The 2001 Adelaide 500 (known for naming rights reasons as the 2001 Clipsal 500 Adelaide) was the third running of the Adelaide 500 event. The event served as the second round of the 2001 Shell Championship Series and was held from April 6 to 8, 2001.
The first race of the weekend was won by Craig Lowndes, thus securing his first win for the Ford since his switch from the Holden Racing Team. In doing so, it was also Gibson Motorsport's first win for Ford. Sunday's race was won by Jason Bright who climbed through the field after contact on lap one that forced him to pit for repairs. The race was also notable for the late-race battle, and eventual collision, between former Holden Racing Team teammates, Lowndes and Mark Skaife.
Bright's overall round victory allowed him to leapfrog teammate Skaife in the driver standings heading into the third round at Eastern Creek. This was also the last year that the Adelaide circuit would feature a chicane at turn eight. From 2002, the corner would be reprofiled into a sweeper that would become a staple of the circuit in the years that followed.
Background The format, unique to V8 Supercars, and loosely similar to the Pukekohe 500 format, splits the 500 kilometre event into two separate 250 kilometre-races, each held on a different day. Points were assigned separately to the races, with Race 2 paying double points over Race 1 (180 points for a win in Race 1 and 360 points for a win in Race 2), and they combined to award a round result. The defending event winner from 2000 was Garth Tander of Garry Rogers Motorsport.
Mark Skaife entered the round with a 50-point lead over nearest competitor Craig Lowndes after dominating the opening round at Phillip Island.
Entry list
Several drivers would make their first appearances for the 2001 season in this event. This included Angus Fogg for Team Kiwi Racing, Alan Heath for Power Racing, and Garry Holt for Emerzidis Motorsport.
Race report Qualifying Sporting a brand-new Dick Johnson Racing AU Falcon, Paul Radisich set the pace in qualifying with a time nearly four-tenths clear of nearest competitor, Mark Larkham. The top 18 cars in qualifying had set a laptime under the previous track record set by Jason Bright in 1999. Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:25.1107 2 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:25.4839 3 2 Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:25.5169 4 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:25.5629 5 15 Todd Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:25.5657 6 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:25.5836 7 600 John Bowe Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:25.5961 8 00 Craig Lowndes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:25.6145 9 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:25.6629 10 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:25.6792 11 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:25.6948 12 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:25.7168 13 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:25.7348 14 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:25.7500 15 6 Steven Richards Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:25.8611 16 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:25.8773 17 35 Jason Bargwanna Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:26.0018 18 40 Cameron McLean Paragon Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:26.1022 19 9 David Besnard Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:26.3862 20 45 Dean Canto RPM International Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:26.7541 21 16 Dugal McDougall McDougall Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:26.8853 22 7 Rodney Forbes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:26.9764 23 46 John Faulkner John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:26.9780 24 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:27.2000 25 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:27.3983 26 76 Matthew White Matthew White Racing Holden Commodore (VS) 1:27.4698 27 54 Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:27.5359 28 32 Tomas Mezera Tomas Mezera Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:27.7258 29 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:27.7565 30 50 Tyler Mecklem Clive Wiseman Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:27.8668 31 021 Jason Richards Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:27.9479 32 24 Paul Romano Romano Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:27.9847 33 43 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:28.1315 34 23 Trevor Ashby Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VS) 1:28.2512 35 500 Alan Heath Power Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:28.7735 36 20 Garry Holt Emerzidis Motorsport Ford Falcon (EL) 1:29.0285 37 14 Greg Ritter Imrie Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:30.0436 38 777 Angus Fogg Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:30.2553 39 61 Ross Halliday Halliday Motorsport Ford Falcon (EL) 1:32.2979 Source:
Top fifteen shootout Preceding the shootout, a tyre bundle was installed at the Senna Chicane to deter corner-cutting. This would be removed for the races. Pos No Driver Team Car Time Points 1 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:25.9204 18 2 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:25.9746 16 3 15 Todd Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:25.9959 14 4 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:26.0485 13 5 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:26.0818 12 6 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:26.0956 11 7 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:26.2867 10 8 00 Craig Lowndes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:26.3214 9 9 600 John Bowe Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:26.3487 8 10 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:26.4200 7 11 2 Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:26.5112 12 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:26.5896 13 6 Steven Richards Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:26.6529 14 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:26.7261 15 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:27.2622 Source:
Race 1 Skaife won the holeshot over Greg Murphy to take the lead into the Senna Chicane. Behind them, Dugal McDougall was spun by Cameron McLean at turn four. The stranded McDougall was collected in a nose-to-tail incident that included Paul Weel, Paul Romano and Greg Ritter. Anthony Tratt was also spun around in a separate incident at the same corner. Further up the road, Jason Richards suffered significant damage to the front of his Commodore which ultimately forced him out of the race. The following lap, McLean's engine suffered a catastrophic detonation and pulled off into the escape road at the turn nine hairpin to retire from the race.
