Jamie Whincup continued Red Bull Racing Australia’s fine form with the team’s second victory of the day in Race 32.

An investigation into a possible false start – which was quickly dismissed – proved Whincup’s only threat as he led all 14 laps on the way to a 1.3s victory.

Pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin finished second after being out-dragged to Turn 1 by his fellow front-row starter.

“It was all about getting off the line,” said Whincup.

“It was a good drag race with Scotty. I knew he was there, but you can’t see a thing so I just tipped it into Turn 1 and happy days. It’s win or bust really.”

“I need to work on those starts, I don’t care about second,” added a smiling McLaughlin.

“It’s one of those things. We’ll get there. It’s just good to have pace, us (top) three just walked away (from the field). It was fun.”

Craig Lowndes, Mark Winterbottom, David Reynolds, Scott Pye, Michael Caruso and Rick Kelly all held their grid positions across the race to finish third through eighth.

Shane van Gisbergen moved from 11th to ninth on the opening lap but could make no further progress in a processional race.

James Courtney rounded out the top 10 in the lead Walkinshaw Holden, with Brad Jones Racing team-mates Fabian Coulthard and Jason Bright just outside the top 10.

The results mean Winterbottom’s championship lead over Lowndes has been trimmed to 209 points, while Reynolds is now 277 adrift in third.

Red Bull meanwhile continues to close on Pepsi Max Crew PRA in the teams’ championship, trailing by 185 points ahead of Sunday’s 200km contest.

Result: V8 Supercars WD-40 Phillip Island Super Sprint Race 32

Championship Standings