Motorsport: Kiwi 1-2 in V8 Supercars

Fabian Coulthard led two fellow Kiwis to claim pole position for the V8 Supercars round at Winton. Photo / Mark Horsburgh

Kiwi V8 Supercars drivers Fabian Coulthard and Shane van Gisbergen scored an historic one-two in the opening race of the Winton 400 near Melbourne today.

The New Zealand pair forged their way to the front of the grid in a pressure-filled qualifying session and then withstood three safety car re-starts before cementing the top two spots.

Coulthard led a remarkable performance from the Brad Jones Racing team, with the Kiwi winning, rookie Dale Wood in third and veteran Jason Bright in fourth.

It was also the first time in recent memory that New Zealanders have finished one-two in a V8 Supercars Championship race.

Coulthard kept his head and proved untouchable to win comfortably from his fellow Kiwi van Gisbergen, driving the VIP Tekno Holden.

The victory moves Coulthard back to second in the championship, 55 points behind Craig Lowndes who limped home in eighth but is off the back of the grid in the second race later today. It is conceivable that Coulthard could potentially grab the lead in the championship after the next race.

It was a tough day for the third Kiwi, Scott McLaughlin, who came into the pits with a mechanical issue. After re-entering the race he suffered further, with a safety car period needed to extract his stricken Volvo from the circuit.

From this re-start the race became a slug-fest with two further safety cars required from the ensuing aggressive manoeuvres.

The talking point was the re-surfaced parts of the circuit which brought significant speed but also tyre degradation.