The 10 closest finishes in Adelaide Supercars history
Supercars racing good for a close finish — but Adelaide takes closeness to a different level.
The 2022 season will conclude at next weekend’s VALO Adelaide 500.
Of 46 championship races around the Adelaide streets, 10 have been decided by less than a second.
The average winning margin of the 10 closest Adelaide races is 0.75s.
Remarkably, Jamie Whincup and James Courtney feature in eight of the 10 closest Adelaide races.
Whincup is a record 11-time winner in Adelaide, but also had his fair share of near misses.
The retired legend holds the ignominious position of having lost the two closest Adelaide races.
Whincup was pipped to victory by Garth Tander by 0.54s in the 2011 Saturday race.
Five years later, Tander’s teammate Courtney won the second Saturday sprint by 0.63s.
Sometimes the Safety Car plays a role, and sometimes the fastest cars end up fighting after a long battle.
The 2011 race featured a Safety Car restart with four laps to go.
On the flip side, the 2016 race had a 20-lap green run to the end.
The 2015 battle between Courtney and Shane van Gisbergen featured a 43-lap green flag run to the end.
Whincup’s tightest margin of victory was the 0.74s gap on Will Davison in the Sunday 2009 race.
In fact, Courtney’s three Adelaide victories were won by a combined margin of 2.05s.
Some of Adelaide's closest finishes also extend to the battle for the minors, none more memorable than Whincup and Scott McLaughlin's 2014 battle.
McLaughlin famously defeated Whincup after a final-lap battle while fighting for second position.
Conversely, seven races in Adelaide history have been won by 10 or more seconds.
Craig Lowndes’ crushing performance in the 2013 opener remains Adelaide’s biggest margin of victory.
Lowndes belted the field by 20.52s in the first race of the Car of the Future era.
Van Gisbergen won the 2017 opener by 14.71s, with Whincup winning the Saturday 2009 race by 14.02s.
Cars will hit the track in Adelaide next Thursday. Tickets are on sale on Supercars.com and Ticketek.com.
Closest Adelaide finishes
