Jamie Whincup and Mark Winterbottom shared the V8 Supercar Championship wins at Townsville at the weekend.
Team Vodafone’s Whincup took victory in the opening race at the challenging street circuit to narrow the points lead of Jim Beam Racing’s James Courtney, but saw his good work undone in the second event when he lost eight laps in the pits with a broken brake pipe while leading and finished down in 23rd place as Courtney managed second.
Starting from pole position, Whincup dropped behind both Ford Performance Racing’s Winterbottom and Toll Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander off the line, but was back at the front of the pack by lap 8 and stayed comfortably ahead for the remainder of the race.
Tander had an equally uneventful race to finish second while Winterbottom was safely home in third.
Lee Holdsworth held off Courtney for fourth, the latter having an eventful race which included punting his team-mate, Steven Johnson, into a spin that saw him drop well down the field.
Russell Ingall (Supercheap Auto Racing) and Jason Richards (Team BOC) were the stars of the race, finishing in sixth and seventh places respectively having started from 27th and 25th on the grid, while Shane van Gisbergen (SP Tools Racing), Steven Richards (Ford Performance Racing) and Paul Dumbrell (The Bottle-O Racing Team) completed the top ten.
Winterbottom used clever strategy to clinch race 2 victory. Having run fifth in the early stages, the Ford man was the last of the front runners to pit and emerged in the lead as the stops shook out.
His only threat came after a late-race Safety Car period which saw his ten-second lead evaporate, but he was able to hold off a determined challenge from Courtney to seal victory at the chequered flag.
Tander was third despite understeering into the tyre wall on lap 42 and almost being collected by Courtney and Craig Lowndes as he reversed his car out. The incident cost Lowndes more than anyone as the Team Vodafone man ran into the back of Courtney, who was braking to avoid Tander. While Courtney’s car escaped relatively unscathed, Lowndes retired in the pits with heavy front end damage.
Dumbrell produced another fine drive to climb from 14th to fourth at the finish, while Steven Richards was fifth, inheriting the place when the unfortunate Jason Bright (Trading Post Racing) retired with engine problems three laps from home.
Will Davison (Toll Holden Racing Team) was just a couple of tenths behind Richards at the chequered flag, with van Gisbergen, Jason Richards and Jonathon Webb (Dick Johnson Racing) all finishing nose-to-tail behind. Jason Bargwanna (Rock Racing) was the best of the Kelly Racing-run cars in tenth.
V8 Supercar Championship results – Round 8, Townsville
Race 1
1 Jamie Whincup, Team Vodafone, Holden Commodore VE
2 Garth Tander, Toll Holden Racing Team, Holden Commodore VE
3 Mark Winterbottom, Ford Performance Racing, Ford FG Falcon
4 Lee Holdsworth, Fujitsu Racing, Holden Commodore VE
5 James Courtney, Jim Beam Racing, Ford FG Falcon
6 Russell Ingall, Supercheap Auto Racing, Holden Commodore VE
7 Jason Richards, Team BOC, Holden Commodore VE
8 Shane van Gisbergen, SP Tools Racing, Ford FG Falcon
9 Steven Richards, Ford Performance Racing, Ford FG Falcon
10 Paul Dumbrell, The Bottle-O Racing Team, Ford FG Falcon
11 Steven Johnson, Jim Beam Racing, Ford FG Falcon
12 Tim Slade, Wilson Security Racing, Ford FG Falcon
13 Alex Davison, Irwin Racing, Ford FG Falcon
14 Fabian Coulthard, Bundaberg Red Racing, Holden Commodore VE
15 Rick Kelly, Jack Daniel’s Racing, Holden Commodore VE
16 Jonathon Webb, Dick Johnson Racing, Ford FG Falcon
17 Todd Kelly, Jack Daniel’s Racing, Holden Commodore VE
18 Will Davison, Toll Holden Racing Team, Holden Commodore VE
19 Michael Caruso, Fujitsu Racing, Holden Commodore VE
20 Dean Fiore, Triple F Racing, Ford FG Falcon
21 Karl Reindler, Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing, Holden Commodore VE
22 Jason Bargwanna, Rock Racing, Holden Commodore VE
23 Greg Murphy, Castrol Edge Racing, Holden Commodore VE
24 Cameron McConville, Gulf Western Oil Racing, Holden Commodore VE
25 Tony Ricciardello, Stratco Racing, Holden Commodore VE
26 Craig Lowndes, Team Vodafone, Holden Commodore VE
Not classified
Jason Bright, Trading Post Racing, Holden Commodore VE
Tony D'Alberto, Centaur Racing, Holden Commodore VE
Andrew Thompson, Bundaberg Red Racing, Holden Commodore VE
Race 2
1 Mark Winterbottom, Ford Performance Racing, Ford FG Falcon
2 James Courtney, Jim Beam Racing, Ford FG Falcon
3 Garth Tander, Toll Holden Racing Team, Holden Commodore VE
4 Paul Dumbrell, The Bottle-O Racing Team, Ford FG Falcon
5 Steven Richards, Ford Performance Racing, Ford FG Falcon
6 Will Davison, Toll Holden Racing Team, Holden Commodore VE
7 Shane van Gisbergen, SP Tools Racing, Ford FG Falcon
8 Jason Richards, Team BOC, Holden Commodore VE
9 Jonathon Webb, Dick Johnson Racing, Ford FG Falcon
10 Jason Bargwanna, Rock Racing, Holden Commodore VE
11 Michael Caruso, Fujitsu Racing, Holden Commodore VE
12 Tim Slade, Wilson Security Racing, Ford FG Falcon
13 Rick Kelly, Jack Daniel’s Racing, Holden Commodore VE
14 Alex Davison, Irwin Racing, Ford FG Falcon
15 Lee Holdsworth, Fujitsu Racing, Holden Commodore VE
16 Cameron McConville, Gulf Western Oil Racing, Holden Commodore VE
17 Greg Murphy, Castrol Edge Racing, Holden Commodore VE
18 Jason Bright, Trading Post Racing, Holden Commodore VE
19 Todd Kelly, Jack Daniel’s Racing, Holden Commodore VE
20 Tony Ricciardello, Stratco Racing, Holden Commodore VE
21 Dean Fiore, Triple F Racing, Ford FG Falcon
22 Steven Johnson, Jim Beam Racing, Ford FG Falcon
23 Jamie Whincup, Team Vodafone, Holden Commodore VE
Not classified
Fabian Coulthard, Bundaberg Red Racing, Holden Commodore VE
Craig Lowndes, Team Vodafone, Holden Commodore VE
Andrew Thompson, Bundaberg Red Racing, Holden Commodore VE
Tony D'Alberto, Centaur Racing, Holden Commodore VE
Russell Ingall, Supercheap Auto Racing, Holden Commodore VE
Karl Reindler, Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing, Holden Commodore VE
Championship Standings (after 8 rounds)
1 James Courtney, 1809pts
2 Jamie Whincup, 1791
3 Shane van Gisbergen, 1502
4 Craig Lowndes, 1479
5 Mark Winterbottom, 1473
6 Garth Tander, 1380
7 Lee Holdsworth, 1338
8 Rick Kelly, 1286
9 Michael Caruso, 1187
10 Steven Johnson, 1112
Next round: 10-12 September, L&H 500 Phillip Island
Watch 2-hour highlights of the Darwin races on Sunday 18 July at 3pm (BST) on Motors TV.
Andy Wilkinson
Follow Motors TV on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube
Click here for a chance to win VIP tickets to the British GT Championship at Silverstone
International
