 9 10 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 1:23.2083 1:22.6911 1:23.3118 10 11 51 Greg Murphy Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 1:22.9274 1:22.7708 11 12 25 Jason Bright Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BF) 1:22.9992 1:22.7424 12 13 18 Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:23.0449 1:23.1890 13 14 34 Dean Canto Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 1:23.0614 1:23.4298 14 15 1 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VE) 1:23.0704 1:23.0421 15 16 6 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:23.0722 1:23.3582 16 17 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VE) 1:23.1464 1:23.0140 17 18 12 Andrew Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:23.2983 1:23.5814 18 19 10 Jason Bargwanna WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:23.5071 1:23.3942 19 20 20 Paul Dumbrell Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VE) 1:24.5840 1:23.0002 20 21 111 John Bowe Paul Cruickshank Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:23.6123 21 22 67 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 1:23.6507 22 23 8 Max Wilson WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:23.6656 23 24 50 Cameron McConville Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VE) 1:23.7515 24 25 39 Fabian Coulthard Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 1:23.8029 25 26 11 Jack Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VE) 1:23.8635 26 27 26 Alan Gurr Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BF) 1:23.8805 27 28 14 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:23.9948 28 29 55 Steve Owen Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VE) 1:24.0337 29 30 021 Adam Macrow Team Kiwi Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:24.1811 30 31 7 Shane Price Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VE) 1:24.2683 31 Source:
Race 1 results
Pos No Name Team Vehicle Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VE) 78 1hr 50min 40.5932sec 7 36 2 4 James Courtney Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 2.087 1 30 3 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 5.142 2 25 4 1 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VE) 78 + 6.289 15 22 5 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 10.710 4 20 6 16 Garth Tander HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VE) 78 + 21.390 3 18 7 51 Greg Murphy Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 78 + 23.006 11 16 8 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 24.435 8 15 9 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 32.553 9 13 10 25 Jason Bright Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 45.474 12 12 11 6 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 45.911 16 9 12 34 Dean Canto Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 78 + 48.906 14 8 13 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 54.592 6 6 14 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VE) 78 + 1:11.976 14 5 15 10 Jason Bargwanna WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 1:23.452 19 3 16 55 Steve Owen Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 78 + 1:24.602 29 17 8 Max Wilson WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 77 + 1 lap 23 18 021 Adam Macrow Team Kiwi Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 77 + 1 lap 30 19 11 Jack Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VE) 76 + 2 laps 26 20 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 76 + 2 laps 5 21 50 Cameron McConville Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 76 + 2 laps 24 22 7 Shane Price Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VE) 76 + 2 laps 31 23 26 Alan Gurr Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BF) 75 + 3 laps 27 24 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 74 + 4 laps 10 25 12 Andrew Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 73 + 5 laps 18 Ret 14 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 48 Retired 28 Ret 20 Paul Dumbrell Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VE) 47 Leg injury 20 Ret 18 Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 38 Back injury 13 Ret 67 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 31 Differential 22 Ret 111 John Bowe Paul Cruickshank Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 16 Accident 21 Ret 39 Fabian Coulthard Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 6 Engine 25 Fastest Lap: James Courtney (Stone Brothers Racing) - 1:22.8075 on lap 32 Source:
Race 2 results Pos No Name Team Car Laps Time/retired Grid Points 1 1 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VE) 78 1:58:54.1927 4 36 2 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VE) 78 + 1.700 1 30 3 4 James Courtney Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 2.468 2 25 4 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 3.047 8 22 5 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 4.470 3 20 6 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 4.940 9 18 7 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VE) 78 + 7.073 14 16 8 6 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 10.972 11 15 9 18 Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 11.341 28 13 10 16 Garth Tander HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VE) 78 + 13.783 6 12 11 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 16.571 13 9 12 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 78 + 17.330 24 8 13 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 78 + 18.450 20 6 14 25 Jason Bright Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 18.860 10 5 15 50 Cameron McConville Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 78 + 19.578 21 3 16 021 Adam Macrow Team Kiwi Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 78 + 20.065 18 17 67 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 78 + 20.570 29 18 34 Dean Canto Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 78 + 27.950 12 19 39 Fabian Coulthard Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 77 + 1 lap 31 20 20 Paul Dumbrell Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VE) 77 + 1 lap 27 21 14 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 76 + 2 laps 26 22 7 Shane Price Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VE) 75 + 3 laps 22 Ret 8 Max Wilson WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 67 Steering 17 Ret 51 Greg Murphy Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 59 Engine 7 Ret 12 Andrew Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 57 Back Injury 25 Ret 111 John Bowe Paul Cruickshank Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 44 Suspension 30 Ret 10 Jason Bargwanna WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 44 Fuel Pickup 15 Ret 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 42 Engine 5 Ret 11 Jack Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VZ) 8 Engine / Crash 19 Ret 26 Alan Gurr Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BF) Accident 23 Ret 55 Steve Owen Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) Accident 16 Fastest Lap: James Courtney (Stone Brothers Racing) - 1:22.4348 on lap 32 Source:
In-Car Camera Coverage The six cars with in-car cameras at the first round were Mark Skaife, Craig Lowndes, James Courtney, Max Wilson, Cameron McConville and Rick Kelly. On Sunday Jason Bright also carried cameras.
Standings After Round 1 of 13 Pos No Name Team Points122Todd KellyHolden Racing Team6621Rick KellyToll HSV Dealer Team5834James CourtneyStone Brothers Racing55488Jamie WhincupTeam Vodafone4559Russell IngallStone Brothers Racing37
References
External links Clipsal 500 website