Asian Motor Sports

Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom continued his climb up the order after a poor qualifying performance as he took victory in the final race of this weekend’s V8 Supercar round at Eastern Creek.

Winterbottom wasn’t affected by a safety car period very early in the race and another in the closing laps brought out by a heavy crash for his teammate, taking the win ahead of a consistent performance by 2005 series champion Rick Kelly.

Garth Tander, Jamie Whincup and Mark Skaife crossed the line covered by less than three tenths of a second at the chequered flag, the two Holden Racing Team cars recovering from their struggles in race two thanks to good starts and a longer pit strategy than some of the other front runners.

Whincup again had some trouble at the start, but had a quick pit stop to slot himself in just behind Will Davison who ran second in the early laps. But Davison’s race took a turn for the worse when Tander exited his pit stop between Davison and Whincup, Davison running wide at the turn 2 hairpin, allowing both Tander and Whincup to sneak through.

However sixth for Davison was still good enough for him to secure his maiden round win, ahead of Winterbottom and Tander, each of the podium finishers for the weekend having taken a race win.

After jumping up to third in the opening laps, Russell Ingall faded through the race, finishing just ahead of Craig Lowndes who had a somewhat low-key weekend following his dramatic collision in the opening round.

After an impressive race two, Steven Richards looked set for a top five finish in race three. But as he ran through turn 3 on lap 24 something caused his left front tyre to deflate suddenly, sending him off the road at speed and head-on into the tyre wall, ending his race with a sudden halt.

With two rounds completed, Jamie Whincup remains in the points lead on 540 points, with Rick Kelly moving up to second, 108 points behind, six points ahead of Lee Holdsworth who slips to third.

After their disastrous weekend in Adelaide, a strong performance by both Holden Racing Team drivers moves them both into the top ten, Tander on 326 points in eighth just four points ahead of Mark Skaife in ninth.

Pos Driver Make Time
1. Mark Winterbottom Ford 1:03:42.6526
2. Rick Kelly Holden + 0.8387
3. Garth Tander Holden + 2.2485
4. Jamie Whincup Ford + 2.3863
5. Mark Skaife Holden + 2.5415
6. Will Davison Ford + 3.5774
7. Russell Ingall Holden + 4.1721
8. Craig Lowndes Ford + 4.3554
9. Paul Dumbrell Holden + 4.7907
10. Greg Murphy Holden + 5.2057
11. Lee Holdsworth Holden + 5.5540
12. Cameron McConville Holden + 6.0150
13. Andrew Thompson Holden + 7.1043
14. Michael Caruso Holden + 7.4999
15. Todd Kelly Holden + 7.6114
16. Fabian Coulthard Ford + 8.5621
17. Shane Van Gisbergen Ford + 9.0892
18. Steven Johnson Ford + 9.1669
19. Jason Richards Holden + 9.5927
20. Jason Bright Ford + 10.0530
21. Shane Price Holden + 11.0664
22. Marcus Marshall Ford + 11.7419
23. Chris Pither Ford + 18.6145

Not classified/retirements:

Driver Make Laps
Steven Richards Ford 23
Andrew Jones Holden 6
Paul Morris Holden 1
James Courtney Ford 1
Tony D’Alberto Holden 0

V8 Supercars – Championship Points

1. Jamie Whincup 540pts
2. Rick Kelly 432pts
3. Lee Holdsworth 426pts
4. Mark Winterbottom 382pts
5. Will Davison 356pts
6. Craig Lowndes 339pts
7. Greg Murphy 330pts
8. Garth Tander 326pts
9. Mark Skaife 322pts
10. Todd Kelly 308pts
13. Shane van Gisbergen 268pts
18. James Courtney 171pts