2009 SKYCITY TRIPLE CROWN DARWIN

The 2009 SKYCITY Triple Crown featured a weekend of firsts. Team BOC’s Jason Richards took his first-ever career V8 Supercar pole on the Saturday but couldn’t stop championship leader Jamie Whincup from taking the win in the shorter 100-kilometre race.

Come Sunday and the Dunlop Sprint tyre came into play in the longer 200-kilometre race. A late race Safety Car bunched up the field, helping IRWIN/Stone Brothers driver Alex Davison to close in on the field in the dying laps and take full advantage of his new Sprint tyres and their superior grip. He was able to get by Craig Lowndes for second, but just failed to catch Valvoline/GRM pilot Michael Caruso, who clinched his maiden V8 Supercar race win in the Top End. Lowndes, who celebrated his 35th birthday on the Sunday, was able to finish third and score the most points of any driver for the weekend but had been leading before running off the road at the end of the long front straight.