Tander takes victory in race three

However, at the start of the race, things didn't look so good for Tander, with Mark Winterbottom leading Will Davison through the esses, but Tander was able to move ahead of Davison as they headed into turn three on lap one.

Winterbottom understeered off at turn three, handing the lead to Tander, as Winterbottom drove along the grass before rejoining at turn four, turning into the side of Todd Kelly and going off again, bogging himself in the gravel with a damaged steering arm as well.

A weekend for Winterbottom which started with a dominant pole ended with a 26th place finish, his teammate Steven Richards out of the race at the end of lap one after being caught up in a melee behind Winterbottom's off.

At the front of the field Whincup and Davison diced closely, the two drivers pitting on consecutive laps like in race one, and just like in race one Whincup moved past Davison as Davison exited the esses on his first lap on cold tyres, Whincup quickly moving onto Tander's tail, but unable to pass him.

Lee Holdsworth ran a long opening stint which paid off handsomely, resuming and finishing in third place just behind the leading duo. Davison finished fourth, while fifth saw a battle between Rick Kelly and Craig Lowndes for most of the race.

In the closing laps they were joined by Russell Ingall, who started 26th, Paul Dumbrell and Fabian Coulthard, each driver looking for a way past but unable to make a successful move, the trio finishing seventh through ninth with Jason Bright completing the top ten.

James Courtney looked set for a top ten or possibly top five finish, but an error from himself on the track was then compounded when he left his pit bay without his rear right tyre properly attached, falling off as he exited his pit bay.

The wheel was reattached, but he was penalised for his wheel falling off, ending the race 25th, two laps down.

The damage incurred at the start of race one meant both Mark Skaife and Jason Richards were unable to contest the final race.

The overall round victory went to Garth Tander ahead of Jamie Whincup and Will Davison, all three drivers scoring 272 points for the round, with the order decided by their relative finishing order in race three.

Having headed into the round with a 122 point lead and been dominant in qualifying, Mark Winterbottom has slipped from the championship lead, with reigning series champion Garth Tander taking a twelve point lead over him.

74 points behind Winterbottom is Jamie Whincup, who is 252 points ahead of Rick Kelly, with Will Davison a further 80 points behind Kelly. Steven Richards, Craig Lowndes and James Courtney are less than 100 points behind Davison, but over 450 points behind Tander.

Pos  Driver                Make     Time
 1.  Garth Tander          Holden   59:00.7895
 2.  Jamie Whincup         Ford     +   0.4913
 3.  Lee Holdsworth        Holden   +   2.2836
 4.  Will Davison          Ford     +  10.8948
 5.  Rick Kelly            Holden   +  17.4036
 6.  Craig Lowndes         Ford     +  17.7557
 7.  Russell Ingall        Holden   +  17.9362
 8.  Paul Dumbrell         Holden   +  18.5271
 9.  Fabian Coulthard      Ford     +  18.9017
10.  Jason Bright          Ford     +  21.0479
11.  Todd Kelly            Holden   +  28.4326
12.  Shane Van Gisbergen   Ford     +  28.9881
13.  Steven Johnson        Ford     +  29.2260
14.  Tony D'Alberto        Holden   +  30.6869
15.  Paul Morris           Holden   +  32.3545
16.  Andrew Jones          Holden   +  33.4968
17.  Andrew Thompson       Holden   +  33.7639
18.  Shane Price           Holden   +  34.1165
19.  Cameron McConville    Holden   +  34.3277
20.  Michael Caruso        Holden   +  39.7563
21.  Greg Murphy           Holden   +  52.2875
22.  Chris Pither          Ford     +1:15.9479
23.  Marcus Marshall       Ford     +   1 lap
24.  Michael Patrizi       Ford     +   2 laps
25.  James Courtney        Ford     +   2 laps
26.  Mark Winterbottom     Ford     +   3 laps

Not classified/retirements:

     Driver                Make     Laps
     Steven Richards       Ford       0