Jamie Whincup wins carnage filled race in Darwin

Jamie Whincup notched up his seventh win of the season in the opening race of the Skycity Triple Crown at Darwin’s Hidden Valley. The Red Bull Racing pilot assumed the race lead at the first corner in the second sixty kilometre leg of Race 17, and calmly closed out yet another race to further extend his championship lead over team-mate Craig Lowndes.

In typical Whincup fashion, the 30-year-old bided his time and stayed out of trouble in the opening leg of the 120 kilometre race. He then pounced on an unprepared David Reynolds in an early restart during the second 60 kilometre segment, and never looked back to add yet another trophy to his 2013 collection.

Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen avoided the carnage to finish second behind Whincup after qualifying back in eighth. The Tekno Autosport driver charged hard at Whincup in the closing laps; however he fell three tenths short of the reigning champion at the chequered flag.

James Courtney rounded out the podium for Holden Racing Team. He managed to steer his slightly damaged Commodore home to take the chequered flag a further four seconds behind Whincup. Jonathon Webb put in a stunning drive from 16th on the grid to take fourth position for Tekno Autosport. He was followed home by Rick Kelly, who achieved Nissan’s best result of the season after finishing fifth for the factory outfit.

Earlier, David Reynolds claimed a surprise pole position for Rod Nash Racing, 14-thousandths of a second ahead of reigning champion Jamie Whincup in his Triple-Eight built VF Commodore. Reynolds watched on as one-by-one, the more favoured drivers were unable to match his lap time throughout the top ten shootout. Will Davison rounded out the top three for Ford Performance Racing, a further six-hundredths of a second off the pole time of Reynolds.

Whincup swiftly gained the race lead at the first corner in of the opening 60 kilometre segment. However, a desperate David Reynolds capitalised on the smallest mistake from the reigning champion on the opening lap, regaining the ascendency around the outside at turn 7. The 27-year-old then put the hammer down in his Bottle-O sponsored FG Falcon, and took the chequered flag first at the end of the opening segment.

Meanwhile, all hell broke loose in the mid-pack, as Rick Kelly’s Nissan Altima leaked oil from the rear and made conditions difficult for those behind him. Tim Slade also received a nudge from Jonathon Webb, which sent his Erebus Mercedes spinning in front of the pack at turn 5. The kiwi combination of Shane van Gisbergen and Fabian Coulthard came to blows; however both were able to maintain control on the exit of turn 7.

Disaster appeared almost inevitable as the 28 car field approach the first corner after a double file rolling start commenced the second 60 kilometre leg of the race. Surprising, the carnage was delayed until turn 6, when Craig Lowndes completely missed his braking point, causing a chain reaction of shunts involving the HRT Commodore of Garth Tander and FPR Falcon of Will Davison.

At the front of the field, Jamie Whincup managed to gain the lead over David Reynolds around the outside at turn 1, even after the FPR pilot controlled the rolling start. A restart triggered by the Turn 6 calamities saw Whincup open a significant buffer over Reynolds, which eased the pressure on the championship leader and allowed him to manage his tyres and cool his engine with the clean air in front.

Disappointingly for Reynolds, he was collected by FPR stablemate Mark Winterbottom under braking into Turn 6 in the closing stages of the race. Both Reynolds and Winterbottom were significantly damaged as a result of the incident, and consequently finished 14th and 22nd respectively.

Tim Slade achieved the best result for Erebus Motorsport in 2013, finishing sixth after an up-and-down 42 laps. The 27-year-old managed to avoid the shunts throughout the second segment of the race, and the Gold-Coast based outfit will no doubt take great heart from their strong result. Chaz Mostert achieved a career best finish of seventh for DJR, ahead of Jason Bright, Tony D’Alberto and Michael Caruso, who rounded out the top 10.

Of those involved in the Turn 6 disaster, Garth Tander recovered to finish 14th in his damaged HRT Commodore. Craig Lowndes ended up 26th, and was the last classified driver to complete the 42 laps. Will Davison was unable to continue the race as a result of the damage he incurred, retiring 13 laps short of the finish.

In terms of the championship standings, Jamie Whincup extends his lead to 224 points over Craig Lowndes in the second Red Bull Racing Commodore. Will Davison lost his third position to Jason Bright by a single point, meaning that Holden drivers now occupy the top three championship positions.

The SKYCITY Triple Crown continues tomorrow for races 18 and 19 of the season. Both 100 kilometre sprints will feature a 15 minute qualifying session to determine the grid.