Event Information | ||||||||||||||
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Round 5 of 14 in the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series | ||||||||||||||
Date | 7–9 June 2008 | |||||||||||||
Location | Melbourne, Victoria | |||||||||||||
Venue | Sandown International Raceway | |||||||||||||
Weather | Fine | |||||||||||||
Results | ||||||||||||||
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The 2008 Midas 400 was the fifth round of the 2008 V8 Supercar season. It was held on the weekend of 7 to 9 June Sandown Raceway in Melbourne, Victoria. With most states of Australia celebrating a public holiday on the Monday celebrating the Queen's birthday, the meeting took the unusual format of Saturday-Monday instead of Friday-Sunday.
The 2008 V8 Supercar season is the twelfth series in which V8Supercars contested the senior Australian touring car series. It is the 49th year of touring car racing in Australia since the first runnings of the Australian Touring Car Championship, known today as the V8 Supercar Championship Series, and the fore-runner of the present day Bathurst 1000, the Armstrong 500.
Sandown International Raceway is a motor racing circuit in the suburb of Springvale in Melbourne, Victoria, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) south east of the city centre. Sandown is considered a power circuit with its "drag strip" front and back straights being 899 and 910 metres long respectively.
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Its name refers to an urban agglomeration of 2,080 km2 (800 sq mi), comprising a metropolitan area with 31 municipalities, and is also the common name for its city centre. The city occupies much of the coastline of Port Phillip bay and spreads into the hinterlands towards the Dandenong and Macedon ranges, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley. It has a population of 5 million, and its inhabitants are referred to as "Melburnians".
Qualifying was held on Saturday 7 June. Following on from the Eastern Creek round of the series, a 'rookie' practice session was held, allowing younger and newer drivers to gain additional testing laps. Teams were also allowed to use the session to test their co-drivers who will step into the teams for the Phillip Island 500 and Bathurst 1000 races later in the season which require two drivers per car. Of the enduro co-drivers, Steve Owen was fastest [1] driving for Jim Beam Racing. Paul Radisich (HSV Dealer Team) was second fastest ahead of Jason Bargwanna (Rod Nash Racing). Other co-drivers to take part, in order were John McIntyre (Glenfords Racing), Warren Luff (Jim Beam Racing), Dean Canto (Ford Performance Racing), Craig Baird and Glenn Seton (both Holden Racing Team), David Besnard (Stone Brothers Racing), Greg Ritter (Garry Rogers Motorsport), Dale Wood (Tasman Motorsport), Paul Weel (Paul Weel Racing), Nathan Pretty (Jack Daniel's Racing), Brad Jones (Brad Jones Racing), Jack Perkins (Jack Daniel's Racing), Luke Youlden (Ford Performance Racing) and Grant Denyer (Ford Rising Stars Racing).
The 2008 Eastern Creek round of the V8 Supercar Championship was the second round of the Australian 2008 V8 Supercar season. It was held on the weekend of 7 to 9 March at Eastern Creek Raceway, in the outer suburbs of Sydney, the capital of New South Wales.
The Phillip Island 500 was an annual motor racing event, last held for Supercars at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Phillip Island, Victoria. The race had three distinct eras; from 1971 to 1977 as an endurance production and later Australian Touring Car Championship race, from 2008 to 2011 as an endurance race as part of V8 Supercars and from 2017 to 2018 as a Supercars Championship event consisting of two 250 km races.
The Bathurst 1000 is a 1,000-kilometre (620 mi) touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as a championship event for Supercars.
Fastest driver of the day was Garth Tander, the only driver to lap faster than Owen. James Courtney, Mark Winterbottom and Jamie Whincup were the only drivers within a tenth of Owen's best lap.
Garth Tander is a multiple-championship winning Australian motor racing driver competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship's Enduro Cup, co-driving the No. 97 Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He was the 2007 series champion for the HSV Dealer Team and is a three-time winner in Australia's most prestigious motor race, the Bathurst 1000.
James Anthony Courtney is an Australian racing driver competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 22 Holden ZB Commodore for Walkinshaw Andretti United. Courtney won the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series driving for the Dick Johnson Racing team.
Mark "Frosty" Winterbottom is an Australian professional racing driver. He currently competes in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, driving the No. 18 Holden ZB Commodore for Charlie Schwerkolt Racing. His career highlights include winning the 2013 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, twice winning the Sandown 500 and receiving the Mike Kable Young Gun Award in 2003. Winterbottom has also won his maiden championship title in the 2015 International V8 Supercars Championship, making it the first title for Ford in five years.
