Mark Winterbottom scored victory in Race 26 at Pukekohe as a clash between the Red Bull Holdens turned the title battle further in Shane van Gisbergen’s favour.
Van Gisbergen extended his points lead over Whincup to 197 after the latter was dealt a drive-through for turning his team-mate around.
Winterbottom had jumped from fourth on the grid to the lead at the first corner and held a near two second advantage over Van Gisbergen on lap 12 of 35.
Van Gisbergen then found himself facing backwards at the Turn 8 hairpin after a tap from Whincup, who had locked his rear brakes as he looked down the inside.
Whincup also spun in the incident and, although immediately moving to redress with his team-mate, soon received a drive-through penalty.
Van Gisbergen fell to sixth before recovering to third, while Whincup took the flag a lap down in 25th.
At the front, Winterbottom cruised to a 10s victory – the second win of the season for the reigning champion, Prodrive and Ford.
“I might be old but I’m still alright off the line,” said Winterbottom.
“I got a good start and pushed hard for the first few laps and then the other blokes (Whincup and Van Gisbergen) came together and that helped.
“The win is awesome as those guys (Red Bull) have been dominating.
“We have been working hard and we put them under pressure and we got a win.
“It doesn’t change the year but it gives the guys at the team a bit of pep in their step.”
Scott Pye converted his front row grid slot into a second place finish for DJR Team Penske, his first podium since Phillip Island in April.
Pye beat pole-sitter Van Gisbergen to the first corner but soon found himself rounded up by Winterbottom and the two Red Bulls.
Craig Lowndes made his way from seventh on the grid to third before failing to hold out Van Gisbergen on the penultimate lap.
Fabian Coulthard ran third with just a handful of laps to go but could not hold off either Lowndes or Van Gisbergen.
Chaz Mostert had a quiet run to sixth ahead of Scott McLaughlin, Will Davison, Rick Kelly and Garth Tander.
A fourth 100km sprint will conclude the ITM Auckland Super Sprint later today.
Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship ITM Auckland Super Sprint Race 26
| 1 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 35 | 38:06.2689 |
| 2 | DJR Team Penske | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG/X | 35 | 38:16.4185 |
| 3 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 35 | 38:19.2616 |
| 4 | TeamVortex | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 35 | 38:20.1635 |
| 5 | DJR Team Penske | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG/X | 35 | 38:21.6818 |
| 6 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 35 | 38:22.5722 |
| 7 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 35 | 38:24.3027 |
| 8 | Team Darrell Lea STIX | Will Davison | Holden Commodore VF | 35 | 38:26.8415 |
| 9 | Sengled Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 35 | 38:27.1280 |
| 10 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 35 | 38:27.9822 |
| 11 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 35 | 38:28.8614 |
| 12 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | James Moffat | Volvo S60 | 35 | 38:29.6880 |
| 13 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 35 | 38:30.1005 |
| 14 | Preston Hire Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 35 | 38:30.5888 |
| 15 | carsales Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 35 | 38:31.4737 |
| 16 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 35 | 38:35.3428 |
| 17 | Erebus Motorsport Penrite | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VF | 35 | 38:36.0480 |
| 18 | Clipsal 500 Adelaide Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 35 | 38:36.4103 |
| 19 | Freightliner Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 35 | 38:36.7392 |
| 20 | Monster Energy Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 35 | 38:40.6786 |
| 21 | GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Nissan Altima | 35 | 38:44.1541 |
| 22 | Plus Fitness Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Holden Commodore VF | 35 | 38:44.9879 |
| 23 | Super Black Racing | Chris Pither | Ford Falcon FG/X | 35 | 38:50.5895 |
| 24 | Erebus Motorsport | Shae Davies | Holden Commodore VF | 35 | 39:01.1118 |
| 25 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 34 | 38:12.3220 |
| 26 | Team Cooldrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 34 | 38:53.2319 |
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