Whincup doubles up with Race 5 victory

Jamie Whincup made it two wins from two starts on Saturday at Symmons Plains by leading Race 5 of the championship from start to finish.

Cleared of wrongdoing in a Race 4 clash with team-mate Craig Lowndes just moments before the start, Whincup out-dragged fellow front-row man Mark Winterbottom to the first corner.

The FPR Falcon tracked the five-time champion for the race’s 42 lap duration, eventually taking the flag 0.5s adrift.

Fabian Coulthard, Scott McLaughlin and Craig Lowndes completed the top five.

Lowndes was the star of the race, charging through from the back of the grid after a technical infringement saw the #888 Holden scrubbed from the qualifying result.

He made it to fifth before a Safety Car was called with just a handful of laps to go, but could not find a way around McLaughlin’s Volvo in the dying stages.

Race 5 was action-packed from the opening lap, where Will Davison brought out the Safety Car by beaching his Mercedes in the Turn 4 gravel.

James Courtney and Robert Dahlgren also dropped to the back of the field in the hairpin melee; after which Courtney staged an impressive fightback to finish 11th.

Todd Kelly was 14th at the flag despite a drive-through penalty for a restart infringement, while Russell Ingall was 23rd after befalling a similar fate.

Rick Kelly’s beached Altima was the cause of the second Safety Car. The 2006 champion had been tagged into a spin at Turn 6 by Chaz Mostert, who was quickly penalised for his action.

Nick Percat was the only non-finisher, with the Walkinshaw Holden having sustained early damage while attempting to overtake Ingall.

A final qualifying session and 200km Race 6 will complete the weekend’s V8 Supercars action on Sunday.

See below for the full Race 5 result

See below for the updated points standings