Photo: V8 Supercars

Jamie Whincup heads Triple Eight double at Hidden Valley

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Reigning champion Jamie Whincup grabbed his first V8 Supercars victory since March in the first race of the weekend at Hidden Valley, heading the field from lights to flag.

Triple Eight Race Engineering secured a double victory with Craig Lowndes crossing the line in second place, four seconds behind team mate Whincup.

Shane Van Gisbergen came close to stopping the Triple Eight double victory, but could not get past and had to settle for third, just 0.4442 seconds behind Lowndes in the end.

Volvo driver Scott McLaughlin started second but dropped two positions after a slow start to fourth and was unable to keep up with the leading trio as the race progressed.

Garth Tander headed championship leader Mark Winterbottom in fifth and sixth position, with the Ford Performance Racing driver trying hard to get past the Holden Racing Team driver, but not succeeding.

Jason Bright and James Courtney rounded off the top eight.