TRIPLE EIGHT RACING’S Jamie Whincup proved Holden’s Saturday revival was nothing but an aberration after securing victory in race two at Symmons Plains.
After securing pole position in the morning qualifying session, Whincup raced away from the line, taking advantage of the sprint tyres to establish an early advantage.
However, a succession of safety cars soon eroded Whincup’s lead, placing him under significant pressure as he exited pit lane following his final stop and in a scrap for race victory with the ever-consistent Will Davison.
Whincup though was able to withstand the Holden driver’s charge to secure victory in the 200 kilometre 84-lap event, 0.4 seconds ahead of Davison with Kiwi Fabian Coulthard finishing third, his first podium appearance.
After the race, Whincup said: “I feel like I lost momentum a little bit but we’re back now. Today was a much better day, yesterday was tough. We knew we had good speed but just couldn’t get everything together, so we regrouped overnight and were great in qualifying this morning.
“Our engineers were keeping us up-to-date on what’s going on, but it must be so hard for the fans — they must just see 30 cars going around.”
Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom was unlucky to finish fourth, twice making contact with rivals which ultimately cost him crucial seconds, track position and perhaps most importantly race victory.
During Saturday’s 42-lap sprint race, Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander ended the manufacturer’s miserable start to the season with a lights to flag victory.
Tander narrowly held off veteran Russell Ingall for the win around the tight Tasmanian circuit, with Ford’s Steven Johnson finishing third.
