Whincup takes title with race one win

Whincup made a fantastic start, taking the lead into turn one, before pole man Garth Tander retook the lead on lap two.

But an upcoming penalty for Tander for being adjudged to have jumped the start (something Whincup himself must have been close to doing) meant that this was somewhat of a false situation.

Whincup took the lead back on lap eight before immediately pitting, retaking the lead just before half-distance once everyone else had pitted, and was never headed again on his way to clinching the championship.

Teammate Craig Lowndes topped off the team's day with second place after losing two places at the start, gaining one place thanks to Tander's misfortune, taking third from Steven Richards on lap 26 of 46 and second from Ingall thirteen laps later.

Third for Russell Ingall was a good result, setting the fastest lap of the race along the way. Next up was a group of three cars, Steven Richards taking fourth just ahead of James Courtney and a hard-charging Garth Tander, who lost time by staying out longer before pitting, but recovered that ground thanks to superior grip in the closing laps.

Todd Kelly, Michael Caruso, Rick Kelly and Will Davison completed the top ten on a day where hot conditions meant grip was at a premium.

While it was a great result for Whincup, it was not a great race for a pair of Marks. Mark Winterbottom and Mark Skaife had a disastrous race one after Winterbottom exited his pit bay (thanks to a radio failure) just as Skaife was about to enter his.

The resulting contact damaged the steering on both cars, and effectively ended any slim hopes Winterbottom had of taking the title.

Skaife spent most of the remainder of the race in the pits, while Winterbottom resumed to finish 23rd, having to take a ten-second drivethrough penalty for an unsafe release and using reverse gear in the pits.

Pos  Driver                Make     Time
 1.  Jamie Whincup         Ford     56:12.2480  
 2.  Craig Lowndes         Ford     +   6.6507 
 3.  Russell Ingall        Holden   +   8.5773 
 4.  Steven Richards       Ford     +  12.1390
 5.  James Courtney        Ford     +  12.9389
 6.  Garth Tander          Holden   +  13.1394
 7.  Todd Kelly            Holden   +  20.8939
 8.  Michael Caruso        Holden   +  31.6575
 9.  Rick Kelly            Holden   +  32.6420
10.  Will Davison          Ford     +  33.3855
11.  Cameron McConville    Holden   +  34.9302
12.  Lee Holdsworth        Holden   +  35.7087
13.  Jason Bright          Ford     +  47.7095
14.  Paul Morris           Holden   +  49.9097
15.  Steven Johnson        Ford     +  52.8294
16.  Jason Richards        Holden   +  53.1742
17.  Jack Perkins          Holden   +  53.8134
18.  Fabian Coulthard      Ford     +  54.6735
19.  Paul Dumbrell         Holden   +  55.0394
20.  Marcus Marshall       Ford     +   1 lap   
21.  Greg Murphy           Holden   +   1 lap   
22.  Daniel Gaunt          Ford     +   1 lap   
23.  Mark Winterbottom     Ford     +   5 laps  

Not classified/retirements:

     Driver                Make     Laps
     Andrew Jones          Holden    37    
     Andrew Thompson       Holden    25    
     Tony D'Alberto        Holden    22    
     Shane Van Gisbergen   Ford      11    
     Mark Skaife           Holden    10    
     Michael Patrizi       Ford       8