Whincup holds on in tense race two

Whincup took the lead from Todd Kelly at the start and throughout the race maintained a small gap over Kelly, his closest pursuer. But as the laps wound down, Kelly began taking a tenth or two out of Whincup's lead.

Then, with four laps remaining, Kelly was right on Whincup's tail and looking for a way past, with Mark Winterbottom and Craig Lowndes joining them as well. With three laps remaining, Lowndes snuck through on Winterbottom at the end of the back straight.

Final lap and Kelly got alongside Whincup into the hairpin, his front bumper just ahead of Whincup's but on the outside. As Whincup took his usual line Kelly was forced a little wide, allowing Lowndes to get alongside on the run down the back straight.

Having just lost out in a battle for the lead, Kelly was not about to give second up easily and edged Lowndes right to the edge of the track (but no further). Lowndes hung on around the fast sweeper in the middle of the back straight, taking the place at the end of the straight.

Kelly finished third after having a chance to win with half a lap remaining, with Winterbottom finishing fourth, the top four finishers covered by less than eight-tenths of a second.

Behind them were the two Jim Beam Racing Falcons of Will Davison and Steven Johnson in fifth and sixth ahead of Lee Holdsworth. After his dramas in race one, Garth Tander charged through the field in race two to eighth position, while Rick Kelly started one place ahead of Tander and finished one place behind him.

After damaged front suspension in an early clash put him out of race one, Steven Richards had another DNF in race two, his car simply stopping, almost in the same place he retired yesterday. Shane van Gisbergen's race also ended early after fuel flow dramas.

Pos  Driver                Make     Time
 1.  Jamie Whincup         Ford     46:05.2365
 2.  Craig Lowndes         Ford     +   0.3165
 3.  Todd Kelly            Holden   +   0.6116
 4.  Mark Winterbottom     Ford     +   0.8205
 5.  Will Davison          Ford     +   2.3255
 6.  Steven Johnson        Ford     +   3.5905
 7.  Lee Holdsworth        Holden   +   5.0528
 8.  Garth Tander          Holden   +   5.4382
 9.  Rick Kelly            Holden   +  11.4431
10.  Fabian Coulthard      Ford     +  13.2291
11.  Jason Bright          Ford     +  14.1601
12.  Greg Murphy           Holden   +  15.1144
13.  Paul Dumbrell         Holden   +  15.3403
14.  Paul Morris           Holden   +  17.8935
15.  Cameron McConville    Holden   +  18.1486
16.  Michael Caruso        Holden   +  19.0085
17.  James Courtney        Ford     +  19.3476
18.  Jason Richards        Holden   +  19.8867
19.  Marcus Marshall       Ford     +  28.7722
20.  Andrew Jones          Holden   +  31.0198
21.  Michael Patrizi       Ford     +  34.8037
22.  Jack Perkins          Holden   +  39.9703
23.  Daniel Gaunt          Ford     +  42.1342
24.  Mark Skaife           Holden   +   1 lap
25.  Russell Ingall        Holden   +   3 laps

Not classified/retirements:

     Driver                Make     Laps
     Andrew Thompson       Holden    48
     Steven Richards       Ford      43
     Tony D'Alberto        Holden    17
     Shane van Gisbergen   Ford       9