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00:30Hello and welcome to Network 10's live and exclusive coverage of the Formula One Grand Prix.
00:35The City of Melbourne looking absolutely spectacular just in time for the season opener.
00:41So much to look forward to.
00:43We look forward to bringing you every single minute.
00:45There's certainly an air of excitement here at Albert Park but also one of uncertainty.
00:50Uncertainty because of the changes to the rules and also the significant changes to the cars.
00:55No one really knows what's quite going to happen.
00:57We do know though that Aussie Daniel Ricciardo will make his debut for Red Bull.
01:01We've got experts across the board waiting to give you their insights over the weekend including the great Mark Webber.
01:08So much to look forward to.
01:09Let's get it all underway with the first of the V8 supercar racing.
01:12It's over to Greg Rust and Greg Murphy.
01:14Thank you Mel.
01:22Fantastic job by Mel in Sochi and of course on the Big Bash over summer.
01:27Great to have her as a part of our Grand Prix team here.
01:30This is the first Murph of four V8 supercar races this weekend.
01:35They're on the grid now but they won't start on the grid.
01:38Today something a little bit different.
01:39A double file rolling start coming up.
01:41It's all new and I can tell you from the drivers briefing yesterday some of the drivers had a lot of questions about this.
01:47We had a few incidents at Adelaide at the season opener and some big crashes and some confusion with the restart process there.
01:55And we're taking a lot of that restart process into the start for these four races here at Albert Park.
02:01There's an acceleration zone.
02:02There's boards on the track that the teams, the cars drive up to in double file.
02:08And a green flag will be waved as the cars approach the acceleration zone.
02:13And at that point the driver on pole position, in this case Michael Caruso, gets control of the start.
02:19When he enters the acceleration zone it's up to him to choose where he goes and when the race begins.
02:24Got a number of onboards that will put you inside the V8 supercars when we go racing.
02:29James Courtney a moment ago.
02:30There's Jamie Winkup, the reigning champion.
02:33Just in an unbelievably successful patch of his career.
02:36What about this guy?
02:37Scott McLaughlin, Gary Rogers Motorsport, Volvo making a super impressive debut in Adelaide just a fortnight ago.
02:45And it's continuing.
02:46Third on the grid here at Albert Park.
02:48You know, they're a bit of a steamroller at the moment.
02:50Great job last year.
02:51If you look at Mark Winterbottom here in car, not having a great start.
02:56And this weekend all the FPR cars, you know, slow to get off the mark.
03:00Yep, they're struggling a little bit at the moment.
03:02And that issue of parity has raised its head again.
03:05Great breakthrough pole position for the Nissan Hornets.
03:09Michael Caruso, fantastic performance.
03:11He'll be joined by Shane Van Gisbergen on that front row.
03:14That is a dynamite combo.
03:16Some very fast young guys up front.
03:18Yeah, Scotty McLaughlin on the second row with Jamie Winkup.
03:20Todd Cowley, another one of the Nissans, the Jack Daniels Racing Nissan.
03:24Top five.
03:25Craig Lowndes, obviously a crowd favourite.
03:28Fabian Coulthard, another Kiwi.
03:30James Moffat, Jason Bright.
03:32After that huge crash at Adelaide and a brand new car for Brad Jones Racing.
03:36And that's very good that he was able to qualify that car inside the top ten.
03:39Shout out as well to Robert Delga.
03:40And that's excellent.
03:41In the second of the Volvos, when you consider his first time in a V8 supercar,
03:46was at the official pre-season test at Sydney Motorsport Park just a few weeks ago now.
03:50Yeah, yeah.
03:51Awesome to see him.
03:52Big improvement.
03:53You know, he had to find his feet at Adelaide a few weeks ago.
03:56And it was a bit slow to obviously learn some of the stuff.
03:59James Courtney, a bad run in qualifying yesterday.
04:01The team working on different setups.
04:03And he'll revert back to a bit of a base setup today that they know works pretty good.
04:07Dale Wood.
04:07Russell Engel, the old campaigner, making up the second to last row of the grid.
04:12Jack Perkins there in 24th.
04:15Surprised to see Lee Holdsworth at the back of the grid too.
