Whincup victorious at wet Adelaide
Jamie Whincup claimed victory for Race 4 at a rain hit Adelaide circuit to take his second win of the year and further extend his championship lead.
Ford Performance Racing’s Will Davison had started from pole alongside Whincup, and the two drivers battled throughout the first part of the race in the wet, swapping the lead several times. Whincup eventually lost ground whilst battling with Will at Turn 11 and fell behind the Holden Racing Team’s James Courtney, who also passed Davison for the lead on lap 23.
During the first round of pitstops, Will Davison lost time with a late call to remain on wets when in the pitlane, whilst Garry Rogers Motorsport’s Lee Holdsworth took the daring move to slicks.
The gamble didn’t pay off, as the rain came back in force. Holdsworth crashed into the wall at Turn 8 after just two laps bringing out the first safety car of the day.
Rick Kelly was now ahead of Courtney after pitting behind the safety car, and at the restart Courtney dropped to second as Jonathon Webb moved into second in the Tekno Autosports’ Falcon.
On lap 35, Jason Bright in the Brad Jones Racing Commodore hit the corner at Turn 2 and spun around, leaving debris from the fence on the circuit. This brought about the second safety car, with Craig Lowndes picking up a puncture after running over the circuit debris and had to pit again for new tyres, dropping him from fifth to 22nd.
At the second restart, Rick Kelly continued to hold his lead, as Jamie Whincup started to work his way back up the order. Whincup first passed Courtney for third and then Jonathon Webb for second a few laps later.
On lap 44, Whincup passed Rick Kelly for the lead and held that position for the rest of the race.
The third safety car was called to recover the stricken Warren Luff on lap 50, perfect timing for everyone’s final fuel stop and a switch to dry tyres with the conditions having had improved.
There was drama as Craig Lowndes was released into the path of Greg Murphy from his pit, with Lowndes spun around and facing backwards at the end of the pit exit, scarily just missing the corner marshal.
Lowndes would be served with a drive-through penalty for the unsafe release, but would fight back to finish 12th.
Mark Winterbottom was now the highest placed Ford, passing Courtney for third and battling with Rick Kelly right up to the end of the race.
Paul Dumbrell briefly sat behind his Ford team-mate in fourth, but ran wide at Turn 4 on lap 64 and fell back behind the two Holden Racing Team drivers. Dumbrell battled hard with Tander in the closing stages, but eventually had to settle for sixth.
Will Davison had lost further ground in the final pit stop whilst having to queue behind team-mate Winterbottom, but would recover to finish 7th, securing FPR the top three Ford positions.
Whincup had managed a safe gap to Rick Kelly in the final fuel saving part of the race, and took the chequered flag on lap 77, with the race shortened by one lap.
Whincup now extends his championship lead to 144 points over Mark Winterbottom, with Garth Tander in third, 204 points back.
The V8 Supercars Championship’s next event is the non-championship round at Albert Park, Melbourne, in support of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship next weekend.
