2009 L&H 500
Introduction The '''2009 L&H 500''' was the Race 17 of the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 11 to 13 September at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria, Australia. This was the ninth running of the Phillip Island 500 and the second time that Phillip Island had served as the venue for the annual 500 kilometre two-driver V8 Supercar endurance race. Unique to this event, two preliminary 14 lap Qualifying Races were held on Saturday with the two drivers of each car starting one race each. A single pitstop by each car in either race was mandated with the combined results of the two races determining the grid for the main 500 kilometre race. The three races all carried championship points and together constituted "Race 17" of the championship. However the finishing positions at the end of the 500 km race were deemed to be the finishing positions of the "2009 L&H 500" regardless of the total points scored by drivers over the three individual races.For the first time since 2004, teams from outside of the V8 Supercar Championship Series were invited to compete in a championship race. Consequently, three single-car teams from the 2009 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series contested the L&H500, bringing the total entry up to 32 cars.
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Saturday 12 September 2009.Driver A Qualifying was interrupted by a red flag after Greg Ritter spun his Garry Rogers Motorsport Commodore in a sensitive position at turn 3 in the middle of the session which upset session plans for many teams. Paul Dumbrell set a time early in the session before the red which ended up standing for the session, taking pole position in his first drive for the Holden Racing Team. Todd Kelly worked down to his time, just one hundredth of a second behind Dumbrell. Will Davison and Steven Johnson also set their best laps early in the session to fill the second row of the grid. Warren Luff ably backed up teammate Johnson to be the fastest of the non-full-time V8 Supercar drivers in fifth position alongside the Ford of Steven Richards. David Reynolds was seventh fastest, a career best, ahead of Craig Lowndes with Dean Canto and Cameron McConville completing the tenth fastest drivers. Of the remaining positions the full-time drivers were generally faster. The best of the three wild card entries was Brad Lowe in 27th while at the tail Andrew Fisher was eighth tenths slower than Leanne Tander. Dean Fiore was excluded from qualifying and started the Driver A race from pit lane.Mark Winterbottom recorded the fastest lap of either session to take Driver B pole position ahead of Fabian Coulthard and Rick Kelly, both of whom were faster than Dumbrell's Driver A pole position. James Courtney, Jason Richards, Jason Bright, Jamie Whincup, Garth Tander, Alex Davison and Jonathon Webb completed the top ten. Webb, matching his co-driver Luff to be the fastest part-time V8 racer. Andrew Thompson was impressive in eleventh. Damian Assaillit was the fastest wildcard driver in 25th, just behind triple touring car world champion Andy Priaulx. The other triple world champ, Superbike's Troy Bayliss was last, the slowest driver of the day and a full second slower than Tony Ricciardello who was 31st in the Driver B session.
Driver A Race Poor start by both Dick Johnson Racing Falcons, but particularly Steven Johnson made a mess of the start. Todd Kelly took the early lead from Paul Dumbrell and Will Davison. Craig Lowndes forced past Steven Richards into fourth position with David Reynolds and Dean Canto in close company. Dumbrell lost two spots in the next few laps as Lowndes charged through the field.Karl Reindler was spun by Paul Morris on the opening lap while Brad Lowe pitted with a steering problem. Jason Richards, Steven Johnson and Michael Patrizi pitted early in the race getting the compulsory stop for either race out of the way. For Johnson after dropping 20 positions at the start, he had nothing to lose by pitting.Kelly and Lowndes raced clear of the field to take the top two positions. Davison was third ahead of Shane van Gisbergen who climbed through the field from outside the top ten to finish fourth. Russell Ingall climbed into fifth while Dumbrell faded to sixth. Reynolds was seventh ahead of Canto, Steve Owen and Dane Allan Simonsen.Steven Richards and Cameron McConville were the best finishing drivers who made pitstops, finishing 15th and 16th. Johnson recovered to 19th. Lowe finished four laps down, but did finish with all cars making the finish. Morris was subsequently disqualified for his contact with Reindler.
