Jamie Whincup has moved to the brink of claiming a fourth-straight V8 Supercars championship after an ideal race one result on Phillip Island.
While Volvo’s Scott McLaughlin was able to convert his pole into a third win of the season, ahead of Craig Lowndes in second and Whincup in third, it was the championship leader who benefited most from the first race of three this weekend.
Whincup’s closest championship rivals Mark Winterbottom and Shane van Gisbergen finished second-last and last, strengthening the Red Bull Racing pilot’s grip on another crown.
Starting the day 402 points ahead of Winterbottom, Whincup now leads the championship race by 450 points – exactly the margin he needs to claim a provisional title by the end of the night.
The result sets up a mouth-watering second race, where Whincup and Winterbottom will begin together on the front row.
The equation for Winterbottom is simple: beat Whincup, or cede the title race.
The two title rivals settled into third and fourth around the Phillip Island track in early racing.
At the back of lap three, a huge wobble from Whincup into the home straight presented Winterbottom with a great overtaking opportunity.
The Ford ace edged ahead of the series leader but was unable to bring his Falcon back into the racing line into turn one, running wide and dropping to seventh.
While the drop in position wasn’t terminal to Winterbottom’s race chances, the grass build-up in his car was, forcing him to pit and dumping him at the bottom of the field.
Two laps later, his team-mate Chaz Mostert had a similar trip off the track, nudged by Garth Tander as the Ford suffered from oversteer issues.
He dropped to the back of the field, before finishing 15th.
Van Gisbergen’s day began terribly and ended worse.
He collided with fellow Holden Fabian Coulthard during the out-lap of qualifying, starting from the back of the grid.
After a number of questionable overtaking efforts, that’s where he stayed, with Winterbottom overtaking him on the last lap due to a pit lane penalty.
Saturday’s potentially title-deciding second 100 kilometre race begins at 4:35pm.
RESULTS: V8 Supercars championship race 33, Phillip Island
1 – Scott McLaughlin (Volvo)
2 – Craig Lowndes (Holden)
3 – Jamie Whincup (Holden)
4 – Garth Tander (Holden)
5 – Michael Caruso (Nissan)
