Remarkably, the race ran caution-free, meaning that Kelly's victory could not be attributed to lucky breaks with the safety car, but still produced a close affair, with Whincup eventually trailing Courtney's Jeld-Wen Falcon by another handful of seconds.Kelly Jr was just a further click adrift at the flag, while Winterbottom crossed the line just eleven seconds shy of the winner. Courtney, meanwhile, overcame the continuing high temperatures to set a new V8 lap record for the former
F1 circuit, clocking 1min 22.8075secs on lap 32.
Reigning champion Kelly overcame the disappointment of missing the final session in the new-look qualifying format to haul his Toll HSV Commodore up from 15th on the grid, putting himself in good position to move further forward in Sunday's second leg, and the Toll team also put in the best 'combined' performance of the afternoon, with Tander claiming sixth, although the 'pre-season favourite' will be kicking himself for slipping up early on.
Greg Murphy, Russell Ingall, Steven Johnson and Jason Bright filled out the top ten, meaning that Kelly Jr's 2006 title rival Craig Lowndes had to settle for 13th, giving himself a mountain to climb in race two after being handed a drive-thru' penalty for contact with Max Wilson. The Team Vodafone favourite was not alone in missing the closely-contested top ten, however, as Steven Richards, Mark Skaife and rapid qualifier Jason Richards all joined Lowndes, the Tasman Motorsport Holden as low as 20th after braking problems.
There was also no change in luck for Will Davison, the DJR/Jim Beam racing Ford driver again notching a retirement, this time around half-distance as muscle spasms got the better of him in the stifling conditions. Murphy also suffered for his sport, but withstood shoulder pains brought on by a recalcitrant gearbox to claim points for seventh.
![Todd Kelly with HRT's brighter day-glo red VE Commodore [pic HRT media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/289136.jpg)
