Todd Kelly drew first blood as the Australian V8 Supercar season opened with the first 250km segment of the Clipsal 500, the HRT Holden driver overcoming Ford front row rivals James Courtney and Jamie Whincup in Adelaide.
Kelly came from seventh on the grid to claim a first victory for Holden's new VE Commodore, edging polesitter Courtney by a couple of seconds after a typically frenetic race around the 3.2km street circuit. The win not only got Kelly and Holden's season off to a strong start, however, but also went some way to soothing HRT's turbulent build-up to the campaign, which saw the team threatened with the loss of its entrants licence with just days to go before the Clipsal kicked off.
Whincup got the jump at the start, Courtney bogging down as he attempted to convert his maiden pole into an early advantage and finding himself also passed by the fast-starting Garth Tander and Mark Winterbottom. However, when the leaders both missed their braking points at turn four with seven laps gone, 'Frosty' and the Jeld-Wen Falcon were promoted to the head of the field.
Courtney had made his way back to the front, passing Winterbottom on lap 21, before the pit-stops shuffled the field somewhat, allowing the Kelly brothers to make their way further up the order. Both SBR drivers claimed to have been delayed by Vodafone rivals during their second stop, possibly costing Courtney a shot at his first win. Rick Kelly, too, was denied the chance to join his brother on the podium as Whincup completed his recovery by passing the Toll HSV Commodore with two laps to run.
![Todd Kelly with HRT's brighter day-glo red VE Commodore [pic HRT media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/289136.jpg)
