The 2012 Adelaide 500, known for naming rights reasons as the 2012 Clipsal 500, was a motor race for the Australian sedan-based V8 Supercars. It was the first event of the 2012 International V8 Supercars Championship, and the fourteenth running of the Clipsal 500. It was held on the weekend of 1–4 March at the Adelaide Street Circuit, in Adelaide, South Australia.

Report

Race 1

Qualifying Triple Eight Race Engineering driver Craig Lowndes qualified on pole position for the first race — his pole at the Adelaide parklands circuit — ahead of Garth Tander and Will Davison. Lowndes' team-mate and reigning series champion Jamie Whincup qualified fifth, having started on the front row of the grid at every race since 2007. Name Car Team Time 1 888 Craig Lowndes Holden VE Commodore Triple Eight Race Engineering 1:21.2738 2 2 Garth Tander Holden VE Commodore Holden Racing Team 1:21.2908 3 6 Will Davison Ford FG Falcon Ford Performance Racing 1:21.4194 4 19 Jonathon Webb Holden VE Commodore Tekno Autosports 1:21.5164 5 1 Jamie Whincup Holden VE Commodore Triple Eight Race Engineering 1:21.5468 6 47 Tim Slade Ford FG Falcon James Rosenberg Racing 1:21.6288 7 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford FG Falcon Ford Performance Racing 1:21.7093 8 55 David Reynolds Ford FG Falcon Rod Nash Racing 1:21.8078 9 14 Fabian Coulthard Holden VE Commodore Brad Jones Racing 1:22.0289 10 9 Shane van Gisbergen Ford FG Falcon Stone Brothers Racing 1:22.3105 11 7 Todd Kelly Holden VE Commodore Jack Daniel's Racing 1:21.2386 12 3 Tony D'Alberto Ford FG Falcon Tony D'Alberto Racing 1:21.3746 13 22 James Courtney Holden VE Commodore Holden Racing Team 1:21.4035 14 15 Rick Kelly Holden VE Commodore Jack Daniel's Racing 1:21.4148 15 4 Lee Holdsworth Ford FG Falcon Stone Brothers Racing 1:21.4880 16 34 Michael Caruso Holden VE Commodore Garry Rogers Motorsport 1:21.4966 17 49 Steve Owen Ford FG Falcon Paul Morris Motorsport 1:21.5431 18 17 Steven Johnson Ford FG Falcon Dick Johnson Racing 1:21.5915 19 18 James Moffat Ford FG Falcon Dick Johnson Racing 1:21.5928 20 66 Russell Ingall Holden VE Commodore Walkinshaw Racing 1:21.7532 21 51 Greg Murphy Holden VE Commodore Kelly Racing 1:21.7964 22 12 Dean Fiore Ford FG Falcon Triple F Racing 1:21.9426 23 30 Taz Douglas Holden VE Commodore Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport 1:22.1907 24 33 Alexandre Prémat Holden VE Commodore Garry Rogers Motorsport 1:22.1991 25 21 David Wall Holden VE Commodore Britek Motorsport 1:22.4358 26 8 Jason Bright Holden VE Commodore Brad Jones Racing 1:29.3326 — 11 Karl Reindler Holden VE Commodore Kelly Racing no time EX 91 Michael Patrizi Holden VE Commodore Tekno Autosports 1:21.6802 Source: Notes – Michael Patrizi was moved to the back of the grid for ignoring red flags during qualifying.

