Courtney wins race two in Townsville

Courtney took the lead on lap nine, but dropped behind Jamie Whincup after the first round of pitstops. But he was back on to the tail of Whincup as the safety car came on to the circuit as a utility cover was starting to come loose.

With ten litres less fuel to take on at the stop, Courtney snuck out just ahead of Whincup, and although Whincup kept in touch, he was not quite able to match Courtney's pace, Courtney getting the win he looked capable of early in yesterday's race.

Behind Whincup was the Holden Racing Team duo of Garth Tander and Will Davison, Tander leading early but not quite able to match the leading duo, while Davison did well to recover to fourth after dropping to ninth after losing out in the pitstops during the first safety car.

Courtney's team-mate Steven Johnson did an even more remarkable job to finish fifth, having started 22nd after feeling unwell overnight. Just behind him was Mark Winterbottom, with Lee Holdsworth and Paul Dumbrell on his tail.

Ninth for Craig Lowndes was a tremendous achievement after losing his radio, and pitting just as the field restarted after the safety car to drop to 21st. Michael Caruso completed the top ten finishers.

After the weekend's two races points leader Jamie Whincup has extended his lead, 174 points ahead of Will Davison with Garth Tander another 174 points further back. Craig Lowndes is now 450 points back from his team-mate and Steven Johnson completes the top five, 510 points away from leader Whincup.

Pos  Driver                Make                  Time
  1. James Courtney        Ford Falcon FG        1:35:03.3900
  2. Jamie Whincup         Ford Falcon FG        +     0.9074
  3. Garth Tander          Holden Commodore VE   +     2.1954
  4. Will Davison          Holden Commodore VE   +     6.2124
  5. Steven Johnson        Ford Falcon FG        +     9.0542
  6. Mark Winterbottom     Ford Falcon FG        +    10.4096
  7. Lee Holdsworth        Holden Commodore VE   +    10.9119
  8. Paul Dumbrell         Holden Commodore VE   +    11.6590
  9. Craig Lowndes         Ford Falcon FG        +    18.3246
 10. Michael Caruso        Holden Commodore VE   +    19.2062
 11. Cameron McConville    Holden Commodore VE   +    20.4141
 12. Jason Richards        Holden Commodore VE   +    23.4045
 13. Tim Slade             Holden Commodore VE   +    27.2809
 14. David Reynolds        Holden Commodore VE   +    29.4711
 15. Michael Patrizi       ord Falcon BF         +    34.1347
 16. Dean Fiore            Holden Commodore VE   +    45.3176
 17. Tony D'Alberto        Holden Commodore VE   +  1:23.2645
 18. Jason Bright          Ford Falcon FG        +     1 lap
 19. Fabian Coulthard      Ford Falcon FG        +     1 lap
 20. Steven Richards       Ford Falcon FG        +     1 lap
 21. Mark McNally          Holden Commodore VE   +     2 laps
 22. Jack Perkins          Holden Commodore VE   +     6 laps

Not classified/retirements:

     Driver                Make                  Laps
     Greg Murphy           Holden Commodore VE    71
     Russell Ingall        Holden Commodore VE    70
     Rick Kelly            Holden Commodore VE    66
     Todd Kelly            Holden Commodore VE    50
     Jason Bargwanna       Holden Commodore VE    43
     Shane Van Gisbergen   Ford Falcon FG         13
     Alex Davison          Ford Falcon FG         12