Jamie Whincup prevails in Ipswich opener

Jamie Whincup cruised to his 8th victory of the season in the opening race of the Coates Hire Ipswich 360 today. The 30 year-old led both 60 kilometre legs from lights to flag, and bounced back in emphatic fashion after a difficult outing at the previous round in Townsville.

Whincup took the chequered flag 6 tenths of a second ahead of GRM rookie Scott McLaughlin, who stood on the podium for the first time since his history making victory at the ITM 400 in April. It was a near perfect display from the reigning champion, who never looked back after jumping McLaughlin off the line in the opening sixty kilometre leg. The Red Bull Racing Australia pilot controlled the gap throughout the second phase of the race, and never allowed McLaughlin to gain a genuine sniff of victory.

Mark Winterbottom, of the Pepsi Max Crew, rounded out the podium after falling short in his challenge of McLaughlin in the closing laps. Craig Lowndes finished a provisional 4th having started from 6th on the grid, however the Red Bull Racing Australia pilot will come under post-race investigation after allegedly making contact with Mark Winterbottom under braking on the first lap of the opening leg. James Courtney completed the top 5 in his Holden Racing Team Commodore after a solid showing saw him finish in his qualifying position.

In the earlier qualifying session, Jamie Whincup claimed yet another pole position after lapping the 3.12 kilometre circuit in a time of 1.09.27. Scott McLaughlin would join the reigning champion on the front row of the grid in his Fujitsu-backed VF Commodore, whilst Fabian Coulthard ensured that Brad Jones Racing was represented in the top 3, falling one hundredth of a second short of McLaughlin’s time.

Will Davison struggled with oversteer throughout the opening leg of the race. However, some adjustments to his factory FPR Falcon facilitated a steady 6th placed finish, an improvement of four positions throughout the 120 kilometre event.

Jason Bright nabbed 7th after his Team BOC mechanics also made wholesale changes during the “half time” break, while Garth Tander spectacularly recovered to claim 8th having qualified back in 19th position. Alex Davison made it three FPR Falcons in the top 10, leading home the 10th placed Nissan Altima of James Moffat, who improved 6 places during the event.

The tight Queensland Raceway asphalt produced its fair share of close racing, most notably an intriguing battle for the final place in the top 10. Tekno Autosports’ Shane van Gisbergen fell into the clutches of DJR’s Chaz Mostert, Lockwood Racing’s Fabian Coulthard and the “Norton Hornet” of James Moffat during the closing stages of the race. Side-by-side racing was rife within the four car train, with Moffat eventually prevailing ahead of Coulthard and van Gisbergen respectively.

Factory Nissan pilot, Todd Kelly, will come under post-race investigation for two separate incidents during the second leg of the race. On the opening lap of the subsequent segment, Kelly made contact with the Wilson Security Commodore of David Wall, who was sent spinning into the grass on the fast straight between turns 5 and 6. Kelly also careered into the side of DJR’s Chaz Mostert on the final lap, who limped across the finish line in 23rd position.

A promising event for Maro Engel turned sour when he suffered brake problems in his SP-Tools AMG Mercedes during the opening segment of the race. His Erebus Motorsport mechanics were allowed to fix the Germans’ problem during the half-time interval, and he subsequently recovered to claim 19th position at the finish.

David Reynolds was well on track for a top 10 finish until a deflated tyre on the penultimate lap saw him fail to finish the race. The Bottle-O Racing pilot was running in 7th at the time of his misfortune.

Lee Holdsworth also failed to complete the 120 kilometre race after sustaining heavy damage resulting from contact with Michael Caruso’s Nissan Altima. The 30 year-old expressed his dissatisfaction with a late braking move by Dean Fiore, which Holdsworth believed triggered the accident.

Following the 22nd race of the season, Jamie Whincup has extended his championship lead to 131 points provisionally over Red Bull Racing Australia team-mate, Craig Lowndes. Will Davison managed to hold onto 3rd in the standings; however his FPR stable-mate, Mark Winterbottom, looms ever closer after another podium finish.

The Coates Hire Ipswich 360 resumes tomorrow with two 100 kilometre sprints making up races 23 and 24 of the season. Back to back 20 minute qualifying sessions will kick off from 9.35am local time to decide the grid positions for both sprint races.