New life has been breathed into the V8 Supercars championship after a string of Winton victories to title hopefuls.

Just 100 points separate the top five drivers after a weekend where Red Bull flatlined.

The most refreshing victory was earned by Erebus Motorsport, the first by Mercedes in the history of the sport.

Just days after scaring a home invader from his home, Lee Holdsworth earned a gutsy win – and the adoration of team owner and financier Betty Klimenko.

Klimenko has backed her team to the tune of tens of millions of dollars in the hope of securing success.

The pair were emotional in the aftermath of the win, which Holdsworth said came after a tough period.

“It’s been an emotional twelve months, it’s been so tough,” he said.

“But we’ve come into this year with a much better car, it’s caught me by surprise that we’ve made that massive step over the break.”

Bookmarking Mercedes’ victory was Fabian Coulthard’s triumph and the first Ford win of the season, steered by Mark Winterbottom.

Coulthard showed great pace all weekend and earned Holden’s 12th straight Supercars win of the year, before Winterbottom won the longer Sunday race.

After qualifying 23rd for the weekend’s first race, Winterbottom allowed himself to enjoy the last few laps – with a virtually unassailable lead over James Courtney – in his first race win since last year’s Bathurst.

“It looked pretty grim there but to get up to seventh (in race one) and then second (in race two) and first, we’ve maximised our points for the weekend,” he said.

“It’s the best we’ve been at the start of the year for a long time.”

His performance was as strong as Red Bull Racing was lacklustre.

Off the back of taking every pole and race win last weekend at Symmons Plains, Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup struggled for pace all weekend, finishing outside the top six in every race.

Winterbottom said it was crucial to cash in when the leaders did not.

“You’ve got to get points when the other guys struggle because they don’t struggle very often,” he said.

“If you have a bad round with them, you just can’t catch them.”

The Ford man now sits 28 behind Lowndes, with Coulthard 43 off the lead.

Courtney and Whincup are 92 and 95 points behind the lead as the V8 Supercars prepare to cross the ditch for their next outing over Anzac Day weekend in Auckland.