The 2008 Hamilton 400 was the third round of the 2008 V8 Supercar season. It was held on the weekend of 18 to 20 April on the streets of Hamilton, in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand.
Race 1 Race 1 was held on Saturday 19 April. Garth Tander took his fourth consecutive win after clean-sheeting at Albert Park. The race wasn't without incident though as Mark Winterbottom and Shane van Gisbergen collided with each other off the start line while Greg Murphy was spun around by Mark Skaife at the exit of turn 1.
The chaos continued into turn 2 when Van Gisbergen locked up while Russell Ingall went down the inside of a Steven Johnson car which caused a collision collecting Paul Morris, Shane Price, Michael Patrizi, Steven Johnson and Craig Lowndes. Johnson, Price and Ingall retired to the pits. Steven Richards had managed to run wide at turn 5 which gave the lead to Tander and gave Rick Kelly second place. The Safety Car was deployed until the end of lap 5. The Safety Car was back on track at the end of that lap though thanks to an incident for Patrizi at turn 7. Most people pulled into the pits except for a few people like Mark Skaife. This decision, forced by HRT's decision to pit Tander first, would cost Skaife dearly later in the race. The Safety Car pulled in on lap 11 and racing resumed.
Jason Richards and Lowndes were both given drive through penalties for pitlane infringements after Murphy pulled into pitlane with a broken steering plate. Murphy returned to the track 2 laps later to the delight of the crowd and Paul Morris had also returned to the track.
Skaife pitted on lap 20 and fell well down the order while Caruso spun his GRM Holden Commodore. Craig Lowndes entered pitlane on lap 26 for a flat tyre when he clipped the tyre bundle at turn 4. Andrew Jones pulled into the garage to retire at lap 30. Van Gisbergen also pitted on lap 33 for some damage and was subsequently lapped. In the end Tander won from Rick Kelly and Steven Richards.
Race 2 Race 2 was held on Sunday 20 April. A fifth consecutive victory for Garth Tander in Race 2.
Race 3 Race 3 was held on Sunday 20 April. Six on the trot wrapped up the round victory for Garth Tander.
Results
Qualifying Steven Richards gave the big New Zealand crowd something to cheer about, securing pole position in the Ford Performance Racing Falcon after Garth Tander's last-ditch effort fell five hundredths short. Rick Kelly was third fastest ahead of Stone Brothers Racing driver James Courtney. Crowd favourite, Greg Murphy made a welcome return to the top ten in seventh. Michael Caruso, who has struggled since graduating since arriving in the V8 Supercar Championship Series, was a top performer, topping one of the practice sessions and backing it up with eighth grid position, three behind his Garry Rogers Motorsport teammate Lee Holdsworth. A heavy practice crash limited Round 2 winner Will Davison's progress to 16th, while Jamie Whincup looked a good bet for pole position until he crashed heavily after contact with Todd Kelly. The car was not repairable and the series points leader was reduced to a spectator for the weekend. A miserable weekend for Triple Eight Race Engineering saw Craig Lowndes qualify back in 21st, caught out by the changeable weather in the first part of qualifying, failing to make the first qualifying cut.
Pos No Name Team Car Time 1 6 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:24.7270 2 1 Garth Tander Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VE) 1:24.7974 3 15 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VE) 1:24.9111 4 4 James Courtney Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:24.9289 5 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 1:25.0264 6 14 Cameron McConville Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore (VE) 1:25.0338 7 51 Greg Murphy Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 1:25.0387 8 34 Michael Caruso Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 1:25.5047 9 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VE) 1:25.5638 10 111 Fabian Coulthard Paul Cruickshank Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:25.5755 11 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BF) 1:25.8686 12 9 Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:25.8921 13 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:25.9384 14 12 Andrew Jones Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore (VE) 1:26.0055 15 25 Jason Bright Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BF) 1:26.1540 16 18 Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:26.3173 17 11 Shane Price Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VE) 1:26.4035 18 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:26.5019 19 7 Todd Kelly Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VE) 1:26.5241 20 50 Andrew Thompson Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VE) 1:26.9382 21 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BF) 1:32.9566 22 39 Russell Ingall Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 1:32.9753 23 16 Paul Dumbrell HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VE) 1:33.3609 24 67 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 1:33.7532 25 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 1:33.7563 26 26 Marcus Marshall Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BF) 1:34.0816 27 777 Michael Patrizi Ford Rising Stars Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:34.1202 28 021 Kayne Scott Team Kiwi Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 1:34.9871 29 55 Tony D'Alberto Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VE) 1:35.2007 Sources: Notes:
Jamie Whincup originally qualified 11th, but was not able to start the race due to a big crash during qualifying.
