The 2005 Darwin V8 Supercars (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2005 SkyCity V8 Supercars) was the sixth round of the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 1 to 3 July at the Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.

The Holden Racing Team carried on their dominant form exhibited in the previous round in China with Mark Skaife claiming pole position and Todd Kelly winning the first two races en route to claiming overall round honours. Garth Tander won the third race of the weekend and would claim second overall for the round while HSV Dealer Team teammate Rick Kelly claimed third overall.

Background The event was held on the weekend of 1 to 3 July 2005. It was the eighth V8 Supercar event to be held at Hidden Valley Raceway and consisted of one 50 km opener followed by two 140 km races with compulsory pitstops in each

Entry list

There were 32 drivers entered into the event which included fifteen BA Ford Falcon's, fifteen VZ Holden Commodore's and two VY Holden Commodore's.

Paul Dumbrell returned to Perkins Engineering to drive the number 24 car. His place at Rod Nash Racing was assumed by Alex Davison. Steve Owen returned to the championship aboard the second Britek Motorsport car.

After dominating the previous round in China, the Holden Racing Team tweaked their livery for the Darwin round which featured a special "50 Round Wins" decal on the bonnet of both cars.

Race report Qualifying Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:08.8921 2 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.0925 3 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:09.0939 4 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.1579 5 20 Mark Winterbottom Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.2066 6 67 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:09.2805 7 16 Garth Tander HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:09.3357 8 1 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.3734 9 6 Jason Bright Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.3975 10 021 Paul Radisich Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:09.4551 11 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:09.4837 12 18 Glenn Seton Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.5070 13 10 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.5236 14 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:09.5250 15 5 Greg Ritter Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.5465 16 12 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.5650 17 88 Steven Ellery Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.6025 18 8 Craig Baird WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.6254 19 24 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.6824 20 15 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:09.8505 21 45 Max Wilson Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:09.8764 22 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.9176 23 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.9831 24 51 Greg Murphy Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:10.0629 25 23 Jamie Whincup Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:10.1103 26 50 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:10.1357 27 33 Cameron McConville Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:10.1368 28 25 Steve Owen Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:10.3104 29 52 Matthew White Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:10.3149 30 34 Andrew Jones Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:10.3376 31 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:10.3580 32 48 David Besnard WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:10.3947 105% time - 1:12.3367 33 7 Alex Davison Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 2:59.1642 - 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) no time Source:

Top ten shootout Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:08.7300 2 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:09.0249 3 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.0323 4 1 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.2677 5 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.3079 6 16 Garth Tander HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:09.3835 7 021 Paul Radisich Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:09.4329 8 67 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 1:09.4812 9 6 Jason Bright Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.7235 10 20 Mark Winterbottom Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.9615 Source:

Race 1 Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 17 20:08.171 2 2 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 17 + 0.695 1 3 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 1.067 3 4 1 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 2.344 4 5 16 Garth Tander HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 17 + 11.011 6 6 021 Paul Radisich Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 17 + 11.997 7 7 67 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 17 + 12.913 8 8 18 Glenn Seton Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 14.611 12 9 15 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 17 + 18.717 20 10 12 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 22.544 16 11 5 Greg Ritter Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 23.893 15 12 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 25.588 22 13 51 Greg Murphy Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 17 + 27.329 24 14 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 27.422 34 15 23 Jamie Whincup Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 17 + 30.533 25 16 45 Max Wilson Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VZ) 17 + 33.374 21 17 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 33.627 23 18 33 Cameron McConville Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 17 + 36.142 27 19 34 Andrew Jones Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 17 + 36.862 30 20 25 Steve Owen Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 37.792 28 21 52 Matthew White Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 38.794 29 22 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 17 + 40.237 5 23 7 Alex Davison Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 17 + 40.695 33 24 20 Mark Winterbottom Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 17 + 42.019 10 25 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 17 + 42.275 11 26 50 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 16 + 1 lap 26 27 8 Craig Baird WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 16 + 1 lap 18 28 88 Steven Ellery Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 15 + 2 laps 17 Ret 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 15 Retired 31 Ret 24 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 10 Retired 19 Ret 48 David Besnard WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 6 Retired 32 Ret 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VZ) 3 Retired 14 Ret 10 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 0 Retired 13 Ret 6 Jason Bright Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0 Retired 9 Fastest Lap: Todd Kelly (Holden Racing Team) - 1:09.8544 on lap 3 Source:

Race 2 Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 48 01:00:27.6924 1 2 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 48 + 0.722 2 3 16 Garth Tander HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 48 + 2.871 5 4 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 48 + 3.567 14 5 15 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 48 + 4.870 9 6 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 48 + 5.197 25 7 18 Glenn Seton Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 48 + 7.083 8 8 021 Paul Radisich Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 48 + 8.329 6 9 6 Jason Bright Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 48 + 9.151 34 10 12 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 48 + 10.092 10 11 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 48 + 11.506 12 12 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 48 + 12.307 22 13 88 Steven Ellery Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 48 + 13.288 28 14 23 Jamie Whincup Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 48 + 13.663 15 15 24 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 48 + 14.334 30 16 51 Greg Murphy Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 48 + 14.865 13 17 7 Alex Davison Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 48 + 15.793 23 18 67 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 48 + 16.209 7 19 25 Steve Owen Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 48 + 18.504 20 20 8 Craig Baird WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 48 + 18.964 27 21 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VZ) 48 + 19.593 32 22 52 Matthew White Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 48 + 19.949 21 23 5 Greg Ritter Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 48 + 21.542 11 24 10 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 48 + 22.552 33 25 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 48 + 31.254 29 26 50 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 48 + 59.959 26 27 20 Mark Winterbottom Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 47 + 1 lap 24 28 1 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 47 + 1 lap 4 29 48 David Besnard WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 47 + 1 lap 31 30 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 47 + 1 lap 17 31 33 Cameron McConville Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 47 + 1 lap 18 32 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 43 + 5 laps 3 33 45 Max Wilson Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VZ) 41 + 7 laps 16 Ret 34 Andrew Jones Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 39 Oil pressure 19 Fastest Lap: Todd Kelly (Holden Racing Team) - 1:10.2408 on lap 6 Source:

Race 3