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 |