Driver B Race The first race was held on Saturday 12 September 2009.Jason Richards stalled on the grid, but got going again, Warren Luff was also slow away. Mark Winterbottom led Fabian Coulthard, Rick Kelly, Garth Tander, James Courtney, Jason Bright and Jamie Whincup.Tony Ricciardello speared off and beached his Commodore at the final turn of the opening lap and Nathan Pretty pitted with damage and retired without completing a lap. A safety car was called to retrieve Ricciardello. Greg Murphy spun at the restart at Siberia after contact with Jason Bargwanna. Tander and Alex Davison were the first to stop. The Stone Brothers Racing team serviced their car faster, but not by enough, and the pair made contact in pitlane.A broken ballast bracket on Rick Kelly's car broke loose, dragging underneath the car. A black flag was prepared for Kelly and he pitted immediately for repairs.Winterbottom dominated the race, and combined with Steven Richards result from the Driver A race secured pole position for the 500 kilometre race on Sunday. Fabian Coulthard's second position was a career best with Jason Bright finishing third. James Courtney was fourth ahead of David Besnard (best part-time racer), Jason Bargwanna, Andrew Thompson, John McIntyre, Jonathon Webb with Jason Richards completing the top ten race positions. Jamie Whincup was the best of the pitstop drivers in 19th position, a result good enough the secure the other front row starting position.
500km Race The 500 km race was held on Sunday 13 September 2009.Dean Fiore broke an alternator, depriving Troy Bayliss of his first V8 Supercar race start. Whincup won the start with Will Davison forcing past Steven Richards into second position. Alex Davison and Coulthard followed. Youlden was slowing early with bodywork rubbing a tyre after contact in the left rear corner. Coulthard had a mechanical failure in the engine bay causing a fire under the bonnet. Several cars following slid off track from spilt oil. Lap 11 contact between Karl Reindler and Dale Wood made contact and spin off track at turn 1.Steven Richards started losing race positions dropping back to fifth as David Besnard charged through the field in the Garry Rogers Motorsport Commodore, climb to fourth behind the Davison brothers. Greg Murphy pitted early, putting Mark Skaife back into racing in second last position. Alex Davison had a wheel failure due to a loose nut on the front right wheel which has cut the wheel in half causing him to spear off at Lukey Heights whilst defending third from Besnard.Coming down the front straight Steve Owen and Cameron McConville made contact, breaking the steering on McConville's car who then speared straight off the track at turn 1 at high speed and eventually crossed the track again between turns two and three, almost hitting Besnard. Immediately afterwards on camera McConville blamed Owen for blocking several times on the straight.Under the ensuing safety car approximately 20 cars pitted. After the restart Lowndes and Tander having taken over their cars charged into the race lead, quickly cutting through the slower cars that had worked through to the front of the safety car queue. Further back as the field sorted itself out Lee Holdsworth left the track at turn two after contact with Allan Simonsen. Simonsen received a drive-through penalty.On lap 32 Holdsworth with damaged to the front left corner speared off at turn one after contact on the front straight with Brad Jones. Holdsworth pulled the car up short of crossing the track again and the car limped back to the pits. Jones suffered a puncture in the right rear.Whincup now led from Will Davison, Johnson and Rick Kelly. Lap 48 saw a power steering failure in Jason Bargwanna's Commodore. Lap 52 saw Johnson pit from third and change to Courtney. A lap later Whincup and Will Davison pitted from first and second with Lowndes rejoining ahead of Tander. Tander immediately closed the gap. Bright became the third car to have a big lose at turn one, this one from brake failure. The front right tyre then punctured.On lap 66 Todd Kelly slowed dramatically. Brad Jones finally retired. As the race approached lap 80 Lowndes had built a small gap over Tander with Winterbottom climbing into the podium positions as Courtney lost ground. Tander pitted on lap 82.Lowndes on lap 83, rejoining still ahead of Tander. Winterbottom pitted on lap 84 from the inherited lead. Courtney pitted on lap 85 again from the lead, handing the lead to Todd Kelly. Lap 88 saw Craig Lowndes leave the circuit at turn 2, causing him to lose the lead to Tander. Ten laps later Lowndes took the lead back on the run towards turn three after the pair had a small moment at turn two.Lowndes found front right tyre was delaminating with three laps to go. Gradually the car slowed but Tander was able to pounce halfway around the final lap to take the win. Lowndes hung on for second position ahead of Mark Winterbottom and James Courtney. The Kelly brothers finished in fifth position ahead of the best of the part-time combinations, Warren Luff and Jonathon Webb. Russell Ingall and Tim Slade, Craig Baird and Paul Dumbrell, Dean Canto and Luke Youlden and Alex Davison and Shane van Gisbergen completed the top ten race finishers.
