Jamie Whincup wins under safety car after torrential rain

Jamie Whincup claimed his second straight victory in the Sydney 500 season finale under safety car conditions, a race which was shortened after a thunderstorm hit the track mid-race.

Once again, the newly crowned champion made an excellent start and took the lead from fourth on the grid. The first corner was dramatic as four cars went side-by-side with Jason Bright, Shane Van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin having to slot in behind Whincup in that order.

The Triple Eight Race Engineering driver quickly pulled up a lead, leaving Bright and Van Gisbergen in a hard fight for second place.

But all eyes were on the horizon as a big thunderstorm closed in on the track. The rain started to fall around lap 15 when Whincup and McLaughlin were among the first to pit.

A lap later and all drivers headed for the pits to change for wet tyres as the rain started to pour down. The safety car was issued due to the dangerous conditions with David Wall hitting the wall and surprisingly becoming the sole victim of the treacherous track conditions.

Pole sitter Bright made a mistake and dropped down to fourth position in the initial rain chaos, but without any damage to his Holden Commodore.

The race was suspended, with all cars following the safety car into the pits, waiting for the weather to get better. The field was eventually taken back out on track behind the safety car, only to finish the race a couple of laps later with the field crossing the line after the safety car had pitted, but not being allowed to pass any other cars.

Whincup won the race ahead of Tekno Autosports driver Van Gisbergen in second and Volvo Polestar Racing driver McLaughlin in third.

Bright was fourth ahead of Mark Winterbottom, James Courtney, Tim Slade and Michael Caruso.

A single race remain of the 2014 V8 Supercars season and starts at 15:40 local time tomorrow.