Barbagallo V8 Supercars: Whincup doubles up in race three
Jamie Whincup recovered from a mid-race trip off the road to take his second victory of the day in the Barbagallo V8 Supercars event
Whincup and nearest pursuer Mark Winterbottom both skated through the sand trap at the final corner when they encountered fluid spilt by Maro Engel's Mercedes just before the pitstops were due.
They rejoined in sixth and ninth respectively, as Whincup's Triple 8 team-mate Craig Lowndes moved into the lead. The Holden duo had shared the front row, but Winterbottom had split them at the start.
Whincup immediately pitted, and a rapid stop plus out-lap coinciding with some pit confusion as the safety car came out after Michael Caruso's Nissan shed a wheel meant that the champion was rapidly back up to second.
That became first when he pounced on Lowndes to take the lead at the restart following a second safety car period caused by David Wall and Russell Ingall going off.
Lowndes held on to complete a Triple 8 one-two, the team having won all three races this weekend.
Winterbottom's comeback was less successful than Whincup's. A wheelnut issue caused a very slow pitstop, dropping him to 21st. He made it back through to 12th.
Jason Bright only qualified 12th due to a gear lever problem, but battled through to deprive Will Davison of the final podium spot. David Reynolds and Shane van Gisbergen chased them home.
Fabian Coulthard was another man delayed in the pits, leaving him seventh, ahead of James Moffat and Garth Tander - up from 20th and 23rd on the grid respectively.
Chaz Mostert completing a very strong debut for the hitherto struggling Dick Johnson team with 10th place.
Other early frontrunners to drop back were Alex Davison, who had to queue in the pits, and Scott McLaughlin, who fell from a mid-race fifth to 13th after his Holden's left-side door shed its skin amid some fraught battling.
Results - 41 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Jamie Whincup Triple 8 Holden 46m16.0085s 2. Craig Lowndes Triple 8 Holden + 1.5724s 3. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden + 5.6864s 4. Will Davison FPR Ford + 6.1191s 5. David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford + 7.4266s 6. Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Holden + 7.6297s 7. Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden + 9.5669s 8. James Moffat Nissan + 10.7042s 9. Garth Tander HRT Holden + 11.2686s 10. Chaz Mostert Dick Johnson Ford + 12.4075s 11. Alexandre Premat GRM Holden + 13.0868s 12. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford + 13.1404s 13. Scott McLaughlin GRM Holden + 15.0332s 14. Lee Holdsworth Erebus Mercedes + 15.5244s 15. Dean Fiore Dumbrell Holden + 16.7425s 16. Alex Davison Schwerkolt/FPR Ford + 16.7770s 17. James Courtney HRT Holden + 17.5651s 18. Rick Kelly Nissan + 17.9464s 19. Jonathon Webb Tekno Holden + 18.6461s 20. Scott Pye Dumbrell Holden + 19.5012s 21. Todd Kelly Nissan + 20.0061s 22. Tony D'Alberto D'Alberto Holden + 20.8652s 23. Tim Blanchard Dick Johnson Ford + 31.6624s 24. Tim Slade Rosenberg/Erebus Mercedes + 5 laps Retirements: David Wall Britek/BJR Holden 26 laps Russell Ingall Walkinshaw/HRT Holden 26 laps Michael Caruso Nissan 17 laps Maro Engel Erebus Mercedes 7 laps
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