04:17But we should explain.
04:18Brushed the wall in qualifying yesterday out of turn 10.
04:21A little bit of suspension damage to the Mercedes.
04:23He was OK, though.
04:25And he feels as though the car is making an improvement, going in the right direction.
04:29But just the way they chased the track.
04:31Because this is a street circuit.
04:33Because it evolves over the weekend.
04:34You're constantly trying to predict where it's at, aren't you?
04:37Yeah, and it's really hard.
04:37I mean, he was fantastic at Adelaide.
04:40Bit of bad luck after a good qualifying.
04:41We're looking at Jack Perkins there.
04:43Down the back, you know, unhappy with the performance so far.
04:46Back in full time in V8 supercars.
04:48He has worked so incredibly hard to get himself a spot back in this field.
04:52And, you know, he deserves to be the driving superb.
04:55But, as we said, FPR struggling to get on terms here.
04:58And he improved by eight-tenths between practice and qualifying, Jack.
05:02Now, he might be at the back of the grid there.
05:04But let's put this in perspective.
05:05This is how competitive V8 supercar has become in this new era.
05:09This is only the second appearance for the brand-new car of the future at Albert Park.
05:13This entire field is covered by one second.
05:16That's remarkable.
05:175.3 kilometres, we've got to remember.
05:19This is a very long circuit.
05:20I mean, one of my favourites.
05:22I mean, this circuit is just superb.
05:24I love racing here, as do all the guys.
05:27And we're obviously pretty honoured to be on the support category for a Formula One race.
05:31But the circuit is superb.
05:325.3km, so one second.
05:34One second separating the field is a phenomenal show of how competitive all these cars are.
05:39Mark Winterbottom, Bathurst winner just a few months ago.
05:42It was a great result for the Pepsi Max Ford performance racing team.
05:46But they're on the back foot a little bit here.
05:48They perhaps feel as though the Fords may not be the equal, the measure of some of the other makes in this category now.
05:56And Nissan, three cars in the top ten.
06:00Haven't they done some great off-season work?
06:02Wonderful performance by Michael Caruso to get pole position.
06:05But he's not the only one.
06:06We should be giving some credit to James Moffat in the top ten as well.
06:10And Todd Kelly in car seven, starting out of P5 after a great job in quali.
06:15Yeah, it was a big year last year, you know, obviously getting the new cars working for those guys who bought in new marks.
06:22You know, big talk about aerodynamics, about the efficiency of the aerodynamics, the drag, all that coefficient, drag coefficient and stuff like that.
06:29And the amount of downforce these cars are creating.
06:31And that was a big issue.
06:32Talked about a lot.
06:33You know, the Nissan team, they worked very, very hard to get some changes implemented.
06:39And that happened over the break after the Sydney 500 was complete.
06:43And I would say, based on the performance so far, based on the performance at Adelaide, based on how quick they are here on a very different circuit that has got a lot of high-speed corners,
06:52you'd have to say that a lot of that has played into their hands and it's worked considerably well for that team.
06:56If you follow the sport closely, you'll notice that it's a different livery, a different paint scheme for Michael Caruso's car.
07:02A special paint scheme for the racers here at Albert Park.
07:05They're supporting Beyond Blue.
07:07The former Victorian Premier, the Honourable Geoff Kennett, was actually in the race suit in this garage on Thursday.
07:14And it's a great initiative.
07:15Norton continuing to support and Semantic continuing to support Beyond Blue.
07:19So, behind the safety car now, they'll file or gather up into two rows, nice and tight.
07:27They've only got 16 tyres for the weekend, too, and Dunlop have given the teams the soft rubber.
07:32And that's created a couple of interesting situations, too, hasn't it?
07:35Yeah, they've got four sets of tyres for the weekend and they have to use, they've got four colours on each of those sets and they've got to use that colour set of tyres at the start of each of these races.
07:45So, they're keeping an eye on everybody.
07:46We've got a very level playing field as far as tyres are concerned.
07:48New set of tyres for every car for each race, which is fantastic.
07:51Now, the double-file restart, they have to be sitting between 50 and 60 kilometres an hour as they present themselves to the green flag.
