STONER IMPRESSES IN FOUR WHEEL RACING DEBUT

There's never been a more high-profile debutante in the history of the category, which led to this year's Dunlop Series being called the 'Stoner Series' before the Clipsal race weekend was over!

It's a reflection of the appeal of the former MotoGP champion that his debut in a Triple Eight-prepared and Red Bull/Pirtek-sponsored Commodore meant the V8 Supercar development series has arguably received more attention this year than at any time in its history.

In the pre-race 1 grid walk, all the attention - and we mean ALL the attention! - was focused on Stoner, while front row starters Chaz Mostert (Sherrin Rentals Ford) and Ash Walsh (Infants Friend Ford) were virtually ignored.

Stoner qualified twelfth out of thirty starters, and in the first of two Dunlop Series races at Clipsal, the dual MotoGP World Champion had moved up to tenth within a couple of laps, but a flat tyre a lap later ended his race.

Given his DNF in race 1, Stoner had to start race 2 from the back of the grid. An early crash at the head of the field allowed Stoner to clear a number of backmarkers in short order, and by mid-race distance, he had passed ten cars and would go on to pass six more to finish in an impressive 14th place.

At the conclusion of the race weekend (where Mostert and Walsh won a race each), Stoner's performance had earned him the respect of the field, the commentators, and no doubt a few of his knockers, too. The 27-year-old proved he can drive a V8 Supercar, with his ongoing development sure to be one of the highlights of this year's Dunlop Series.

Casey Stoner - Red Bull/Pirtek Commodore #27
Dunlop Series - Clipsal 500, Adelaide - February 28 - March 3, 2013

Qualifying - 12th
Race 1 - DNF
Race 2 - 14th