Holden Racing Team has dominated the
17th Clipsal 500 Adelaide with James
Courtney claiming back-to-back victories
on the Adelaide Street Circuit.
Courtney took the overall points and the
all-important win in the 250km Sunday
race, but it wasn’t without a fight from
Shane Van Gisbergan who fell agonizingly
short and Garth Tander who put in a
spirited effort to finish third.
A race full of drama until the very end,
marked the first time in three years since
a Red Bull driver wasn’t on the podium,
something that Courtney wasn’t
complaining about.
“It was a great effort from the boys and to
go back to back is an awesome start to the
year at HRT and it’s great to have someone different winning the races,” Courtney
said.
Qualifying was just as electrifying as drivers continued to build on their speed from
Saturday, with Van Gisbergan showing his
speed early with a new lap record around
the Adelaide Street Circuit, but inevitably
it wasn’t enough as Courtney took pole
position in the top ten shoot out and hours
later claimed his second Clipsal 500
Adelaide trophy.
The heat subsided for the 93,600 fans who
witnessed Courtney’s heroics, with the
crowd the second highest Sunday attendance ever and third largest overall crowd
figure in the events 17 year history.
If the Toyo Tyres Stadium Super Trucks
wasn’t already entrenched in race fans
memories, then the fast flying finish from
owner Robby Gordon and teenage sensa-
tion Sheldon Creed is sure to make highlights reels all over the world. Creed, who
ended up on his roof just meters from the
finish line but still managed to tumble
across the line in third place, helped cap
off a spectacular finish to an unbelievable
debut for the Stadium Super Trucks.
Gordon said he was ecstatic with how the
weekend of racing played out.
“When we first started talking about Adelaide I pulled up Youtube and thought
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