07:59There is a radar gun up there making sure that the leader is sitting in that speed.
08:04And if he is not, he will be in a bit of trouble.
08:07The race is scheduled for 10 laps or to finish under time.
08:11So, at 11.29 local, 11.29 eastern, plus one lap.
08:17So, it could run to time.
08:18And we are ready, we are waiting for some fireworks.
08:23Damien White.
08:25Yeah, he'll be standing up on the starters rostrum with that green flag in hand, determining if he is happy with their formation.
08:32As we can see them all forming up now, Mike Caruso will be the one setting the pace between 50, 60 kilometres.
08:39He's moving Van Gisbergen right over to the left-hand side.
08:43They talked about this in the driver's briefing.
08:45He's got him right over as far as he can get him.
08:47As everybody else streams around the line-up, Jack Perkins comes around the back, Lee Holdsworth.
08:51He's got that car as far over as he can possibly get to get that run.
08:55There it is into turn one.
08:57He wants the widest angle.
08:59He can possibly get into one.
09:01Here we go.
09:02He's inside the zone now.
09:03And he's gone.
09:04We are away and racing.
09:06They fan out.
09:07Everyone fans out as they enter the zone.
09:09Caruso with a great start.
09:11Van Gisbergen's going to look down the inside under brakes.
09:12I think he's got him.
09:14He's gone super deep.
09:15Van Gisbergen using all the road through one as they stream through.
09:19The techno entry of the Kiwi.
09:21Shane Van Gisbergen leads this for VIP Petfords.
09:23And it was a good move by the looks of it by Will Davison.
09:27Oh, wind cup down the outside.
09:29Van Gisbergen's been caught a little bit here.
09:32He'll run him wide, though, under the curb.
09:34Using every bit of road.
09:36Caruso will not be happy with that start.
09:38He tried to push over to the left, but he should have been covering the right.
09:42Fabian Coulthard in the mix here, arguing with Craig Lowndes.
09:45Coulthard said, my car wasn't a great qualifying car in Adelaide,
09:49but it was a terrific race car.
09:51Look how hungry he is at the moment.
09:52Yeah, really hungry up inside Craig Lowndes as they stream through.
09:57Down the back, heading down to turn 10.
09:59A big braking part of the circuit and a passing opportunity.
10:03Caruso blocking McLaughlin.
10:05Running the S into the corner as we look at Tanda down the inside.
10:08He's going to be a bit of a touch here.
10:10The two Nissans, the one Jack Daniels and the other.
10:14Norton Hornet of Mr. Moffett as Tanda takes advantage
10:18of that little touch-up between those two cars.
10:24Look at Will Davison here, defensive.
10:27Chas Mostert was the best of the Falcons on the grid.
10:30The best for Ford Performance Racing as well.
10:32He's hustling there in the Pepsi Max entry.
10:34And Tanda maybe trying to look by the Volvo up the inside of our pole sitter.
10:40Michael Caruso, that's for third place.
10:42And the over and under Caruso comes back at him.
10:45He got a great run.
10:46He's going to hold the outside.
10:47He should be able to stay there and get the run.
10:49The inside run into the second and last corner.
10:52Some super stuff there.
10:53But the Volvo, so impressive.
10:56And it sounds so different too, doesn't it?
10:58Very European sound.
11:01Coulthard now running with those three as they battle for third.
11:04Look at Wincup.
11:04It's right up on the back of that VIP Petfoods entry.
11:09In the background, Davison moving right over to the left.
11:13He's looking to block it.
11:14Ric Kelly's on the grass.
11:16Down into one.
11:17Has he made the move?
11:19Yes, he has.
11:19He's got through on Davison.
11:21Bright hustling behind.
11:23We'll talk more about Jason Bright's car in the broadcast today.
11:27They have worked super hard.
11:29Team BOC to get him here.
11:32Wincup hustling and pushing.
11:35And looking strong.
11:38Kimi Räikkönen arrives at the circuit.
11:40In style too, Russell.
11:41In style.
11:42What a way to go.
11:43Day one practice.
11:44We can't wait to see these new Formula One cars on circuit.
11:49And what a combination at Ferrari this year.
