Bright scores BJR's first V8 win

Date published : 01 May 2011 - 04:54:56

Jason Bright gave Brad Jones Racing its first ever V8 Supercar race win in a delayed and hard-fought second race of the weekend at Barbagallo.The initial start had to be red-flagged after 13th-place qualifier Karl Reindler stalled his Birtek/Brad Jones Holden on the grid and was collected by Steve Owen. The massive accident left Reindler's car in flames, but both drivers were able to extricate themselves from their machines and Reindler suffered only minor burns to his hands and face. He was taken to hospital for precautionary checks.At the restart, poleman Jamie Whincup was shuffled down to third behind Bright and Alex Davison. Though race one winner Whincup soon passed Davison for second, Bright managed to establish a cushion over the Triple 8 Holden driver during the first stint.After the pitstops though Bright found himself behind Whincup's team-mate Craig Lowndes, who had made an early pit visit on lap 15 when running fourth, and then flown on fresh tyres.But with the soft rubber being used for today's event, Lowndes was asking a lot of his tyres, and was soon coming under pressure.Bright passed Lowndes into Turn 1 with 12 laps to go and then pulled clear, with Lowndes eventually dropping to fourth behind Whincup and Bright's team-mate Jason Bargwanna, whose podium completed a great result for Brad Jones' squad.Tim Slade charged from 17th on the grid to fifth ahead of Davison, with HRT's Garth Tander falling to seventh in the second half of the race having briefly got up to third after the pitstops. His reigning champion team-mate James Courtney fared even worse, finishing at the tail of the field after an excursion at the first corner led to a long pitstop for repairs.Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden 49m03.8794s 2. Jamie Whincup Triple 8 Holden + 4.4552s 3. Jason Bargwanna Brad Jones Holden + 10.6592s 4. Craig Lowndes Triple 8 Holden + 12.4874s 5. Tim Slade Stone Brothers Ford + 12.7231s 6. Alex Davison Stone Brothers Ford + 16.4454s 7. Garth Tander HRT Holden + 17.4286s 8. Will Davison FPR Ford + 33.8346s 9. Lee Holdsworth Garry Rodgers Holden + 39.6668s10. Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Ford + 47.2141s11. Fabian Coulthard Walkinshaw Holden + 48.0292s12. Russell Ingall Paul Morris Holden + 49.4230s13. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford + 51.9350s14. Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Ford + 55.4303s15. Jonathon Webb Tekno Ford + 55.5226s16. Rick Kelly Kelly Holden + 57.4328s17. James Moffat Dick Johnson Ford + 58.6357s18. Michael Caruso Garry Rodgers Holden + 1 lap19. Paul Dumbrell Rod Nash Ford + 1 lap20. David Reynolds Kelly Holden + 1 lap21. Dean Fiore Triple F Ford + 1 lap22. Todd Kelly Kelly Holden + 1 lap23. Tony D'Alberto D'Alberto Holden + 1 lap24. Greg Murphy Kelly Holden + 1 lap25. Warren Luff Lucas Dumbrell Holden + 2 laps26. James Courtney HRT Holden + 10 lapsRetirements: Karl Reindler Birtek Holden 0 laps Steve Owen Paul Morris Holden 0 laps