Jamie Whincup has extended his lead in the V8 Supercars championship standings after claiming back-to-back victories in the Falken Tasmania Challenge at Symmons Plains Raceway, securing the win from Ford Performance Racing team-mates Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom.
There was drama before the race began when Brad Jones Holden driver Jason Bright was taken to hospital with a rib injury after qualifying. His place was taken at short notice by Cameron McConville.
After Whincup had qualified third-quickest for today’s 200-kilometre race, the Team Vodafone Holden driver lost a place to Shane van Gisbergen (Stone Brothers Ford) off the line, quickly regaining the spot before the end of the first lap.
He quickly closed down the gap to pole-sitter Paul Dumbrell and his FPR stablemate Mark Winterbottom, who were engaged in an exciting battle for the lead.
Unable to find a way by the pair, Whincup peeled off into the pits on Lap 20, closely followed by Will Davison. In response to his pit stop, Dumbrell and Winterbottom pitted on the next lap, but the out-lap in clear was all Whincup needed to jump the pair. Dumbrell, meanwhile, committed a copycat error from Race 1 by again sliding off the track as he exited the pits, losing the place to Winterbottom in the process.
Davison’s out-lap was also enough to ensure he profited, and he managed to sneak in front of Winterbottom before his team-mate could get his tyres up to temperature, effectively moving from fifth to second in one fell swoop.
Davison was Whincup’s only real threat to victory, lapping right on Whincup’s pace but unable to get much closer than a second behind the series leader. In the end, Whincup had enough in hand to claim victory, Holden’s 400th championship win.
Davison and Winterbottom rounded out the podium ahead of Dumbrell in what was an excellent day for the FPR stable, while Whincup’s team-mate and major championship rival Craig Lowndes charged to finish fifth, after his mistake in qualifying saw him start from fifteenth.
Garth Tander completed the top-six places, ahead of van Gisbergen, Todd Kelly (Kelly Holden), Jonathon Webb (Tekno Ford) and Fabian Coulthard (Walkinshaw Holden).
————————————————————————————————————-
V8 Supercars Falken Tasmania Challenge Final Classification (Race 2 – 84 laps):
Driver | Entry / Team | Result | ||
1. | Jamie Whincup | ![]() |
Team Vodafone / Triple 8 Race Engineering | 1:14:59.5652 |
2. | Will Davison | ![]() |
Trading Post / Ford Performance Racing | + 1.7241 |
3. | Mark Winterbottom | ![]() |
Orrcon Steel / Ford Performance Racing | + 4.5920 |
4. | Paul Dumbrell | ![]() |
The Bottle-O Racing Team / Rod Nash | + 7 4175 |
5. | Craig Lowndes | ![]() |
Team Vodafone / Triple 8 Race Engineering | + 14.9014 |
6. | Garth Tander | ![]() |
TOLL / Holden Racing Team | + 17.7188 |
7. | Shane van Gisbergen | ![]() |
SP Tools / Stone Brothers Racing | + 25.1324 |
8. | Todd Kelly | ![]() |
Jack Daniel’s / Kelly Racing | + 34.2495 |
9. | Jonathon Webb | ![]() |
Mother Energy Racing Team / Tekno | + 35.9326 |
10. | Fabian Coulthard | ![]() |
Bundaberg / Walkinshaw Racing | + 43.2272 |
11. | James Courtney | ![]() |
TOLL / Holden Racing Team | + 45.7391 |
12. | Rick Kelly | ![]() |
Jack Daniel’s / Kelly Racing | + 46.1641 |
13. | Lee Holdsworth | ![]() |
Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport | + 46.1671 |
14. | Greg Murphy | ![]() |
Pepsi Max Crew / Kelly Racing | + 46.4310 |
15. | Michael Caruso | ![]() |
Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport | + 53.7891 |
16. | Tony D’Alberto | ![]() |
Wilson Security / Tony D’Alberto Racing | 1 lap behind |
17. | Russell Ingall | ![]() |
Supercheap Auto / Paul Morris Motorsport | 1 lap behind |
18. | James Moffat | ![]() |
Jim Beam / Dick Johnson Racing | 1 lap behind |
19. | Cameron McConville | ![]() |
Team BOC / Brad Jones Racing | 1 lap behind |
20. | Karl Reindler | ![]() |
Fair Dinkum Sheds / Brad Jones Racing | 1 lap behind |
21. | Steven Johnson | ![]() |
Jim Beam / Dick Johnson Racing | 1 lap behind |
22. | David Reynolds | ![]() |
Stratco Racing / Kelly Racing | 1 lap behind |
23. | Steve Owen | ![]() |
VIP Petfoods / Paul Morris Motorsport | 1 lap behind |
24. | Dean Fiore | ![]() |
Westrac Racing / Triple F Racing | 1 lap behind |
25. | Jason Bargwanna | ![]() |
Jana Living / Brad Jones Racing | 1 lap behind |
26. | Alex Davison | ![]() |
Irwin / Stone Brothers Racing | 2 laps behind |
27. | Tim Slade | ![]() |
Lucky 7 / Stone Brothers Racing | 2 laps behind |
28. | Warren Luff | ![]() |
Gulf Western Oil Racing / Lucas Dumbrell | 5 laps behind |
[Image and video via V8 Supercars]
Richard Bailey
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