11:51The double world champion in Fernando Alonso and Raikkonen back in red colours.
11:56Terrific to see him returning to Ferrari.
11:58That is going to be exciting times.
12:00Seeing him there teaming up with Fernando Alonso.
12:02As we go back to the action.
12:04Jason Bright looking pretty racy at the back.
12:07Behind.
12:09Davison.
12:10Not able to make an opportunity this time into Turn 10.
12:13But he's looking very strong.
12:14Gee, they worked hard at Brad Jones Racing, did they?
12:17In that short window between the races to get that new car ready.
12:21This is good stuff from Van Gispergen.
12:22This guy.
12:23He's challenged at the moment though.
12:25He's challenged.
12:25But he just loves driving.
12:27Whether it's drifting.
12:28He took part in the Daytona 24 hour in the last few months as well.
12:32And got rave reviews there.
12:34Jeroen Bleakamollen helped tip him into that ride, didn't he?
12:37And here's Wincup now.
12:39Look how racy Wincup is looking.
12:41He looks desperate.
12:42Obviously qualified on the second row for this race.
12:46He would be looking at every bit of information last night to work out how he can improve.
12:51They would have worked hard on that car and it's looking very good this morning.
12:53Scott McLaughlin looking real good though behind him.
12:56Let's listen here on board with Wincup.
13:06Now get around this track in about a minute 55 and qualifying.
13:14Right now the fastest man on the circuit is in that Volvo.
13:17The Valvoline Gary Rogers entry of Scott McLaughlin.
13:20A 57.7.
13:25Rogers has said in the paper today he wants to prove that the result in Adelaide was no fluke.
13:31They are here and they are playing hard.
13:32Well I think he's proven that.
13:34There's no question about it.
13:34Here's the start and we've got an investigation on car nine for jumping the start.
13:40As you can see them fan out and car nine is Will Davison there in the Mercedes and he did
13:45get a big run and a big advantage.
13:47Look at them pull out.
13:48So they'll be looking at the acceleration zone as to where he positioned himself at the time
13:54when he's fanned out across the track and investigating if he has done that too early.
14:02Back then Gisberg and what a great start.
14:04But he really got the better of Michael Caruso there.
14:07How's the bravery with some of the late breaking as well.
14:10Jamie Winkup was a star down into turn three.
14:12Watch this on the outside here.
14:14Yeah.
14:14He even caught Van Gisberg and who was the last of the late breakers.
14:18He was able to squeeze him though a little bit wide to get that advantage out of turn four.
14:21And here's the replay of Rick Talley on the grass.
14:27Not rolling off that throttle at all.
14:29Yeah.
14:29And he didn't.
14:30He shouldn't have either.
14:31I mean that's pushing everything to the absolute limit.
14:34Will Davison moving him over as far as he could.
14:36Back to the front.
14:37Well keep an eye on this.
14:38And at the same time we're getting excited about Formula One practice.
14:42More drivers arriving.
14:43Mark.
14:45Sergio.
14:46Welcome back to Australia.
14:47New team.
14:47New year.
14:47How are you feeling?
14:48Yeah very happy.
14:49Really excited to be part of this new era of Formula One.
14:54I think it will be a really interesting one.
14:56And yeah looking forward to start.
14:58A lot of talk about the engines.
14:59You've got a pretty nice one in your car at the moment.
15:01Yeah we do.
15:02We do have a really good engine.
15:04And hopefully we can have that advantage throughout the year.
15:09That will be really good for us.
15:11You've got a lot of fans in this part of the world.
15:12Have a great week.
15:13Nice to see you.
15:13Thank you very much.
15:15Mark Howard there with a very calm Sergio Perez.
15:17It would not have been that way either in that Red Bull Commodore or the Volvo S60.
15:23What about that on the front straight?
15:25This is on.
15:26Yeah this is on.
15:27And it's getting a little bit over the top as far as I'm concerned with the blocking.
15:31Jamie Winkert pushed McLaughlin way too far over to the right hand side there.
15:36Forced him onto the grass.
15:37We saw it a few laps ago with Will Davison and Rick Kelly.
15:41But this has taken things to a whole new level.
15:43The tyre dig was a big conversation piece earlier on.
