Courtesy V8 Supercars Australia

Champion Rick Kelly added more silverware to his burgeoning cabinet with his maiden Clipsal 500 crown in front of a weekend record crowd of just under 280,000.

Kelly took full advantage of a late mistake from his big brother Todd to sieze his first Adelaide title to add to two Bathurst crowns and the 2006 Championship.

“It was lucky for me, it was probably the only opportunity I had to get around Todd,” said Rick.

It was with ten laps to go that Holden Racing Team’s Todd Kelly made the small error soon after a safety car brought the field back together.

Jeld Wen Racing’s James Courtney again proved he is made of the right stuff by finishing third despite a horrendous start due to a problem with his car. Courtney fell from second pole to tenth before the first corner. But as he did yesterday Courtney clawed his way back through the field.

“We lost a heap of time at the start and in the pits. We’ve really got to knock that on the head and get on top of it before we go to Perth in a fortnight.”

The mistake allowed Rick Kelly to swoop early.

“You are always ready for something like that,” the Toll HSV driver said.

Autobarn Racing’s Steve Owen became the first casualty of the infamous turn eight when he slid out the rear end of the car, banging into the wall at more than 200kph. It’s two years running that Owen has hit the same wall.

It was equally a bad day for Glenford Racing’s John Bowe who has now equaled the late Peter Brock for the most starts in the Championship. Also driving with the number of Mark Porter who passed away last year, Bowe was troubled by problems all day.


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