Whincup takes victory in race three

On a damp but drying track, Whincup took the win despite losing ground at the start of the race, pit strategy getting him into the lead to win ahead of Mark Winterbottom and James Courtney, after the winner of race two, Craig Lowndes, didn't even start the race after breaking a rear axle on an installation lap.

The start of the race favoured those on the drier right hand side of the grid, as Whincup dropped to fourth behind three cars who started on the right, James Courtney leading from Shane van Gisbergen and Mark Winterbottom with Whincup in fourth just ahead of Todd Kelly.

Van Gisbergen lost out in the early going, Winterbottom passing him at the end of lap 2 with Whincup following past at the start of lap 3. However, while Winterbottom and Whincup battled for second place, Courtney was opening up an advantage in the lead.

Courtney was one of the first drivers to pit however, on lap 8, van Gisbergen following a lap later. Winterbottom and Whincup stayed out, lapping faster than Courtney, so that when Winterbottom pitted on lap 19 he was now just ahead of Courtney.

A lap later Whincup made his stop, and slick work by him and his team got him out ahead of both Winterbottom and Courtney, moving into the lead when Ingall made his compulsory stop on lap 22.

The battle between the three remained close for the rest of the race, but the order remained the same to the chequered flag despite some late-race drizzle and fading light.

Meanwhile, just a little bit further down the order, there was a tremendous fight for fourth position between van Gisbergen and Todd Kelly which raged throughout the race.

Despite spending virtually the whole race glued together, Kelly was unable to find his way past, the duo being joined in the fight by Russell Ingall and Will Davison in the closing laps.

After topping the times in practice, Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander's weekend wasn't such a happy one, finishing 12th in race three. However, it was a better result than teammate Mark Skaife's, which included a spin as he finished 22nd and just seconds away from being lapped.

The podium for the race was also the podium for the round overall, with the same trio topping the weekend's points in the same order.

It also closed up the battle for the title, as well as giving the title chase a new leader, with Mark Winterbottom taking over at the top on 1124 points, former leader Garth Tander now second, 72 points behind.

Ten points behind Tander in third is round winner Jamie Whincup, with the ever-consistent Rick Kelly in fourth, just 96 points behind Winterbottom.

Pos  Driver                Make     Time
 1.  Jamie Whincup         Ford     47:20.7150
 2.  Mark Winterbottom     Ford     +   2.1830
 3.  James Courtney        Ford     +   6.8612
 4.  Shane Van Gisbergen   Ford     +  18.0329
 5.  Todd Kelly            Holden   +  18.4367
 6.  Russell Ingall        Holden   +  18.9622
 7.  Will Davison          Ford     +  19.2127
 8.  Lee Holdsworth        Holden   +  20.5577
 9.  Steven Richards       Ford     +  20.9648
10.  Steven Johnson        Ford     +  31.9123
11.  Greg Murphy           Holden   +  32.2569
12.  Garth Tander          Holden   +  32.7478
13.  Cameron McConville    Holden   +  41.4514
14.  Jason Bright          Ford     +  53.8683
15.  Andrew Jones          Holden   +  54.9383
16.  Jason Richards        Holden   +  55.5961
17.  Rick Kelly            Holden   +  55.7027
18.  Shane Price           Holden   +  56.3002
19.  Michael Caruso        Holden   +  56.8692
20.  Andrew Thompson       Holden   +1:07.5301
21.  Marcus Marshall       Ford     +1:13.0482
22.  Mark Skaife           Holden   +1:13.4421
23.  Kayne Scott           Ford     +1:13.4623
24.  Paul Morris           Holden   +   1 lap
25.  Tony D'Alberto        Holden   +   1 lap
26.  Michael Patrizi       Ford     +   1 lap
27.  Paul Dumbrell         Holden   +   3 laps

Not classified/retirements:

     Driver                Make     Laps
     Fabian Coulthard      Ford      21