Photo: TeamVodafone

Whincup wins season opener in Abu Dhabi

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Jamie Whincup has opened his account for 2011, winning the first race comfortably from Alex Davison & Mark Winterbottom at the Yas Marina circuit.

Craig Lowndes had secured pole position with team-mate Whincup sharing the front row, but Craig baulked at the start, allowing a fast charging Alex Davison to drive through the middle of the two TeamVodafone cars and assume the lead. At the back, Alex’s brother Will Davison spun out in his first start with the FPR Falcon and fell to the back of the grid.

Whincup chased down Alex Davison, passing the Stone Brothers Racing driver before the end of the first lap and held on to the lead, whilst Craig Lowndes started a recovery drive from sixth place.

On lap three, reigning champion James Courtney made contact with Brad Jones Racing driver Jason Bargwanna, knocking Bargs off the track whilst damaging his HRT Commodore’s front steering arm, losing four laps whilst it was repaired. The following lap, BJR’s other driver Jason Bright became the first retirement of 2011 with a steering rack failure despite a strong qualifying position of seventh.

Will Davison and Jonathan Webb in the Mother Racing entry were first to switch to an alternative strategy, with Davison quick to replace the tyres that were damaged at the start.

Whincup continued to hold the lead as Mark Winterbottom managed to move ahead of Alex Davison during the first round of pitstops, though a slight delay in the second stop saw Alex Davison get back ahead in the Irwin Tools backed SBR Falcon.

2008-2009 champion Jamie Whincup went on to take victory at the Yas Marina circuit effectively unchallenged, repeating the feat he achieved last year and has won all three V8 Supercars races which have taken place in Abu Dhabi to date, with the second race taking place tomorrow.

Stone Brothers Racing had a strong result, with Alex Davison finishing second and Shane Van Gisbergen and Tim Slade fourth and fifth. Toll Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander recovered from 14th on the grid to finish sixth, with team-mate Courtney the last runner in 26th.