Winterbottom cruises to race 1 win

Winterbottom led from start-to-finish apart from a mid-race break during the compulsory pit stop phase, second-place finisher Garth Tander nearly ten seconds behind at the chequered flag.

Third was Jim Beam Racing's Steven Johnson, seven seconds behind Tander, with another five seconds back to Tander's teammate Rick Kelly in fourth who finished just under two seconds ahead of Russell Ingall.

Sixth was James Courtney, a disappointing result after moving up to fourth at the start and passing Steven Johnson on lap seven.

But Courtney faded badly in the closing laps, losing third to Johnson on lap 21, fourth to Kelly on lap 26 and fifth to teammate Ingall on lap 28. He almost lost another position, crossing the finish line just 0.15 seconds ahead of Holden Racing Team's Mark Skaife.

While it was a good day for the two Toll HSV Dealer team drivers, it was a disaster for their championship rivals at Team Vodafone. After both Team Vodafone drivers missed the top ten in qualifying, their day would only get worse.

Their poor qualifying left them in the mid-pack at the start, and this would be their undoing. Exiting turn four and heading through turn five, Craig Lowndes found himself in the middle of a Holden sandwich.

Lowndes bounced off Greg Murphy on his outside before bouncing across into Paul Morris, Lowndes and Morris both sent spinning hard into the fence. As all this began, Jamie Whincup was behind them.

Whincup swerved to avoid the mess in front of him but either lost control on the dirt or was clipped, the rear left of his car bouncing hard against the fence. Lowndes and Morris retired on the spot, while Whincup continued with damage.

However, just after one-third distance Whincup returned to the pits with a flat left rear tyre, having already made his compulsory tyre stop earlier in the race. He returned to the track, a lap down and well outside the points, the team deciding to retire his car two laps later.

Tander has now retaken the lead of the championship by eleven points over Whincup, with Rick Kelly a further 20 points behind. Craig Lowndes drops a position to fourth, eight points behind Kelly and 39 off the championship lead.

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