Race 1 results Pos No Name Team Laps Time/retired Grid Points11 Garth TanderHolden Racing Team361:02:38.94602100215 Rick KellyHSV Dealer Team36+1.1s39236 Steven RichardsFord Performance Racing36+1.5s18644 James CourtneyStone Brothers Racing36+2.4s480533 Lee HoldsworthGarry Rogers Motorsport36+3.1s574614 Cameron McConvilleBrad Jones Racing36+5.0s6687111 Fabian CoulthardPaul Cruickshank Racing36+8.9s106487 Todd KellyPerkins Engineering36+16.7s1960918 Will DavisonDick Johnson Racing36+21.4s1656105 Mark WinterbottomFord Performance Racing36+22.4s13521125 Jason BrightBritek Motorsport36+36.2s15481234 Michael CarusoGarry Rogers Motorsport36+38.3s8461355 Tony D'AlbertoRod Nash Racing36+38.5s29441416 Paul DumbrellHSV Dealer Team36+44.8s23421550 Andrew ThompsonPaul Weel Racing36+45.0s20401626 Marcus MarshallBritek Motorsport36+46.9s263817021 Kayne ScottTeam Kiwi Racing36+48.8s2836182 Mark SkaifeHolden Racing Team36+57.9s93419888 Craig LowndesTriple Eight Race Engineering35+ 1 Lap2132203 Jason RichardsTasman Motorsport35+ 1 Lap2530219 Shane van GisbergenStone Brothers Racing35+1 Lap12282212 Andrew JonesBrad Jones Racing34+ 2 Laps14262351 Greg MurphyTasman Motorsport32+ 4 Laps7242467 Paul MorrisPaul Morris Motorsport28+ 8 Laps2422DNF777 Michael PatriziFord Rising Stars Racing4Accident27DNF17 Steven JohnsonDick Johnson Racing1Accident18DNF11 Shane PricePerkins Engineering1Accident17DNF39 Russell IngallPaul Morris Motorsport1Accident22DNS88 Jamie WhincupTriple Eight Race Engineering -Qualifying Accident -
Race 2 results Pos No Name Team Laps Time/retired Grid Points11 Garth TanderHolden Racing Team3654:47.9366110026 Steven RichardsFord Performance Racing36+0.8s39434 James CourtneyStone Brothers Racing36+5.6s488433 Lee HoldsworthGarry Rogers Motorsport36+7.2s580514 Cameron McConvilleBrad Jones Racing36+9.8s674615 Rick KellyHSV Dealer Team36+10.9s26875 Mark WinterbottomFord Performance Racing36+12.0s10648111 Fabian CoulthardPaul Cruickshank Racing36+12.3s76093 Jason RichardsTasman Motorsport36+14.1s20561055 Tony D'AlbertoRod Nash Racing36+15.1s13521116 Paul DumbrellHSV Dealer Team36+16.4s14481225 Jason BrightBritek Motorsport36+19.1s11461317 Steven JohnsonDick Johnson Racing36+19.4s264414888 Craig LowndesTriple Eight Race Engineering36+23.1s19421512 Andrew JonesBrad Jones Racing36+25.9s22401626 Marcus MarshallBritek Motorsport36+30.0s16381767 Paul MorrisPaul Morris Motorsport36+35.5s24361834 Michael CarusoGarry Rogers Motorsport36+41.0s1234197 Todd KellyPerkins Engineering36+41.2s83220021 Kayne ScottTeam Kiwi Racing35+ 1 Lap173021777 Michael PatriziFord Rising Stars Racing35+ 1 Lap25282218 Will DavisonDick Johnson Racing34+ 2 Laps926232 Mark SkaifeHolden Racing Team34+ 2 Laps18242411 Shane PricePerkins Engineering34+ 2 Laps27222551 Greg MurphyTasman Motorsport31+ 5 Laps2320269 Shane van GisbergenStone Brothers Racing30+ 6 Laps2118DNF39 Russell IngallPaul Morris Motorsport3128DNF50 Andrew ThompsonPaul Weel Racing28Accident15DNS88 Jamie WhincupTriple Eight Race Engineering -Qualifying Accident -
Race 3 results Pos No Name Team Laps Time/retired Grid Points11 Garth TanderHolden Racing Team361:00:27.5864110026 Steven RichardsFord Performance Racing36+1.2s29234 James CourtneyStone Brothers Racing36+3.9s386415 Rick KellyHSV Dealer Team36+6.7s68055 Mark WinterbottomFord Performance Racing36+7.1s7746111 Fabian CoulthardPaul Cruickshank Racing36+8.7s8687888 Craig LowndesTriple Eight Race Engineering36+8.9s1464817 Steven JohnsonDick Johnson Racing36+9.4s1360912 Andrew JonesBrad Jones Racing36+10.9s1556109 Shane van GisbergenStone Brothers Racing36+11.3s26521139 Russell IngallPaul Morris Motorsport36+13.0s2748122 Mark SkaifeHolden Racing Team36+13.8s23461325 Jason BrightBritek Motorsport36+14.8s1244143 Jason RichardsTasman Motorsport36+15.1s942157 Todd KellyPerkins Engineering36+15.6s19401611 Shane PricePerkins Engineering36+18.9s24381734 Michael CarusoGarry Rogers Motorsport36+19.2s18361867 Paul MorrisPaul Morris Motorsport36+22.0s173419777 Michael PatriziFord Rising Stars Racing36+30.9s21322014 Cameron McConvilleBrad Jones Racing36+35.1s530DNF021 Kayne ScottTeam Kiwi Racing3320DNF16 Paul DumbrellHSV Dealer Team23Accident11DNF18 Will DavisonJim Beam Racing922DNF51 Greg MurphyTasman Motorsport725DNF26 Marcus MarshallBritek Motorsport416DNF55 Tony D'AlbertoRod Nash Racing1Accident10DNF33 Lee HoldsworthGarry Rogers Motorsport0Accident4DNS50 Andrew ThompsonPaul Weel Racing -Race 2 Accident -DNS88 Jamie WhincupTriple Eight Race Engineering -Qualifying Accident -
Standings After round 3 of 14 Pos No Name Team Points115 Rick KellyHSV Dealer Team67221 Garth TanderHolden Racing Team626333 Lee HoldsworthGarry Rogers Motorsport58045 Mark WinterbottomFord Performance Racing572588 Jamie WhincupTriple Eight Race Engineering540
Support categories The 2008 Hamilton 400 had four support categories. Category Round winner New Zealand V8s John McIntyre (Ford Falcon (BA)) Toyota Racing Series Earl Bamber (Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota) Porsche GT3 Cup Craig Baird (Porsche 997 GT3) Mini Challenge Courtney Letica (Mini Cooper)
References
External links Official timing and results