Ambrose punts Skaife, wins race one.

Marcos Ambrose has taken a controversial win in race one1 at Eastern Creek, bumping rival driver Mark Skaife off the track on his way to victory.

Skaife, starting behind Craig Lowndes in second place, appeared to have botched his start, the HRT driver conceding places to Ambrose and Steven Richards before the first turn.

Max Wilson, behind the wheel of the WOW Sight and Sound Commodore also had line dramas, as the Brazilian's car sat unmoving at the start of the race.

The safety car made an early appearance when Simon Wills found himself buried in the kitty litter. After being pulled from the gravel, Wills was able to rejoin the race, albeit a considerable distance behind the leaders.

When the compulsory pit-stop window opened, many teams took the opportunity to make an early stop.

Ambrose pitted early, behind Lowndes and ahead of Skaife. Skaife pitted on the next lap, emerging narrowly ahead of the Ambrose Ford.

The pair touched at turn two and, around turn three, Skaife was up the inside, holding superior track position, when Ambrose ploughed into his side.

Skaife was sent spinning from the circuit. He gathered it up and rejoined the fray narrowly inside the top ten.

It can be said without doubt that there will be follow up talks for this incident and perhaps even a penalty for Ambrose. Time will tell...

Vying for the race lead, Lowndes and Ambrose pitted on different laps; Ambrose choosing to stay out on the circuit a little longer this time. The decision paid off handsomely for the Stone Brothers outfit, as Ambrose claimed the race lead without having to risk a pass on Lowndes, who is generally acknowledged to be the most talented driver in the series.

Further back in the field, Russell Ingall and Steven Richards diced for fourth place. Although Ingall enjoyed the straight line advantage of a Rob Benson / Stone Brothers V8 powerplant, Richards was on form this weekend and was able to hold off Ingall successively.

In fact, not only did Richards block Ingall, he left him behind and set off after the black Holden of Greg Murphy, holed up in third position.

Meanwhile, Garth Tander appeared to be struggling to find pace as he was passed by Skaife, relegating the HSV Racing pilot to eighth place, then by Steven Ellery, dropping him to ninth.

Moments later, Murphy was passed by Richards, who held third place until the chequred flag was taken by Ambrose, closely followed by Lowndes.

Stay tuned to Crash.net for coverage of race two from the Eastern Creek round of the Australian V8 Supercar Series.

Top Ten - Race One:

1 Marcos Ambrose
2 Craig Lowndes
3 Steven Richards
4 Greg Murphy
5 Russell Ingall
6 Todd Kelly
7 Mark Skaife
8 Steven Ellery
9 Garth Tander
10 Jason Richards