MOTORSPORT: Holden victorious at the Adelaide 500

Holden has bowed out from the top tier of the Repco Supercars Championship with a triumphant weekend at the return of the VALO Adelaide 500, reigning supreme in a pair of wild races through the Adelaide Parklands.

The opener was an emotional one for the former Holden Racing Team squad, with Walkinshaw Andretti United registering a one-two result for Chaz Mostert and Nick Percat.

On Sunday, the ultimate factory-backed outfit, Red Bull Ampol Racing, claimed the final race of the era, as Broc Feeney rounded out his rookie season with his maiden victory.

“This is such an amazing feeling … it was a pretty special moment walking out in front of all of the fans and everyone cheering – it’s a great send-off for Holden,” said Feeney.

“I wanted to get the win all year – I left it pretty late but the car was awesome and everything fell our way today.”

The action in the opening race started in the preliminaries and didn’t finish until the chequered flag.

Thomas Randle (Castrol Ford) crashed out of final practice, with his Tickford crew missing the top 10 shootout cut-off by moments, while David Reynolds (Penrite Ford) was scrubbed from the shootout for a technical irregularity.

Polesitter Cameron Waters (Mustang Ford) led Scott Pye (Toyota Forklifts Holden) away from the start, before a remarkable series of events knocked out various contenders.

James Golding (Subway Holden) was an early retirement after swiping the turn 8 wall, while numerous drivers came unstuck at turn 11, including Reynolds, Feeney, Jack Le Brocq (Truck Assist Holden) and Waters, who carried on in the race despite Pye nearly getting swept up in the mess.

After the opening safety car, Mostert (Optus Holden) and Shane van Gisbergen (Red Bull Ampol Holden) came to blows at turn 6, with the champion’s charge from last on the grid having to start over with 37 circuits remaining.

However, eight laps later he became the latest victim of the turn 11 wall, with his car receiving significant damage.

On lap 53, Waters earned a drive-through penalty after coming into contact with Todd Hazelwood (Truck Assist Holden), with Will Brown (Boost Mobile Holden) caught up in the melee, while Andre Heimgartner (R&J Batteries Holden) dropped out of a potential podium place with cramping and suspension damage.

Pye, meanwhile, fell by the wayside after contact with Bryce Fullwood (Middys Holden) at turn 9 resulting in terminal power steering damage.

Mostert led home Percat (NTI Holden) in an historic one-two, the first at the venue for the Walkinshaw squad, with James Courtney (Snowy Rivers Caravans Ford) third from Brodie Kostecki (Boost Mobile Holden) and Tim Slade (CoolDrive Ford).

Polesitter on Sunday Anton De Pasquale led the early running in his Shell Mustang, with the safety car making its first appearance on lap 18 when Jake Kostecki (Tradie Mustang) clouted the turn 8 wall.

The race settled down for a period until Will Davison (Shell Mustang) hit the fence on lap 42, with Fullwood doing likewise a lap later to bring out the safety car.

Van Gisbergen had stormed into second, but lost ground when he was forced to double stack behind Feeney in the pits and was ultimately flushed down the order following a drive-through penalty after a restart issue.

Davison’s wretched day continued on lap 50 when he clattered into Reynolds at turn 9, with Brodie Kostecki and Courtney collateral damage in the incident.

In the run to the chequered flag, Feeney fended off the advances of Mostert, with De Pasquale home in third ahead of Waters and Heimgartner.

The Gen3 era for Supercars kicks off with the Thrifty Newcastle 500 from March 10-12, 2023.

Race 1 – 78 laps

Race 2 – 78 laps

Final championship points:

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