Jamie Whincup leads the Bathurst 1000 after two hours

Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell have led the way during the first two hours of the 2013 Bathurst 1000km race, twice building up a lead of over ten seconds, with just one safety car intervention so far after David Russell’s Nissan hit a Kangaroo on lap 21.

All 29 cars made the start, but the two cars which missed qualifying and needed repairs, the #47 Erebus Mercedes of Tim Slade/Andrew Thompson and the #17 Dick Johnson Racing Ford of Chaz Mostert & Dale Wood, started from the pit lane, topping up with an extra lap of fuel.

Whincup’s co-driver Paul Dumbrell took the start and comfortably led into the first corner as the FPR Ford Falcon of Mark Winterbottom bogged down, which allowed the Brad Jones Racing Holden of Jason Bright up into second and the Tekno Autosports Holden of Shane Van Gisbergen up to third.

The #17 Ford of Dale Wood was given the only drive-through penalty seen so far as the team forgot to put the car on its jacks whilst it was being refuelled when it pitted at the end of the green flag lap.

Warren Luff in the #888 Triple Eight Holden fell behind the two FPR Fords of Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom on lap seven, dropping to eighth position as the Fords tried to regain lost ground. The #888 car pitted on lap 12 to put it on an alternative strategy to the majority of the field, with the #6 Ford of Will Davison joining Luff & Lowndes on the same strategy two laps later.

Mark Winterbottom was able to recover to fourth position before his stop, passing Scott McLaughlin’s Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden on lap 19 at Murray’s Corner, forcing the 20-year-old wide, before the safety car was called on lap 21 for debris as David Russell in the #7 car had sustained terminal damage from hitting a Kangaroo.

Those who hadn’t stopped, including race leader Paul Dumbrell who at this point had a 13 second lead, pitted, with Jamie Whincup taking over the wheel of the #1 Triple Eight Holden.

Whincup began to rebuild the team’s lead at the restart, as Steven Richards, now in the #5 FPR Falcon wasn’t able to keep with the Holden Commodore as the safety car headed into the pits.

Mattias Ekström was able to work his way up to second position in the #10 Triple Eight Holden, albeit off pit sequence, before pitting along with Whincup 24 laps later on lap 45.

After 55 laps, Whincup/Dumbrell lead the race by seven seconds over the Ford of Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards, with James Courtney & Greg Murphy in third in the #22 Holden Racing Team Commodore.

The #7 Nissan Altima of David Russell and Todd Kelly is currently the only retirement of the race due to the damage sustained after the incident with the Kangaroo.