Jamie Whincup claims title and Shane Van Gisbergen race win

Jamie Whincup secured his fifth V8 Supercars title after finishing third in the final race of 2014 in Sydney. Shane Van Gisbergen won the race, just under two seconds ahead of Jason Bright.

Van Gisbergen started from pole position in his team Tekno Autosports Holden Commodore but soon found himself in a battle with Whincup for the lead. The two drivers opted for different pit stop strategies but were still running close to each other at the end.

The duo were side-by-side with just ten laps to go, with Whincup getting past Van Gisbergen in the first corner, only for Van Gisbergen to get back ahead a lap later.

Bright and David Reynolds was ahead of the duo at this point, but was quickly reeled in by the two. Rod Nash Racing driver Reynolds was unable to hold his position and dropped to fourth in the end while Van Gisbergen made it to the lead of the race.

Whincup tried to throw his Triple Eight Holden on the inside of Bright for second position, resulting in contact between the both and Bright ultimately getting back past to second.

Craig Lowndes, who was the sole remaining title challenger to team-mate Whincup, finished fifth in the race ahead of the Ford Performance Racing duo of Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison in sixth and seventh. Russell Ingall rounded out the top ten for Walkinshaw Racing in his final V8 Supercars full-time race drive.

Whincup secured the title on 3,094 points, 218 points ahead of Lowndes in second, 295 points ahead of Davison in third and 301 points ahead of Winterbottom in fourth.

The 2014 V8 Supercars season starts on March 2nd in Adelaide.