Hidden Valley V8 Supercars: Jamie Whincup leaves mayhem behind
Jamie Whincup stretched his V8 Supercars championship lead even further by winning race one at Hidden Valley as his rivals self-distructed
Whincup had started part one of the 60/60 format race alongside polesitter David Reynolds on the front row.
The champion's Triple 8 Holden blasted ahead of Rod Nash/Ford Performance Racing driver Reynolds off the line, but then slid wide at the Turn 6 hairpin.
Reynolds slipped through and led to the finish of the first half.
But his day went dramatically downhill in part two.
Whincup went around the outside of Reynolds through Turn 1 and managed to squeeze into the lead through the following kinks.
Just behind them, Craig Lowndes locked up and slid into Garth Tander, shoving him into Will Davison and spinning the FPR car.
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Most of the field got caught out in the ensuing mess, which prompted a safety car to retrieve Tim Blanchard's stranded Ford.
Davison ultimately had to retire, while Tander and Lowndes limped home 13th and 26th in mangled cars.
Reynolds lost touch with Whincup at the restart and then had to focus on fending off FPR stablemate Mark Winterbottom.
With five laps to go, Winterbottom looked down the inside at the hairpin but locked his rear brakes and slewed into Reynolds, sending him spinning.
Race control gave Winterbottom a drive-through penalty, dropping him to an eventual 22nd place, eight positions behind Reynolds.
Tekno driver Shane van Gisbergen cruised past both Fords as they tangled then charged off after Whincup, getting the gap down to 0.3 seconds by the flag.
James Courtney and Jonathon Webb came through to third and fourth.
The mayhem allowed Nissan's Rick Kelly and Mercedes driver Tim Slade to rise to breakthrough fifth and sixth places - Slade coming through from 23rd at the break having been punted into a spin in the first half.
Recent Dick Johnson recruit Chaz Mostert also starred with seventh.
Jason Bright was eighth after getting caught in the hairpin incident.
Results - 42 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Jamie Whincup Triple 8 Holden 1h18m55.3670s 2. Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Holden + 0.3431s 3. James Courtney HRT Holden + 3.6841s 4. Jonathon Webb Tekno Holden + 4.9928s 5. Rick Kelly Nissan + 8.1464s 6. Tim Slade Rosenberg/Erebus Mercedes + 8.9886s 7. Chaz Mostert Dick Johnson Ford + 10.5121s 8. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden + 12.8562s 9. Tony D'Alberto D'Alberto Holden + 13.1327s 10. Michael Caruso Nissan + 13.4933s 11. Scott McLaughlin GRM Holden + 13.7379s 12. Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden + 14.6831s 13. Garth Tander HRT Holden + 19.0470s 14. David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford + 19.9441s 15. James Moffat Nissan + 20.4479s 16. Maro Engel Erebus Mercedes + 21.4030s 17. Todd Kelly Nissan + 21.7734s 18. Lee Holdsworth Erebus Mercedes + 24.7935s 19. David Wall Britek/BJR Holden + 25.0957s 20. Alex Davison Schwerkolt/FPR Ford + 26.4941s 21. Alexandre Premat GRM Holden + 28.2079s 22. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford + 35.1225s 23. Russell Ingall Walkinshaw/HRT Holden + 37.2023s 24. Dean Fiore Dumbrell Holden + 38.9614s 25. Scott Pye Dumbrell Holden + 39.8042s 26. Craig Lowndes Triple 8 Holden + 42.6020s Retirements: Will Davison FPR Ford 29 laps Tim Blanchard Dick Johnson Ford 21 laps
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