The Sydney Telstra 500 was the fourteenth and final event of the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series and the inaugural running of the Sydney 500. It was held on the weekend of the December 4 to 6 on the roads running through the former Olympic precinct at Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales.
The Sydney Telstra 500 consisted of the 25th and 26th races of the season. The race format followed the same as the Adelaide 500, with a 250 kilometre race each day.
The first race was won by Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander from pole position while, the second 250 km race was won by Dick Johnson Racing's James Courtney (who started from second position on the grid). Jamie Whincup secured the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series after finishing fifth in Race 25 and fourteenth in Race 26.
This event also marked the final race for Cameron McConville, who has now retired from full-time V8 Supercar racing. The Sydney 500 was the end of Triple Eight Race Engineering's association with Ford before shifting to Holden in 2010.
Results Results as follows:
Race 25 Qualifying Pos No Name Team Car Time 1 2 Garth Tander Holden Racing Team Holden VE Commodore 1:29.5840 2 24 David Reynolds Walkinshaw Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:29.6478 3 18 James Courtney Dick Johnson Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:29.7457 4 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 1:29.7802 5 10 Paul Dumbrell Walkinshaw Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:29.7807 6 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:29.8795 7 34 Michael Caruso Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 1:29.9817 8 51 Greg Murphy Tasman Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 1:30.0011 9 1 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford FG Falcon 1:30.0413 10 14 Cameron McConville Brad Jones Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:30.0555 11 15 Rick Kelly Kelly Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:30.0583 12 39 Russell Ingall Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 1:30.1824 13 25 Jason Bright Britek Motorsport Ford FG Falcon 1:30.1841 14 7 Todd Kelly Kelly Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:30.1967 15 9 Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:30.2261 16 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:30.3236 17 22 Will Davison Holden Racing Team Holden VE Commodore 1:30.5986 18 111 Fabian Coulthard Paul Cruickshank Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:30.6254 19 67 Tim Slade Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 1:30.6369 20 55 Tony D'Alberto Tony D'Alberto Racing Holden VE Commodore no time 21 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford FG Falcon 1:30.7873 22 6 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:31.1049 23 4 Alex Davison Stone Brothers Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:31.1968 24 8 Jason Richards Brad Jones Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:31.2101 25 333 Michael Patrizi Paul Cruickshank Racing Ford BF Falcon 1:31.2781 26 11 Jack Perkins Kelly Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:31.3646 27 12 Dean Fiore Triple F Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:31.9459 28 16 Mark McNally Kelly Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:32.6307 EXC 3 Jason Bargwanna Tasman Motorsport Holden VE Commodore Sources:
Top Ten Shootout
Pos No Name Team Car Time 1 2 Garth Tander Holden Racing Team Holden VE Commodore 1:29.8489 2 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 1:30.3376 3 1 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VE Commodore 1:30.3631 4 34 Michael Caruso Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 1:30.3938 5 14 Cameron McConville Brad Jones Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:30.4007 6 51 Greg Murphy Tasman Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 1:30.4018 7 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:30.4168 8 18 James Courtney Dick Johnson Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:30.5638 9 24 David Reynolds Walkinshaw Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:30.6887 10 10 Paul Dumbrell Walkinshaw Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:30.8739 Sources:
Race Garth Tander led early with Lee Holdsworth in pursuit. Buried in the grid, Craig Lowndes was the first to pit when the pit window opened. David Reynolds damaged his car in the early running. On lap 10 Michael Patrizi crashed into the wall with no brakes, bringing out the safety car. Tander lost the lead in the pits, then as Holdsworth pulled away, Whincup took second from Tander as well. Fighting over fourth position, Cameron McConville and Greg Murphy made contact in pitlane, as Murphy was released from his pitbay into McConville's path. Murphy was later black flagged for the incident. Both Holden Racing Team Commodores were slowing, affecting Will Davison's chances of keeping the championship alive, and affecting Tander's ability to match pace with Holdsworth and Whincup.
Lap 24 saw Alex Davison pitting with suspension damage after having clouted the wall earlier in the race. Lap 26 saw Paul Dumbrell dive up the inside of Jack Perkins and made contact with Dean Fiore in front of Perkins sending both cars into a spin. The two cars cleared the chicane with Fiore stopping soon afterwards and Dumbrell exiting on the inside of the chicane. Immediately afterwards race leader Lee Holdsworth slid into the wall on the outside of the middle part of the chicane having found no traction after hitting a portion of the track compromised by fluid dropped by Fiore. At the safety car restart Whincup overshot a corner, allowing Tander back into the race lead.
On lap 39 Will Davison made a big dive up the inside of Craig Lowndes at the first turn but dived in too deep with a locked tyre and hit Lowndes, deranging Lowndes steering. Davison continued with a bent steering arm while Lowndes had more severe damage. Davison was later given a black flag penalty. Lap 43 Cameron McConville hit the wall having freshly stopped for tyres damaging the front right corner of the car. Shane van Gisbergen briefly nosed into the wall behind McConville. Lap 47 saw Russell Ingall dive into a wall. Murphy received contact from Jack Perkins, spinning Murphy's car into a tyre barrier. James Courtney received a mechanical black flag as his right side front door started flapping open. Courtney was forced to pit to address the flapping door. The problem was not fixed correctly and Courtney was forced to make a second stop. Steven Johnson hit the wall on lap 57 with Jack Perkins also making contact two laps later.
