The V8 Supercars Championship Series battle remains in the balance as Mark Winterbottom won an entertaining V8 race at Symmons Plains Raceway today.
Winterbottom, the Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon driver, took his 14th championship victory from team-mate Paul Dumbrell (The Bottle-O Racing) and Jason Bright (Trading Post Racing).
Dumbrell’s podium result was his first in the category.
Title contenders James Courtney (Jim Beam Racing) and Jamie Whincup (TeamVodafone) both had eventful races.
Courtney was penalised for contact with Lee Holdsworth (Fujitsu/GRM), dropping him down the order. He was further hampered by damage to the rear of his car, but was able to finish 12th place.
For Whincup, he looked capable of taking a top five result until he was forced to pit late in the race for more fuel. The pit stop dropped him to 15th, opening the championship points gap to 50 points with four races of the season remaining.
Whincup’s team-mate and yesterday’s race winner Craig Lowndes had a shocker. His #888 TeamVodafone Commodore had a gearbox issue and failed to finish the race. The mechanical failure has made his bid for a fourth V8 crown very difficult.
Behind the podium finishes was Russell Ingall (Supercheap Auto Racing), Greg Murphy (Castrol EDGE Racing), Garth Tander (Toll HRT), Todd Kelly (Jack Daniel’s Racing), Fabian Coulthard (Bundaberg Red Racing), Steven Richards (Dunlop Super Dealers FPR) and Holdsworth.
| 1 | 5 | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 01:25:58.9978 |
| 2 | 55 | Paul Dumbrell | Ford Falcon FG | 01:25:59.7487 |
| 3 | 14 | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VE | 01:26:00.2869 |
| 4 | 39 | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VE | 01:26:02.2258 |
| 5 | 51 | Greg Murphy | Holden Commodore VE | 01:26:13.6502 |
| 6 | 2 | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VE | 01:26:14.5292 |
| 7 | 7 | Todd Kelly | Holden Commodore VE | 01:26:19.9126 |
| 8 | 24 | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VE | 01:26:21.0579 |
| 9 | 6 | Steven Richards | Ford Falcon FG | 01:26:21.6164 |
| 10 | 33 | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VE | 01:26:22.2802 |
| 11 | 9 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Ford Falcon FG | 01:26:23.6163 |
| 12 | 18 | James Courtney | Ford Falcon FG | 01:26:35.4807 |
| 13 | 17 | Steven Johnson | Ford Falcon FG | 01:26:35.8549 |
| 14 | 21 | Karl Reindler | Holden Commodore VE | 01:26:36.0525 |
| 15 | 1 | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VE | 01:26:40.3109 |
| 16 | 19 | Jonathon Webb | Ford Falcon FG | 01:26:40.9189 |
| 17 | 11 | Jason Bargwanna | Holden Commodore VE | 01:26:00.8545 |
| 18 | 47 | Tim Slade | Ford Falcon FG | 01:26:01.2451 |
| 19 | 4 | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 01:26:01.8795 |
| 20 | 34 | Michael Caruso | Holden Commodore VE | 01:26:26.6261 |
| 21 | 30 | Warren Luff | Holden Commodore VE | 01:26:32.7628 |
| 22 | 8 | Jason Richards | Holden Commodore VE | 01:26:38.8497 |
| 23 | 12 | Dean Fiore | Ford Falcon FG | 01:26:10.4568 |
| 24 | 3 | Tony D’Alberto | Holden Commodore VE | 01:26:11.9763 |
| 25 | 15 | Rick Kelly | Holden Commodore VE | 01:26:08.1971 |
| DNF | 16 | Tony Ricciardello | Holden Commodore VE | 59:41.4959 |
| DNF | 22 | Will Davison | Holden Commodore VE | 37:02.6647 |
| DNF | 888 | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VE | 43:21.5841 |
| DNF | 10 | Andrew Thompson | Holden Commodore VE | 15:16.9958 |
V8 Supercars Championship Series table
| 1 | James Courtney | 0 | 2662 |
| 2 | Jamie Whincup | 0 | 2612 |
| 3 | Mark Winterbottom | 0 | 2462 |
| 4 | Craig Lowndes | 0 | 2405 |
| 5 | Garth Tander | 0 | 2328 |
| 6 | Shane van Gisbergen | 10 | 2178 |
| 7 | Rick Kelly | 20 | 1936 |
| 8 | Lee Holdsworth | 15 | 1919 |
| 9 | Paul Dumbrell | 0 | 1848 |
| 10 | Michael Caruso | 20 | 1835 |
| 11 | Russell Ingall | 10 | 1676 |
| 12 | Steven Johnson | 10 | 1589 |
| 13 | Jason Richards | 0 | 1547 |
| 14 | Jonathon Webb | 15 | 1525 |
| 15 | Tim Slade | 0 | 1442 |
| 16 | Jason Bright | 10 | 1408 |
| 17 | Steve Richards | 10 | 1291 |
| 18 | Todd Kelly | 0 | 1273 |
| 19 | Greg Murphy | 10 | 1249 |
| 20 | Alex Davison | 35 | 1179 |
| 21 | Will Davison | 0 | 1158 |
| 22 | Tony D’Alberto | 0 | 1094 |
| 23 | Jason Bargwanna | 15 | 986 |
| 24 | Fabian Coulthard | 0 | 980 |
| 25 | Dean Fiore | 10 | 851 |
| 26 | Karl Reindler | 0 | 766 |
| 27 | Tony Ricciardello | 0 | 740 |
| 28 | Cameron McConville | 0 | 669 |
| 29 | Warren Luff | 0 | 646 |
| 30 | Steve Owen | 0 | 623 |
| 31 | Luke Youlden | 0 | 578 |
| 32 | Mark Skaife | 0 | 560 |
| 33 | Daniel Gaunt | 10 | 539 |
| 34 | Owen Kelly | 0 | 501 |
| 35 | Andrew Thompson | 10 | 481 |
| 36 | Jack Perkins | 0 | 452 |
| 37 | John McIntyre | 0 | 442 |
| 38 | Greg Ritter | 10 | 387 |
| 39 | Paul Morris | 10 | 356 |
| 40 | Andrew Jones | 0 | 353 |
| 41 | Dean Canto | 0 | 309 |
| 42 | David Russell | 0 | 274 |
| 43 | Matthew Halliday | 0 | 269 |
| 44 | Marcus Marshall | 0 | 261 |
| 45 | Dale Wood | 0 | 253 |
| 46 | James Moffat | 0 | 251 |
| 47 | David Besnard | 0 | 233 |
| 48 | David Wall | 0 | 217 |
| 49 | Allan Simonsen | 0 | 204 |
| 50 | David Reynolds | 0 | 201 |
| 51 | Mark Noske | 0 | 182 |
| 52 | Nathan Pretty | 0 | 182 |
| 53 | Geoff Emery | 0 | 142 |
| 54 | Marcus Zukanovic | 0 | 142 |
| 55 | Taz Douglas | 0 | 140 |
| 56 | Damian Assaillit | 0 | 137 |
| 57 | Ant Pedersen | 0 | 137 |
| 58 | David Brabham | 0 | 132 |
| 59 | Michael Patrizi | 0 | 123 |
| 60 | Tim Blanchard | 0 | 122 |
| 61 | Shane Price | 0 | 116 |
| 62 | Glenn Seton | 0 | 113 |
| 63 | Craig Baird | 0 | 98 |
| 64 | Ryan Briscoe | 0 | 60 |
| 65 | Nick Percat | 0 | 53 |
| 66 | Rod Salmon | 0 | 0 |
