Whincup takes tight win in race one
Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup held on to take a narrow win in the first race of the Coffee Club V8 Supercar Challenge on the streets of Surfers Paradise
After taking a comfortable pole in qualifying, Whincup spent almost the whole race with Garth Tander and Mark Winterbottom on his bumper, just keeping them behind him to extend his lead slightly over his two closest championship rivals.
A few seconds behind them in fourth was Todd Kelly in an impressive performance for Jack Daniel's Racing, just beating home Russell Ingall's Supercheap machine after moving ahead during the compulsory pitstop phase.
Whincup's teammate Craig Lowndes was sixth, with Will Davison, Paul Dumbrell, James Courtney and Lee Holdsworth completing the top ten as the narrow streets made passing difficult.
Rick Kelly's hopes of a good finish went up in smoke (literally) when the car's engine failed on lap 5.
Pos Driver Make Time
1. Jamie Whincup Ford 52:27.0448
2. Garth Tander Holden + 0.2671
3. Mark Winterbottom Ford + 2.3341
4. Todd Kelly Holden + 7.0574
5. Russell Ingall Holden + 7.6736
6. Craig Lowndes Ford + 10.1256
7. Will Davison Ford + 11.2970
8. Paul Dumbrell Holden + 12.0882
9. James Courtney Ford + 12.8874
10. Lee Holdsworth Holden + 13.3796
11. Steven Richards Ford + 13.8192
12. Steven Johnson Ford + 18.5305
13. Mark Skaife Holden + 26.8529
14. Cameron McConville Holden + 27.3318
15. Jason Richards Holden + 27.8093
16. Fabian Coulthard Ford + 41.9124
17. Andrew Jones Holden + 50.1774
18. Michael Caruso Holden + 56.6048
19. Shane Van Gisbergen Ford +1:06.4247
20. Steve Owen Ford +1:16.5476
21. Jason Bright Ford +1:17.5643
22. Jack Perkins Holden +1:17.8415
23. Michael Patrizi Ford +1:35.2446
24. Andrew Thompson Holden +1:35.6951
25. Paul Morris Holden + 1 lap
26. Marcus Marshall Ford + 2 laps
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Make Laps
Tony D'Alberto Holden 7
Greg Murphy Holden 7
Rick Kelly Holden 5
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