Pos No Name Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 2 Garth Tander Holden Racing Team 74 2hr 05min 49.8020sec 1 150 2 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing 74 +2.8s 7 138 3 25 Jason Bright Britek Motorsport 74 +8.1s 13 129 4 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport 74 +8.5s 2 120 5 1 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 74 +10.7s 3 111 6 34 Michael Caruso Garry Rogers Motorsport 74 +18.7s 4 102 7 3 Jason Bargwanna Tasman Motorsport 74 +20.5s 29 96 8 6 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing 74 +20.8s 22 90 9 15 Rick Kelly Kelly Racing 74 +21.3s 11 84 10 9 Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Racing 74 +31.2s 15 78 11 55 Tony D'Alberto Rod Nash Racing 74 +33.8s 20 72 12 8 Jason Richards Brad Jones Racing 74 +35.0s 24 69 13 111 Fabian Coulthard Paul Cruickshank Racing 74 +36.4s 18 66 14 7 Todd Kelly Kelly Racing 74 +49.8s 14 63 15 22 Will Davison Holden Racing Team 74 +1:03.2s 17 60 16 39 Russell Ingall Paul Morris Motorsport 74 +1:24.1s 12 57 17 18 James Courtney Dick Johnson Racing 73 + 1 lap 8 54 18 24 David Reynolds Walkinshaw Racing 73 + 1 lap 9 51 19 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering 57 + 17 laps 21 48 20 4 Alex Davison Stone Brothers Racing 56 + 18 laps 23 45 Ret 67 Tim Slade Paul Morris Motorsport 71 Retired 19 Ret 11 Jack Perkins Kelly Racing 58 Retired 26 Ret 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing 57 Retired 16 Ret 51 Greg Murphy Tasman Motorsport 48 Retired 6 Ret 14 Cameron McConville Brad Jones Racing 41 Retired 5 Ret 12 Dean Fiore Triple F Racing 24 Retired 27 Ret 10 Paul Dumbrell Walkinshaw Racing 24 Retired 10 Ret 333 Michael Patrizi Paul Cruickshank Racing 9 Retired 25 Ret 16 Mark McNally Kelly Racing 2 Retired 28 Fastest lap: Lee Holdsworth (Garry Rogers Motorsport), 1:30.8818 Sources:
Race 26
Qualifying
Pos No Name Team Car Time 1 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 1:29.3047 2 18 James Courtney Dick Johnson Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:29.4040 3 15 Rick Kelly Kelly Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:29.4306 4 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:29.4418 5 51 Greg Murphy Tasman Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 1:29.5560 6 34 Michael Caruso Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 1:29.6110 7 2 Garth Tander Holden Racing Team Holden VE Commodore 1:29.6169 8 25 Jason Bright Britek Motorsport Ford FG Falcon 1:29.6476 9 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford FG Falcon 1:29.7319 10 24 David Reynolds Walkinshaw Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:29.7327 11 3 Jason Bargwanna Tasman Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 1:29.8377 12 10 Paul Dumbrell Walkinshaw Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:29.8571 13 22 Will Davison Holden Racing Team Holden VE Commodore 1:29.9280 14 14 Cameron McConville Brad Jones Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:29.9594 15 8 Jason Richards Brad Jones Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:30.0267 16 4 Alex Davison Stone Brothers Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:30.1068 17 55 Tony D'Alberto Rod Nash Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:30.1386 18 67 Tim Slade Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 1:30.1406 19 9 Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:30.1529 20 111 Fabian Coulthard Paul Cruickshank Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:30.2231 21 39 Russell Ingall Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 1:30.2402 22 6 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:30.3826 23 333 Michael Patrizi Paul Cruickshank Racing Ford BF Falcon 1:30.5275 24 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford FG Falcon 1:30.5706 25 7 Todd Kelly Kelly Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:30.6933 26 1 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford FG Falcon 1:30.9750 27 12 Dean Fiore Triple F Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:31.0067 28 11 Jack Perkins Kelly Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:31.1191 29 16 Mark McNally Kelly Racing Holden VE Commodore 1:34.3783 Sources:
Race Holdsworth led away from pole position, only to lose it to James Courtney on the second lap. Rick Kelly also passed Holdsworth. Winterbottom slotted into fourth ahead of Jason Bright and Michael Caruso. Steven Richards was first to pit with damage after contact with Shane van Gisbergen sent Richards into the wall, damaging the right side of the car. Rick Kelly briefly brushed the wall exiting turn 8 and lost four race positions, dropping behind Holdsworth, Winterbottom, Bright and Greg Murphy.
Lap 14 saw Rick Kelly hit turn eight even harder, this time deranging the front right corner of the car, effectively putting him out of the race. Two laps later, Todd Kelly, having just made his first pit-stop, under-steered into the same barrier as his brother, with much lighter damage. Lap 21 saw Mark Winterbottom have an off and drop to 18th place. Holdsworth stayed out on a long stint. The stint came to an end when Holdsworth understeered off at turn 8, damaging the front right corner and cutting a brake line. Michael Patrizi crashed lightly into the same barrier and continued. Holdsworth was unable to make it back to the pits and a safety car was called for although Holdsworth pulled up off the course.
At the restart Greg Murphy understeered off the track at the first turn in a self-inflicted mistake, backing the car into the wall and popping out the rear windscreen, handing second position to the charging Craig Lowndes. Whincup pitted at the end of lap 37 then on his outlap Whincup nosed into the wall at turn 8. Jason Bargwanna also hit the wall but continued. Most of the front runners pitted immediately, with Craig Lowndes striking Alex Davison leaving pitlane, subsequently leaving pitlane. Courtney missed the pitstop and had to pit the following lap but retained the race lead.