Bright charges to Winton victory

Bright, who had qualified eighth, made the most of pitting several laps later than the other leaders at both of his stops, and then revelled in his superior tyre grip as drivers ahead found their rubber fading.

He was still back in eighth when he rejoined after his last stop with 20 laps to go, but started hacking through the traffic ahead with ease.

Five laps from the end he grabbed third from Michael Caruso (Garry Rodgers Holden) into Turn 3, then took second from HRT's Garth Tander on the next lap.

That left only long-time leader and race one winner Jamie Whincup's Triple Eight Holden ahead, and the 2.5-second gap was demolished in just two laps before Bright easily made the pass for the lead into the first corner. He went on to take the chequered flag just before the downpour that had been threatening all afternoon set in.

Prior to Bright's charge, Whincup and Tander had been the main protagonists in the lead fight. Both overtook polesitter Mark Winterbottom in the first stint as the Ford Performance Racing man's pace faded dramatically amid extreme rear tyre wear in the race, leaving him only 19th at the finish.

In the middle stint, Tander was able to hunt down Whincup, grabbing the lead just before half-distance, but he could not get away and when they pitted in unison on lap 43, Whincup was able to get out in front.

There was nothing either of them could do to resist Bright after that, and they had to settle for second and third, with Tander only just holding off Shane van Gisbergen.

Walkinshaw Racing's Fabian Coulthard used a similar strategy to Bright to come through to fifth ahead of Caruso, Craig Lowndes and Steven Johnson.

Reigning champion James Courtney could not repeat Saturday's progress up the order, having to pit for repairs after being involved in one of the early tangles.

Results - 67 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Jason Bright         Brad Jones Holden    1h40m15.5814s
 2.  Jamie Whincup        Triple Eight Holden      + 1.5986s
 3.  Garth Tander         HRT Holden               + 2.9638s
 4.  Shane van Gisbergen  Stone Brothers Ford      + 3.2623s
 5.  Fabian Coulthard     Walkinshaw Holden       + 11.5587s
 6.  Michael Caruso       Garry Rogers Holden     + 11.5792s
 7.  Craig Lowndes        Triple Eight Holden     + 16.2877s
 8.  Steven Johnson       Dick Johnson Ford       + 17.3278s
 9.  James Moffat         Dick Johnson Ford       + 17.5564s
10.  Steve Owen           Paul Morris Holden      + 27.5821s
11.  Greg Murphy          Kelly Holden            + 32.5007s
12.  Jonathon Webb        Tekno Ford              + 36.5075s
13.  Tim Slade            Rosenberg/SBR Ford      + 38.4257s
14.  Jason Bargwanna      Brad Jones Holden       + 39.5989s
15.  Lee Holdsworth       Garry Rogers Holden     + 39.9719s
16.  Alex Davison         Stone Brothers Ford     + 40.7405s
17.  Rick Kelly           Kelly Holden            + 40.7720s
18.  Paul Dumbrell        Rod Nash/FPR Ford       + 41.2003s
19.  Mark Winterbottom    FPR Ford                + 43.2948s
20.  David Reynolds       Kelly Holden            + 50.4328s
21.  Tony D'Alberto       D'Alberto Ford        + 1m00.3536s
22.  Warren Luff          Dumbrell Holden       + 1m13.6330s
23.  Karl Reindler        Britek/BJR Holden     + 1m15.8861s
24.  Will Davison         FPR Ford                  + 6 laps
25.  James Courtney       HRT Holden                + 7 laps

Retirements:

     Dean Fiore           Triple F Ford              15 laps
     Todd Kelly           Kelly Holden                2 laps
     Russell Ingall       Paul Morris Holden          2 laps