Phillip Island V8s: Whincup resists Winterbottom and Lowndes
Jamie Whincup held off title rivals Mark Winterbottom and Craig Lowndes to win the final race of V8 Supercars' Phillip Island weekend
Lowndes had boosted his championship hopes with a superb charge to victory in Sunday's opening race, and burst to the front again around the outside at the start of race three.
But this time Lowndes could not stay up front, with both Triple Eight Holden team-mate Whincup and Ford Performance Racing's Winterbottom overtaking him in the early laps.
Two mid-race safety cars - the first when Lee Holdsworth's Mercedes shed a wheel, the second after a multi-car midfield tangle on the restart lap - kept the leaders close.
Winterbottom was all over Whincup for the lead into the closing laps, but the champion produced a record lap to get a bit of breathing space.
Whincup crossed the line 0.8 seconds ahead as Winterbottom had to focus on pressure from Lowndes for second.
The result means Whincup goes to next month's Sydney decider 20 points ahead of Lowndes, with 300 available.
Brad Jones Racing duo Jason Bright and Fabian Coulthard completed the top five, followed by Winterbottom's team-mate Will Davison.
Nissan got two drivers in the top eight with James Moffat and Rick Kelly.
Results - 23 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Holden 42m22.9005s
2. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford +0.8850s
3. Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden +1.4046s
4. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden +1.8961s
5. Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden +2.8541s
6. Will Davison FPR Ford +4.6847s
7. James Moffat Nissan +7.5446s
8. Rick Kelly Nissan +8.5646s
9. Alex Davison Schwerkolt/FPR Ford +9.9538s
10. Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Holden +10.1618s
11. Scott McLaughlin GRM Holden +10.7854s
12. David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford +11.3211s
13. Todd Kelly Nissan +11.7627s
14. Scott Pye Dumbrell Holden +12.2277s
15. Garth Tander HRT Holden +12.8228s
16. Tim Blanchard Dick Johnson Ford +13.0401s
17. David Wall Britek/BJR Holden +13.7364s
18. Dean Fiore Dumbrell Holden +14.9464s
19. Maro Engel Erebus Mercedes +16.3100s
20. Tim Slade Rosenberg/Erebus Mercedes +27.8549s
Retirements:
Michael Caruso Nissan 21 laps
Chaz Mostert Dick Johnson Ford 14 laps
Russell Ingall Walkinshaw/HRT Holden 14 laps
Jonathon Webb Tekno Holden 12 laps
Tony D'Alberto D'Alberto Holden 11 laps
Lee Holdsworth Erebus Mercedes 9 laps
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