James Courtney wins in Queensland, Whincup takes points lead

Holden Racing Team’s James Courtney took a comfortable victory in the third and final race of the Ipswich 400 weekend at Queensland Raceway, while Triple Eight’s Jamie Whincup snatched a 15 point lead of the Championship after finishing sixth, with previous points leader Mark Winterbottom suffering a puncture on lap 43.

Courtney had qualified in second position, with pole going to the Nissan Altima of James Moffat, with Moffat leading the race from the start up until his first pit stop.

With the field opting for a series of alternative pit strategies during the early part of the race, the true race order would remain unclear for the first half of the race, with Triple Eight’s Craig Lowndes and Brad Jones Racing’s Fabian Coulthard stopping on lap one, while the majority of drivers took their first stop between laps 12-15.

There were a number of punctures in the second phase of the race, with Rod Nash Racing’s David Reynolds experiencing a rear-left puncture on lap 17 in his Ford Falconn FG.

Volvo Polestar Racing’s Scott McLaughlin would also suffer a puncture on lap 31, losing out on a possible podium position for the Volvo driver who’d started third on the grid.

The Championship changing tyre disaster came for Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom on lap 43, with a left-rear puncture on his Ford Falcon on lap 43, while he was running just behind his title rival Jamie Whincup on the road. The tyre change, which took place just a few laps after his last scheduled stop, dropped him down to 24th, and he was only able to recover to 22nd, which saw his points lead effectively wiped out.

After the second pit stop sequence was compete, James Courtney rejoined with the race lead ahead of Craig Lowndes, with Ford Performance Racing’s Chaz Mostert next on the road.

Nissan’s James Moffat rejoined inbetween Mostert and Whincup’s cars after his final stop and began to close down the Ford ahead of him.

Whincup would go on to lose a spot to Dick Johnson Racing’s Scott Pye, with the 24-year-old having stopped late for fresh tyres, and with Whincup struggling with a poor set-up, with Pye now up to fifth and Whincup down in sixth position, but still set to gain significantly on his title rival in the standings.

While Courtney built up a strong lead over Lowndes, all eyes were on the fight for third between Ford Performance Racing’s Chaz Mostert and Nissan’s James Moffat on the final lap. The Nissan was hounding the Ford driver, but a run around the outside on the final lap at Turn 6 didn’t work out for Moffat, who went wide off course and actually lost a spot to Pye as a result, with Mostert sealing the final spot on the podium.

Walkinshaw Racing’s Nick Percat would finish seventh with the second Norton-backed Nissan of Michal Caruso in eight, with the two Holdens of Garth Tander and Shane Van Gisbergen completing the top ten.

With Whincup sixth and Winterbottom down in 22nd, the Triple Eight driver takes a 15 point lead in the points standings over the Ford driver, with Lowndes 162 behind after a trio of second places over the Queensland weekend, and with race three winner James Courtney moving up to fourth and still in the title hunt, just 192 behind.

The next round of the V8 Supercars Championship is in three weeks’ time at Sydney Motorsport Park.