Triple Eight’s points lead diminished after disastrous weekend

The two Triple Eight Holdens of Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes leave Winton with a reduced lead in the drivers’ standings after a tough weekend at the Victoria circuit.

Eight times a winner this season, Whincup found his consistent finishing run ended in the first race at Winton due to a drive shaft failure on his Holden Commodore, and contact with the Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden of Alexandré Premat saw him take his second retirement in as many races race two, rescuing a 13th place finish from race three and 44 points for the championship.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t a good weekend for us and one I’m sure we’d all rather forget,” said Whincup. “It was always going to be a tough day after qualifying – we just didn’t have any pace. We were only four tenths off but had no pace. And that was the issue.

“Championship-wise you need to finish races and to finish races you have to at least qualify somewhere within the vicinity of the front. We’ve lost massive championship points this weekend and we may be fighting to get the lead back come the enduros.”

Team-mate Craig Lowndes also had a tough weekend. Although the 39-year-old finished all three races, his best finish was tenth in the third race, highlighting the uncharacteristic struggle of the Red Bull backed team this weekend.

Whincup maintains the lead of the Championship on 1847 points with Lowndes 47 points adrift heading into the endurance events, where traditionally Lowndes is slightly stronger than his team-mate. Lowdnes will be joined by Warren Luff in the #888 Holden, whilst Whincup will team up with Paul Dumbrell in the #1 car.

Ford Performance Racing’s Will Davison is now just 55 points behind Whincup in the drivers’ standings with team-mate Mark Winterbottom 70 points behind.