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Townsville Supercars: Whincup wins opener despite radio woes

Jamie Whincup comfortably won the opening heat of the Townsville SuperSprint Supercars event, despite losing communication with his crew 10 laps into the race

The Red Bull Holden driver made a smart getaway from pole to charge into a lead he wouldn't surrender across the 39-lap journey.

He already had a handy margin when he made his sole mandatory stop on lap 17, taking on three new tyres before cruising to a 6.9-second win.

That was despite no communication with the pitwall after lap 10 that, combined with Whincup being unsure if he'd seen the chequered flag on the last lap, led to him pulling up on the front straight rather than pitlane after the finish.

"We lost radio about lap 10, I was screaming at the guys to put the [pit] board out," said Whincup.

"And then I didn't get the chequered flag; he sort of had it out but he didn't know if it was me or not.

"I remember the old man said to keep going until you get the chequered flag, so I kept going. I was just trying to wing it with no radio.

"All in all I'm happy with the win, the car was excellent.

"We used three tyres, I think most maybe only used two, but we needed a win when we could grab it."

Whincup was subsequently fined $2000 for continuing around the circuit for the extra lap after the chequered flag went out, half of which is suspended until 31 December.

Cam Waters finished second after running longer than most in his first stint.

The Tickford driver didn't make his mandatory stop until 23 laps from home, using his fresher rubber to quickly close in on Chaz Mostert, who'd stopped seven laps earlier.

The pair staged a brief, intense battle before Waters blasted past at Turn 11 four laps from home.

"I had a bit of fun coming back through the pack, and racing Chaz as well," said Waters. "We actually kept it clean, which is amazing for us two..."

Mostert added: "It was a good old battle for Cam, we just had nothing for him. I wish I could have put on more of a show."

Fabian Coulthard got by David Reynolds late in the race to grab fourth, while Scott McLaughlin came all the way from 16th to finish seventh behind James Courtney.

The series leader made nearly all of his positions on the first lap, a classic lap one, Turn 2 concertina crash wreaking havoc in the midfield.

McLaughlin was able to sneak through, despite copping a whack on his rear bumper, emerging in eighth.

The likes of Anton De Pasquale and Shane van Gisbergen weren't as fortunate, the former able to recover to 10th while the latter lost nearly 10 laps for repairs on his Red Bull Holden.

Chris Pither was the surprise of the race, the Team Sydney driver right in the midfield battle as he finished a well-crafted 11th.

Result - 39 laps

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Holden 49m02.9724s
2 Cameron Waters Tickford Ford 6.8858s
3 Chaz Mostert Walkinshaw Holden 13.6670s
4 Fabian Coulthard DJR Penske Ford 20.9698s
5 David Reynolds Erebus Holden 22.7147s
6 James Courtney Tickford Ford 29.3452s
7 Scott McLaughlin DJR Penske Ford 32.8539s
8 Bryce Fullwood Walkinshaw Holden 34.6623s
9 Scott Pye Schwerkolt Holden 41.4992s
10 Anton De Pasquale Erebus Holden 41.5750s
11 Chris Pither Sydney Holden 41.8705s
12 Mark Winterbottom Schwerkolt Holden 42.7149s
13 Lee Holdsworth Tickford Ford 43.7580s
14 Garry Jacobson Matt Stone Holden 46.2928s
15 Jack Le Brocq Tickford Ford 1m02.6138s
16 Jack Smith Brad Jones Holden 1m02.8893s
17 Rick Kelly Kelly Ford 1 Lap
18 Alex Davison Sydney Holden 1 Lap
19 Shane van Gisbergen Triple Eight Holden 9 Laps
- Nick Percat Brad Jones Holden Retirement
- Zane Goddard Matt Stone Holden Retirement
- Andre Heimgartner Kelly Ford Retirement
- Todd Hazelwood Brad Jones Holden Retirement
- Macauley Jones Tim Blanchard Holden Retirement

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