Photo: V8 Supercars

Whincup strikes back with win ahead of Winterbottom and Lowndes

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Jamie Whincup fought back in the final 100 kilometer race at Phillip Island to beat title rivals Mark Winterbottom in second and Craig Lowndes in third.

Lowndes had, just as in the second race, made a cracking start to take the lead in to the first corner. But Whincup fought back and got past, along with Winterbottom.

Winterbottom then put hard pressure on Whincup towards the end of the race, but the Triple Eight driver managed to stay ahead and win with a mere eight tenths of a second.

There were two safety car periods, the first caused by Lee Holdsworth who came to a halt on track with his left-front wheel missing.

The second period came right after the restart of the first. Chaz Mostert spun off in turn four after a tap from David Reynolds, with Russell Ingall also getting caught in the commotion.

Jason Bright crossed the line in fourth for Team BOC ahead of Fabian Coulthard and Will Davison. The Nissan duo of James Moffat and Rick Kelly claimed positions seven and eight.

Whincup heads the standings with 20 points over team mate Lowndes ahead of the season finale in Sydney on December 8th. Winterbottom holds third but is 124 points behind Whincup.