Jamie Whincup’s quest for a third V8 Supercars Championship title is back on track following his win at the Armor All Gold Coast 600 today.
CLICK HERE for Speedcafe.com’s Race 21 report and results
Despite dominating the opening half of the season, Whincup trailed team-mate Craig Lowndes by 100 points in the championship standings following the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
Today’s result, achieved alongside French co-driver Sebastien Bourdais, is Whincup’s first victory since the Sucrogen Townsville 400 in mid-August.
With Lowndes and co-driver Priaulx failing to finish Race 21, Whincup now leads the standings by 50 points.
“We’ve had a reasonably tough run over the past three or four rounds,” said Whincup.
“We lost the championship lead (at Bathurst), which was pretty disappointing. I was 100 points behind my team-mate, and that felt like 300 points.
“Today, we got lucky. We don’t like seeing a TeamVodafone car in the pits, but that’s the way the cards are dealt.
“Our car was fantastic. We went hard the whole race. Seb did a great job just controlling the pace at the start and we pushed on hard at the end. The car was great.
“It was just a matter of keeping the tyres alive and then we had a massive fuel race at the end. That last Safety Car was three or four laps before our window. We used our trim switch to get to the end and conserve fuel.
“That late Safety Car was a blessing in disguise. It allowed us to go to the end and really make a race of it.”
Bourdais led every lap of his stint from pole position, before becoming the second Frenchman to win a V8 Supercars Championship race.
“It was a great day and I really enjoyed my ride,” said Bourdais.
“It has been a sweet weekend so far I just hope to carry the momentum on.
“I’m really happy for Jamie. I know what it’s like to lose the lead in a championship when you do nothing wrong. I was just so happy to get a win like this. Overall, a great weekend, a great car and a great team.
“Jamie is obviously a great driver and I’m really happy to be pairing with him because it made for a special day.”
See below for TeamVodafone’s post-race video.
TeamVodafone : Saturday wrap – Armor All Gold Coast 600 from TeamVodafone on Vimeo.
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Armor All Gold Coast 600 Race Guide