Qualifying was held on Sunday 8 June. Jamie Whincup slammed home pole position in the final moments of qualifying, some four tenths clear of the field. Mark Winterbottom was second fastest, leading Will Davison and leading Holden, Rick Kelly by only a few hundredths of a second. Fabian Coulthard had a best ever qualifying result to be fifth fastest with Russell Ingall also well up in sixth, 19 grid spots ahead of his team mate. Handling issues slowed the Holden Racing Team, both Garth Tander and Mark Skaife missing the cut for the top ten.
Jamie Whincup is an Australian professional racing driver competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 88 Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineering. Whincup is a seven-time Supercars champion, a four-time Bathurst 1000 winner and in 2017 also won the Bathurst 12 Hour. As of the 26th August 2018, Whincup is the all-time record holder in the Supercars Championship for race wins, at 113 career wins. He is also the first driver to win the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy twice at Pukekohe Park Raceway in Auckland, New Zealand.
Will Davison is an Australian professional racing driver. He currently drives the No. 23 Ford Mustang GT for 23Red Racing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. Davison is a two-time winner of the Bathurst 1000, in 2009 and 2016.
Rick Kelly is an Australian professional racing driver currently competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, driving the No. 15 Nissan Altima for Kelly Racing. Previously, he drove for the HSV Dealer Team with whom he won the Bathurst 1000 alongside Greg Murphy in 2003 and 2004. In 2006, Kelly extended his success by winning the V8 Supercar Championship for the HSV Dealer Team. His older brother Todd Kelly was also a racing driver who won the Bathurst 1000 in 2005. His parents John and Margaret Kelly formed Kelly Racing in 2009 with Rick and Todd Kelly as lead drivers, expanding to a 4 car operation.
Race 1 was held on Sunday 8 June. Steven Richards and Todd Kelly tangled on the opening lap, Greg Murphy spun on the second lap, all three dropping to the tail of the field. Andrew Thompson spun Marcus Marshall around at the top of the straight. Will Davison retired from the race in the early running with an engine problem, spoiling the good work from qualifying. Craig Lowndes damaged his car trying to get past Davison. Rick Kelly had lurid 160 km/h spin in the Esses without hitting the walls or the cars in close company, only losing three spots.
Steven James Richards is a New Zealand-Australian racing driver, currently competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia championship.
Todd Kelly is a retired Australian professional racing driver who competed in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He is the older brother of fellow Supercars driver and former Bathurst 1000 winner, Rick Kelly. He drove for the Holden Racing Team from 2003 until 2007, and Perkins Engineering in 2008. Since 2009, he has been with his family team Kelly Racing. He is the youngest driver to have reached 100 starts in the series.
Greg Murphy is a New Zealand professional racing driver, best known as a four-time winner of the Bathurst 1000. Greg Murphy joined Jeremy Clarkson and James May presenting Top Gear Live, when it had its first international Live show at ASB Showgrounds in Auckland from 12–15 February 2009, and again when the show returned in 2010.
As the race settled Whincup pulled further and further away, only Winterbottom was able to hang on to finish second. Craig Lowndes fought his way into third position. Russell Ingall took his best finish of the season to finish top Holden in fourth ahead of Garth Tander, recovering from a poor grid position. Coulthard finished eighth, capitalising on his qualifying performance. Shane van Gisbergen finished an excellent ninth.
Shane Robert van Gisbergen is a New Zealand racing driver competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 97 Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineering.
Race 2 was held on Monday 9 June.
Race 3 was held on Monday 9 June.
Results as follows: [2]
After round 5 of 14.
Pos | No | Name | Team | Points |
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1 | 5 | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Performance Racing | 1124 |
2 | 1 | Garth Tander | Holden Racing Team | 1072 |
3 | 88 | Jamie Whincup | Team Vodafone | 1062 |
4 | 15 | Rick Kelly | HSV Dealer Team | 1028 |
5 | 888 | Craig Lowndes | Team Vodafone | 897 |
The 2008 Midas 400 had four support categories.
Category | Round winner |
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Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series | Steve Owen (Holden VZ Commodore) |
Carrera Cup | Craig Baird (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) |
Formula Ford | Paul Laskazeski (Spectrum 011b Ford) |
Mini Challenge Australia | Jason Bargwanna (Mini Cooper S) |
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