Mark Winterbottom and Prodrive closed on a clean sweep of the V8 Supercars races at Albert Park after taking out today’s third 12 lap heat.

For the third successive race, Winterbottom led team-mate Chaz Mostert to the chequered flag.

Mostert had to work a little harder on this occasion after Shane van Gisbergen squeezed his Holden into second on the opening corner.

It took the Ford less than two laps to retake the place, cutting down the inside of the Holden at Turn 13 on the second tour.

Mostert then quickly closed down Winterbottom’s two second advantage before sitting comfortably on his tail for the remainder.

“We’ve been trying to work the starts to our favour and when I saw Chaz in third I thought, ‘have I done something wrong with the start?’” Winterbottom said post-race.

“It’s great for the team to have a one-two today. Chaz could’ve got past then if he wasn’t so friendly with his team-mate, but we’re sharing results (data) which is good to see.”

Third placed Van Gisbergen was a full 7.2s off the win at the flag, leading home fellow Holden drivers James Courtney, Tim Slade, Jamie Whincup and Garth Tander.

Rick Kelly, an impressive Nick Percat and Craig Lowndes completed the top 10.

Tyre strategy has been the talk of the V8 Supercars paddock during the weekend, with teams forced to spread just three sets across the four races.

While reluctant to give away their plans, differing tyre conditions appeared to contribute to some spirited racing on the opening lap.

Passes again proved few and far between at the front of the pack thereafter, with the top 10 stagnant from lap 3 to the chequered flag.

Further back, Fabian Coulthard dropped from 12th to 17th when an overtake from David Reynolds saw the Holden elbowed wide at Turn 14.

Team-mate Dale Wood failed to finish due to an oil leak, while mechanical troubles saw Scott McLaughlin pull his Volvo off the track on lap 1.

A fourth and final race for the weekend will take place from 1205 tomorrow.

The grid will be determined by the combined points from the opening three races.

Result: V8 Supercars Race 3, Albert Park

1

Pepsi Max Crew

Mark Winterbottom

Ford Falcon FG/X

24:09.20

01:59.34

2

Pepsi Max Crew

Chaz Mostert

Ford Falcon FG/X

24:10.24

1:58.9634*

3

Team Darrell Lea STIX

Shane Van Gisbergen

Holden Commodore VF

24:16.45

01:59.61

4

Holden Racing Team

James Courtney

Holden Commodore VF

24:16.68

01:59.52

5

Supercheap Auto Racing

Tim Slade

Holden Commodore VF

24:17.66

01:59.64

6

Red Bull Racing Australia

Jamie Whincup

Holden Commodore VF

24:18.32

01:59.80

7

Holden Racing Team

Garth Tander

Holden Commodore VF

24:20.34

02:00.03

8

Nissan Motorsport

Rick Kelly

Nissan Altima

24:23.70

02:00.45

9

Repair Management Aust Racing

Nick Percat

Holden Commodore VF

24:24.65

02:00.40

10

Red Bull Racing Australia

Craig Lowndes

Holden Commodore VF

24:27.83

02:00.39

11

Team BOC

Jason Bright

Holden Commodore VF

24:29.05

02:00.36

12

The Bottle-O Racing Team

David Reynolds

Ford Falcon FG/X

24:30.60

02:00.47

13

Nissan Mororsport

James Moffat

Nissan Altima

24:33.28

02:00.76

14

Erebus Motorsport V8

Will Davison

Mercedes E63 AMG

24:33.76

02:00.61

15

Nissan Motorsport

Todd Kelly

Nissan Altima

24:34.67

02:00.73

16

Walkinshaw Racing

Lee Holdsworth

Holden Commodore VF

24:35.20

02:00.53

17

Freightliner Racing

Fabian Coulthard

Holden Commodore VF

24:39.16

02:00.49

18

Team Cooldrive

Tim Blanchard

Holden Commodore VF

24:39.53

02:00.36

1 9

Wilson Security Racing GRM

Chris Pither

Volvo S60

24:42.08

02:00.30

20

Super Black Racing

Andre Heimgartner

Ford Falcon FG

24:43.94

02:00.17

21

Nissan Motorsport

Michael Caruso

Nissan Altima

24:48.60

02:01.55

22

DJR Team Penske

Marcos Ambrose

Ford Falcon FG/X

25:27.72

02:04.32

23

Erebus Motorsport V8

Ashley Walsh

Mercedes E63 AMG

25:49.41

02:01.24

DNF

GB Galvanizing Racing

Dale Wood

Holden Commodore VF

24:58.04

02:01.48

DNF

Wilson Security Racing GRM

Scott McLaughlin

Volvo S60

02:17.40

02:17.40

MSS Security V8 Supercars Challenge points after Race 3

1

Mark Winterbottom

225

2

Chaz Mostert

207

3

Shane Van Gisbergen

188

4

James Courtney

184

5

Jamie Whincup

157

6

Tim Slade

151

7

Rick Kelly

141

8

Garth Tander

129

9

Fabian Coulthard

127

10

Craig Lowndes

120

11

James Moffat

105

12

Nick Percat

104

13

Jason Bright

104

14

Todd Kelly

96

15

Will Davison

89

16

David Reynolds

86

17

Lee Holdsworth

85

18

Andre Heimgartner

65

19

Michael Caruso

65

20

Chris Pither

64

21

Marcos Ambrose

62

22

Scott McLaughlin

48

23

Tim Blanchard

43

24

Ashley Walsh

34

25

Dale Wood

25