Mark Winterbottom has leapt into the V8 Supercar Championship lead by capitalising on pure bad luck from arch rival Jamie Whincup, while the Craig Lowndes charge continues.
Ford Performance Racing pilot Winterbottom leads the Championship for the first time this year from Whincup who battled a shredded tyre to just finish the first race of the Sydney Motorsport Park 360. Lowndes won for his fourth straight victory with Winterbottom second and his FPR team-mate Will Davison third.
The battle of four continues to dominate the Championship. First up this year it was FPR, then TeamVodafone. Today it was ablanace of the two and daylight second. With Whincup’s misfortune today (23rd) in the closing laps, the battle pack is even more condensed with just 162 points between the four cars.
Lowndes craftsmanship and ability to push the soft tyre to its absolute limit won the race today. He was unheaded, a scary prospect leading into the endurance races where he has been by far the most successful in the last six years of any driver in the Championship.
“Knowing where we are going to be headed into the endurance side of things I am happy and comfortable,” Lowndes said. “We had been trying to bridge the gap to these guys, FPR, earlier in the year. They came out at the start of the season on fire and we have been able to drag it back.”
Winterbottom is wary of both Lowndes and Whincup, as is Davison.
“We are definitely getting better but Craig is having a run,” he said. “Sometimes you do your best but you just can’t beat him. If we can keep a 20 point lead to the end of the year that’s all you need to do but Craig is definitely coming.
“It happens every year. You have guys having a good run. You can’t count anyone out at these endures. A lot is going to happen over these next three events after this one. We are not just focused on two cars, there are a lot of cars and drivers to watch out for.
“Both cars are going to be there at the end of the year. You can’t focus on one bloke. I must admit I was surprised when Jamie was 18 seconds behind Craig at Queensland Raceway. At the end of the year four guys are going to be fighting for this Championship.
Said Davison: “All in all its good to be back on the podium. Jamie has had a shocker today and we’ve all had a few shockers. We are all going to have out turn. It’s a funny game we play.”
Once again Whincup was slow off the line. From pole position he was swamped and crossed the line for the first time in seventh. As the pack settled those who chose soft tyres, including race leader Jonathon Webb, had clear benefits in the early stages.
Webb ran out of grip though when the rest of the pack swapped tyres. Webb still had a great race, holding on to finish ninth, in his Sargent Security Commodore, despite being under siege late in the race.
Lowndes assumed the effective race lead by passing Webb on lap 16 having been the first to swap from hard to soft tyres. Lowndes was flying on the softer compound although he has the massive task of lasting far more laps than anyone else as grip deteriorates.
Garth Tander used strong soft-tyre pace to charge through the pack to finish fourth, displacing fellow Walkinshaw Racing team mate Russell Ingall in the closing laps.
Tander started 13th but ran his hard tyres well into the race, giving him a shorter final stint on the softer tyres that he used to his advantage to charge through the field.
Ingall was fifth and James Courtney sixth in a promising day for the factory Holdens.
Shane van Gisbergen, Michael Caruso, Webb and Jason Bright completed the top 10.
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