James Courtney has taken advantage of pole position to bag his first V8 Supercars race win of the season in a dramatic final race of the weekend’s round at Winton.

The Holden driver ended a victory drought dating back to 2011 as he became the 12th different winner in 2013.

Courtney led after each of the 34 laps in a race interrupted by three safety cars and the retirement of four drivers.

The 33-year-old led home the Holden of Fabian Coulthard, who finished 2.95secs behind in second.

Young gun Chaz Mostert secured his second podium finish of the weekend after a last-minute battle for third with Garth Tander.

It followed a mistake from Will Davison, who gave up his third-placing with just two laps to cross the line in sixth.

Championship leader Jamie Whincup managed to complete his first race of the round, salvaging some much-needed points with a 13th placing.

The race got off to a dramatic start when Todd Kelly’s Nissan was sent into a concrete wall after being clipped moments after the start.

Seconds later, under the first safety car, Scott Pye’s Holden caught fire at the top of pit lane, forcing him out of the race.

“I couldn’t breath, I couldn’t see a thing,” Pye said after stepping out of the smoking Commodore.

Rick Kelly suffered a similar fate, when his Nissan ended up in the muddy infield after high-speed contact with Mark Winterbottom on lap 23, followed by Jason Bright whose race ended four laps later.

Earlier, Mark Winterbottom took race two honours – his first-ever win at Winton – ahead of second-placed Jason Bright and Courtney in third.

The victory handed the Ford Performance Racing pilot 100 championship points to close in on series leader Whincup.