Whincup wins again in race two
Jamie Whincup continued on from where he left off in race one with a comfortable victory in race two of the Yas V8 400 under lights at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi
In a reversal of race one, Whincup beat Mark Winterbottom off the line and apart from a couple of laps after his first pitstop, led the rest of the way to get his championship off to a perfect start.
Winterbottom moved up a place from yesterday's result taking second, with Shane van Gisbergen using some fast laps before his first pitstop to vault him up the order, finishing in third despite a lap one clash with Craig Lowndes.
After losing a battle for second with Garth Tander at the start, and losing further ground at the first round of pitstops, Rick Kelly moved up at the final round of stops to fourth place ahead of Craig Lowndes, who passed James Courtney late in the race and then attacked Kelly but couldn't find a way past.
Courtney and team-mates Steven Johnson both had good finishes however, Courtney sixth and Johnson eighth, with Johnson losing a place to Lee Holdsworth on the final lap as he tried to save fuel. Despite qualifying 17th, Russell Ingall showed improved pace in race two, sneaking into the top ten in ninth place.
After qualifying 22nd, Will Davison vaulted up the order on lap one to 12th. But that was where he stayed for most of the race, dropping a couple of places in the closing laps as he struggled for pace to finish 14th.
Unfortunately, his team-mate Garth Tander's bad luck continued in race two. Second after winning the battle with Rick Kelly at the start, he moved into the lead after the first round of pitstops after taking on less fuel than Whincup.
But his time in the lead was short, the front left wheel nut falling off on lap 19, with damage around the hub forcing Tander into immediate retirement after looking set for a podium finish at worst.
With two wins from two races, Whincup leads the championship on 300 points, with Mark Winterbottom and Whincup's team-mate Craig Lowndes his nearest rivals on 267 and 249 points respectively.
Pos Driver Make Time
1. Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore VE 1h27m28.373s
2. Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon FG + 4.062s
3. Shane Van Gisbergen Ford Falcon FG + 11.831s
4. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VE + 17.356s
5. Craig Lowndes Holden Commodore VE + 18.253s
6. James Courtney Ford Falcon FG + 31.551s
7. Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VE + 35.464s
8. Steven Johnson Ford Falcon FG + 35.619s
9. Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VE + 39.390s
10. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VE + 42.093s
11. Michael Caruso Holden Commodore VE + 45.277s
12. Paul Dumbrell Ford Falcon FG + 51.458s
13. Tim Slade Ford Falcon FG + 57.622s
14. Will Davison Holden Commodore VE + 1m02.984s
15. Jason Bargwanna Holden Commodore VE + 1m03.403s
16. Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore VE + 1m15.933s
17. Steven Richards Ford Falcon FG + 1m17.222s
18. Jonathon Webb Ford Falcon FG + 1m17.821s
19. Tony D'Alberto Holden Commodore VE + 1m20.081s
20. Andrew Thompson Holden Commodore VE + 1m26.536s
21. Jason Richards Holden Commodore VE + 1m27.937s
22. Dean Fiore Ford Falcon FG + 1m53.133s
23. Karl Reindler Holden Commodore VE + 1 lap
24. Daniel Gaunt Holden Commodore VE + 1 lap
25. Tony Ricciardello Holden Commodore VE + 1 lap
26. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE + 1 lap
27. Alex Davison Ford Falcon FG + 2 laps
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Make Laps
Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE 19
Paul Morris Holden Commodore VE
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