Whincup reclaims lead with race 3 win

Whincup led at the start and retook it at the end of the compulsory pit stop phase, but was under pressure for most of the race from those running just behind him, Whincup taking the round win as well.

Ford Performance Racing's Steven Richards finished second in the race, and for the round, and was responsibly for most of the pressure on Whincup, waiting for just a small slip from to jump into the lead, almost getting his chance at one of the three restarts.

Just behind Steven Richards was his namesake at Tasman Motorsport, Jason Richards. Richards gained ground at his pit stop as well as a later incident involving Craig Lowndes. Mark Skaife completed his best round since round five with another fourth place finish.

James Courtney continued his recovery drive with a sixth place finish, while Mark Winterbottom finished seventh and third for the round despite having to queue in the pits for his pit stop after both FPR cars running nose-to-tail were called in and pitted on the same lap.

While it was more good news for Jamie Whincup, the other championship contenders had dramas ranging from minor to very major. Craig Lowndes finished fifth, but could've finished as high as third.

Lowndes lost time as he was lapping Todd Kelly early in the race, allowing Jason Richards to move onto his tail as he Kelly eventually let Lowndes go. Into the second last turn, Richards dived to the inside, preparing to try to overtake Lowndes.

Fearful of contact sending him into a spin, Lowndes gave Richards some room to avoid making contact with him. Instead, Richards saw this an an incentive to keep going with the move. Richards barged through, taking the place, while contact from Richards put Lowndes into the grass, losing four places in the process.

However, when compared to the Toll HSV duo, this was good news. Neither Toll HSV car made it to the finish. Rick Kelly looked set for another top ten finish, possibly a top five, as he battled with Mark Skaife, but an engine failure ended his day after 21 laps.

His teammate Garth Tander had an interesting race. Starting tenth, he moved up to eight at the hairpin on lap one. Along the curving back straight, he got alongside teammate Rick Kelly, completing the move around Kelly's outside with Kelly taking to the grass to avoid contact.

On lap five he moved past Courtney, and during the pit stop phase he gained another two places. Two mid-race safety cars bunched the field up, with the race going green again on lap 38.

Right on Steven Richards' tail at the restart, he looked for a way past at the hairpin but Richards ran just defensive enough to prevent Tander from thinking about a move. As they entered the corner Tander gave StevenRichards a light tap, before Tander himself received a slightly harder one from Jason Richards.

In front of them Whincup had run wide, giving Steven Richards hope of making a pass down the straight as he got half alongside on the exit. But Whincup's wide line ended up giving him more straight-line speed and he held on to the lead.

A lap later and Richards ran the same line as the lap before but this time Tander switched back to the inside. Tander got inside but locked his rear brakes during the pass, the two cars banging wheels as they entered the corner.

This broke Tander's steering, so as Richards exited the hairpin, he got a tap in the rear from Tander who now was in serious trouble. Losing places, he still continued at speed down the back straight.

Everything was going OK until he hit the braking area for the left-hander, when the car veered left on to the inside of the track, still at speed. Somehow there was no contact as he speared across the track, but in the dust behind him there was a five-car incident.

Tander limped his car back to the pits but it was clear his race and day was over.

It also allowed Jamie Whincup back into the lead of the championship, with a seven point margin over Tander. 14 points behind Tander (and 21 behind teammate Whincup) is Craig Lowndes, while Rick Kelly's hopes of a second consecutive title look slim with a 48 points margin with just one round and 72 points remaining.

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