15:47Reynolds turn four recovering.
15:50He sounded flat yesterday like Jack Perkins as well.
15:52Just not able to get the result.
15:55Has everybody stepped up around them during the off season?
15:58Maybe that's an issue.
16:00This is all working out well for Shane Van Giesbergen.
16:03Yeah well he's held a really good pace.
16:04He held on early on.
16:05The set up of his car didn't look too good on those tyres for the first few laps.
16:11While Winkert was putting the pressure on.
16:13But Winkert has had a couple of issues here.
16:15McLaughlin's put the pressure on.
16:16Had a couple of runs at him.
16:18And the gaps opened up.
16:19That'll give Shane the opportunity to look after his tyres.
16:22The teams were talking about tyre degradation.
16:25On the circuit.
16:26Same at the soft tyre.
16:27The long loaded corners is having a bigger effect than maybe what they thought it was.
16:31McLaughlin having another look.
16:32Jamie Winkert strong under brakes though.
16:35McLaughlin I think though.
16:37He's going to have another crack here.
16:38Here's the replay.
16:39Onto the front straight.
16:40On the last lap.
16:41Winkert moved him right over.
16:42Too far.
16:43Oh how close do you like it?
16:45Too far.
16:45And I wouldn't be surprised if there's a little bit of an investigation into that one.
16:49This is wild.
16:50There are no championship points to play for here.
16:53Which is great.
16:53We have points to determine an overall winner for the weekend.
16:57And double points in Sunday's final race.
17:00Everyone wanting to walk away from here without any incidents.
17:04This is wild.
17:07We'll grab a break.
17:09Stay with us whatever you do.
17:10We're racing at Albert Park.
17:12And it's game on in the V8 supercar.
17:14Stick around.
17:15I love it.
17:17I don't care.
17:19I love it.
17:20I love it.
17:21I don't care.
17:22Back live at Albert Park.
17:30You're watching the MSS V8 supercar challenge.
17:33Race 1 of 4 for the weekend.
17:35Shane Van Gisburgh and the Kiwi leads this comfortably from Jamie Winkup.
17:39And we've seen some attempted passes.
17:42Almost got it done by Scott McLaughlin during the commercial break.
17:44But there is some official stuff going on here.
17:47I think a flag has been shown or will be shown to Jamie Winkup this time around.
17:51A bad sportsmanship flag for Jamie Winkup.
17:54Who, we don't often see this, is holding up the field at the moment.
17:57McLaughlin has made some amazing moves on the champion in the red ball racing car.
18:03And he has been blocking just hugely.
18:09I can't believe it, actually.
18:10It's not what we're used to seeing.
18:12Shane Van Gisburgh has managed to be able to just get a huge lead on the rest of the field.
18:16And we have Roland Day standing by as we see some debris on the road.
18:21Roland Wilkin, it's on the track there.
18:26I would have thought most people would have wanted to walk away from Albert Park with no issues or damage.
18:32How did you sort of see that before between Jamie and Scott McLaughlin?
18:36Yeah, it was interesting.
18:38Jamie blocked him into turn one.
18:42But McLaughlin didn't have an overlap at that point.
18:47So, you know, I think it's all pretty fair at the moment.
18:51But everyone needs a reminder, probably.
18:53But it's making the racing, isn't it?
18:55We want to try and keep that Kiwi under control.
18:58We don't want too many Kiwis getting out of control here.
19:00Mate, what's wrong with the Kiwis, Roland?
19:02Yeah, exactly.
19:04Roland, while we've got you, fans of the sport would have noticed what appears to be increasing tensions with Ryan Walkenshaw.
19:12Or is there anything in that?
19:14Is it OK?
19:14What can you tell the fans watching the sport today?
19:17Oh, we've all got to have a little bit of controversy, haven't we, in the sport?
19:25It'd be dull as dishwater if we were all big mates all the time.
19:30It's a bit of fun that we've got to have.
19:33But I'm doing a breakfast tomorrow with Tim Edwards and Adrian Burgess.
19:38And we're joking about it in the week.
19:40It's part of what we do.
19:41You know, we don't want to be too bland, do we?
19:44Not at all.
