MOTORSPORT: ZB Commodore dominates on debut

One, two. One, two, three … the Supercars 'band' struck up for 2018 at the weekend for Adelaide's 20th anniversary event and the new Holden ZB Commodore dominated.

ZBs were first and second in the opening leg of what for so long was the Clipsal 500, now simply the Adelaide 500, and swept the podium in Sunday's leg.

Shane Van Gisbergen was the victor both days, as he was in a VF Commodore a year earlier, although his Red Bull Holden Racing Team teammate Jamie Whincup was well on the way to winning Sunday's race until a gearbox problem put him out - the first race in 136 that has ended without him scoring points.

Yet it's the revamped Walkinshaw outfit - now Walkinshaw Andretti United following its tie-ups with the American operations of Michael Andretti and McLaren F1 commercial chief Zak Brown's United Autosports - that heads the teams' championship.

After a horror 2017, Walkinshaw's James Courtney was runner-up to 'The Giz' on Saturday and followed up with sixth place on Sunday, while teammate Scott Pye was a top 10 finisher both days.

Seven-time champion Whincup sits 18th heading to Melbourne on the last weekend of March for the Australian Grand Prix, where the Supercars will race for championship points for the first time.

The man Whincup thrillingly beat to the title last year, Ford team DJR Penske's Scott McLaughlin, is fifth on the points table after a podium on Saturday but a puncture on Sunday that meant he could do no better than 10th.

McLaughlin's fifth on the points table but his team and others are concerned about the lightweight composite roof in the new Holden which has given it a lower centre of gravity.

Ford's homologation team, Tickford Racing, and DJR Penske realise they need to move quickly to try to match the Holden, while Nissan is grumbling about the expense new panels will cost but will only fall further behind (Michael Caruso's ninth on Sunday was its best finish of the weekend) if it doesn't follow suit.

Reigning Bathurst 1000 winner David Reynolds is second in the points after fourth and second places for Betty Klimenko's Erebus squad, although he came in for criticism over not defending harder when 'The Giz' overtook him on Sunday.

Reynolds' defence was that he was surprised at how competitive he was in Adelaide, although he reckoned that after Van Gisbergen got by him he realised he was quicker.

Garth Tander took the final podium spot for Holden and Garry Rogers Motorsport on Sunday.

Tickford wasn't far away either day, with Mark Winterbottom fifth on Saturday and perhaps could have done better than that on Sunday but for a penalty for over-using the kerbs - a decision described as "absolute bullshit" by team boss Tim Edwards.

Chaz Mostert was one of the big improvers over the course of the weekend after a poor start to the event, winding up seventh and fourth in the races to be the Blue Oval's top driver of the event - with fellow Ford man Cam Waters directly behind him on Sunday.

Craig Lowndes began his quest for that long overdue fourth championship - and what would be his first this century - with a pair of top 10s in his Holden - ninth (behind Will Davison, back in a Ford on his debut with Phil Munday's 23Red (formerly Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport).

Walkinshaw heads Red Bull HRT by six points and Tickford by 15 in the teams' championship, with reigning champion team DJR Penske fifth (because of Fabian Coulthard's woeful weekend) and behind Erebus.

2018 Supercars Championship driver standings:
Shane Van Gisbergen (Holden) 300 points; 2. David Reynolds (H) 258; 3. James Courtney (H) 240; 4. Chaz Mostert (Ford) 216; 5. Scott McLaughlin (F) 207; 6. G. Tander (H) 186; 7. Craig Lowndes (H) 180; 8. Mark Winterbottom (F) 177; 9. Cam Waters (F) 171; 10. Scott Pye (H) 168.

Bates at the double in ARC

Young Toyota driver Harry Bates has won the opening round of the Australian Rally Championship, the Eureka Rally at Ballarat, for the second year in a row.

Bates and co-driver John McCarthy won 11 of the 15 stages, this time in an Asia-Pacific (AP4) spec Yaris, while younger brother Lewis (they're sons of multiple national champion Neal) was fourth for the weekend with the vastly experienced Dale Moscatt alongside him in the S2000 Corolla that Harry won in last year.

The enormously talented Steve Glenney made a stellar return to the ARC after a long absence, finishing runner-up with Michael Potter after only deciding last week to drive a Subaru Impreza WRX STi rather than co-drive.

Dual national champion Eli Evans in his AP4 Mini Cooper and new co-driver Ben Searcy rounded out the podium in their first event together.

Molly Taylor, the 2016 champion, wound up fifth in her Subaru after hitting a kangaroo and having a flat tyre with New Zealander Malcolm Read alongside her in place of Bill Hayes.

The second round is WA's Forest Rally in and near Busselton on April 27-29.