Barbagallo V8 Supercars: Whincup doubles up in race three

Whincup and nearest pursuer Mark Winterbottom both skated through the sand trap at the final corner when they encountered fluid spilt by Maro Engel's Mercedes just before the pitstops were due.

They rejoined in sixth and ninth respectively, as Whincup's Triple 8 team-mate Craig Lowndes moved into the lead. The Holden duo had shared the front row, but Winterbottom had split them at the start.

Whincup immediately pitted, and a rapid stop plus out-lap coinciding with some pit confusion as the safety car came out after Michael Caruso's Nissan shed a wheel meant that the champion was rapidly back up to second.

That became first when he pounced on Lowndes to take the lead at the restart following a second safety car period caused by David Wall and Russell Ingall going off.

Lowndes held on to complete a Triple 8 one-two, the team having won all three races this weekend.

Winterbottom's comeback was less successful than Whincup's. A wheelnut issue caused a very slow pitstop, dropping him to 21st. He made it back through to 12th.

Jason Bright only qualified 12th due to a gear lever problem, but battled through to deprive Will Davison of the final podium spot. David Reynolds and Shane van Gisbergen chased them home.

Fabian Coulthard was another man delayed in the pits, leaving him seventh, ahead of James Moffat and Garth Tander - up from 20th and 23rd on the grid respectively.

Chaz Mostert completing a very strong debut for the hitherto struggling Dick Johnson team with 10th place.

Other early frontrunners to drop back were Alex Davison, who had to queue in the pits, and Scott McLaughlin, who fell from a mid-race fifth to 13th after his Holden's left-side door shed its skin amid some fraught battling.

Results - 41 laps:

Pos Driver               Team/Car                     Time/Gap
 1. Jamie Whincup        Triple 8 Holden              46m16.0085s
 2. Craig Lowndes        Triple 8 Holden              + 1.5724s
 3. Jason Bright         Brad Jones Holden            + 5.6864s
 4. Will Davison         FPR Ford                     + 6.1191s
 5. David Reynolds       Rod Nash/FPR Ford            + 7.4266s
 6. Shane van Gisbergen  Tekno Holden                 + 7.6297s
 7. Fabian Coulthard     Brad Jones Holden            + 9.5669s
 8. James Moffat         Nissan                       + 10.7042s
 9. Garth Tander         HRT Holden                   + 11.2686s
10. Chaz Mostert         Dick Johnson Ford            + 12.4075s
11. Alexandre Premat     GRM Holden                   + 13.0868s
12. Mark Winterbottom    FPR Ford                     + 13.1404s
13. Scott McLaughlin     GRM Holden                   + 15.0332s
14. Lee Holdsworth       Erebus Mercedes              + 15.5244s
15. Dean Fiore           Dumbrell Holden              + 16.7425s
16. Alex Davison         Schwerkolt/FPR Ford          + 16.7770s
17. James Courtney       HRT Holden                   + 17.5651s
18. Rick Kelly           Nissan                       + 17.9464s
19. Jonathon Webb        Tekno Holden                 + 18.6461s
20. Scott Pye            Dumbrell Holden              + 19.5012s
21. Todd Kelly           Nissan                       + 20.0061s
22. Tony D'Alberto       D'Alberto Holden             + 20.8652s
23. Tim Blanchard        Dick Johnson Ford            + 31.6624s
24. Tim Slade            Rosenberg/Erebus Mercedes    + 5 laps

Retirements:

    David Wall           Britek/BJR Holden             26 laps
    Russell Ingall       Walkinshaw/HRT Holden         26 laps
    Michael Caruso       Nissan                        17 laps
    Maro Engel           Erebus Mercedes                7 laps