19:44Hey, mate, just on this, it made a little bit of a surprise.
19:47Obviously, Shane had maybe a different sort of start to that race.
19:51Maybe tyre pressures, that kind of thing.
19:52And at the moment, we do see Jamie sort of having to defend.
19:56He was very strong at the start.
19:57So what are you putting that down to?
19:59Set up all tyre pressure?
20:00Or, you know, what have you done to the car?
20:02Yeah, I mean, I don't actually know what we've done this morning.
20:06I've left everyone to their own devices here.
20:09But you've hit the nail on the head.
20:11There's probably some differences in the air pressures going in to the start of this race
20:17between the cars.
20:19It looked as though the Nissan might have been very low to start with.
20:22Jamie might have been a little bit higher.
20:24And now it's all stabilised a little bit more.
20:28So the fight between Jamie and Scotty McLaughlin gave Shane a break,
20:36which he's taken very well, frankly,
20:39from probably being a little bit weak in the first lap.
20:42Roland Dane, team owner for Red Bull Racing Australia.
20:45Thank you very much for joining us.
20:46We'll continue watching the action here
20:48because we're counting down the laps
20:50in the first race of four for the weekend in V8 supercars.
20:54This guy, he's not cruising,
20:55but it is a comfortable margin at the moment for Van Gispergen.
20:59A 1 minute 57.4 last time around from Wincup with McLaughlin third.
21:04Best of the Falcons at the moment is Chas Mostert inside the top ten.
21:08We'll go back to Mark Howard for some more news in the paddock.
21:12Felipe, great to see you back in Australia.
21:14New team, new season.
21:15Exciting times for yourself.
21:17Yeah, it's very exciting.
21:18So now it's a start.
21:20So I hope we can have a good start, good race
21:23in front of these great people.
21:25They love you in this part of the world.
21:27It's been a really unusual testing,
21:28so no one's quite sure what we expect this afternoon.
21:31Yeah, I think it's true.
21:32I mean, now we're going to start having some answers,
21:35you know, how we are compared to the other teams,
21:38how they are as well, you know.
21:40And, yeah, now is where it counts.
21:43We appreciate your time.
21:44Enjoy the sunshine.
21:44Enjoy the crowd.
21:45Thanks.
21:45And you know the telling thing there is the smile for Felipe Massa.
21:50During the break, he moved from Ferrari to Williams.
21:53His engineer, Rob Smedley, has come with him,
21:55and that looks like a genius move.
21:58Williams switching from Renault Power to Mercedes,
22:01and they've been really strong in testing.
22:02We'll see today, in practice, live here,
22:06whether it's the real deal.
22:07But certainly in the preseason,
22:09it looks very good for a resurgence from Williams.
22:12That's a great story for you.
22:14Sven Gisbergen continuing to lead.
22:17Nissan doing an exceptional job at the moment.
22:19Our pulse to Caruso, fourth.
22:22We've got James Moffat in the top ten.
22:24So too Todd Kelly.
22:25And Rick Kelly is 11th.
22:26Four Nissans in the top 11.
22:28Superb.
22:29Yeah, it is superb.
22:30They're doing a very good job.
22:32Mike Caruso obviously didn't get the start
22:33that he would have wanted,
22:35fallen back in a couple of spots.
22:36And we were talking to Roland before
22:37about the tyre pressure thing.
22:38So sensitive, especially with the soft tyre.
22:41And there would have been different strategies.
22:42We saw Van Gisbergen,
22:44who's now controlling the race very, very easily at the front,
22:48probably had those tyre pressures down a little bit.
22:50It looked like Winkup probably had them up a little bit.
22:52And now everything's settled down.
22:54Everybody's found, you know,
22:55just where their set-ups are
22:57and how the car's working.
22:59Things have settled down.
23:00Their tyres have, you know,
23:01tyre presses have also settled.
23:03And now we see McLaughlin's just dropped off the back
23:05of Winkup ever so slightly.
23:07So this will be information they'll use
23:09for the next race coming up in a couple of hours.
23:12And it'll be...
23:12Oh!
23:13Winkup uses every single and more
23:16of the Alka Park track out of a Turn 11,
23:20removing the mirror from the Red Bull Commodore.
