Whincup takes Winton race one win
Date published : 21 May 2011 - 07:34:56
Jamie Whincup claimed his fifth win of the V8 Supercar season in race one at Winton, as his polesitting Triple Eight Holden team-mate Craig Lowndes had a disastrous afternoon and came home only 11th.Lowndes' problems began with a poor start that immediately dropped him behind front row partner Steven Johnson (Dick Johnson Ford), Garry Rodgers Holden driver Lee Holdsworth, and Whincup.The latter managed to pass Holdsworth for second on lap 13, then jumped Johnson in the pitstops, with the erstwhile leader also falling behind Holdsworth during the stops.Whincup was then able to edge away and take another win, while Holdsworth resisted Johnson for the runner-up spot by just half a second.Lowndes lost further ground when he was pounced on by several rivals as he rejoined on cold tyres following his stop, and later had a trip off the road at Turn 11, leaving him outside the top 10 at the finish.Rick Kelly drove a strong race to come through from 12th on the grid to fourth ahead of Paul Dumbrell, Alex Davison and Jason Bright, the latter coming out best in a late dust-up with Garth Tander as the HRT car - which fell to 12th in the end - struggled on fading tyres.After his poor qualifying result, James Courtney gambled on a very late pitstop and led for a while, then made the best of his fresher rubber to surge through the field as his rivals' tyres wilted, getting him up to eighth by the flag.Results - 40 laps:Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Jamie Whincup Triple 8 Holden 1h01m09.0173s 2. Lee Holdsworth Garry Rodgers Holden + 4.8378s 3. Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Ford + 4.8708s 4. Rick Kelly Kelly Holden + 7.7062s 5. Paul Dumbrell Rod Nash Ford + 10.4241s 6. Alex Davison Stone Brothers Ford + 12.9373s 7. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden + 13.0886s 8. James Courtney HRT Holden + 16.0043s 9. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford + 18.0781s10. Fabian Coulthard Walkinshaw Holden + 18.9470s11. Craig Lowndes Triple 8 Holden + 22.4902s12. Garth Tander HRT Holden + 23.5912s13. Will Davison FPR Ford + 24.2854s14. Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Ford + 25.3740s15. Tim Slade Stone Brothers Ford + 26.7296s16. Michael Caruso Garry Rodgers Holden + 27.1367s17. Russell Ingall Paul Morris Holden + 28.2857s18. Greg Murphy Kelly Holden + 28.5852s19. James Moffat Dick Johnson Ford + 30.7681s20. Karl Reindler Birtek Holden + 36.2968s21. Todd Kelly Kelly Holden + 36.7260s22. David Reynolds Kelly Holden + 37.8705s23. Steve Owen Paul Morris Holden + 41.3059s24. Jonathon Webb Tekno Ford + 43.3101s25. Dean Fiore Triple F Ford + 1m06.2555s26. Tony D'Alberto D'Alberto Holden + 6 lapsRetirements: Warren Luff Dumbrell Holden 1 laps Jason Bargwanna Brad Jones Holden 0 laps
