Photo: V8 Supercars

Mark Winterbottom unstoppable in Melbourne

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Mark Winterbottom and Prodrive Racing Australia were unstoppable in Melbourne, with the team claiming a fourth straight 1-2 in the fourth and final race.

Winterbottom again headed the field from lights to flag to take victory, with team mate Chaz Mostert close behind in second place.

A three-car Holden pack followed behind, closer compared to the other races, but with Shane Van Gisbergen again taking third position for Tekno Autosports, championship leader James Courtney in fourth position and reigning champion Jamie Whincup in fifth position.

The double-file rolling start of the race proved to be chaotic with several incidents. A total of seven cars were involved in two separate incidents in the first two corners, bringing the safety car out.

Nick Percat, Marcos Ambrose, James Moffat and Will Davison clashed in the first corner, resulting in retirement for Percat and Ambrose. Nissan driver Moffat and Mercedes driver Davison were able to continue, but further down the order.

The second corner saw Fabian Coulthard spinning Craig Lowndes and Jason Bright collecting the latter. Fellow Holden drivers Lowndes and Bright limped back to the pits for retirement while Coulthard continued to finish 13th.

Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander finished sixth ahead of Nissan Motorsport’s Rick Kelly in seventh.

Volvo Polestar Racing driver Scott McLaughlin charged from last position on the grid to eleventh position, offering the team a small glimpse of hope in an otherwise dreadful weekend.

Dale Wood had yet another clash with a Volvo driver, but being on the offender in this race compared to the other way around in the past two races. Wood clashed with Chris Pither, who stands in for the injured David Wall this weekend, in a fight for 14th position towards the end of the race. The Brad Jones Racing driver was penalised for the incident after the race and moved to 20th and last position, just behind Pither who dropped to 19th position after the incident.

V8 Supercars continues in two weeks with the Tasmania SuperSprint, with normal service resumed in terms of points being awarded to the championship compared to this race weekend.