VALO Adelaide 500 Saturday Wrap

An epic Race 1 of the VALO Adelaide 500 has thrilled the thousands of race fans who flocked to the street circuit on Saturday.

 

Spectators witnessed a special win as Chaz Mostert and SA driver Nick Percat completed a 1-2 finish for their team Walkinshaw Andretti United, a Holden team in the brand’s final event appearance in Australian motorsport.

 

The highs and lows of motorsport were felt in the crowd, who cheered and gasped as their favourite drivers changed position on track, with some making a stack of spots while others crashed out.

 

Cameron Waters flew the flag for Ford for the day, starting his Mustang in pole position after blitzing the Top Ten Shootout earlier in the day, while another South Australian driver Scott Pye lined up alongside him on the front row of the grid in his Holden Commodore.

 

Waters was taken out of contention halfway through the race after he was penalised for a misdemeanour on track, causing Todd Hazelwood’s car to crash into the fence, breaking the hearts of both drivers’ fans at the event.

 

Pye later crashed himself, leaving Mostert and Percat to swoop in and take the top positions and storm to their top places on the podium. Mostert won after qualifying 7th, while Percat gained his podium after starting 20th.

 

Percat told the crowd his second-place at the podium at the re-invigorated VALO Adelaide 500 was better than his Bathurst win.

 

“To farewell Holden in a 1-2 Walkinshaw Andretti United, with these liveries (celebrating Holden’s history) is what I wanted to watch as a kid,” he said.

 

“It’s amazing to have the event back.”

 

Mostert was relishing his first win in Adelaide.

 

“It’s so good to get a 1-2 for the team, it’s hard work,” he said.

 

The success of Holden followed on from a tribute to the car manufacturer held earlier in the day, when hundreds of Holden cars made the journey from Elizabeth to the Adelaide street circuit in the Holden Tribute Cruise.

 

Ranging from historic vehicles to hotted up modern Commodores – cars parked up in Rymill Park and were on display for the public, and it was a popular place for race fans to visit during the day.

 

Unfortunately, Icehouse was forced to cancel its set at the after-race concert when lead singer Iva Davies woke in the morning with an infected throat, however Jimmy Barnes and Noiseworks stepped in with extended sets to help continue the party.