Radisich takes fifth in V8 opener.

Team Betta Electrical's Paul Radisich has brought his Ford Falcon BA home in fifth place in a dramatic opening 10-lap race at the non-championship support event at the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne's Albert Park.

The race went to Greg Murphy ahead of Jason Bright, with Garth Tander third and Steven Richards fourth. V8 Supercar Champion Marcos Ambrose was set for a third place finish before a spin two laps from the end dropped him to sixth.

Team Betta Electrical's Paul Radisich has brought his Ford Falcon BA home in fifth place in a dramatic opening 10-lap race at the non-championship support event at the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne's Albert Park.

The race went to Greg Murphy ahead of Jason Bright, with Garth Tander third and Steven Richards fourth. V8 Supercar Champion Marcos Ambrose was set for a third place finish before a spin two laps from the end dropped him to sixth.

The race had a number of clashes including a collision between Murphy and Mark Skaife on lap three. Skaife was sent spinning off the track and finished 16th. Russell Ingall and Rick Kelly came together with Kelly spearing into the final turn wall. Paul Weel then knocked Ingall out of the race. Weel received a drive-though penalty from officials over the incident.

No such problems for Radisich who was relieved to finish fifth. "When you look at what happened to many of the others out there, fifth was a top result," said Radisich.

"We had quite a fight on our hands, including some door banging with Rick Kelly. That must have opened the door for Russell and they then got together. "We're happy with how things turned out, but I can tell you tomorrow's 19-lap race is going to be pretty hard on the tyres."

With race stewards making inquiries into a number of incidents, results were yet to be declared official at the time of this release.

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