Courtney had made a great start and opened up a commanding lead until lap 41, when Richards, going a lap down, tangled with Courtney in the chicane. The JELD-WEN Motorsport driver was subsequently forced to make an extra stop for new front tyres and that put him out of contention.
"That was just shattering," said James. "To be out in front like that, doing it pretty easily and then have it taken out of your hands like that; I just can’t believe it. At this level of competition you expect better driving than that.
"I’m just so disappointed for me and more so for the JELD-WEN guys that have worked so hard to get us in this position. They gave me a great car this weekend that was more than capable of winning."
Reigning champion, Garth Tander also had a tough event and he was eventually classified in 23rd place after suffering a front suspension failure.
"We’re all obviously disappointed with today’s outcome as my Toll HRT Commodore was very good and consistent," said Garth. "We seemed to have the right strategy and have the car in the right place at the right time, but then we had a front suspension failure. We fixed the car and tested for tomorrow from there in."
The second and final 250 kilometre leg to the 10th birthday Clipsal 500 now takes place on Sunday at 2.30 pm [local time].
