Holdsworth wins, Courtney takes title

Holdsworth led until the second safety car period, when most but not all of the field made pitstops. As the race wound down and other drivers made stops, he moved back up towards the front, taking second place with 13 laps to go, and chased down leader Shane van Gisbergen.

Van Gisbergen was in fuel conservation mode, hoping to stretch it to the finish. With less than half a lap remaining, his engine coughed, allowing Holdsworth and Steven Richards past to take first and second place, Holdsworth's second career victory was deserved after pole position in the last three races at the Homebush track.

All but out of fuel, van Gisbergen struggled to the line, holding out Steven Johnson by 0.0198 seconds at the chequered flag, with Johnson having to swerve wildly to avoid him in the confined area near the chequered flag.

One place behind Johnson was 2008 and 2009 series champion Whincup, who was right behind Holdsworth at the second safety car but chose to stay out rather than pit. The decision cost him ground, but in the end it made little difference, as Courtney's finishing position meant even a win would not have won Whincup his third successive title.

Team-mate Craig Lowndes, Rick Kelly, Michael Caruso, Garth Tander and Jonathon Webb completed the top 10 runners, but it was the driver in 14th place, Courtney, who was the big winner apart from Holdsworth.

It wasn't a pretty race for Courtney - a crumpled bonnet proving testament to that, and he had also fallen back to 26th when a wheel nut stuck at his first pitstop and he went back out with the same right rear tyre on he had come in with.

But a safety car soon after allowed him to pit and replace the tyre, and also allowed him more flexibility strategy-wise than most of the rest of the field. From there, all Courtney needed to do was stay on the lead lap as other cars fell out of the race and though it wasn't one of his his best races, it was (more than) enough to ensure he won the title, 65 points ahead of Whincup.

After heading into the weekend with a chance of winning the title, fellow Ford driver Mark Winterbottom was just behind his team-mate Steven Richards when his engine let go, giving him his second DNF in two days.

Pos  Driver                Make                  Time         
 1.  Lee Holdsworth        Holden Commodore VE2  2h03m58.6442s
 2.  Steven Richards       Ford Falcon FG        +     1.5358s 
 3.  Shane Van Gisbergen   Ford Falcon FG        +     8.4239s 
 4.  Steven Johnson        Ford Falcon FG        +     8.4437s 
 5.  Jamie Whincup         Holden Commodore VE2  +    10.2476s
 6.  Craig Lowndes         Holden Commodore VE2  +    13.4918s
 7.  Rick Kelly            Holden Commodore VE2  +    16.0408s
 8.  Michael Caruso        Holden Commodore VE2  +    16.2850s
 9.  Garth Tander          Holden Commodore VE2  +    19.8472s
10.  Jonathon Webb         Ford Falcon FG        +    22.8910s
11.  Tony D'Alberto        Holden Commodore VE2  +    23.8604s
12.  Greg Murphy           Holden Commodore VE2  +    24.8702s
13.  Andrew Jones          Holden Commodore VE2  +    27.5751s
14.  James Courtney        Ford Falcon FG        +    29.7892s
15.  Paul Dumbrell         Ford Falcon FG        +    30.6741s
16.  Dean Fiore            Ford Falcon FG        +    34.5637s
17.  Tony Ricciardello     Holden Commodore VE2  +    40.5472s
18.  Warren Luff           Holden Commodore VE2  +    45.8667s
19.  Fabian Coulthard      Holden Commodore VE   +    56.0602s
20.  Russell Ingall        Holden Commodore VE2  +  1m20.1665s
21.  Todd Kelly            Holden Commodore VE2  +      2 laps 
22.  Jason Bargwanna       Holden Commodore VE2  +      4 laps 
23.  Alex Davison          Ford Falcon FG        +     15 laps 

Not classified/retirements:

     Driver                Make                  Laps
     Mark Winterbottom     Ford Falcon FG         65
     Tim Slade             Ford Falcon FG         58
     Jason Bright          Holden Commodore VE2   54
     Will Davison          Holden Commodore VE2   47
     Karl Reindler         Holden Commodore VE    44
     Andrew Thompson       Holden Commodore VE2   37