Eastern Creek V8 Supercars: Jamie Whincup retakes points lead with win
Jamie Whincup got back on top in the V8 Supercars title race by leading team-mate Craig Lowndes in a Triple Eight Holden one-two at Eastern Creek
In Saturday's race Whincup had struggled home 23rd with a major tyre problem, losing the points lead to Mark Winterbottom in the process.
But the champion reasserted his authority from the outset in Sunday's longer event. He passed polesitting team-mate Lowndes at the first corner then went on to control most of the race.
Lowndes lost ground with a pitstop delay before quickly fighting back past Winterbottom. Third place for the Ford Performance Racing driver meant he lost the series lead to Whincup by one point.
Russell Ingall starred again by using soft tyres to charge from eighth to the lead in the first stint. Even when his Walkinshaw Holden was on hards, Ingall proved highly competitive, and he was able to comfortably beat Winterbottom's team-mate Will Davison to fourth.
Third-place qualifier Jason Bright tumbled down the order at first before battling back to eighth, behind Fabian Coulthard and David Reynolds, and ahead of Holden Racing Team duo Garth Tander and James Courtney.
Jacques Villeneuve continued to struggle in what is expected to be his final outing standing in for Greg Murphy at Kelly. The 1997 Formula 1 champion finished a lapped 26th.
The series continues with the first of the late-season endurance races at Sandown on 16 September.
Results - 56 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Jamie Whincup Triple 8 Holden 1h27m43.9374s 2. Craig Lowndes Triple 8 Holden + 11.4428s 3. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford + 13.5576s 4. Russell Ingall Walkinshaw Holden + 16.8914s 5. Will Davison FPR Ford + 24.0360s 6. Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden + 24.8936s 7. David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford + 27.6256s 8. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden + 28.0186s 9. Garth Tander HRT Holden + 29.3981s 10. James Courtney HRT Holden + 45.7355s 11. Michael Caruso Garry Rogers Holden + 57.3211s 12. Michael Patrizi Tekno Holden + 1m01.8056s 13. Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Ford + 1m04.3232s 14. Tim Slade Rosenberg/SBR Ford + 1m06.4958s 15. Rick Kelly Kelly Holden + 1m14.9605s 16. James Moffat Dick Johnson Ford + 1m17.3307s 17. Jonathon Webb Tekno Holden + 1m17.5126s 18. Dean Fiore Triple F/DJR Ford + 1m25.4713s 19. Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Ford + 1m28.2121s 20. Tony D'Alberto D'Alberto Ford + 1m28.2403s 21. Lee Holdsworth Stone Brothers Ford + 1 lap 22. Steve Owen Paul Morris/DJR Ford + 1 lap 23. Todd Kelly Kelly Holden + 1 lap 24. Taz Douglas Dumbrell Holden + 1 lap 25. Karl Reindler Kelly Holden + 1 lap 26. Jacques Villeneuve Kelly Holden + 1 lap 27. Alexandre Premat Garry Rogers Holden + 1 lap 28. David Wall Britek/BJR Holden + 4 laps
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| Series | Supercars |
| Drivers | Jamie Whincup |
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