Whincup takes Winton race one win
Jamie Whincup claimed his fifth win of the V8 Supercar season in race one at Winton, as his polesitting Triple Eight Holden team-mate Craig Lowndes had a disastrous afternoon and came home only 11th
Lowndes' problems began with a poor start that immediately dropped him behind front row partner Steven Johnson (Dick Johnson Ford), Garry Rodgers Holden driver Lee Holdsworth, and Whincup.
The latter managed to pass Holdsworth for second on lap 13, then jumped Johnson in the pitstops, with the erstwhile leader also falling behind Holdsworth during the stops.
Whincup was then able to edge away and take another win, while Holdsworth resisted Johnson for the runner-up spot by just half a second.
Lowndes lost further ground when he was pounced on by several rivals as he rejoined on cold tyres following his stop, and later had a trip off the road at Turn 11, leaving him outside the top 10 at the finish.
Rick Kelly drove a strong race to come through from 12th on the grid to fourth ahead of Paul Dumbrell, Alex Davison and Jason Bright, the latter coming out best in a late dust-up with Garth Tander as the HRT car - which fell to 12th in the end - struggled on fading tyres.
After his poor qualifying result, James Courtney gambled on a very late pitstop and led for a while, then made the best of his fresher rubber to surge through the field as his rivals' tyres wilted, getting him up to eighth by the flag.
Results - 40 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Jamie Whincup Triple 8 Holden 1h01m09.0173s
2. Lee Holdsworth Garry Rodgers Holden + 4.8378s
3. Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Ford + 4.8708s
4. Rick Kelly Kelly Holden + 7.7062s
5. Paul Dumbrell Rod Nash Ford + 10.4241s
6. Alex Davison Stone Brothers Ford + 12.9373s
7. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden + 13.0886s
8. James Courtney HRT Holden + 16.0043s
9. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford + 18.0781s
10. Fabian Coulthard Walkinshaw Holden + 18.9470s
11. Craig Lowndes Triple 8 Holden + 22.4902s
12. Garth Tander HRT Holden + 23.5912s
13. Will Davison FPR Ford + 24.2854s
14. Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Ford + 25.3740s
15. Tim Slade Stone Brothers Ford + 26.7296s
16. Michael Caruso Garry Rodgers Holden + 27.1367s
17. Russell Ingall Paul Morris Holden + 28.2857s
18. Greg Murphy Kelly Holden + 28.5852s
19. James Moffat Dick Johnson Ford + 30.7681s
20. Karl Reindler Birtek Holden + 36.2968s
21. Todd Kelly Kelly Holden + 36.7260s
22. David Reynolds Kelly Holden + 37.8705s
23. Steve Owen Paul Morris Holden + 41.3059s
24. Jonathon Webb Tekno Ford + 43.3101s
25. Dean Fiore Triple F Ford + 1m06.2555s
26. Tony D'Alberto D'Alberto Holden + 6 laps
Retirements:
Warren Luff Dumbrell Holden 1 laps
Jason Bargwanna Brad Jones Holden 0 laps
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