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Whincup edges Reynolds in Bathurst epic

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Triple Eight Racing Engineering’s Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell came through an epic last few laps to win the Bathurst 1000 on the day the event celebrated 50 years.

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The race resulted in a grandstand finish fitting seeing the significance surrounding this year’s event. A record Bathurst crowd witnessed an enthralling final lap duel between Whincup and Reynolds, which saw the former take his fourth Bathurst victory by just three tenths of a second.

As the race entered its final quarter, Triple Eight’s Whincup was in the box seat but he was unable to coast with Ford Performance Racing’s David Reynolds hot on his heels just two seconds back. Holden racing Team’s James Courtney was third ahead of GRM’s Michael Caruso and FPR’s Mark Winterbottom with two pit stops predicted to get the cars to the chequered flag.

Winterbottom was the first of the leaders to blink pitting on lap 129 which allowed Craig Lowndes in the second Triple Eight car to sixth behind Tekno Autosports Jonathon Webb. Winterbottom slotted back into 19th spot.

The woes for polesitter Will Davison continued on lap 132 as brake failure saw him go off at The Chase. After pit lane infringement and mistake by co driver John McIntyre, his hopes of victory were well and truly shattered. He limped home to the pit lane.

Lap 135 saw the leader came into the pits along with Reynolds, Caruso and Webb. This handed the lead briefly to Courtney before he came in lap later with Lowndes. The pair were unable to rejoin ahead of Whincup. But Alex Davison was the outright race leader on lap 137 before he pitted.

All eyes turned to the battle for the net lead between Reynolds and Whincup with the FPR man applying heaps of pressure on the Triple Eight driver. Courtney soon joined the fray for an epic dice around The Mountain. On lap 141 he managed to slide down the inside of Reynolds to grab second and he then went in search of Whincup. Lowndes was also on charge moving into fifth spot.

An epic three car dice ensued between Whincup, Courtney and Reynolds. Lap after lap just a few seconds separated the pair and on lap 149 Reynolds dived down the inside of Courtney for second at The Chase.

With just a handful of laps remaining, Whincup held a 1.2 second lead from Reynolds and Courtney but the FPR man was closing in. Whincup had to conserve fuel which allowed reynolds to edge closer and closer as the laps ticked off toward 161.

The gap reduced to just 0.3 seconds as Reynolds tried everything he could to forge a way into the lead. The battle went right to chequered flag with Whincup just holding off Reynolds to claim his fourth Bathurst victory. Meanwhile behind Triple Eight and Holden fans had more to cheer, as Lowndes passed Caruso and Courtney to secure the final spot on the podium.

Whincup’s victory has extend his lead in the championship while the podium for Lowndes has moved him ahead of FPR’s Mark Winterbottom into second spot.