Race Garth Tander took an early lead in the race, but was re-passed by Craig Lowndes after three drivers — James Courtney, Jason Bright and Taz Douglas — crashed heavily at Turn 8. Shortly after the accident Jamie Whincup switched from a two-stop to a three-stop strategy as Will Davison took the lead of the race, leading team-mate Mark Winterbottom. David Reynolds also crashed at Turn 8 just before lap 50, prompting an early round of pit stops and forcing the leaders to enter fuel-saving mode. Whincup used his shorter fuelling window and a brand-new set of tyres to catch the leaders, passing Davison at the hairpin on the final lap when Davison ran out of fuel. Tander finished third after Winterbottom was forced to pit for fuel himself. Name Car Team Laps Time/retired Grid 1 1 Jamie Whincup Holden VE Commodore Triple Eight Race Engineering 78 1:56:34.2914 5 2 6 Will Davison Ford FG Falcon Ford Performance Racing 78 1:56:39.8163 3 3 2 Garth Tander Holden VE Commodore Holden Racing Team 78 1:56:55.0784 2 4 888 Craig Lowndes Holden VE Commodore Triple Eight Race Engineering 78 1:57:13.5690 1 5 4 Lee Holdsworth Ford FG Falcon Stone Brothers Racing 78 1:57:14.0389 15 6 14 Fabian Coulthard Holden VE Commodore Brad Jones Racing 78 1:57:15.1127 9 7 15 Rick Kelly Holden VE Commodore Jack Daniel's Racing 78 1:57:16.0684 14 8 7 Todd Kelly Holden VE Commodore Jack Daniel's Racing 78 1:57:16.8003 11 9 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford FG Falcon Ford Performance Racing 78 1:57:18.8675 7 10 17 Steven Johnson Ford FG Falcon Dick Johnson Racing 78 1:57:20.0157 18 11 9 Shane van Gisbergen Ford FG Falcon Stone Brothers Racing 78 1:57:21.3316 10 12 47 Tim Slade Ford FG Falcon James Rosenberg Racing 78 1:57:22.0020 6 13 66 Russell Ingall Holden VE Commodore Walkinshaw Racing 78 1:57:26.8003 20 14 91 Michael Patrizi Holden VE Commodore Tekno Autosports 78 1:57:32.3598 28 15 18 James Moffat Ford FG Falcon Dick Johnson Racing 78 1:57:34.0494 19 16 12 Dean Fiore Ford FG Falcon Triple F Racing 78 1:57:38.0943 22 17 33 Alexandre Prémat Holden VE Commodore Garry Rogers Motorsport 78 1:57:50.6825 PL 18 21 David Wall Holden VE Commodore Britek Motorsport 77 + 1 Lap 25 19 49 Steve Owen Ford FG Falcon Paul Morris Motorsport 77 + 1 Lap 17 20 11 Karl Reindler Holden VE Commodore Kelly Racing 77 + 1 Lap 27 21 3 Tony D'Alberto Ford FG Falcon Tony D'Alberto Racing 77 + 1 Lap 12 22 34 Michael Caruso Holden VE Commodore Garry Rogers Motorsport 77 + 1 Lap 16 23 19 Jonathon Webb Holden VE Commodore Tekno Autosports 76 + 2 Laps 4 24 51 Greg Murphy Holden VE Commodore Kelly Racing 67 + 11 Laps 21 Ret 55 David Reynolds Ford FG Falcon Rod Nash Racing 44 Accident 8 Ret 22 James Courtney Holden VE Commodore Holden Racing Team 4 Accident 13 Ret 30 Taz Douglas Holden VE Commodore Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport 4 Accident 23 Ret 8 Jason Bright Holden VE Commodore Brad Jones Racing 4 Accident PL Source: Notes — Alexandre Prémat and Jason Bright started the race from pit lane.

Race 2

Qualifying After missing pole position for Race 1, Jamie Whincup claimed his first pole of the season, beating Garth Tander by one-tenth of a second. The twenty-minute qualifying session saw a heavy collision between Greg Murphy and Jonathon Webb when Webb slowed on the approach to the final corner, attempting to create a window of clean air for a flying lap. Murphy, already on a flying lap himself, came around the penultimate corner at speed and was unable to move aside in time, rear-ending Webb's car. The accident was heavy enough to remove both cars out of the race. Name Car Team Time 1 1 Jamie Whincup Holden VE Commodore Triple Eight Race Engineering 1:20.5353 2 2 Garth Tander Holden VE Commodore Holden Racing Team 1:20.6395 3 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford FG Falcon Ford Performance Racing 1:20.6436 4 888 Craig Lowndes Holden VE Commodore Triple Eight Race Engineering 1:20.8034 5 15 Rick Kelly Holden VE Commodore Jack Daniel's Racing 1:20.8160 6 6 Will Davison Ford FG Falcon Ford Performance Racing 1:20.9112 7 4 Lee Holdsworth Ford FG Falcon Stone Brothers Racing 1:20.9115 8 47 Tim Slade Ford FG Falcon James Rosenberg Racing 1:20.9172 9 9 Shane van Gisbergen Ford FG Falcon Stone Brothers Racing 1:20.9816 10 34 Michael Caruso Holden VE Commodore Garry Rogers Motorsport 1:20.9816 11 55 David Reynolds Ford FG Falcon Rod Nash Racing 1:21.1962 12 15 Todd Kelly Holden VE Commodore Jack Daniel's Racing 1:21.3300 13 3 Tony D'Alberto Ford FG Falcon Tony D'Alberto Racing 1:21.3329 14 14 Fabian Coulthard Holden VE Commodore Brad Jones Racing 1:21.4095 15 8 Jason Bright Holden VE Commodore Brad Jones Racing 1:21.4880 16 17 Steven Johnson Ford FG Falcon Dick Johnson Racing 1:21.4408 17 91 Michael Patrizi Holden VE Commodore Tekno Autosports 1:21.5278 18 49 Steve Owen Ford FG Falcon Paul Morris Motorsport 1:21.5429 19 12 Dean Fiore Ford FG Falcon Triple F Racing 1:21.6351 20 18 James Moffat Ford FG Falcon Dick Johnson Racing 1:21.6741 21 66 Russell Ingall Holden VE Commodore Walkinshaw Racing 1:21.7964 22 33 Alexandre Prémat Holden VE Commodore Garry Rogers Motorsport 1:21.8156 23 19 Jonathon Webb Holden VE Commodore Tekno Autosports 1:22.0638 24 30 Taz Douglas Holden VE Commodore Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport 1:22.0928 25 11 Karl Reindler Holden VE Commodore Kelly Racing 1:22.3120 26 21 David Wall Holden VE Commodore Britek Motorsport 1:22.4150 27 51 Greg Murphy Holden VE Commodore Kelly Racing 6:38.1826 — 22 James Courtney Holden VE Commodore Holden Racing Team no time Source: Notes – James Courtney failed to set a lap time after damaging his gearbox.

