Clipsal 500 - Adelaide

Check it Out!

Point of Interest: The winner of the Clipsal 500 has gone on to win the V8 Supercar Championship Series four times. Craig Lowndes did it in 1999, Mark Skaife in 2002, Marcos Ambrose in 2004 and Jamie Whincup in 2008.

2008 Crowd: 291,400 over four days
Circuit length: 3.2-kilometres
Circuit direction: Clockwise
Average speed: 146km/h
Maximum speed: 251km/h
Fastest Point: Peter Brock Straight approaching turn 8
Slowest Point: Turn 9 hairpin

Brief description of the circuit: The former Formula 1 street circuit is renowned for being one of the best in the world. Shortened from its Grand Prix length by 700 metres to 3.2-kilometres, the circuit is very busy from inside the cockpit and, apart from the run down the back straight, gives drivers very few opportunities to relax. The circuit features major resurfacing work for 2009 as well as new pit lane facilities.

Ten Fast Facts

1. Defending V8 Supercar Champion Jamie Whincup is eyeing off some further history in the opening event of the 2009 series. If Whincup can win the Clipsal 500 he will become the first three-time winner of the event. The Triple Eight driver is currently tied on two Clipsal 500 event wins with Marcos Ambrose and Mark Skaife. He has won three individual races in Adelaide – Race 2 in 2006 and both races last year. Despite the change to race winners being recognised in 2009, the winner of the Clipsal 500 event is still deemed to be the winning driver in Sunday’s second 78-lap race.
2. There are many changes for this year’s V8 Supercar Championship Series, perhaps the most notable being the introduction of E85 ethanol fuel, which will drastically modify the amount of laps a car can run before it needs to refuel. Another significant factor is the abolishment of compulsory pit stops. Teams will pit in Adelaide whenever they wish to change tyres or refuel, whereas previously there were separate compulsory stops, one for fuel and another for tyres. The Top 10 Shootout is back full-time as the third leg of qualifying (the first time since 2006), while the big change to qualifying will be that it will determine the grid for both races over the weekend. Previously the finishing results of the first race determined the grid for the next race.
3. The make-up of this year’s 30 car field is interesting with 18 Holdens taking on 12 Fords. Of the Holden teams there are four brand new VE Commodores debuting in Adelaide in the hands of Rick and Todd Kelly, Russell Ingall and Michael Caruso. On the Ford side, nine brand new FG Falcons will debut in Adelaide, while Jason Bright, Michael Patrizi and Marcus Marshall will be using the older model BF Falcon.
4. The brothers Davison – Alex and Will – get to face off this year for the first time on a full-time basis in their careers, beginning with the Clipsal 500. Previously they have competed against one another in the endurance events, but this year both are factory-backed drivers for Ford and Holden respectively. Alex replaces James Courtney at Stone Brothers Racing after a season racing Porsches in international sportscar racing and will make his first appearance as a full-time driver in the Championship Series since a largely unsuccessful season in an Autobarn Commodore in 2005. Will replaces Mark Skaife at HRT, the first time he has raced a Holden since driving for Team Dynamik in the second half of the 2004 Championship. He’ll become the 11th different full-time driver for HRT since it started in the series in 1990.
5. 2008 Championship Series runner-up Mark Winterbottom is keen to get this 2009 challenge off to a good start. But the Clipsal 500 has never been very kind to ‘Frosty’ whose second place in last year’s opening race remains his only real Adelaide highlight. The Melbourne-based FPR pilot has never finished in the top 10 overall results and of the 10 individual races he has started has only finished in the top five twice. Mechanical problems and being the innocent victim of multi-car accidents have generally proven to be his downfall at the Clipsal 500.
6. With the retirement of Mark Skaife, there are now just five drivers who can lay claim to having been on the grid for every single Clipsal 500 since the event was first held in 1999. Greg Murphy, Garth Tander, Steven Richards, Russell Ingall and Craig Lowndes will all line up for their 11th start in the event this year.
7. Experience is a major factor again in 2009 and the signing of Jason Bargwanna to Sprint Gas Racing means it now has the most experience of all of the two-driver teams in the V8 Supercar Championship Series. He and Greg Murphy combine to make 273 Championship starts.
8. Just 16 of the 30 driver/team combinations for the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series remain the same as last year, however only three of the two-car teams are returning with the same drivers line-ups. Not surprisingly, the top two teams in last year’s Teams and Drivers Championship – Triple Eight and Ford Performance Racing – are two of the three, while Garry Rogers Motorsport is the other.
9. Five drivers are making their Clipsal 500 debuts in the opening event of the V8 Supercar Championship Series. Dale Wood, Tim Slade, David Reynolds, Dean Fiore and Michael Patrizi are making their first starts in the event, however only Slade and Fiore are making their maiden start in a Championship Series event. Wood, Slade and Reynolds all raced in the Fujitsu Series round at Adelaide last year with Wood finishing third overall, while Fiore finished second in the Porsche Carrera Cup round at the circuit.
10. Greg Murphy and Jason Bargwanna have a lot of experience at Clipsal individually. Murph has been on pole twice and has two podiums. Coming off a seventh place for the round last year, Murph has six top 10 results in his 10 visits. Bargs was second in 2000 and qualified seventh that same event for his best Clipsal result. Both are hoping to improve their Clipsal records this weekend.

Clipsal Records

V8 Supercar Qualifying Record: Jamie Whincup, Falcon BF, 1m21.3301s, 2008.
V8 Supercar Lap Record: Jamie Whincup, Falcon BF, 1m22.3564s, 2008.