Pukekohe V8 Supercars: Will Davison wins wild race three for Ford

Davison claimed his win under the fourth safety car of the sprint event, which was flagged four laps short of its planned 36-lap distance as it hit the time limit.

The friction between champion Jamie Whincup and Mark Winterbottom continued following their Saturday clash. Winterbottom jumped polesitter Whincup off the line, and hung on despite a touch from his rival into Turn 5.

James Courtney was running third for Holden Racing Team, fending off Fabian Coulthard's Brad Jones Racing car. A small slip let Coulthard pounce, with Davison sneaking through as well.

When Shane van Gisbergen tried to demote Courtney another place, the former champion's defence resulted in him spinning across the Tekno Holden's front end and into the gravel.

That prompted a second safety car, the first having been caused by a first-lap midfield tangle. On the restart lap, Whincup barged past Winterbottom at the hairpin, but as the Triple 8 Holden and FPR Ford bounced off each other, Coulthard was able to accelerate around both.

Winterbottom had sustained steering damage and began to slip back before pitting for repairs.

Whincup was later given a 15-point penalty for the clash, and his race would also go awry. While chasing Coulthard, he slid into the gravel when his foot slipped off the brake pedal.

That prompted another caution and gave Davison chance to attack Coulthard. He slipped inside at the hairpin, with van Gisbergen following through as well.

When a left front problem sent Saturday race one winner Scott McLaughlin into the wall at the final corner, the safety car returned and ensured that Davison, van Gisbergen and Coulthard would hold the top-three positions. McLaughlin escaped uninjured but will miss race four.

Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander came through from ninth and 13th on the grid to complete the top five ahead of Jason Bright, who has pole for Sunday afternoon's race.

Alexandre Premat had qualified sixth but a trip off the road - in which he nearly speared GRM team-mate McLaughlin - and a puncture left him at the back.

Results - 32 laps (time limit):

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                      Time/Gap
 1.  Will Davison         FPR Ford                   44m42.6510s
 2.  Shane van Gisbergen  Tekno Holden                 + 0.6028s
 3.  Fabian Coulthard     Brad Jones Holden            + 0.8140s
 4.  Craig Lowndes        Triple 8 Holden              + 1.0343s
 5.  Garth Tander         HRT Holden                   + 1.3570s
 6.  Jason Bright         Brad Jones Holden            + 2.0625s
 7.  David Reynolds       Rod Nash/FPR Ford            + 2.2681s
 8.  Jonathon Webb        Tekno Holden                 + 2.5003s
 9.  Alex Davison         Schwerkolt/FPR Ford          + 2.8014s
10.  Rick Kelly           Nissan                       + 3.6912s
11.  Russell Ingall       Walkinshaw/HRT Holden        + 3.8558s
12.  Dean Fiore           Dumbrell Holden              + 4.3320s
13.  James Moffat         Nissan                       + 4.5793s
14.  Michael Caruso       Nissan                       + 5.5825s
15.  Todd Kelly           Nissan                       + 5.8641s
16.  Tim Slade            Rosenberg/Erebus Mercedes    + 6.4310s
17.  Lee Holdsworth       Erebus Mercedes              + 7.0717s
18.  Jonny Reid           DJR Ford                     + 7.1724s
19.  David Wall           Britek/BJR Holden            + 7.7188s
20.  Maro Engel           Erebus Mercedes              + 8.4545s
21.  Alexandre Premat     GRM Holden                   + 8.8143s
22.  James Courtney       HRT Holden                    + 2 laps
23.  Mark Winterbottom    FPR Ford                      + 2 laps
24.  Jamie Whincup        Triple 8 Holden               + 2 laps

Retirements:

     Scott McLaughlin     GRM Holden                     27 laps
     Tim Blanchard        DJR Ford                       14 laps
     Tony D'Alberto       D'Alberto Holden                0 laps