Race Garth Tander lead the race away once again, but was caught and passed by Jamie Whincup before the first round of stops, and then the Fords of Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom after the stops. Whincup's car was reported to develop a misfire and was soon caught by Davison and Winterbottom, who also went on to pass Tander. The race was uninterrupted by safety cars, and Davison and Winterbottom went on to claim a one-two finish for Ford Performance Racing.

Name Car Team Laps Time/retired Grid 1 6 Will Davison Ford FG Falcon Ford Performance Racing 78 1:48:31.4231 6 2 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford FG Falcon Ford Performance Racing 78 1:48:36.2684 3 3 2 Garth Tander Holden VE Commodore Holden Racing Team 78 1:48:40.5133 2 4 1 Jamie Whincup Holden VE Commodore Triple Eight Race Engineering 78 1:48:52.5977 1 5 888 Craig Lowndes Holden VE Commodore Triple Eight Race Engineering 78 1:48:57.7579 4 6 9 Shane van Gisbergen Ford FG Falcon Stone Brothers Racing 78 1:48:58.9003 9 7 55 David Reynolds Ford FG Falcon Rod Nash Racing 78 1:49:11.2822 11 8 4 Lee Holdsworth Ford FG Falcon Stone Brothers Racing 78 1:49:15.7393 7 9 14 Fabian Coulthard Holden VE Commodore Brad Jones Racing 78 1:57:16.8003 11 10 47 Tim Slade Ford FG Falcon Stone Brothers Racing 78 1:49:25.8270 8 11 15 Rick Kelly Holden VE Commodore Jack Daniel's Racing 78 1:49:26.2042 5 12 3 Tony D'Alberto Ford FG Falcon Tony D'Alberto Racing 78 1:49:36.7330 13 13 66 Russell Ingall Holden VE Commodore Walkinshaw Racing 78 1:49:51.2999 21 14 49 Steve Owen Ford FG Falcon Paul Morris Motorsport 77 +1 Lap 18 15 91 Michael Patrizi Holden VE Commodore Tekno Autosports 77 +1 Lap 17 16 8 Jason Bright Holden VE Commodore Brad Jones Racing 77 +1 Lap 15 17 17 Steven Johnson Ford FG Falcon Dick Johnson Racing 77 +1 Lap 16 18 33 Alexandre Prémat Holden VE Commodore Garry Rogers Motorsport 77 +1 Lap 22 19 12 Dean Fiore Ford FG Falcon Triple F Racing 77 +1 Lap 19 20 11 Karl Reindler Holden VE Commodore Kelly Racing 77 +1 Lap 24 21 21 David Wall Holden VE Commodore Britek Motorsport 77 +1 Lap 25 22 34 Michael Caruso Holden VE Commodore Garry Rogers Motorsport 77 +1 Lap 10 23 7 Todd Kelly Holden VE Commodore Jack Daniel's Racing 77 +1 Lap 12 24 30 Taz Douglas Holden VE Commodore Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport 76 +2 Laps 4 25 22 James Courtney Holden VE Commodore Holden Racing Team 65 +13 Laps PL Ret 18 James Moffat Ford FG Falcon Dick Johnson Racing 16 Power steering 20 DNS 19 Jonathon Webb Holden VE Commodore Tekno Autosports 0 Collision - DNS 51 Greg Murphy Holden VE Commodore Kelly Racing 0 Collision - Source: Notes — James Courtney started the race from pit lane.

Standings After 2 of 30 races. Pos No Name Team Points16Will DavisonFord Performance Racing28821Jamie WhincupTriple Eight Race Engineering27032Garth TanderHolden Racing Team25845Mark WinterbottomFord Performance Racing2225888Craig LowndesTriple Eight Race Engineering206

References