The 2007 BigPond 400 is the second round of the 2007 V8 Supercar season. It was held on the weekend of the 23rd to 25 March at Barbagallo Raceway in Wanneroo, north of Perth, Western Australia. The round was significant in that John Bowe became the driver with the most round starts in the championship after surpassing Peter Brock. It was also significant in that it was Paul Radisich's first round after a major crash at Bathurst in 2006.
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Saturday 25 March 2007.
Part 1 Qualifying started with 30 cars hitting the track instead of the usual 31 after a major accident between Jason Bright and Jason Richards after Bright had an engine failure going through turn 4. He (Bright) pulled towards the short cut to go off the track across the path of Jason Richards. The damage to the Fujitsu Racing car was very extensive, so severe that Bright had to withdraw from the entire round.
Paul Dumbrell was one of ten drivers which did not make the top twenty due to a linkage breaking off the throttle pedal. Jamie Whincup also had a spin into the gravel trap at turn 6 which prompted the session to be red flagged. Whincup was able to recover to make the next part of qualifying. Other drivers who went off the circuit included Max Wilson and James Courtney.
Part 2 Session 2 saw Garth Tander set the fastest lap of the session and then sat out for most of the remaining session. The other drivers which were fast in this session were Rick Kelly, Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly. Max Wilson also had another off in this session when he ran wide at turn 7 and through the sand trap.
Part 3 The final session saw the top ten drivers fight for pole. The session was relatively quiet, however Jamie Whincup went off the track in turn 1 by locking the rear tyres and Will Davison ran off the track at turn four. The final results from qualifying was Garth Tander took pole, from Rick Kelly in second and Craig Lowndes in third.
Race 1 Race 1 was held on Saturday 25 March 2007. It started with a relatively smooth start for the first lap, how this did not last long with Cameron McConville tagging John Bowe in turn 4, causing Bowe to go off the track. Over the next couple of laps, Mark Skaife and Craig Lowndes had a major battle over 3rd place, with both drivers changing positions a number of times.
Garth Tander continued to lead the race, until he took his compulsory pit stop on lap 22, allowing his team mate Rick Kelly to take first place. However Rick pitted on the next lap.
After all of the compulsory pit stops were done, Tander came out in first, with Rick Kelly in second and Skaife in third. Todd Kelly and Craig Lowndes continued to battle over fourth position, until on lap 38 when Todd Kelly ran off the track at the first corner and bogged the car in the sand trap. This caused the first safety car of the race. Todd Kelly communicated to the team after the incident that "the brakes had let go, and there was brake fluid throughout the cabin."
With three laps to go, Max Wilson collided with John Bowe causing Bowe to get beached at corner 7. This didn’t cause a safety car due to the closeness of the end of the race, but rather a localised yellow flag. The race was won by Toll HSV Dealer Team’s Garth Tander with his team mate Rick Kelly second, and HRT’s Mark Skaife in third.
Race 2 Race 2 was held on Sunday 26 March 2007. Off the start line, Craig Lowndes was able to get past 3rd place Mark Skaife and raced behind Garth Tander and Rick Kelly. However, on lap 9 Skaife was able to retake 3rd by overtaking Lowndes at turn 6. Lowndes struggled with tyres for the next few laps and pitted as soon as the pit stop window opened.
On lap 21, Cameron McConville was turned around by Steven Richards at the first corner after leaving the pitlane. Team Vodafones’s Jamie Whincup was given a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane after not turning on his pit speed limiter. Brad Jones also had a minor off at turn 7 during the second half of the race.
On lap 44, Steve Owen ran off the track at turn 4 after contact with Steven Richards and then crashed into the tyre barriers at turn 7 on the same lap after stating on the radio that he had no brakes. This prompted the first safety car of the race. James Courtney also had engine troubles and retired from the race on the same lap.
Following the restart, Tander went on to win the race, with Rick Kelly in second and Skaife in third.
Race 3 Race 3 was held on Sunday 26 March 2007. The race saw a close fight between both Toll HSV Dealer Team cars and Mark Skaife. The race saw James Courtney have a large crash after steering failure going through the turn 3 complex of the track. This caused his retirement on the 28th lap.
Overall Garth Tander won the race from his team mate Rick Kelly with Mark Skaife in third. This gave Tander not only the round win, but also the clean sweep of taking pole position as well as all three race wins.
