Tander wins again in race 2

Tander lost a position at the start, but retook the lead following the compulsory pit stops. However, at the end of the race he had a train of cars behind him, but he was never really threatened for position for the win.

Second was Holden Racing Team's Todd Kelly, filling the place his teammate Mark Skaife had in race one. He showed strong pace early and kept that up throughout the race, but never looked like passing Tander despite spending most of his race on his bumper.

Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup finished third, recovering from a place he lost at the start to be third after the pit stops. He managed to hold off the attentions of Mark Winterbottom in fourth, who ran long at the start and jumped up the order.

Fifth place for Mark Skaife was a bit of a disappointment after second in race one and leading early in race two. But time lost in pit lane and some handling issues caused the 200-start veteran to struggle a little as he held off Craig Lowndes.

This raised a point brought up in race one, the issue of blocking. This time, Mark Skaife and James Courtney were both warned and given the bad sportsmanship flag, for blocking Craig Lowndes and Rick Kelly respectively.

However, both drivers received the warning at the start of the second-last lap, which seemed somewhat pointless, as all drivers are allowed to block on the final two laps...

With just one race remaining, the championship fight is down to two. Lowndes' sixth place was not good enough, 35 points behind Tander. However, with Rick Kelly a further 31 points back, Lowndes is secure in third, and Rick Kelly in fourth.

The battle for the title sees Garth Tander leading Jamie Whincup by 7 points, ironically the same margin that Whincup led Tander by heading into the round. To win the title, Whincup must beat Tander and beat him by several places.

Even a win for Whincup in the final race is not good enough if Tander is still on the podium, and with two wins for Tander and two thirds for Whincup so far, it seems unlikely that Whincup can beat Tander to the title. But time will tell.

Pos  Driver                   Car
 1.  Garth Tander             Holden Commodore VE
 2.  Todd Kelly               Holden Commodore VE
 3.  Jamie Whincup            Ford Falcon BF
 4.  Mark Winterbottom        Ford Falcon BF
 5.  Mark Skaife              Holden Commodore VE
 6.  Craig Lowndes            Ford Falcon BF
 7.  James Courtney           Ford Falcon BF
 8.  Rick Kelly               Holden Commodore VE
 9.  Will Davison             Ford Falcon BF
10.  Lee Holdsworth           Holden Commodore VE
11.  Steven Johnson           Ford Falcon BF
12.  Steven Richards          Ford Falcon BF
13.  Greg Murphy              Holden Commodore VE
14.  Shane Van Gisbergen      Ford Falcon BF
15.  Jason Bright             Ford Falcon BF
16.  Dean Canto               Holden Commodore VE
17.  Shane Price              Holden Commodore VE
18.  Jason Bargwanna          Ford Falcon BF
19.  Russell Ingall           Ford Falcon BF
20.  Marcus Marshall          Holden Commodore VE
21.  Steve Owen               Holden Commodore VZ
22.  Owen Kelly               Holden Commodore VZ
23.  Alan Gurr                Ford Falcon BF
24.  Max Wilson               Ford Falcon BF
25.  John Bowe                Ford Falcon BF
26.  Jason Richards           Holden Commodore VE
DNF  Paul Morris              Holden Commodore VE
DNF  Simon Wills              Ford Falcon BF
DNF  Cameron McConville       Holden Commodore VE
DNF  Paul Dumbrell            Holden Commodore VE
DNF  Andrew Jones             Ford Falcon BF