Results ===Driver A Qualifying===Qualifying timesheet: Pos No Name Car Team Time122 Paul DumbrellHolden VE CommodoreHolden Racing Team1:33.320427 Todd KellyHolden VE CommodoreKelly Racing1:33.331432 Will DavisonHolden VE CommodoreHolden Racing Team1:33.4363417 Steven JohnsonFord FG FalconDick Johnson Racing1:33.5187518 Warren LuffFord FG FalconDick Johnson Racing1:33.576966 Steven RichardsFord FG FalconFord Performance Racing1:33.7058724 David ReynoldsHolden VE CommodoreWalkinshaw Racing1:33.72868888 Craig LowndesFord FG FalconTriple Eight Race Engineering1:33.735395 Dean CantoFord FG FalconFord Performance Racing1:33.7670108 Cameron McConvilleHolden VE CommodoreBrad Jones Racing1:33.81441110 Steve OwenHolden VE CommodoreWalkinshaw Racing1:33.8206129 Shane van GisbergenFord FG FalconStone Brothers Racing1:33.82421333 Lee HoldsworthHolden VE CommodoreGarry Rogers Motorsport1:33.85651451 Mark SkaifeHolden VE CommodoreTasman Motorsport1:33.86501534 Greg RitterHolden VE CommodoreGarry Rogers Motorsport1:33.90301639 Russell IngallHolden VE CommodorePaul Morris Motorsport1:33.99171788 Allan SimonsenFord FG FalconTriple Eight Race Engineering1:34.115018111 Michael PatriziFord FG FalconPaul Cruickshank Racing1:34.16031967 Paul MorrisHolden VE CommodorePaul Morris Motorsport1:34.38192025 Karl ReindlerFord FG FalconBritek Motorsport1:34.3862214 Daniel GauntFord FG FalconStone Brothers Racing1:34.50902215 Ben CollinsHolden VE CommodoreKelly Racing1:34.51862311 Dale WoodHolden VE CommodoreKelly Racing1:34.59192455 Tony D'AlbertoHolden VE CommodoreTony D'Alberto Racing1:34.61062514 Andrew JonesHolden VE CommodoreBrad Jones Racing1:34.7007263 Mark NoskeHolden VE CommodoreTasman Motorsport1:34.78422721 Brad LoweFord BF FalconMW Motorsport1:35.00072816 Mark McNallyHolden VE CommodoreKelly Racing1:35.06872923 Sam WalterHolden VE CommodoreGreg Murphy Racing1:35.167530333 Leanne TanderFord BF FalconPaul Cruickshank Racing1:35.32233113 Andrew FisherFord BF FalconSieders Racing Team1:36.1104DSQ12 Dean FioreHolden VE CommodoreTriple F Racing===Driver B Qualifying===Qualifying timesheet: Pos No Name Car Team Time16 Mark WinterbottomFord FG FalconFord Performance Racing1:33.19702111 Fabian CoulthardFord FG FalconPaul Cruickshank Racing1:33.223737 Rick KellyHolden VE CommodoreKelly Racing1:33.2625417 James CourtneyFord FG FalconDick Johnson Racing1:33.330558 Jason RichardsHolden VE CommodoreBrad Jones Racing1:33.3969625 Jason BrightFord FG FalconBritek Motorsport1:33.40107888 Jamie WhincupFord FG FalconTriple Eight Race Engineering1:33.477782 Garth TanderHolden VE CommodoreHolden Racing Team1:33.514599 Alex DavisonFord FG FalconStone Brothers Racing1:33.66431018 Jonathon WebbFord FG FalconDick Johnson Racing1:33.78251155 Andrew ThompsonHolden VE CommodoreTony D'Alberto Racing1:34.03721234 David BesnardHolden VE CommodoreGarry Rogers Motorsport1:34.03811310 Shane PriceHolden