Whincup stars to win race two

Whincup led the last 32 laps to take the second race as well as the round victory, being chased all the way home by Holden Racing Team's Todd Kelly. The podium was rounded out by Toll HSV Dealer Team's Rick Kelly, who took second for the round following a second place in the first race.

Rick Kelly's day may have been even better had he not been penalised for jumping the start, replays of the start not appearing to show how Kelly had infringed. His teammate Garth Tander took fourth place, with another pair of teammates Steven Richards and Paul Dumbrell rounding out the top six places, all Holdens except for winner Whincup's Ford.

The top ten looked set for even greater domination by Holden before two crashes in the second half of the race. The first crash eliminated Craig Lowndes, Cameron McConville and James Courtney, while at the restart following this incident Greg Murphy crashed at the sweeper as he tried to repass Paul Dumbrell.

As Murphy bounced off the wall, Mark Skaife was left with nowhere to go and exited the race for the second day in a row. Lowndes was already two laps down having damaged his car while trying to pass McConville earlier in the race.

After one round, Whincup is a surprise championship leader on 310 points, five points ahead of Rick Kelly, with Todd Kelly a further 20 points behind. Garth Tander, one of the pre-season favourites, sits equal fourth 40 points off the lead with Steven Richards.

Reigning champion Russell Ingall is sixth, 60 points behind Whincup while race one winner Craig Lowndes is fourteenth, 150 points down on his championship leading teammate. However, as bad as Lowndes may feel, he is still better off than five-time champion Mark Skaife and star rookie James Courtney, who leave the first round with no points after crashes in both races.

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