Barbagallo V8 Supercars: Jamie Whincup wins tense race two
Jamie Whincup held off a fast-closing Jason Bright to take victory in race two of V8 Supercars' Barbagallo weekend
Bright had qualified on pole in his Brad Jones Holden, but made a poor start and fell to fourth, as Will Davison, Fabian Coulthard and Whincup hit the front.
The lead pack ran in a long, tense train in the first half of the race, with Coulthard taking plenty of looks at passing Davison.
With tyre wear high but stops optional, pit timing proved critical, and it was Triple 8 that made the correct call by bringing Whincup in first.
The champion dived in on lap 17 of 42, with Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom following.
Davison and Coulthard pitted next time, but emerged behind Whincup and Winterbottom, who had flown on fresh tyres.
Bright stayed out until lap 23, in the hope that he would benefit from fresher rubber as his rivals' tyres faded in the closing laps.
That certainly proved to be the case. Although the late stop had dropped him down the order, Bright overtook James Courtney, Davison and Coulthard before a door-banging move on Winterbottom three laps from the end brought him up to second.
He then set off after Whincup, falling just 0.7 seconds short.
Winterbottom held on for third, followed by Coulthard, Davison and Courtney.
After breaking V8 Supercars' victory record on Saturday, Craig Lowndes had to settle for eighth, behind Shane van Gisbergen, having lost ground with a slow pitstop.
All bar three drivers chose to make tyre changes. Of those who did not, Dean Fiore fared best and found himself leading by 12s at one point.
He held on at the front until just seven laps from the end, before being swallowed by the pack and falling to 13th.
Results - 42 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Jamie Whincup Triple 8 Holden 43m38.5140s 2. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden + 0.7530s 3. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford + 2.8806s 4. Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden + 4.4059s 5. Will Davison FPR Ford + 4.8087s 6. James Courtney HRT Holden + 6.5776s 7. Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Holden + 11.0971s 8. Craig Lowndes Triple 8 Holden + 14.5113s 9. Alex Davison Schwerkolt/FPR Ford + 15.0612s 10. James Moffat Nissan + 15.4723s 11. Garth Tander HRT Holden + 15.9098s 12. David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford + 16.6466s 13. Dean Fiore Dumbrell Holden + 18.4623s 14. Scott McLaughlin GRM Holden + 19.5329s 15. Chaz Mostert Dick Johnson Ford + 19.8547s 16. Rick Kelly Nissan + 20.5105s 17. Todd Kelly Nissan + 22.6374s 18. Tony D'Alberto D'Alberto Holden + 26.2194s 19. Alexandre Premat GRM Holden + 28.1755s 20. Tim Blanchard Dick Johnson Ford + 28.6486s 21. Russell Ingall Walkinshaw/HRT Holden + 30.7528s 22. Jonathon Webb Tekno Holden + 31.4285s 23. Tim Slade Rosenberg/Erebus Mercedes + 31.4985s 24. David Wall Britek/BJR Holden + 33.6898s 25. Michael Caruso Nissan + 33.9248s 26. Maro Engel Erebus Mercedes + 36.8688s 27. Scott Pye Dumbrell Holden + 1 lap Retirements: Lee Holdsworth Erebus Mercedes 0 laps
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