Pukekohe V8 Supercars: Mark Winterbottom wins race four
Mark Winterbottom further extended his points tally by claiming the final V8 Supercars race of the Pukekohe weekend
The championship leader started fourth for the 200-kilometre main event and gained two positions by the time he made his first stop on lap 18 of 69.
He then set about eating into Scott McLaughlin's 1.9-second advantage and managed to cut the deficit to just under two tenths as the leaders pitted together on lap 43.
The FPR Ford crew won the pitstop battle and Winterbottom rejoined the action at the front of the field, before edging away to clinch the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy for the best cumulative performance of the weekend.
McLaughlin took a comfortable second place in the Volvo S60 while Chaz Mostert rounded off the podium after duelling hard with Shane van Gisbergen in the opening laps.
The race three winner had Michael Caruso's Nissan in his mirrors for most of the afternoon and the pair finished fourth and fifth, ahead of Jason Bright who gained 11 places from 17th on the grid.
Craig Lowndes and Tim Slade had a torrid race in comparison.
The Triple Eight driver found himself starting in the middle of the pack after putting his Holden in the gravel trap at the hairpin in the final moments of qualifying.
His race strategy then put him in trouble as he had to yield to those a lap ahead before the second stops unfolded.
He finished a dismal 20th, ahead of the front row starting Slade, who was unable to recover from a clutch issue that emerged on the formation lap.
Results - 69 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford 1h16m14.0720s 2. Scott McLaughlin GRM Volvo +6.9807s 3. Chaz Mostert FPR Ford +16.8806s 4. Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Holden +23.5120s 5. Michael Caruso Nissan +25.2493s 6. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden +27.9520s 7. Will Davison Erebus Mercedes +28.8045s 8. Rick Kelly Nissan +29.7776s 9. Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden +30.8100s 10. Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Holden +33.7444s 11. Nick Percat Walkinshaw/HRT Holden +34.0840s 12. Garth Tander HRT Holden +36.1384s 13. Scott Pye Dick Johnson Ford +37.4334s 14. James Courtney HRT Holden +38.3255s 15. Lee Holdsworth Erebus Mercedes +39.0830s 16. James Moffat Nissan +39.3890s 17. David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford +40.3123s 18. Jack Perkins Schwerkolt/FPR Ford +41.7220s 19. Russell Ingall Dumbrell Holden +47.6500s 20. Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden +50.0965s 21. Tim Slade Rosenberg/HRT Holden +50.4730s 22. Dale Wood Britek/BJR Holden +1 lap 23. Robert Dahlgren GRM Volvo +1 lap 24. Todd Kelly Nissan +1 lap
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