VE CommodoreWalkinshaw Racing1:34.08381439 Tim SladeHolden VE CommodorePaul Morris Motorsport1:34.10861551 Greg MurphyHolden VE CommodoreTasman Motorsport1:34.1528164 John McIntyreFord FG FalconStone Brothers Racing1:34.21021733 Michael CarusoHolden VE CommodoreGarry Rogers Motorsport1:34.2228183 Jason BargwannaHolden VE CommodoreTasman Motorsport1:34.26431922 Craig BairdHolden VE CommodoreHolden Racing Team1:34.3303205 Luke YouldenFord FG FalconFord Performance Racing1:34.40542188 James ThompsonFord FG FalconTriple Eight Race Engineering1:34.52942211 Jack PerkinsHolden VE CommodoreKelly Racing1:34.55662367 Owen KellyHolden VE CommodorePaul Morris Motorsport1:34.58442424 Andy PriaulxHolden VE CommodoreWalkinshaw Racing1:34.87202521 Damian AssaillitFord BF FalconMW Motorsport1:35.07402623 Taz DouglasHolden VE CommodoreGreg Murphy Racing1:35.13902714 Brad JonesHolden VE CommodoreBrad Jones Racing1:35.13962813 David SiedersFord BF FalconSieders Racing Team1:35.193129333 David WallFord BF FalconPaul Cruickshank Racing1:35.32233015 Nathan PrettyHolden VE CommodoreKelly Racing1:35.57973116 Tony RicciardelloHolden VE CommodoreKelly Racing1:35.61643212 Troy BaylissHolden VE CommodoreTriple F Racing1:36.6139===Driver A Race results===Race timesheet: Pos No Driver Team Laps Grid17 Todd KellyKelly Racing1422888 Craig LowndesTriple Eight Race Engineering14832 Will DavisonHolden Racing Team14349 Shane van GisbergenStone Brothers Racing1412539 Russell IngallPaul Morris Motorsport1416622 Paul DumbrellHolden Racing Team141724 David ReynoldsWalkinshaw Racing14785 Dean CantoFord Performance Racing149910 Steve OwenWalkinshaw Racing14111088 Allan SimonsenTriple Eight Race Engineering14171114 Andrew JonesBrad Jones Racing14251216 Mark McNallyKelly Racing14281315 Ben CollinsKelly Racing14221412 Dean FioreTriple F Racing1432156 Steven RichardsFord Performance Racing146168 Cameron McConvilleBrad Jones Racing14101717 Warren LuffDick Johnson Racing1451833 Lee HoldsworthGarry Rogers Motorsport14131917 Steven JohnsonDick Johnson Racing144204 Daniel GauntStone Brothers Racing14212151 Mark SkaifeTasman Motorsport14142234 Greg RitterGarry Rogers Motorsport14152311 Dale WoodKelly Racing142324111 Michael PatriziPaul Cruickshank Racing1418253 Mark NoskeTasman Motorsport14262655 Tony D'AlbertoTony D'Alberto Racing142427333 Leanne TanderPaul Cruickshank Racing14302823 Sam WalterGreg Murphy Racing13292913 Andrew FisherSieders Racing Team13313025 Karl ReindlerBritek Motorsport13203121 Brad LoweMW Motorsport1127DSQ67 Paul MorrisPaul Morris Motorsport1419===Driver B Race results===Race timesheet: Pos No Driver Team Laps Grid16 Mark WinterbottomFord Performance Racing1412111 Fabian CoulthardPaul Cruickshank Racing142325 Jason BrightBritek Motorsport146417 James CourtneyDick Johnson Racing144534 David BesnardGarry Rogers Motorsport141263 Jason BargwannaTasman Motorsport1418755 Andrew