As the race settled down, the top three drivers of Skaife, Murphy and Radisich began to break away from the pack. Radisich in particular had begun to apply an enormous amount of pressure to the two ahead of him. On lap eight, Radisich passed Murphy on the approach to turn four in an aggressive move and set off after Skaife in hot pursuit. The following lap, Marcos Ambrose and Todd Kelly collided on the front straight which sent the former into the barriers and forced him out of the race. Somewhat controversially, the stewards adjudicated the collision to be a racing incident and issued no punishment to Kelly. Skaife, who was beginning to struggle with his tyres, continued to defend his lead heavily from Radisich. On lap 16, the two collided on the approach to turn four which sent Skaife into a spin. He would rejoin the race in 16th, behind Dean Canto. Similar to the Kelly/Ambrose incident, the stewards would not penalise Radisich for the contact as they had adjudged the collision to be a racing incident.
Murphy came in for his compulsory pitstop on lap 27. However, in the act of intently monitoring his speedometer to ensure he did not exceed the pit-speed limit, he missed his pit box and would be required to cycle around again after having lost an array of positions. Behind him, Skaife took the opportunity of his own misfortunes to complete the first of his pitstops for fuel. Kelly and Garth Tander came to blows later on the same lap which sent the former into a spin while attempting to enter the pitlane. Steven Johnson sustained significant damage to his driver's side door after Kelly had backed into it during the spin. After Rodney Forbes retired from the race at turn five, the safety car was called on lap 38 to retrieve multiple grief-stricken cars across the racetrack.
The race resumed on lap 42 with Bright leading the pack and Radisich being the first on the road to have made both compulsory pitstops. Lowndes began to climb through the pack and on lap 46, passed Radisich for the effective lead of the race into the hairpin. The safety car would be recalled on lap 47 after Murphy's steering rack failed at turn eight, sending him into the wall and out of the race. During this period, John Faulkner was involved in an incident on pitroad where the rear wing of his Commodore haphazardly became tangled with a hose from his pit box gantry. This brought the gantry down onto Mark Larkham's pitbox and injured one of the crew members.
Upon resumption of the race, Lowndes led from Radisich, Ingall, Johnson and Glenn Seton. Radisich's car by this stage had incurred significant overall damage and begun to hinder the cars handling characteristics. He was also suffering with a rehydration issue, depleting him of fluids in a what was a notoriously grueling endurance event. Two further impacts with the wall eventually broke the Watts linkage and forced him to retire from the race. By this time, Lowndes had established a commanding lead over Johnson and Ingall. Even after straying wide at the hairpin toward the end of the race, Lowndes' lead never came under any threat.
On lap 74, Seton and Bright collided through The Staircase, sending Seton backwards into the tyre barrier, dislodging the rear bumper and throwing it under the car. With this, Seton was unable to drive away and retired on the spot. Up the front, Lowndes remained unchallenged to the flag and thus took his, and Gibson Motorsport's, first win for the Ford brand. Johnson and Ingall rounded out the podium while Skaife finished fourth in a commendable recovery drive. Another notable performance was that of Dean Canto who, despite the limitations of the RPM Racing equipment, finished in the top ten in a lauded drive.
The stewards came under scrutiny after the race after a barrage of incidents throughout the race went unpunished. Along with the Kelly/Ambrose and Skaife/Radisich incidents, the Holden Racing Team pitcrew had also allowed one of Bright's wheels to venture across the pitlane where it was then collected by Larry Perkins. It was stressed before the event that such an offence would result in a drive-through penalty. Instead, the stewards issued the team with a $2000AUD fine. The only driver that did receive punishment of any kind was Jason Bargwanna who had spun John Bowe at the hairpin. For this, Bargwanna was issued a stop-go penalty.