Jamie Whincup claims points lead after strong Symmons Plains weekend
Reigning champion Jamie Whincup has emerged in the Supercars championship lead following a strong Symmons Plains weekend where the Triple Eight Race Engineering driver scored one win and a third place.
“I was miles back and now I’m not, but there’s still a lot of water to go under the bridge. We’ll keep fighting on and trying to improve the car,” said Whincup to supercars.com.
Things were worse for team-mate Shane van Gisbergen who headed the championship ahead of the weekend. The Kiwi finished sixth in the first race of the weekend but dropped to finish 25th in the second race due to a throttle issue.
The issue dropped him from first to fifth in the championship.
DJR Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin and Erebus Motorsport driver David Reynolds share second place in the championship, just eleven points from Whincup.
“For us today, this is almost like a win,” said McLaughlin who finished second in the second race.
”We struggled through the weekend, chasing down those Triple 8 Holdens. It was really nice to split them today, and be second on the road. It was a good battle, through the pitstops. I thought I might have been able to scrape past Craig, but after that last stop we just missed out. It feels like a win, and now we move on to Phillip Island where we feel quite strong.”
The Supercars championship continues at Phillip Island on April 21-22.