Results
Qualifying Pos No Name Team Vehicle Part 3 Part 2 Part 1 1 16 Garth Tander HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VE) 0:56.0511 2 1 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VE) 0:56.2729 3 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BF) 0:56.3653 4 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VE) 0:56.3879 5 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VE) 0:56.3927 6 4 James Courtney Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 0:56.4623 7 18 Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 0:56.4645 8 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 0:56.5458 9 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BF) 0:56.6975 10 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 0:56.8341 11 51 Greg Murphy Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 0:56.7067 12 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 0:56.7488 13 6 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 0:56.7630 14 8 Max Wilson WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 0:56.8494 15 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 0:56.8741 16 55 Steve Owen Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 0:56.8907 17 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 0:56.8962 18 7 Shane Price Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VE) 0:56.9461 19 67 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 0:57.0128 20 10 Jason Bargwanna WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 0:57.2065 21 021 Paul Radisich Team Kiwi Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 0:57.1294 22 20 Paul Dumbrell Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 0:57.1867 23 34 Dean Canto Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 0:57.1965 24 39 Fabian Coulthard Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 0:57.3064 25 11 Jack Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VZ) 0:57.3077 26 50 Cameron McConville Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 0:57.3728 27 111 John Bowe Paul Cruickshank Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 0:57.4124 28 12 Andrew Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 0:57.4610 29 26 Alan Gurr Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BF) 0:57.4985 30 14 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 0:57.4985 - 25 Jason Bright Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BF) no time
Race 1 results Pos No Name Team Vehicle Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 16 Garth Tander HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VE) 50 51:31.2237 1 24 2 1 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VE) 50 + 0.299 2 20 3 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VE) 50 + 3.670 4 17 4 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BF) 50 + 7.027 3 15 5 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 50 + 7.653 8 13 6 18 Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 50 + 8.244 7 12 7 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BF) 50 + 10.218 9 11 8 51 Greg Murphy Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 50 + 10.218 11 10 9 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 50 + 13.913 10 9 10 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 50 + 16.790 15 8 11 4 James Courtney Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 50 + 17.198 6 6 12 55 Steve Owen Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 50 + 17.845 16 5 13 7 Shane Price Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VE) 50 + 18.334 18 4 14 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 50 + 19.216 12 3 15 67 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 50 + 19.559 19 2 16 021 Paul Radisich Team Kiwi Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 50 + 20.161 21 17 39 Fabian Coulthard Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 50 + 21.640 24 18 20 Paul Dumbrell Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VE) 50 + 23.830 22 19 50 Cameron McConville Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 50 + 24.101 26 20 14 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 50 + 25.505 30 21 11 Jack Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VZ) 50 + 28.962 25 22 6 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 50 + 36.204 13 23 8 Max Wilson WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 50 + 39.535 14 24 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 50 + 42.560 17 25 10 Jason Bargwanna WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 49 + 1 lap 20 26 12 Andrew Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 49 + 1 lap 28 27 34 Dean Canto Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 49 + 1 lap 23 28 26 Alan Gurr Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BF) 45 + 4 laps 29 Ret 111 John Bowe Paul Cruickshank Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 45 Accident 27 Ret 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VE) 37 Brakes 5 DNS 25 Jason Bright Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BF) Did not start Fastest Lap: Garth Tander (HSV Dealer Team) - 0:57.4237 on lap 46 Source:
Race 2 results Pos No Name Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points116Garth TanderToll HSV Dealer Team5052:22.038412421Rick KellyToll HSV Dealer Team50+1.066sec22032Mark SkaifeHolden Racing Team50+1.4294sec317417Steven JohnsonJim Beam Racing50+4.4689sec515518Will DavisonJim Beam Racing50+5.2199sec61365Mark WinterbottomFord Performance Racing50+6.0923sec1212751Greg MurphyTasman Motorsport50+6.3009sec8118888Craig LowndesTeam Vodafone50+7.1776sec410933Lee HoldsworthGarry Rogers Motorsport50+7.3900sec1091022Todd KellyHolden Racing Team50+7.5631sec30811021Paul RadisichTeam Kiwi Racing50+8.3797sec196123Jason RichardsTasman Motorsport50+8.8062sec165135Steven RichardsFord Performance Racing50+9.089sec94149Russell IngallStone Brothers Racing50+9.5472sec1831539Fabian CoulthardTeam Sirromet Wines50+10.2393sec202167Shane PriceJack Daniel's Racing50+10.8531sec151720Paul DumbrellSupercheap Auto Racing50+11.1693sec21188Max WilsonWPS Racing50+11.4272sec111967Paul MorrisTeam Sirromet Wines50+11.7709sec1720111John BoweGlenfords Racing50+11.9025sec292126Alan GurrIrwin Racing50+12.5465sec282210Jason BargwannaWPS Racing50+12.6616sec252388Jamie WhincupTeam Vodafone50+13.0116sec72450Cameron McConvilleSupercheap Auto Racing50+13.2679sec222534Dean CantoGarry Rogers Motorsport49+1 lap272611Jack PerkinsJack Daniel's Racing49+1 lap242714Brad JonesTeam BOC49+1 lap232812Andrew JonesTeam BOC49+1 lap26DNF4James CourtneyStone Brothers Racing42Engine13DNF55Steve OwenAutobarn Racing42Accident14DNS25Jason BrightFujitsu Racing
Race 3 results