ThompsonTony D'Alberto Racing141184 John McIntyreStone Brothers Racing1416918 Jonathon WebbDick Johnson Racing1410108 Jason RichardsBrad Jones Racing1451133 Michael CarusoGarry Rogers Motorsport14171211 Jack PerkinsKelly Racing14221351 Greg MurphyTasman Motorsport14151421 Damian AssaillitMW Motorsport14251513 David SiedersSieders Racing Team14281623 Taz DouglasGreg Murphy Racing142617333 David WallPaul Cruickshank Racing142918888 Jamie WhincupTriple Eight Race Engineering147192 Garth TanderHolden Racing Team148209 Alex DavisonStone Brothers Racing1492167 Owen KellyPaul Morris Motorsport14232210 Shane PriceWalkinshaw Racing14132339 Tim SladePaul Morris Motorsport14142422 Craig BairdHolden Racing Team1419255 Luke YouldenFord Performance Racing14202688 James ThompsonTriple Eight Race Engineering14212714 Brad JonesBrad Jones Racing14272824 Andy PriaulxWalkinshaw Racing14242912 Troy BaylissTriple F Racing1332307 Rick KellyKelly Racing113DNF15 Nathan PrettyKelly Racing030DNF16 Tony RicciardelloKelly Racing031===500km race results=== Pos No Driver Team Laps12 Will Davison Garth TanderHolden Racing Team1132888 Craig Lowndes Jamie WhincupTriple Eight Race Engineering11336 Steven Richards Mark WinterbottomFord Performance Racing113417 James Courtney Steven JohnsonDick Johnson Racing11357 Rick Kelly Todd KellyKelly Racing113618 Warren Luff Jonathon WebbDick Johnson Racing113739 Russell Ingall Tim SladePaul Morris Motorsport113822 Craig Baird Paul DumbrellHolden Racing Team11395 Dean Canto Luke YouldenFord Performance Racing113109 Alex Davison Shane van GisbergenStone Brothers Racing1131151 Greg Murphy Mark SkaifeTasman Motorsport1131210 Steve Owen Shane PriceWalkinshaw Racing1121334 David Besnard Greg RitterGarry Rogers Motorsport1121411 Jack Perkins Dale WoodKelly Racing1121555 Tony D'Alberto Andrew ThompsonTony D'Alberto Racing1121624 Andy Priaulx David ReynoldsWalkinshaw Racing112174 Daniel Gaunt John McIntyreStone Brothers Racing1121815 Ben Collins Nathan PrettyKelly Racing11119333 Leanne Tander David WallPaul Cruickshank Racing1112013 Andrew Fisher David SiedersSieders Racing Team1112188 Allan Simonsen James ThompsonTriple Eight Race Engineering1112216 Mark McNally Tony RicciardelloKelly Racing1012321 Damian Assaillit Brad LoweMW Motorsport932423 Taz Douglas Sam WalterGreg Murphy Racing92DNF25 Jason Bright Karl ReindlerBritek Motorsport92DNF14 Andrew Jones Brad JonesBrad Jones Racing80DNF67 Owen Kelly Paul MorrisPaul Morris Motorsport62DNF3 Jason Bargwanna Mark NoskePaul Morris Motorsport46DNF33 Michael Caruso Lee HoldsworthGarry Rogers Motorsport31DNF8 Cameron McConville Jason RichardsBrad Jones Racing20DNF111 Fabian Coulthard Michael PatriziPaul Cruickshank Racing4DNS12 Troy Bayliss Dean FioreTriple F Racing
References
External links * Official series website* Official timing and results at www.natsoft.com.au* Images from the 2009 L&H 500 at www.motorsport.com