2012 V8 Supercars Albert Park Challenge
| Event Information | ||
 | ||
| Date | 25–28 March 2012 | |
| Location | Melbourne, Victoria | |
| Venue | Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit | |
| Weather | Fine | |
| Results | ||
| Race 1 | ||
| Distance | 12 laps, 64 km | |
| Pole position | Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing |
|
| Winner | Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing |
24:34.7788 |
| Race 2 | ||
| Distance | 7 laps, 37 km | |
| Winner | Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing |
42:52.4637 |
| Race 3 | ||
| Distance | 15 laps, 80 km | |
| Winner | Shane Van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Racing |
30:36.8057 |
| Round Results | ||
| First | Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing |
274 pts |
| Second | Shane Van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Racing |
272 pts |
| Third | Garth Tander Holden Racing Team |
264 pts |
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The 2012 V8 Supercars Albert Park Challenge was a motor race for the Australian sedan-based V8 Supercars. It was a stand-alone event not part of the 2012 International V8 Supercars Championship but it was attended by all of the International Championship's teams. The event was held as the principal support event of the 2012 Australian Grand Prix.
The event was won by Ford Performance Racing's lead-driver Mark Winterbottom after winning the qualifying race and the second and third races of the event. Fifth place in the final race was enough to claim a two point win over Shane Van Gisbergen of Stone Brothers Racing despite Van Gisbergen winning the fourth race. Winterbottom won $100,000 as the big prize of the non-championship event. Garth Tander was third driving for the Holden Racing Team.[1]
The event was marred by a multi-car pile-up in the third race in the opening lap when Jamie Whincup spun in the middle of the pack after contact from James Courtney as the field negotiated turn 3. Karl Reindler, Taz Douglas and Russell Ingall subsequently became involved. There was a long delay as there was a fuel leak from Reindler's Holden Commodore which needed to be cleaned up.[2] The race was restarted but drastically shortened so as to not delay qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.
References
- ↑ Grant Rowley © (2012-03-18). "Van Giz takes final race, Winterbottom wins round". Speedcafe. Retrieved 2013-09-04.
- ↑ http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/grand-prix/huge-pile-up-to-open-v8-supercars-race-at-albert-park/story-fn7q3txe-1226302544107
| V8 Supercar | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous race: 2012 Clipsal 500 |
2012 V8 Supercar Championship Series | Next race: 2012 Falken Tasmania Challenge |
| Previous year: 2011 Albert Park 400 |
V8 Supercars Challenge | Next year: 2013 V8 Supercars Albert Park Challenge |