23:23In car now with Scott McLaughlin in the Volvo.
23:26So, let's listen here.
23:37Just watching the wheel work.
23:40And you can see...
23:40Oh, Lowndes!
23:41Lowndes has gone deep.
23:42I think he's run wide.
23:44Had a bit of a lock-up in the rear.
23:46And he's underbreeding now.
23:47Tander's made the move.
23:49And just saw the rear of the Red Bull 888 car
23:51move ever so slightly under brakes.
23:53And that would have drifted him a little bit wide.
23:56Gave Tander the opportunity to get past
23:57as we see them just finishing off that manoeuvre now
24:00with James Moffat looking on, trying to capitalise.
24:04As they start the last lap.
24:10Vindersburg and one lap to go.
24:125.3km is the Alka Park circuit.
24:14Winkup looking comfortable.
24:16What a way to open the day.
24:17We literally welcomed you and said,
24:20let's go racing.
24:21And this has set the tone for the weekend.
24:24Still three races to come after this one.
24:27And as we said before, double points on offer on Sunday.
24:45Just listen out.
24:47Listen how subtle he's being on every single action
24:50that he makes on the gear shift, the wheel.
24:52The wheel works very soft into the corners.
24:54He's looking after those tyres.
24:57Very smooth on the throttle.
25:02As you see, the two Jack Daniels cars,
25:05the brothers, Kelly, going still at it.
25:08They're on Chance Moffat.
25:09This is the last lap.
25:11Will Davison's in on that battle too.
25:13In the Erebus Mercedes.
25:15And getting a good run out of turn 10 through 11.
25:19Rick has had to cover.
25:22So the race is not over.
25:23Still the fight goes on with a half a lap to run
25:27for these guys at the front.
25:28Shane Van Gersbergen will be cruising at the stage.
25:31Still sitting the fastest second sector.
25:35Shout out in the background there too to Mark Winterbottom.
25:38Started 18th on the grid.
25:39He's pulled his way to 13th.
25:41Not quite close enough to that battle,
25:42that group we were just watching.
25:44But this guy is about to take it out.
25:47The Techno team, certainly in the last 12 months,
25:51they have come on in leaps and bounds.
25:53And they're trademarked for the crowd.
25:55They're trademarked Shane Van Gersbergen finishing this race.
25:59The first one here at Albert Park.
26:00What a great win.
26:01Well controlled, well driven.
26:03Race one victory to the Kiwi.
26:06Jamie Winkup will finish in second place.
26:08Hard luck for Michael Caruso.
26:10The pole sitter finishes outside the top three.
26:12And Scott McLachlan, another very strong showing from Volvo.
26:19Mostyn inside the top ten for Ford Performance Racing.
26:25As we take a look at the results,
26:2675 points for the opening race.
26:29They get 75 for each of the races.
26:31But on Sunday, there's 150 up the grabs.
26:34And remember, they've got a bank of tyres.
26:3616 soft Dunlop tyres
26:39that they've got to manage right across this weekend.
26:41So, well done to the top three there.
26:44Garth Tander, will we see him win another race
26:46and challenge that tally that Russell Ingle has had?
26:51He's had some terrific race results here, Ingle, over the years.
26:53And he's kind of the master of Albert Park,
26:56certainly in history terms.
26:57And in history terms, he probably won't be too happy
26:59with his finish there in 19th today.
27:02But as you can see by the times,
27:04a big gaggle of cars there that were very close.
27:07Mark Winterbottom, as you said before, 13th there.
27:09But Jason Bright had an off.
27:11He was well inside the top 10
27:12and had an excursion that we didn't see.
27:14James Courtney move forward from outside the 20 into 15th.
27:18As you see Scott Pye, Jack Perkins, Dale Wood,
27:21David Wall and David Reynolds after that spin,
27:23which I think he was helped by someone finishing up the field.
27:26Shame for Robert Dalgren as well,
27:28who had qualified so well, drifted back.
27:30But that's only the first race.
27:33We'll grab a commercial break here.
27:34It's a massive Friday.
27:36And we are looking forward to bringing it all live to you right here.
27:39Stick around.
27:40Until then.